VI
Twilight regained control of everything - and had a panic attack. The entity was standing right in front of her, as if it was curious.
"You all seem to have a serious case of mistaken identity."
"Uh..." Twilight said.
"Disappointing. While this 'primary' is fascinating, I was hoping my efforts would find something more... knowledgeable."
"Your... Efforts?"
"I am curious if any of you would bother to explain the name 'Sweeper' at a later date. Prove yourselves at least somewhat worthwhile.
"Why do you want to know?"
"I'd appreciate it if you didn't kill your vessel. More time is all you need."
"Would you at least respond to me!?" Twilight screamed.
The entity floated away from her. "You are The Influence, but you woefully misunderstand your own nature. Maybe with time you will mature, and take the place you were meant to."
Twilight gritted her teeth. "I am Twilight Sparkle and you are in my dream - the least you could do is respond!"
The aura became shrouded in a torrent of sand. The entire dream soon became nothing but a super dense sandstorm - and Twilight could feel herself waking up. "Oh come on!"
She sat bolt upright in her bed - it was early morning. The sun hadn't even crested the horizon. She sighed, rubbing her temples... It was probably time to go over what they had said. ...She supposed they were The Influence, if what the entity said was anything to go by. Zen was apparently the only one who was right about the entity - it had been addressing them. The rest had thought it was some avatar of the primary or talking to him... What did it mean?
It meant they were all confused - her, the Influence, all of them. They were trying to figure it out just as much as she was. She was going to go look at the edge of town after talking with Diorite and some elders... To see if she did find anything. Though... "Egghead of Ponyville? Really? You couldn't think of a different title?"
She took a moment to think about Key - he was making her nervous. He seemed wrong, so wrong, about everything, but he seemed so terrified. "You... Key, I'm sorry, but you've said lots of things that don't seem to matter or make sense. Could you... Calm down and try to explain why you're so agitated in such a way that me and the others can understand? Just... Here's some advice, take some deep breaths, count to ten, and think. I know you have time to think about what you're going to say, to make use of it. Please just... I want to know what's gotten you all scared. Because it's scaring me. And something tells me that isn't good."
"And as for those of you who are deliberately trying to freak me out... What's the point of that? Why give me songs? Why try to upload things into my brain? Why talk about food? What is the point?" She shook her head. "I just... I'm trying to figure my way out of this. Zen, Duke? Thanks. You too Akumakuma, even if you are a little weird. Nice to have some people I can trust."
She got out of bed. "Okay... Talk to Diorite... Talk to some elders... then go check out the forest and maybe get Prancey those plants. And..." She paused for a moment, turning to look at the place the sun should rise any minute. Could... Could she contact Celestia through it? She was an alicorn after all...
She took a deep breath. She didn't have the power of four alicorns in her anymore... But she would try. She spread her wings and lit her horn with intense magics. She forged a connection to the sun and strained herself. She wasn't anywhere near powerful enough to fully raise the sun into the sky - but she moved it above the horizon. She probably freaked a few ponies out by doing it a little earlier than expected, but it did move.
Then something moved it back.
Twilight smiled. Celestia. Now... ...How was she going to communicate by moving the sun? She didn't have enough power to draw pictures with it... She would try Moose code. She shifted the sun back and forth four times - but she quickly realized she didn't have enough power for this. It was... far, far too much of a tax on her. She stopped, letting out a breath. Then she walked down the stairs and out into the town.
The town was in a mild panic, scurrying left and right, holding their heads and yelling.
Diorite was up in the air, waving his arms. "Now now, calm down... The sun has stopped moving. Everything's back to normal. There's nothing to worry about."
Twilight gulped. Oh...
Feckless screamed. "WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE!"
Diorite facepalmed. "Feckless, you know you have to keep your citizens calm right?"
"But what if I'm not calm!?"
"Oh for the..." Diorite sighed. "You know what, I'm just going to let them panic until they all get too tired to continue. Hello Twilight, sorry about this, a cosmological trouble has scared the ponies."
"I... noticed," Twilight said, looking a bit sheepish.
Diorite narrowed his eyes a little, as if he saw something in her face, but shook his head. "Anyway, what is it you wish to know?"
