The Influence

by GMBlackjack

XX [END OF PART 1]

Author's Note:

[IMPORTING…][…LeftMoss here. I vote Mite, you never know when there is a machine that needs to be hacked... now thinking about that makes Mite sound like a gremlin from XCOM 2... if there is a computer where you are at, then I can show you what a gremlin looks like. Just in case there is, I will put this here.  vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/xcom/images/2/2a/XCOM2_ReleaseTrailer_GremlinChargesStun.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20150728221339 If you are wondering why I am mentioning XCOM 2 so much, is the fact that I absolutely LOVE the game. I currently am on my second playthrough of the campaign, and probably will do a third… …Giginss here. Oh, boy! Decision time! Well, I have no vote to give, only advice. Carefully consider your objectives. Do you want to help this world, return home, or something else? You could even make a checklist for accomplishing that. Then, consider your options. Who could you summon in order to best help you accomplish your objectives? Thinking logically is a wonderful thing, isn't it?… …Ponygood speaking.Once again, I would heavily suggest not getting Time Starlight, Space Rainbow, or any of the Realm-welding ponies; use of a Realm's power outside of that Realm leads to the destabilization and eventual destruction of reality, unless you're willing to sacrifice yourself to be its anchor. And I also don't think it's a good idea to get the Inspector Rarity, since that world is still being written by Blackjack, and she's very important to it. And as for my two cents, I vote for Mite. Due to interaction with Discord, Mite isn't microscopic, though still small, has fluffy pony ears, likes music, nd might be willing to help you, but I'd recommend surrounding the altar with a force-field first, just until you could communicate with it. And, yes, Mite is an it, because robots don't have genders… …before you choose twilight, here is one more pony to think about. Sunset Shimmer from Knights of Harmony. The Knights are you, her, and Trixie Lulamoon. As well as rainbow, Pinkie, flutters, aj, rarity, and spike. At the moment though, they are trying to save you, after you may have quite literally erased yourself from existence. They have a small, slim chance, but knowing them, they'll be able to pull it off. The reason I chose sunset is that she is the strongest of all of the knights, stronger than even Celestia and that's without the power boost she can do with her trance mode. as for my vote, i think Starlight (or as im going to call her Timelight) Glimmer… …another choice is Pinkie from a story i just found and plan to look up later called Healing Smiles. be warned though if you choose her then you’ll have to contend with her as she learns her powers…. …Ponygood again. It just occurred to me that this pink unicorn might be waiting for you for some reason. I hope it isn't a destructive reason, but be wary of a potentially powerful, potentially dangerous unicorn. Always hope for the best, though… …Twilight! Everyone! I just heard the news! I'm going to be getting my own office! Apparently I've been doing such a good job I've replaced Key as the agent in charge of watching you! I'm so excited, I'm- well, thank you, everyone, Josh, Ponygood, Leftmoss, all of you, I couldn't have done it without you. Okay, so I talked to my superviser again and- oh, um, this, this is Creek, by the way, I keep forgetting to say that, I'm sorry... okay, I asked and we can't get any information on the other two stories, they were, ah, they weren't recorded, so we have no files on them. But um, b-before I vote, you wanted to know more about your friends, so I'll tell you about them, Most of the stories from Blackjack are your normal friends the way you remember them, just a different thing happened to ponyville. But of the bigger changes there's Equestria 1- AH I mean Borken Mirror, Realms of Existence, Wanderlost, the Evermore Recursions, and the Loops. Those are different enough that they're worth talking about. Okay, so, um, your friends in Broken Mirror are Pinkie, who started out the same as your Pinkie but after she ended up in a different version of Equestria she's, she um, she's been changing. The different Equestria is a bad place. Rarity also started out the same, and is still mostly the same as how you know her, but, um, more depressed. The, ah, your friends and you from that world are different though. You can read minds, and change them, but, you don't do that anymore. Rainbow Dash is more...she swears alot more and is in a wheelchair and has a broken wing. The, ah, the Fluttershy from there is smart and calculating, she's more the leader of the group than you are and always knows what to say. Applejack is...she, ah, she's, she doesn't have family anymore, and is dealing with, with that,m but she's good at fighting and knows what's right. and and Inspector Rarity is able to see magic with her monocle but, she's regretful for a lot of her actions, she used to be really racist and is trying to make up for that. We just met Starlight, so I can't say anything about her. your friends from Realms of Existence don't have any powers at the end of the story so..actually, I don't, I mean, can you just pick someone from any part of the story? Does it just have to be from the most recent portion? I don't think any of us have talked about that yet. Um, I mean, so their, ah, their powers, Rainbow Dash can manipulate matter and create it too. Rarity can see and change thoughts, Fluttershy is able to change organic things, and even bring people back from death. Applejack can see lies and also is really, ah, she's incredibly fast in observing everthing around her. Pinkie is able to...use distortion, which is chaos magic I think, it's unclear in the notes. Um, Starlight is able to manipulate time, cloning herself, and seeing both the past and the future. I'm not sure if she could just bring you back to the future, but ah, I mean, that's okay, it's worth a try! And, um, you can, your Inflection is Magic, so you're just you but stronger. I...I think? In Wanderlost, at the end of the story, it's past your friends time, since you're Immortal and they're not, but, ah, I mean, the agent keeping track of that one was fired for being bad at their job, so it's, well, there's nothing too useful here, not about your friends. It says, I mean, I'm sorry it couldn't be better. It's well, I mean, it sounds like everyone is the same, powerwise. Starlight is different, she's connecting to the, the Tree of Harmony and immortal, and Celestia, is...I mean, Celestia saved everyone, and I'm sorry to bring it up, you said it's terrible, even though it happens. I-I'm sorry twilight, she's dead in that story. Um, Discord and Luna are still alive though. And Mite is there, I personally like him a lot. AI's are just so wonderful. They- AH, i mean um, so he's good at hacking into computer systems and capable of interacting with. the, ah, The Equestria from the Recursions is only one of the 21 worlds that the Evermore can travel to. it started out normally, but then a human named Wilhelm showed up and things got crazy from there, some of your friends are...dead, they've interacted with dangerous Evermore and non-Evermore that went between the recursions using Stargates and different magic. Um, you are an ambassador to your Equestria, and Starlight is a hero that saved Equestria from the Changeling invasion, but, ah, later on Sunset killed Chysalis for, I'm sorry, your, ah, you friends are mostly normal, except for Evermore Pinkie, sho is, herself but way mroe powerful, and friends with lots of the different Evermore. There's also a different version of Equestria, but it's hundreds of years after nuclear war, and it's a wasteland filled with violence. Or well, it was before, um, that was purged, and...I don't think I have enough time to explain everything that happened. But, ah, it's, maybe if you get an avatar of Blackjack or, ah...me? Then you can hear everything. Would you even get an Avatar of me? Would it be Key? Would it be Keywii_Cookies55? Who...w-who would show up if you choise my organization? would it be Mrs. K? O-OH, um, okay, so there's also the Loops, which is filled with your friends, and other ponies that are constantly repeating time in Ponyville. You have the most time, but there's also Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie, Rarity, and Fluttershy. No, ah, no Starlight. But there's also the CMC, Big Mac, Spike, Sunset. Most of the ponies you can think of. And because they're so old they know more about how to do things than most anyone else you could choose. So, ah, I mean, I hope that was helpful, and I didn't just tell you the same information over again...SO, ah, I mean, if you don't want another Twilight or Fluttershy. I think it'd be best to choose. Um, I mean, I-I, wouldn't want t-to, um... I, ah, if I had to pick right now I...I guess I-I-I- I don-don't, I don't, um, I just, please, I mean, I'm sorry, I can't, I just. um. ~ ~ s not, n-not choosing an option? I don't, I mean, I don't want to mess everything up by making the wrong choice… … The avatar we see that corrisponds to your organization is Scootaloo with sunglasses. ...not very useful at all, unless you need an emergency supply of broken everything and tree sap. *puts on white blanket* Chooose Miiite... Pleeeease... Or I will haunt your cookies... Oooohhh…… …Akumakami here! So Discord brought down the Ancients. The Akuma in me is clapping for Discord while the Kami is trying to shut him up. Maybe Fluttershy can convince him to change the ancients back in your timeline. Yeah, doesn't help this version of Ine and the rest, but do what you can. And the explanation of your sun and moon.....huh, that reminds me of a story that explained it as the sun being the molten core of a planet caused by said planet loosing its surface. Or something like that, I read that years ago. Well, Chaoslestia is probably not going to happen. There were a few Discords that were out and out God in their universes, bt you probably don't want those. Not because they wouldn't help, but most of them have their own things to deal with.(If you're wondering, their Reigns of Chaos, if they happened, were a "to do some good you got o be the bad guy" thing) Tiny bit surprised you didn't go for Pamphile Twilight, but I guess having another you might be complicated. Wait, does Ruby know who Celestia is? I thought they hadn't heard of Equestria here? Or did they just visit? Funny story time! This one is very funny but strangely believable. In this universe, your magic was even more out of control at your entrance exam. Wether this you had less control or a bit more magic is hard to say. Either way, you still occasionally had magical accident bursts to that degree. So Celestia's solution to keep your magic from causing too much harm until you could control it.....was to shrink you. XP Tiny Filly Twilight is very adorable, but she did have so scary moments, like with needles(giant swords to you) and falling in hot bath water, vu everypony adapted and grew. As for your number choices, congradulations, you-! Wait, what?.......