"You... Well a few things actually, but first off, what kind of dragon are you? You look different from the ones I know."
"Lung," Diorite answered, "there are many dragon tribes, ranging from the common, to the amphithere, to those mysterious sky serpents. Some of us even have feathers. But we're all big lizards. Your turn - what are alicorns like?"
"Oh, uh, we're a rare breed - I only know of five, myself included - and we're essentially a combination of all three pony races. We have internal unicorn, pegasus, and earth pony magic. Admittedly I've only really used my unicorn aspect to any significant degree, but I've been working on the other two."
Diorite nodded. "Did you get a cloak yet?"
"Oh! No." She looked down at the Witch's Eye. "...Forgot about that." She looked at her wings. "...That's going to make flying even more annoying. The Witch's Eye is a little heavy."
"...The Witch's Eye?"
"It's what I call this thing." She tapped the artifact. "Not sure if that's its real name, but I have to call it something, you know?"
"Ah. I can direct you to the tailor - an old mare by the name of Malty - though you may wish to wait until the chaos has died down."
"Guess I'll get it when I get back from the forest..."
Diorite blinked. "...Heading into the Bluemish?"
"I feel like there's probably something in there." She looked around at the stressed ponies. "...I suppose asking an elder about things is pointless now..."
"I'm over a hundred years old."
"Oh, right, sorry. Er, have you heard of a creature called Discord?"
Diorite nodded slowly. "Indeed I have. The reign of weirdness extended to your lands as well?"
"Yeah, actually," Twilight confirmed. "But that was a long time ago..."
"Indeed it was. It was from the ashes of that apparently worldwide terror that Peran was formed. The weirdness forced dragons and ponies to put aside their differences. In much... we have to thank him."
"Nothing more recent though?" Twilight asked.
"No. He just showed up one day, threw everything into chaos, and then vanished without a trace."
Twilight nodded. "He's in Equestria now, if you're curious. Not changing the world into chaos or anything - just living among us. Though to be perfectly honest he is a little annoying."
Diorite blinked slowly. "...Interesting."
Twilight shrugged. "It is, I suppose. Now, uh, excuse me, I'm going to walk around the edge of town because... reasons."
"Suit yourself."
Twilight walked around the edge of town, looking for anything that Akumakami had suggested - there were no swords, ravens, apple trees, or timberwolves. Twilight shrugged. "Well, there's your answer. Doesn't look like you can change much. It would've been nice if you figured that out though, I could really go for a 'Twilight Sparkle finds herself back in Ponyville without explanation' right about now." She frowned, looking towards the Bluemish. She spread her wings and took off into the air - it wasn't much harder to fly, though the Witch's Eye was rather heavy. She flew over the grass and into the woods.
She stopped just inside the treeline, looking around, nodding to herself. There were a few of the glowing blue flowers, but otherwise, all she could see was densely packed green trees. They were the greenest trees she had ever seen - the leaves were a deep green, the trunks were even darker, and the few that were flowering had lighter green buds. She saw no bugs, animals, or anything - just the plants.
She sensed some kinds of odd magic in the place, but there was no path or trail to follow. She shivered - creepy forest indeed. She took a breath and set out.
Three minutes later the Witch's Eye started glowing again. She softly sat down and entered a safe meditation pose...