(narrows eyes suspiciously) You have a Cliffside castle on a tropical island. If you're wondering why the suspicion? Well, Cliffside Castle was the one option that gives you a free magic perk, and it require that your domain be either on the coast, on a mountain, or on an island. There was also the option for a flying City and a city on the back of a behemoth Dragon of your choosing. Behemoths essentially being living mountains. If you're wondering what this all is....well, I'm sure you're familiar with a "Choose Your Own Adventure" type story. This is something like that only for setting up a scenario/story where you inherited a hold and become the Overlord/Overlady of it. Anyway, pick one number from one to seven and another between one and twenty-two… …Ponygood, I, I just don't want to be...I don't want to be responsible for the wrong, the wrong choice! I can't BBKKTPKRT! AH!! W-W-W-Why?! Creek, shut up, calm down, this is important. Turns out there's something new Ah, ah-o-okay, um, is, is that..? You've been sticking your nose into the files lately, so the boss wanted me to give you the latest folder.Shut-Shutter, is that a new- I'm not going to repeat myself, just take the stupid folder and shut up. I promise you it's written well. It's about some non-pony in Equestria. Tha-thank yo- Yeah, jst don't get used to it, you still haven't earned your place here. And don't assume that stutter of yours will get you brownie points. Just do your job. O-okay, um, can- Yeah, whatever, just get that back to me when you're done with it. RRRRrrrrrreeea-pkt. I-I'm sorry, I have to read this now. I'll-I'll make a choice once I read the report on Blackjack's new story… …Ponygood again. Something came up rather recently: a strange story in which an aquaintance of Vriska who can time-travel and has a strange fascination with death finds Equestria and messes around a bit. This story will also apparently be a sort of prelude to a later work of Blackjack, his biggest work yet. Also, in Blackjack's notification describing the new story, he says that us Influence readers will get a bit of chaos. Just thought you should know… …Josh here - turns out i have wifi here so that's good, anyway out of the ten you choose us to vote for, against my better judgment i say Blackjacks avatar 1 because if we get Blackjack with Vriska body and powers, not only will get insight into what's going on, we will also get someone who can deal with most threats with ease, and 2 if we do get just Vriska (more likely) she can still be useful if you know how to handle her which we can help with… … Is...is it alright to vote for Aradia? I...I mean, she's friendly, and can also do, um, time travel with-without the problems Starlight has. No, no destabilization of rality due to the Realms interference. So...is, I mean, I don't know anything about Vriska or other trolls, but, um, I mean, all Aradia has done is talk to Applebllom and, I mean, she just thought that Aradia was odd. So, um, I-I want to put my vote there. Plus if i-if you never take oppertunities you'll nev-never grow as a person… …Creek, is Shutter bullying you? It seems like it from where I am. Just don't pay attention to what he/she says if it's derogatory to anyone. In fact, I'm under the opinion that you would benefit from more self-confidence. If you want, I could try to give inspiring statements that may or may not help you… …O-oh, um, thank you, Ponygood, but, ah, I mean, he's not just like that with me, Shutter is...he's unpleasant to everyone. He, um, I mean he's been here for years and he, well, he knows what he's doing. His reports are always well written I mean. He, um, I mean he's right too, I haven't really earned my place here yet. I only got promoted because Key was suspended and Sock was already busy working with Equestr- with Borken Mirror. Oh no, that's okay. Thank you, but I'm already taking self-confidence lessons. And they've been working wonders. I used to be a nervous wreck, and, I mean, I might still sort of be undecisvie and, well I still hide behind my scarf, but I'm doing a lot better. My son even tells me I'm standing up for myself more… …Josh here - hey Creek i have to ask, what category does your world fell under? earth, equestria or some kind of hybrid like the like the one on the other side of that mirror, or one where humans and ponys co-exist?… …Don't forget that one time that Twiny ended up- no, never mind Twiny- I mean Twilight. I doubt you would want to know what your tiny counterpart got up to on your birthday. I will say that you liked the cake so much you dove right in it. Before the party even got started. With Celestia in attendance… …Speaking of little Twiny, it might be a good idea to bring her along. Her medical skills would be a boon to your mission, not to mention that if the situation is in need of ridiculous amounts of power Twiny can cancel the shrink spell placed on her and reach her full height and her magic will increase tenfold. And she was already able to lift spike in her magic even when she was barely taller than Celestia's hoof. just imagine what her full power is. but you’ll have to recast it on her as she wants to stay that small… …Yes, you are a recent addition to their team. But don't let that discourage you. In fact, look at it as an opportunity; to earn your place there and to prove you are just as capable as any of them. They may even begin to respect you… …Akumakami again. Against some of my better judgement, I decided to let some residents of my universes talk to you. This one is......not as bad as you might think.RoC: Hello, Other Twilight. My what lovely wings you would have grown.AK: You do realize she can't tell you're being easing and playful, right?RoC: I know, but what fun it is to let her try and guess my emotions through the text! Ahh, but where are my manner. Greetings, Princess, I am from a little universe known as "Reign of Chaos" hence theRoC. I am his revelness, King Discord of Equestria.AK: Yeah....this is a Discord that won when you first met him.RoC: Yes, the looks on your faces when the elements didn't work was quite delicious, especially after all that trouble you went through to get your friends to have their heads back on straight again. Though, I'll admit, grey certainly wasn't Pinkie Pie's color. But your probably now twisting your noodle over just how did my handsome self succeed in this timeline? The short answer is that I didn't give you a chance to begin with.AK: To be blunt, this Discord is a bit smarter than canon. That or just less cocky, either or. To that effect, he made the Plunder Seeds attack the Tree of Harmony while you were off looking for the elements.RoC: A sweet talker as ever, Devil-God. But yes, unlike your version of me, Twilight, I crippled that crystal weed first chance I got. Now, let me drop the real bombshell, Twilight Sparkle, while I reveal just what I did to you six......AK:....Oh will you hurry up and say it!RoC: Fine, fine, stop cranking your dishwasher. The first official thing I did after banishing Lulu and Celly was give you six a full pardon.AK: He's grinning right now as you try to process that.RoC: Yes I am! Now toddles, Influence Twilight! I got work to do, see how many ponies are jumping ship. I'd say hello to your Fluttershy, but obviously I'm not exactly close to you six in my world.AK: As I said, not as bad as you might think. Hope that didn't freak you out too much.RoC: PS Go for a Pinkie Pie. You need her pinkie sense if nothing else… …i don't know much about the other two seeing as i have not had much interest in their files, but vriska is a decent choice and there are two things to consider with her that may affect the vote regardless of the apparent popularity of the mite, first she is shown to be reformable and the only reason she was still something of a jerk at the end was because that was exactly what their world required from her to avoid oblivion and despite being part of what for trolls is considered upper nobility she is able to cooperate with others fairly easily and what superior attitude she once had was mostly restricted for use against her own race, second her home dimension is extremely obscure and of all the realities i have found i have seen fewer than half a dozen realities connecting both equestria and homestuck, so many of those giving input here may not be familiar with who she is and what she can do. as for aradia, she is another troll and like all of the "players" of homestuck she has a domain and hers is time while vriska's is light, additionally when not dead, long story, she seems to have one of the most friendly personalities of her species. among those chosen by your group i would pick vriska, starlight is not guaranteed to be stable, though is she is it would be quite potent and admittedly the setting is beginning to look more appropriate for it, but how many machines are you expecting to run into that you will need another robot in your party to hack? you may have noticed an error in the feed, that was surprising to me too, it looks like that happens if someone tries to remove content and it looks to have damaged the input instead of a proper erasure. since i think someone pulled this already much to your confusion, if anyone says any variation of "do the thing" or "do the windy thing" its a homestuck reference and unless we get a direct message indicating otherwise then its just someone screwing around since the origin of that statement had to do with a form of local ascension that not only has nothing to do with you, but you are already ascended and breath would definitely not be your domain even if you had such an alignment… …oh and i was asked to mention this by one of my more self aware avatars, but it probably worth looking into finding away to manifest the ancients physically, i know of means, but most would not work under the circumstances and unfortunately high intensity chaos damage is pretty much irreversible , however a lot of version of the elements of harmony are a fairly unique anomaly in their ability to restore full chaos degradation… …This is Creek, um, is this really a topic for when we're talking to Twilight? I-I mean, well, I guess it counts as a human world. but this isn't really my home world. I guess you could call this world a colony planet. It's not, um, I mean it's not my home world, I just work here. But, ah, my home world isn't just habited by humans, if that's what you mean. huthols are also there… …josh here - well we are not going to get a chance to talk outside of this, so i fugued that this was as good of a monument as any to ask… …Hey, Twilight. I was wondering. I know back before you left Canterlot, you went out of your way to avoid making friends. Why? I mean I know it might have those trying to curry favor from you to Celestia, but was that the only reason, or were you just shy like fluttershy? Not the crippling shyness she has but shyness in general? And here is a question for fluttershy. How long were on the ground after falling from cloudsdale before you were found? Or did you overcome your fear of flying to fly back up since nopony was around you?… …This is Zen. I vote in favor of the Mite. Though that may be somewhat redundant at this point. As to your vote, Twilight, I suspect that this "pink unicorn" we keep hearing about is actually a variation of Starlight, so you may want to hold off on that one… …Yay! Mite buddies! Twilight, be sure to tell Fluttershy she's been officially invited to the group worshiping our Lord and Saviour Mite, god of being a super-cool robot. Hail Mite!…]

Twilight started counting up the votes. "Okay so... We have... A heavy disagreement on 'Timelight Glimmer' and a suggestion for another time player called Aradia... And apparently Blackjack has spoken about there being chaos for the Influence - can you get him to speak other things?" Twilight put a hoof to her head. "Basically Starlight's power destabilizes reality, and I've been warned against not choosing her. A being called Aradia has been offered, but I don't know much about her and neither do they. Makes me think we aren't supposed to choose her now... But I think it's highly likely we will later. But one of them - Gigniss - reminded me that we've got to prioritize. I want to help these ponies and people more than return home - we can return home later."

Fluttershy nodded. "I understand. What were the votes?"

"Well, not talking about Aradia or Timelight Glimmer - sorry Creek. Even if me and Ruby changed my votes, it'd only get us up to three there. I can't just 'move' the person who voted for Timelight Glimmer. If it makes you feel better, Aradia is high on the list, assuming nothing goes wrong later."

"WHAT WERE THE VOTES FOR EVERMORE PINKIE?" Four asked.

"There was one other, by some version of Discord who was King. And there were a few other voices suggesting other options I'm pretty sure were just Afizah. Akumakami didn't vote... Though maybe he voted through King Discord? Not sure. Regardless, Leftmoss, Ponygood, and Zen all want the Mite, while Josh and Nickel want G. M. Blackjack / Vriska. When combined with our votes - Fluttershy for Mite, Infinity and Ine for Blackjack, we have a 4-4 tie. Which means it falls to me to decide between the two."

Four spoke up. "I AM AGAINST MITE SO I CHANGE MY VOTE TO G. M. BLACKJACK."

Twilight nodded. "I understand, but I think I need to make the decision... I need to think about what'd be best for the group..." She frowned. "Is anyone actually strongly opposed to G. M. Blackjack?"

Everyone shook their heads. Twilight nodded. "And Four doesn't want the Mite to exist... Right... No, the decision should be mine. Not yours, and because the votes were tied, not the Influence either..." She looked at the altar, frowning. "I... I think I'm going to think on it while I reply to other things the Influence said."