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I'M NOT WRONG I- ...okay, okay, taking your advice here, I took a moment to breathe, it did help, so thank you. So as far as explanations go, I was vague before because the Sweeper, or the entity, or Blackjack or whatever else you want to call it would have found out, but since it does anyway, there's no reason to keep anything from you anymore. I'm an employee of a company called Recursive. We were founded specifically because of the Sweeper and his destructive capabilities. We have been actively working against it for a long time now. These new voices aren't as familiar with it as I or the others in my company are. Luke knows it better than I do, but he's the only one here who does. Now I won't pretend to understand the world you're currently in, which is why I haven't really made comments about it in full, but what I do know is that The Sweeper is in charge, what it wants to happen happens, and we're unable to stop it, we do mitigate it as much as we can though. And the truth of the matter is...well, you're part of a story it's weaving. DO NOT START HYPERVENTILATING I SWEAR TO HUMANITY YOU BETTER STAY CALM! I...okay, sorry, I have anger episodes, as you know. Right, well existentialism aside, of which you don't have to worry, you're very much alive and the same as you've always been. But the Sweeper takes ponies, much like yourself, from their homes and starts a story, much like the one you've become a part of where you go somewhere new and do whatever it deems necessary until a set 'end point' where...the story is over. And once the story is over, my company believes fully that you will cease to exist. My job here was originally to make sure that different voices, or different people would continue to read and observe in the hopes of keeping interest in your life high enough that the Sweeper doesn't make the end point come before you get back home. I'm sorry I've been making you so scared, but as you can see, it's pretty heavy stuff, and plus everyone here has done nothing but bash me just for doing my job to keep them around so that you can be safe. It's...trying, to say the least, and, admittedly, not the first time this has happened. There's one more thing before I go, something I can't tell you for your own sanity's sake yet, but...if you want to hear it later, I can tell you. Please be safe, I'm counting on you to remain interesting.
Twilight. Afizah here. Sorry for unnerving you but having as much knowledge as I do it's hard not to share it. The scholar's tree I mentioned is just me trying to add a small goal for you to find. I will say that the line about me making a universe about you is true. And although the creature you met in the dream, while different from what I've seen, did cause my sister to go mad and she has been trying to find a way out of her reality. Yours is just the closest escape point.
Twinkle Twinkle little star, how I wonder where you'll fall~ In a ditch is where you'll lay,
as your life force fades away~ HAHAHA! I'm going to find you and nothing's going to stop me.
Akumakami is back!.....We humans have ancient quote, that truest Harmony arises from Discord. I wonder if Discord ever realized the irony that his reigns of chaos actually helped creatures get along after the fact. Nothing unites others and wash away old grudges than a new, bigger enemy. Hehe, might be something to annoy him with when you get back.
Still, Diorite is a Lung, good to know. I wonder how much of what we know about them applies to your world's version. I'll look into that later. Though, it sounds like Discord might not be a Lungma- that or Diorite is unaware of the fact. With Discord, any answer is viable.
Sorry, I actually thought that if any of them worked, Egghead would have. Regrettably none of them did, and sending yo back to Ponyville definitely wouldn't have. Still, yes, it appears only the subtle, smaller stuff sticks- that or the bigger things don't apparent until later. Damn, was hoping to see where the White Timber thing would go.
As for why the others were freaked out, assuming they weren't just trying to screw with you, I think- and don't quote me here- that some of them have seen some of Blackjack's other works and associated your dream friend with something from there. I believe he's harmless, personally, but he also annoyed me with that old cliché pointing out that we "misunderstand our nature". We didn't exactly get a manual for this with a list of rules about what we can and can't do. Yes, that's part of the fun and experience but its a "Yes, we know this- do you have anything to contribute or just commentary on my lack of process?"
As for your current predicament......Are you sure those blue flowers weren't Poison Joke? First thing that came to mind. As for the creepy forest, we wee expecting it in all honesty. Every country has a creepy forest- you LIVE next to one. Don't got much advice to offer, I'm afraid. At this point you're just as likely to find a mysterious cave as you are to find the Peran version of Fluttershy or Zecora- Friend-to-the-animal-type or Wise-Hermit-Shamare type, neither of which would be necessarially friendly/helpful to you
Wait.....I just realized something. That spell you used to summon Discord during the Plunderseed thing? Can you do that still? Or at least try to get Discord's attention? I know, maybe not your preferred source of help, but something to consider trying- though, maybe save it for when you're trapped or alone. Your....Okay, I'll take some credit, OUR little stunt with the sun already has the locals a bit stirred up.
Speaking of which, didn't get any feeling of which direction home might be from that? Regardless, you at least got Celestia's attention. If they didn't know you were gone, they soon. Hmm...might try to stop the sun from rising or setting for a few seconds in a day or so. If yo can'tfigure out which way Celestia is by her link to the sun, she might be able to sense where somepony is while messing with her sun now that she's keeping an eye out for such things.
Hope your forest adventure goes well......and if a White Timberwolf does show up, I do hope its friendly.
Just in case.
AK Out!