"Again, Creek, I'm sorry - I kinda wanted to choose what you wanted. I like you and... WelI I hope you get the respect you deserve. You have a son? What's he like - what's his name? And please, don't think your vote was the wrong one, I'm almost certain we'll choose Aradia later, because I think we need someone with time abilities. Also, thanks for telling me about those worlds. That was... interesting. And as for all of you who kept thinking I'd want to choose another version of me... I really don't want things to get complicated. Also what is it with you people and Twiny? Really."

"...Twiny?" Infinity asked.

"A tiny me."

"...I suddenly think we need that."

Twilight rolled her eyes, completely ignoring the thought.

"Regardless, King Discord, nice to meet you. No, I'm not bothered by your demeanor or anything you've revealed about your world. Not the most surprising thing that's happened to me lately. I look forward to getting to hear more from you. As does Fluttershy, even if you aren't close to her in your world."

Fluttershy drooped. "Oh..."

"Also, King Discord - maybe consider looking into being friends with those ponies you pardoned. It wouldn't hurt to try, would it? Akumakami, I told Ruby about Celestia when I told everyone my story on the trip across the desert. Also, four and eight. And Nickel - you mentioned 'breath' as part of an alignment... I'm curious, what are the alignments?"

"And as for those last questions... I didn't hate making friends, I just thought it was a pointless endeavor. I had 'friends' back in those days, Minuette, Lemon Drops, but I just didn't care about them because I thought doing that was a waste of time. We talked but I never thought taking it seriously would serve a point, I just didn't devote time to the relationships. And... Fluttershy?"

"Hm?"

"How long were you on the ground after you fell from Cloudsdale that day?"

"Oh, a few hours. Not long at all, really. I was taken back up by my parents after they found me."

"Ah. Right." Twilight gulped. "Well... That's all the delaying I can do..."

Ine moved forward. "Have you made a decision?"

"Yes. I have." I may claim it's because of it being better for the group, but really it's my own curiosity... She stepped into the altar, closing her eyes.

It asked her who she wanted to speak to.

"The Avatar of G. M. Blackjack!"

The magic energy vanished for a split second- ∫œå¢∑¨ª®˜åå¨∫ªµ®´å∑åçáw

[CONNECTION LOST]

~~~

Oh.

Well look what you did.

You forced it to establish a connection.

I guess not all of you did this - but even if the Mite had won the same thing would have happened. So yeah, your fault. All this talk of other worlds...

Oh, yeah, don't think I'm a part of this story. I'm the author. I do prefer to be called GM rather than Blackjack, for your information. Do with this tidbit what you will.

Anyway... The Eye is going to do something weird momentarily. We're cutting through space here.

Oh, also, if it wasn't clear, you're not cheating the system. My self-insert is already present in that world, no need for two.

Now the fun part you wonder - did I bend Twilight's choice towards best troll based on my own desires? No, actually - I was prepared to choose whatever you all voted on. It just so happened that there was a tie, and I left it up to Twilight herself. She chose. You could say that choice was mine - but her psyche is different from mine and yours, no matter how much you Influence her.

But you do Influence her more than you realize.

Anyway, I suppose it's time for you to go back and leave this meta-thing behind. This wasn't even part of the plan, you know, but you're all taxing the wall pretty heftily. You brought this on.

I await the day when you royally screw something up.

~~~

[CONNECTION REESTABLISHED]

∂ßå∫®´∑ˆ˙˜å´...iska held the spherical dice in her hand. "Are you sure this is it?" She asked, looking at it closely with her vision eightfold. She was a being known as a troll - humanoid, grey skin, dual candy-corn like horns that resembled a scorpion tail and claw. She was currently dressed in simple black clothing with a blue Scorpio symbol on her shirt, and somewhat large glasses on her face. Her eyes had one and seven pupils, respectively, and they were doing as much as they could to scrutinize the die.

"It is the infinite sided die. It can, theoretically, produce any result. When you roll it, anything can happen."

Vriska grinned. "This... Oh this is going to be great. Let's see what it does..." She tossed the die into the air, watching the faces shift and slide, changing over and over with impressive variation. It landed, a single face appearing on top. A large eye inside a magic starburst.

"What the-" The die began to glow. "...Fuck, this is going to go-"

~~~

Twilight took a step back - she had just SEEN something from somewhere else. What was-

"-badly." Vriska said as she appeared in the Altar, die at her feet. She looked at Twilight.

Twilight looked back.

Vriska looked at Ine.

Ine looked down at her.

Vriska's expression remained as flat and bewildered as possible for a long time.

Infinity stared at the die on the floor in fascination - that was definitely her cutie mark. What did it mean...?

Vriska cleared her throat. "If this has anything to do with that orange-skinned fucktard I'm going to flip off the handle."

"I... Doubt it does," Twilight said. "We brought you here..."

"Not what we were hoping for," Ine added.

Vriska found this amusing. "Story of my life! Plus, probably also my fault for rolling that dice without all the luck." She shrugged, picking it up and looking at it. "Such a powerful object..."

"What is it?" Infinity asked.

"The personification of infinite possibility. Roll it and literally anything could happen, but at complete random. That is, it would be random in the hands of most..."

"That's right, you have luck powers," Twilight said.

Vriska blinked. "...Wait how'd you know that?"

"Well..." Twilight tapped the Eye. "I'm in... contact? With a lot of beings from above and beyond. Some create universes, others are from other universes. We were trying to get the avatar of the creator of this universe here but... Well, we got you instead. Which, well, isn't bad. We knew that might happen."

Vriska raised an eyebrow. "You do realize this doesn't make you sound particularly nice, right little pony? You've basically kidnapped me! How dare you."

Twilight was so used to the crap given to her by the Influence she didn't care. "I dare because I was curious and didn't want to upset Four with the inclusion of a miniature robot bug with fluffy ears."

Ruby blinked. "Oracle, that is... rather sarcastic of you."

"Stop calling me the Oracle."

Vriska smirked. "You are now, and forevermore, the Oracle."

Twilight twitched. "My name is Twilight Sparkle."

"Scratch that, Sporacle. Much better name."

Twilight rolled her eyes. "Well then... You are exactly what they said you would be."

Vriska took eight eight-sided dice out of her pockets and twiddled with them in her fingers. "I don't know what you were expecting, some old wise sage?"

Ine started ignoring Vriska. "This was a waste of time." She said to Twilight.

"Hey! Sparky! Do I need to introduce you to the power of combat dice?"

Ine ignored her. "You should head to the next Altar, the one in the mountains, where Alderan is originally from."

"Hey! Purple-dude! I'm right here! Hellooo!"

"You can take your party and journey there. I can provide a much more manageable Ancient ship."

"Oh for the..." Vriska put a hand to her head and squinted her seven-pupil eye, absorbing some sort of light from Ine. She then rolled her eight sided dice - and a small laser pulse shot out and hit Ine.

Ine found no need to respond to this. "I believe-"

"DAMN LISTEN TO ME YOU LITERAL FART!" She put her hand to her head and forced her mind to connect to Ine. All this did was give Vriska a headache. "Ow..."

"Twilight, your new party member is becoming annoying. I suggest remedying it."

"Uh..." Twilight blinked. "I wasn't getting the impression she wanted to be part of the party."

Vriska managed to raise a hand through the pounding pain in her head. "I'm up for random adventure and crap. Just... Give me a sec. Gah..."

Twilight shrugged. "Uh... Well okay. I'm Twilight as you know, the 'literal fart' is Ine, the one staring at your die is Infinity, the dragon acolyte is Ruby, and that's Fluttershy over there."

"...What about the giant hulking mech behind you?"

"His name is Four." Twilight frowned. "You look more... human than I was expecting."

Vriska grumbled. "Funny."

"Uh... Well it's just when I thought 'alien' I imagined something more... alien."

Vriska rolled her eyes. "It was probably more amusing anyway. So, who wants to get me up to speed on this advneture!?"

"I gladly will," Twilight said, smiling. "You see-"

And then Alderan showed up in the room. "Ine! You are in danger!"

Ine paused. "...Alderan, we aren't on speaking terms."

"That doesn't matter! Something is after us! Proteus and Castorson have already been torn from their Altars by something! Surely you noticed that Proteus wasn't present when Twilight found his altar!"

"I did and was not worried. After all, you found a way to leave your Altar."

"Yeah, well, they've been taken. And I've traced the forces to here. It's after you next!"

Vriska grinned. "God-taking force? Sign me up! Where's the offending beast!?"

"Somewhere in the city-" Alederan blinked. "Hold on, who are you?"

"Marquese Spinarette Mindfang."

"Vriska. Ignore her," Ine said, "she's of no consequence."

"If you had a neck it would be gutted right now."

Alderan sighed. "Look, Ine, you're in danger."

"And now I'm aware something might be coming and I will take precautionary measures. I have already activated Estur's sentinels. I am in the most heavily defendable place in the entirety of the System. Nothing will get in without my say so."

Vriska and Infinity facepalmed.

Just like that, the far wall exploded. A graceful, pink unicorn as tall as Cadence stood before them, wearing nothing but a hat with three long, flowing fabric trails. Her eyes were closed...

...But a third eye made entirely of magic that matched the design on Twilight's chest floated an inch from her forehead, glowing with a bright pink energy. Everyone in the room suddenly felt like they had been watched all their lives. Two glowing balls of energy orbited her, one green, one black.

"Proteus... Castorson..." Alderan said, backing away. He then fled, vanishing.

Ine didn't waste any time - the security measures activated. Seven giant guns popped out of nearby walls and shot purple bursts of energy at her. She moved to dodge each and everyone with ease, moving through them like cut butter. She beelined for the altar.

"THREAT DETECTED!" Four announced, charging the unicorn. She levitated herself over his punch and landed square on his head, pushing him to the ground, hard, black energy shooting from the black orb, tearing a hole in one of his arms.

Vriska shrugged, turning to Twilight. "Bad guy?"

"BAD GUY!" Twilight yelled, firing off a magic bolt that hit the offending unicorn in the side. She opened her two real eyes for one moment, shock evident on them. She and Twilight made eye contact, and everything seemed to stop.

Then Vriska brought a sword down on the unicorn, and she closed her eyes again, leaping to the top of the sword and socking Vriska in the face. Vriska fell back. "Bitch!" She sucked the luck from the unicorn and rolled her dice. A dark ferret-dragon-spirit flew up from her set and attacked the unicorn - but the unicorn moved through IT like butter as well, despite the constant bombardment from the wall weapons as well.

"The... The what?!"

"She can see what you do before you do it!" Infinity yelled.

Ruby's eyes widened. "...The Oracle..."

Twilight turned to Ruby. "Ruby... Don't..."

Ruby abandoned Twilight and flew to the unicorn, landing by her side. The unicorn accepted her without a second thought, and they charged Vriska.

Vriska readied her sword and shifted her clothes - she wore brilliant yellow-orange robes with a sun imprinted on them, and a pair of wings flowing off her back. She absorbed the luck of Ruby - the dragon suddenly tripping over her own two feet. She then drove the sword down towards Ruby, only for the unicorn to kick Vriska in the side at just the right moment to save Ruby. "Aw dammit!" Vriska yelled as she hit the wall.

Infinity ran over to Vriska to help her - but she saw the infinite sided die laying on the ground. She couldn't resist - she grabbed it.

Meanwhile Twilight rushed the unicorn herself, firing magic blast after magic blast - that hit and hit again. The unicorn opened her eyes in disbelief again. This close, Twilight could see how young the red eyes were - but also how determined. She summoned a beam of her own magic to hit Twilight, coupled with a slight bit of black energy from the black sphere. Twilight found her wings frozen, forcing her to fall to the ground, allowing the unicorn to jump over her.

Four stood back up, raising his gun-fist. "TARGETING..."

Twilight stood up as well, ready to fire her own magic alongside Four's attack.

Ine's gun's focused as well.

Infinity threw the infinite side die at the unicorn...

...and she caught it.

She threw it down to the ground - it summoned a gigantic blob of jelly that encased Four, Twilight, Fluttershy, and Vriska.

Infinity ran towards the unicorn, preparing a magic spell, but she was stopped by Ruby, tripped to the ground. Ruby turned to the frozen form of Twilight. Then she turned to the unicorn and her third eye. "She sees the future," Ruby said. "Like an Oracle is supposed to."

The unicorn stepped into the altar, and opened all her eyes. She took in a deep breath. "I, Orchid, wish to meet with the spirit of this Altar!"

Ine paused. "What will that accompli-" And then Ine was instantly condensed to the size of a small orb, joining the green and black ones already orbiting Orchid. Her eyes flashed purple for a moment.

She took one confused look at Twilight - and then grabbed Ruby and Infinity. Then she used energy from the purple orb that Ine was now - and teleported away.

Twilight, Fluttershy, Four, and Vriska were still stuck in the blob of jelly, unable to move. Frozen for a long time...

~~~

...The blob of jelly disintegrated on its own several hours later.

"I AM GOING TO KILL THAT BITCH!" Vriska screamed. "Do you have any idea how HARD it is to get an infinite sided die? How illegal they are? How powerful I would have been with one? GAH!"

Twilight stared at where Infinity had been just a minute ago. "I... She's been captured..."

Fluttershy walked up to her. "We'll get them back Twilight."

"You're damn right we will! Them AND the die!" She drove her sword into a nearby metal wall. "You. Tell me about this adventure. And do it quickly."

Twilight filled Vriska in on the basics as they rode the elevator back up. Four was badly damaged, but alive. Fluttershy was scared and silent most of the time. There wasn't much joy in the tale. Vriska spent half the time listening, and the other half looking at the city she was rising out of with a look of respect.

Tears came to Twilight's eyes near the end of it. "And... They're taken now. By this... Orchid. Why would she do that?"