PS I take weirdness as a badge of honor!(salutes) But I'm happy to help all the same.
PPS Fun fact, this isn't a translation spell, so we more or less speak the same language. I did a little research for the meaning of Peran. Only thing I can find is an old greek root for "beyond" or "over", Tamil for Grandson, Irish for Prayer, and Indonesian for Actor. My bet is on the first one. Just mentioning this as it might be important later.
Josh here - guys i think the way we influence things is by being subtle, like when i said "Twilight should go to the town to find an inn" the first pony she ran into toke her to the inn; i know that's circumstantial evidence at best, but i think it's worth a shot, and the ones that are messing with you are doing it because they think it's funny i know that doesn't make any sense to you, but that's just the kind of world we live in
P.S. we seem to be hearing your thoughts so if you need to say something to us while you are in public you can take advantage of that.
okay, so I've more or less stopped listening to what the others are saying at this point. it is an odd choice for an origin to open a young world to the influence of others like this. i have considered it for my own as a measure to cure its degradation but the results would be too inconsistent. it is probably best if you disregard the ones being argumentative or negative, they either wont matter much due to the limitations of our influence or they will be prophetic and nothing you do will be sufficient to prepare, it all depends on the whims of your origin and i can make no guesses at what they are attempting with your world. if this were my world by now I probably would have dropped in a guardian or equivalent to keep things in check, heck you probably would have become one of them with all the powers that entails, but your origin likely has no direct equivalent nor desire to take that option. on a side note, if you need information you can try ask us, your world is presented as a progressive event log to us so we can add our input between entries. while what we have to say may not be necessarily fully accurate to your world, we collectively have access to an information archive far larger than the canterlot archives covering countless worlds and situations so we may be able to find trends and frequent variations to give a better idea of what to expect.
Afizah here. I have found some more information about the artifact you're wearing. it was made by the witches of old as a form of protection. it can protect you from harm to a certain degree, as well as let us talk to you and warn you of encroaching dangers, I think. it also lets you see when somepony is about to die. Regrettably, it also comes with some downsides. if you interfere with the death of one pony, another will take their place. if it is ever removed, whether by you or an external force, it will kill you. it has embedded itself so dangerously close to your heart that you will be dead before you can even scream. I'm going to look for a way to remove the eye without it killing you, but I don't think I will have anything on how to do so until the next time we are summoned. I don't know if the eye will allow you to summon any of us individually, but I will at least try to get the info to you A.S.A.P.
ps. my sister was once like you Twilight. Kind, knowledgeable, friendly, and a little mischievous. but ever since she ran into a creature like the one from your dream, she went mad. I have been trying to keep her contained to our reality but she has slowly been forcing herself through the cracks. So I should warn you that Eris is- *Crash* What the- How did you get- *metal scraping* W-What are you doing with that pipe?! *Smash* *thud* *groans*...................Night-Night~ little sister, HAHAHAHA.
This is Zen.
I maintain that we cannot alter reality, and that the only ability as the Influence is to, well, influence you, Twilight. Josh raises an interesting point, but that has simpler explanations—Prancey was trying to "get with" you, as it were. It isn't entirely impossible, but as far as I can see it the only means we have by which we can influence events is through our "vessel." Any insinuations to the nature of the present circumstances have been vague enough to include that explanation, so I'm not going to move on this point until we have demonstrable evidence to the contrary.
Now, absent any other new information, I shall attempt to parse what the entity from your dream said. Its first comment, after the eye's episode, seems to confirm that it is wholly distinct from Blackjack. Furthermore, its next comment suggests that it is in some way related to the process that created your present circumstance. It seemed to be centered around the image of your Cutie Mark, yes? Correct me if I'm wrong, but is your Cutie Mark not reminiscent of the form of the Tree of Harmony? With that in mind, it may well be that you have been brought here to serve some greater purpose. Exactly what, I couldn't say—and, indeed, I'm not prepared to outright claim that's what's going on. Certainly, that this entity was more concerned with our understanding of the situation of the situation than ours throws such a simple explanation as that. Not enough to draw any definite conclusions from, but a lot to think about.
As a side note, and I can't believe no one involved in any of this hasn't brought this up, when you get back to town you should try and get your hooves on a map.