"No idea," Vriska said. "Probably less idea than you. But I'm going to find out. With or without the help of those voices in your Eye. Amazing how fast I can suddenly become invested in something..."

"I-I-I OF COURSE." Four said, voice glitching, and legs barely working.

"Four..." Fluttershy said. "Can you be fixed?"

"STATION ON-N-N SHIP. CONNECTION TO M-MOTHERBOARD D-DOWN."

"That's not good..." Twilight said.

Fluttershy gasped as they arrived at the hangar. "The... The ship!"

It was trashed - parts of Pilot and Seventeen could be seen strewn everywhere. All the smaller ships in the hangar had been blown up as well, destroyed with a zeal.

Orchid evidentially hadn't wanted them to leave.

"Smart. Dammit. Smart enemies suck." Vriska frowned. "We're going to need to play her to win, eventually."

"She's heading to Alderan's Altar," Twilight said. "...In the mountains..."

"How are we going to get there?" Fluttershy asked while Four cannibalized parts from Seventeen and Pilot for himself. Twilight tried not to watch. "We have no ships, and flying across that intense distance will take a long time - not to mention the heat of the desert..."

Twilight sat down, putting her head in her hooves. "I... I don't know. I just don't know. So much has just happened..."

"Everything went to shit," Vriska said. "It happens. Not the worst version of this I've seen, admittedly. But then again, universes blew up when it when to shit for me."

Twilight nodded. "...I think you're needed here."

"Bitch just got lucky," Vriska muttered. "Even if she can see the future - she won't be able to dodge forever."

"I'm... Still not sure what this means. I thought I was the Oracle? But - Ruby seems to think she fits the bill better..."

"Who's to say the hero of legends and prophecy is a good person?" Vriska said. "I'm using myself as an example here, in case you can't figure that out."

Fluttershy shook her head. "We... We need to think of something to do..." She looked up at the clear, white moon out the busted landing bay doors. "...Should we have gotten time powers?"

Vriska shrugged. "Time powers always screw with things in weird ways... Getting them causes more problems..." She fidgeted with her dice, biting her lip.

Twilight stepped outside, standing at the edge of the bay doors. She looked at the sand far below, and the magical lands of distortion to her right. The moon and Stars shone down on her.

She knew her journey wasn't over, and that it had just begun. But she wasn't sure what exactly it meant now...

...She looked into the Eye. "Got anything to say?"

It started glowing. She smiled - for once, she felt happy to know the Influence was calling. She sat down, ready.

Just before she received the import, she swore she saw something in a red cloak with ram horns...

[END OF PART 1]

Comments

[Ponygood11]

...fuck.

Ponygood speaking.

This is extremely worrying. I really want to break out in swears right now, but that won't be useful at all, so I'll try to stay calm. For both our sakes.

...okay. How do you combat something which sees the future? Well, the first option is to put her in a situation where no matter what she does, she will lose something. Like in chess, making a queen threaten two pieces, and the opponent only being able to save one. The second option is to overwhelm her so that she cannot predict everything. The third option is to set up a trap for her far enough into the future that she can't predict it. However, we don't know just how far her power extends, so I can't reliably give advice for that. The fourth option is to meet her and convince her to speak with you, then explain your side of the story and hope she listens. She was definitely surprised by your being there, but I can't determine the reason. The second and third options can go well together. And there might be someone, somewhere that is resistant to that power. Pinkie, perhaps?

Also, Twilight, see if you can study Orchid's magical eye when you get a chance, or go off of your memories, and try to replicate it. Having the ability to see through time would be very helpful.

So you gained one party member, yet lost two. Ruby seems to have joined Orchid willingly, but I hope Infinity can at least make their journey inconvenent. Also, if you can manage to get to an altar before Orchid, see if you can do the same thing she did, "collecting" one of the spirits. It would at least prevent her from collecting him/her herself, and I don't want to know what would happen if she got all of them.

See if Four can salvage anything from the city, to make a craft of some kind. Speed is essential, and he should focus on that more than anything else.

I'm going to see if I can link the prophecy to Orchid somehow. The first verse stays the same. The second verse explains her future-sight ability, but it doesn't explain "what cannot be known." The opposite applies to you. The third verse explains her aquisition of the spirits, and could mean that she uses them to purify herself. The fourth verse is still largely unknown. The fifth stays the same. Crazy thought: maybe both of you together are the Oracle?

I tried to look up information about Vriska, but her wiki page is a ranting, incoherent mess filled with terminology I don't want to have to learn. All we know is that she fights with dice, likes 8, can steal luck from people, and can manipulate minds.

To Vriska: Hi and welcome to the Influence. You're pretty much stuck here for the time being, but there are some mystical "Time Tunnels" that could help get you home somehow, if we knew their exact capabilities. Or maybe you could call your fellow Homestuck trolls and tell them you were torn from your world, if you want.

OH! Almost forgot. GM made a new story about something from the Everfree haunting Ponyville, before the Rainboom ever happened.

That's all for now.

[AkumaKami64]

Akumakami here: ....God damn. I'll make a deeper commentary on....everything that just happened. But.....in regards to the prophecy, this could mean a few things. One, its a Schrodinger situation in that you and Orchid both are and are not the Oracle- AKA, you're both canidates and either can fulfill it. Option two, one of you is the Dark Lord....it'd be funny if its you in a rather morbid way, but....well, that could mean "banishing you" would send you back to your own time and everything. And onto doors three and four? Either you are both the oracle or one of you is a fake, unintential or otherwise.

Again, I'll be back for more.

PS Not really the time, but to get this out of the way? You picked a Noble as an advisor- not great publicity with the common folks, but he has a way of finding money. And the complication.....Okay, Twilight, you have three options. The king that gave you the hold just wanted you to build it up and all. So, you have three options: Either the king himself is trying to take back the hold from you,(6 gold) the neighboring nations are with his permission,(10 gold) or both.(16 gold) Either way, the deck is stacked against you. You start out with Ten gold, btw, to spend on your followers, the complications give you more.

Now for your more personal perks: pick six numbers between one and eighteen.

[wizard0209]

josh here - wow so much just happed... i don't even know what advice i could give so instead i'll just make a few things clear, in the universes of homestuck there is a game, (okay it's not game more like the universes of homestuck way of preserving itself in the form of a game) the players are assigned an alignment and a class; for example Vriska is the Thief of light which is why she can steal luck for others, and Aradia (yes they are from the same universe) is the Maid of Time, also on the topic Aradia she has a red cloak and ram horns, sound familiar?

[Ponygood11]

Ponygood again.

I've taken a short walk, and that helped me to come up with a few more ideas.

One: Orchid and her party now has the Infinite-sided die. I don't think either her or Ruby can use it, however, since Vriska stole the luck from them. Infinity could still use it, though.

Two: I've read through this chapter again, and just realized you are somehow resistant to Orchid's prediction powers, so you might not need any Pinkie right away after all. Perhaps it is because she cannot predict us, and therfore the you that we have molded through our influence.

Three: It is possible that you and Orchid both are heading for Alderaan's altar. If that is the case, and assuming Four can create a vehicle faster than Orchid's, you will likely come across them. Perhaps Four should create the vehicle to be driven by you, to nullify Orchid's ability to predict it, allowing you to have a chance of passing her. Also, you should totally have a bomb of sorts to drop on their vehicle to hinder them qquite a bit and allow you to retrieve Infinity and Vriska's die.

Four: It might be a good idea to go to Motherboard and tell it that this pink unicorn named Orchid can see the future and is stealing the spirits from the altars. Not sure what that'd do, though.

Five: How big IS Four compared to you, anyway? I keep thinking of him towering over you, but I'm not sure that's accurate.

That's all for now.

PS: If you haven't realized it yet, GMBlackjack prefers to be known as GM as opposed to Blackjack.

[Keywii_Cookies55]

FOUR! Twilight, Four is suffering, you, y-you have to do something! You have to re-establish a connection to his motherboard! he, he...h-he...machines are like people, Twilight, and it might be too late for him. When computers are severed from their motherboard, they lose everything that makes them what they are. He's able to be recovered maybe, bu-but he might...

I, ah, I'm sorry, Twilight, that things ended up this way. That, that they fe-fell apart so badly. They...

Um, my, my son is...his name is Cartridge. He's a teenager now, and I'm lucky that he and I are friends. Lots of teenagers rebel against their parents. I don't know what I'd do if he fought me, I...well I'm happy he's grown up to be such a caring person.

...Twilight, I'm...I'm sorry I couldn't have voted for someone else. I was just scared. I...I don't handle sudden decisions very well. But if, ah, if, if I had more time, I would have told you to choose Evermore Pinkie. She's been through a lot...but, she's smart, and she's...no-not to be mean to Vri...to Vriska, but, I mean, Pinkie is your friend. Sh-she...she would want to help.

A-and even though Vriska asked you about the adventure, you two...I mean, you haven't really talked about each other yet. You don't, don't know anything about each other yet. You two should when you figure out how you're getting to the next altar to, to stop Orchid. And please, can Fluttershy sing to Four? It'll...it'll help soothe him...

Please Twilight, get help from some ponies, build an army, and...s-stop Orchid. I don't, I mean, I don't know what she needs the spir-spirits for, but I don't like the idea of her having all of them means. You...you and Fluttershy and Vriska need to...to all become comfortable with each other if you'll, if you're going to be working together.

Is...I mean, can you use the altar again? To-to call for more friends? Are you able to do that?

[Ponygood11]

8319984
She can only use each altar once.

[Keywii_Cookies55]

8319993
O-okay, I'm sorry.

[Ponygood11]

8319996
You don't have to apologize for lack of knowledge. In fact, you don't have to apologize for anything... but you can if you want.

[wizard0209]

8319984 Josh here - Creek, none of us could of saw that coming, it didn't matter who you voted for since it came down to Mite and Vriska anyway, but if i'm right you got the person you voted for anyway some how

[Ponygood11]

Ponygood again.

There was a section of this story in which GM was speaking to us directly, and I'm not sure if you heard it. So, I'm going to copy everything he said into here.

Oh.

Well look what you did.

You forced it to establish a connection.

I guess not all of you did this - but even if the Mite had won the same thing would have happened. So yeah, your fault. All this talk of other worlds...

Oh, yeah, don't think I'm a part of this story. I'm the author. I do prefer to be called GM rather than Blackjack, for your information. Do with this tidbit what you will.

Anyway... The Eye is going to do something weird momentarily. We're cutting through space here.

Oh, also, if it wasn't clear, you're not cheating the system. My self-insert is already present in that world, no need for two.

Now the fun part you wonder - did I bend Twilight's choice towards best troll based on my own desires? No, actually - I was prepared to choose whatever you all voted on. It just so happened that there was a tie, and I left it up to Twilight herself. She chose. You could say that choice was mine - but her psyche is different from mine and yours, no matter how much you Influence her.

But you do Influence her more than you realize.

Anyway, I suppose it's time for you to go back and leave this meta-thing behind. This wasn't even part of the plan, you know, but you're all taxing the wall pretty heftily. You brought this on.

I await the day when you royally screw something up.

I think Infinity is the self-insert character. Also, GM, you didn't do your little "GM, master of blah" thing unique to all your comments. You probaly have a reason for it, since you're the master of making huge Homestucky storylines where everything just happens to work out.

Also, Twilight, try to see if you can connect to the moon, or move it. Something, anything that would alert Luna to you and allow you to communicate. For all we know, she'll turn Nightmare the very next day, which means time is of the essence.

[AkumaKami64]

AK: Okay, back for a bit more.

RoC: I'm not sure what's more annoying: Influlight's lack of reaction to me or the obvious back stab by the dragon Templar.

AK: In fairness, she's had plenty of fair warning up to now, and this is post alicorn Twilight, so less and lesschance to her being a Celestia-zealot version of herself.

RoC: Which is half of actually why I'm not friends with your counterparts just yet. They're still working ut that I'm not as bad as Celestia made me out to be.

AK: Yeah, turns out that Reign only has issues with Celestia and Luna.

RoC: They broke a bargain with me. It was a generous one too!

AK: Sadly, he's not lying. He basically leant them a large amount of power in exchange for aiding in finding and releasing an associate of his.

RoC: Which is the biggest difference between your world and mine: We have more gods. The age before Equestria involved many Pantheons puppeting various lands and nations in a mix of proxy and direct wars. Though, a lot of them disbanded, went underground, or otherwise took a break after I got turned to stone.

AK: Seeing the top dog go down does make one pause and think.

RoC: Quite right. Now, Twilight, as the God-King of Chaos, I'd recommend figuring out who this Dark Lord. Chances are, they will use your presence to paint YOU as the dark lord. Assuming you're technically not. As for you, Fluttershy, don't worry, my Fluttershy....Reignshy? Flutterreign? Flutterreign seems a bit relieved I'm more forgiving than expected. She'll probably warm up to me over the community service- yes, I have the Reign Mane Six doing a month's worth of community service off.

AK: Don't ask, he's playing the Manipulative Bastard angle up. Now, I do have one other person for you to meet today.

Roc: Gag. I'm jumping ship now.

AK: Of course you are. Now, here you are, Milady.

Pamphile: Charmed, Author. Hello, Princess Twilight , Alicorn of Friendship. I'm Twilight Sparkle, Lady of the Realm and Alicorn of Harmony.

AK: It is so weird yet impressive how well you can pull off a Celestia Smile.

Pamphile: Thank you, Akuma. I'd introduce you to Harmony here-

Akuma: Sh'es tapping the regalia thing on her neck, which has al lthe elemnts on it.

Pamphile: -but they can only speak through glowing different elements to convey different things. So, they're a bit let down by this text interface. I'm sure you're wondering how I managed to become an alicorn all on my own and right at the start. In truth, I don't know. Despite them wanting to help, I managed to get into the Everfree without anypony following. And when I faced Nightmare Moon....it was like finding my cutie mark all over again. I felt...a natural, wonderful connection, both to the principle of harmony and to everyone. Hence Pamphile, friend to all.