Aw! I missed the fun last time because my connection was down. To answer your previous question that I totally missed, I, the frog, am female. As for what you should do? Not a notion. I'm not going to have anything bad that happens to you on my shoulders. I suppose you could say that I'm a little shy about that. I would feel tremendously awful if something happened to you based on my suggestion. Then again, everyone else is suggesting stupid things or yelling at you. Sure, what harm? I get the feeling that the thing which moved the Sun back wasn't Celestia. Wouldn't she know something was up straight away? I don't understand how magic works (Frogs/humans don't have it, as you know), but probably she could like, detect you on it or something? Also maybe don't do that again; Diorite definitely suspected you.
Twilight don't let anybody find out that you can control the sun! I don't think they would take it very well.
Hello, Twilight. My name is Ponygood, and, for the purposes of future interactions, I am an Apache attack helicopter. I don't feel like finding out what an Apache is, but I do know that a helicopter is a vehicle that allows us humans to fly. Actually, I have an idea. Can you see a picture here? If not, can you imagine accessing this weird phrase somehow? military-today.com/helicopters/boeing_ah_64a_apache.jpg
First, I'm so sorry that apparently all of us like to say sooo much whenever we speak, as I can imagine it confuses you quite a bit.
Second, I think that I have the PERFECT way to describe exactly what situation you are in and how it relates to us using terms you'd understand, but I'm not sure the one named Blackjack would allow that.
Third, I will give you some advice. Don't EVER say anything along the lines of "What could go wrong?" or "This'll be easy!" The universe WILL find some way to royally screw you over. Also, if you find any random chests during your adventures, be wary: it could be a hungry monster known as a "mimic." Also, if you manage to slay whatever monsters that seek to kill you, as opposed to avoiding them, they might poof into valuable objects or equipment.
Fourth, I am now going to attempt to alter your reality. *Ahem* In your travels through this forest, you will fall into a hole that has giant fluffy Twilight-shaped pillows at the bottom. That hole will lead you along a hallway, which leads to a small room with five artifacts: a simple ring which disguises you as whatever you need to be, a finely-crafted bow made made of fire with an infinite arrow pouch, a light cloth outfit enchanted to look cool and decrease the severity of injuries inflicted on you, a device that will painlessly enter your brain and allow you to listen to our sweet music, and a sentient cloud called Butt that flies around your head constantly yelling "Hey, listen!" It is possible for you to only choose two, but I really hope you choose the music device.
Fifth, I feel like you should be wary of this island. If one of us really did decide to create things at the edge of your vision that could very well be stalking you, then it is safe to assume that other undesirable things might into being. I would suggest you prepare to defend yourself and potentially kill, lest your death end up fulfilling some stupid doomsday prophecy or forever separating you from your friends.
Sixth, I must admit that, as much as I want you to succeed, I also want to endanger you, even if to force you to adapt to this new, potentially hostile environment and build character. As such, I predict that, come nightfall, a very weak evil being will come to haunt you. You won't be in much danger; it will be just dangerous enough to cause you to react and grow, but not so dangerous that you'd have permenant harm done to you. Of course, there is the possibility that permenant harm is just what you need to motivate you.
I am not trying to scare you, please don't think I'm out to see you suffer like others of us. Just know that everything I do will ultimately be to your benefit, unless it's something that's deliberately useless for our own enjoyment. (I.e, Butt the cloud.)
This is Light, I won't be able to speak with you for some time as Dark as has done something. I'm not sure how long it will take me to be able to message you again but until then this is my last message. By now your mind should be adapted to receive such a large amount of information but on the off chance it isn't then... Oh well but know this that Dark will try to corrupt you so you must keep your mind in check because corrupting others is one of Darks many many talents. This is goodbye for now. P.S you should learn to mask your emotions especially when around the old.
8128744
I know I have nothing to say anymore, but I too did a little digging, and, indeed,
περαν/περην (Hom./Hdt.)
(as adv.) on the other side; (with verbs of motion) to the other side; over (often + εις/ες + acc.)
+ gen. 1. on the other side of, over
2. further than
Anyway,
That’s all I have to say.