AK: My best explaination is that she's the you that has an even stronger natural inclination to friendship and harmony. Combine that with the Elements of Harmony and her ephinany on the friendship of Harmony....I think you get the picture.

Pamphile: I believe she does, yes. In truth, I'm a lot like you still, but with a few difference. Some I can't help being a bit jealous of. While I am friends with Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Applejack I'm not as close to them as you are. Though, I did avoid losing contact with my canterlot friends. Moon Dancer was very understanding of the whole "Had to save the world and become an alicorn" thing. At least in it being why I had to miss her party.

AK: Also, after her paents got done cheering for her, her father is now convinced that she and Shining are trying to one-up each other, while
her mother demanded all the details for book inspiration.

Pamphile: That's another difference. Though, I believe you did this as well, but nopony brings it up: Everyone can't help commenting on how I'm like out of fairy tale, especially when I "played chicken" with Nightmare Moon.

AK: You are both very badass for that- also stupid or brave.

Pamphile: Anyway, enough about me. You seem to be in a predicament, but I can't help noticing something. This Orchid didn't throw the first attack, beyond taking out the wall. And she as surprised to see you. Call me optimistic, but you might actually just be having a misunderstand with this Orchid. If she is or believes she is the Oracle, she believes she is doing the right thing. And she's obviously not trying to kill you. Perhaps, jst perhaps, she can be reasoned with. Or, at the very the least, prompted to tell you her side of these events in exchange for yours.

AK: Its also possible that Orchid is misinformed, believing that the Ancients are evil due to their stuff attacking cities and everything. Anyway, I believe we've taken up enough time. Anything else, Pamphile?

Pamphile: No, but she should help Four if possible. Or put him into...what did you call it?

AK: Recovery Mode.

Pamphile: Yes, that. Well, if you have aany questions for me or Reign, feel free to ask. Though, I'm sure you'll be hearing from Rewrite soon.

PS (whisper) Pamphile is wise, but she's also naïve....or innocent, at least. She doesn't get Innuendos at all.

PAmphile: What was that, Author?

AK Nothing, nothing.

[Sonic Rainboom Dash]

*twilight suddenly felt as if the infinite sided die was rolled again and spawned a small, immortal, annoying blue fairy that could only say "Hey Listen!"*

[wizard0209]

8320359 we've been over this, why are you still trying to make things happen like this?

[Ponygood11]

I would just like to make one thing clear to everyone who might not have realized this yet: Orchid could not predict Twilight's actions. That is why she was surprised and interested in Twilight.

[wizard0209]

8320423 Josh here - yeah i think all got that ponygood, mentioning it once was enough

[GamermanZendrelax]

This is Zen.

I do have one thing to add to the myriad suggestions: you need to plan out where you're going after the next altar. If you can get to Alderan's altar before Orchid and Ruby, you should be able to ask about the locations of the other altars. You may be able to get ahead of them.

Additionally, to my fellow members of the Influence, we should try to speculate on potential allies who might be immune to Orchid's power. The only candidate I can think of is the protagonist of Background Pony, Lyra Heartstrings, but she is bound geographically.

[Ponygood11]

8320574
Motherboard told Twilight where all the altars were. Once of them was in the frozen south, one in the city, and one in the southern archipelago.

I stand by my choice of Mite, if only as a stepping stone for the Destroyer of Worlds. Don't worry: despite the name, this Destroyer only exists in its universe as a stepping stone to fight more powerful creatures.

But if you want someone resistant to prediction, I'd suggest any Pinkie Pie, especially Evermore Pinkie.

You might not need a prediction resistant person, though, just someone that can put Orchid in checkmate, if you know what I mean.

[GamermanZendrelax]

8320604
This is Zen.

Ah, I had forgotten. Then it is necessary to plan out the most time-efficient route between the altars—once a mode of transport can be arranged, at least. Speed is paramount.

While I will concede that it isn't entirely required that new allies be resistant for them to be effective against Orchid, I do think that it would be useful.

[Sonic Rainboom Dash]

8320377
it's not going to happen to twilight this time.
plus it would be a nice distraction for twilight and the gang to manage to get past orchid without stopping to fight her again.

[wizard0209]

8321101 we influence Twilight and Twilight alone you're just going to make her paranoid about that

[Ponygood11]

8321922
Do you DENY the beauty that is annoying useless flying minions? You ought to be ASHAMED of yourself, you heretic-face!

[wizard0209]

8321926 what the fuck are you talking about

[Ponygood11]

8321935
Your undoubtedly heretical face, obviously.

Begon, lest we call upon the wrath of our lord and saviour Butt the Cloud, god of being annoying and useless! All hail Butt the Cloud!

[nickle241]

nickel again, i could be wrong but unlike what creek said i don't think four's problem is related to the lost connection but rather physical damage since most machines can work in offline mode with minimal loss of capability. well it looks like we or maybe you managed to break the interface and it actually gave us a direct response from blackjack, i suggest not trying anything like that again, the hole is a bad enough relay already and if you manage to break what little connection i have then it might not come back. anyway i really cant be of much use this time, but i can answer the thing about alignments. i gave the wrong term but it makes little difference, their system breaks out into class and aspect, classes are things like seer, heir, mage or rouge and many others that define how the aspect manifests and the twelve known aspects are time, space, void, light, mind, heart, rage, hope, doom, life, blood and breath. the aspects define the "element" so to speak, that their class draws from. there will always be players with the aspects of time and space within a group in the homestuck universe and the rest are mostly optional and can be interchanged to fit the group, there was one exception but it only occurred due to there already being an older group still around. oh and it should be mentioned that the full capabilities of many of these are unknown since their bearers played either a role that didn't use it or died before they had a chance. if you want to learn anything specific about that universe then you can ask vriska, but as you have already seen she may be... difficult to say the least. i don't know if the infinity sided die is native to homestuck, but the only such artifact coming to mind is problematic... if its the same one i'm thinking of and likely even if its a different one then you need to get that back and lock it away, it has capacity and behavior about even with pre-reform discord on a vengeance spree while dealing with the aftereffects of whatever it would take to get him drunk.

[Owleero]

…This is odd. Anyways, Owleero here. Wow, Ruby, you are an ass. Also, does anyone else see the parallels between the Spirits and the Elements of Harmony? Or is it just me?

[Ponygood11]

8356047
Owleero! Welcome to this crazy mess.

There are similarities, I give them that, but they definitely won't be entirely similar. Keeping in mind the prophecy, I hypothesize that either Twilight and/or Orchid will find some building, ritual, etc. that absorbs their party members/spirits into them, to maybe achieve the power overwhelming. And we still don't know which one's the real oracle!

I dunno, it's a mysterious prophecy, which is garunteed to be mysterious. What a mystery!

[DeadLyokoBrony]

Hello my name is DeadLyokoBrony but call me DLB, luck maybe on your side, and the battle will be quite the challenge.