Pony-Me™

by TheMajorTechie

A brief glimpse is all it takes,

Author's Note:

Welp. It's been a little while. Time to get back into the hang of things. I've got a pretty good idea of what the next few chapters are gonna be.

Anyways, this story arc's gonna be wrapping up soon, with a new one hopefully coming 'round in the next few chapters.

And watch out for the first of the three possible endings to this story, too.

"Twilight?" Timothy's voice echoed through the empty streets, "Twi-light! Come on, we've got a meeting soon!"

Lisa groaned, bringing a hand to her head as she woke. "Ugh..." She began, "Spike? Is that you?" She leaned back on the siding for another moment before standing. "Alright, I'm awake."

"Come on, Twi!" The boy whined, tugging at Lisa's arm, "We're gonna be late if we don't hurry!"

Lisa took a lazy step forwards, swaying on her feet as she struggled to regain her balance. The sky had long-since grown dark, the looming buildings casting towering silhouettes into the night sky.

Timothy grabbed Lisa by the shoulder, the girl still blinking the drowsiness from her eyes. "C'mon." The boy mused, "Even I don't get this tired from this kinda stuff, Twilight."

"Fine, fine." The girl huffed, straightening out her clothes, "What time is it, anyways?"

Timothy shrugged gesturing towards the City Hall. "It doesn't really matter right now. C'mon, before we're late!"

---

An idle murmur filled the room as dozens of volunteers, workers, and officials filed in once more. Once again, Daalmans stood center-stage, her unwavering eyes focusing on each person who entered, one-by-one.

The woman cleared her throat and pulled a sheet off the lectern as the last person sat. "As you may know already," She began slowly, glancing down for a moment before returning her focus to the audience, "our local sustenance sector has been working hard to not only re-establish a reliable connection to the broader world, but to also develop a stockpile of edibles and other necessities in the case of another disconnect."

A wave of nods rolled over the crowd. "Now then," Daalmans continued, glancing to the paper for another moment, "for those of whom who haven't yet met the man, allow me to introduce Professor Argall, a man who dedicated much of his time to these simulations that you all enjoy."

Daalmans nodded to some unseen figure behind the curtain and stepped back. In return, a lanky man with a greying beard strode across the stage, stopping at the lectern with a warm smile.

Lisa's eyes widened as the professor she saw in her dream stood before the crowd.

"Um..." The professor began, his smile fading as his eyes shrunk to pinpricks, "...hi? I'm Yazhu Argall, or Professor Argall, as you all currently know me as." His gaze wandered over the crowd, settling upon Lisa and Timothy as his smile returned.

"Well then." The man continued, regaining his composure, "Continuing on. As I've said before, I am Professor Argall. I've spent years studying in the fields of virtual reality and artificial intelligence. Many years ago, before some of you here were even born yet, I, along with my colleagues, began working on a new project. A different type of project, so to say. Rather than to develop yet another AI-based cybersecurity tool or create the next big game, we pooled our resources and began opening tutoring classes to the public. Why, you may ask, when our skills alone could do so much for the world? Simple, I would reply; The future."

Professor Argall paused, shooting a friendly glance towards Lisa. "What we didn't expect, however," He continued as he turned back to the larger audience, "was for our project to develop into an international collaboration to bring together the most aspiring of students. On top of that, we certainly didn't expect for those very same students to play a leading role in the creation of the very simulations that we now enjoy."

"What about the disconnect?" A voice yelled over the crowd, "What do you have in mind to bring the simulations back?"

The professor nodded. "Ah, just what I was getting to. We've already found the source of the issue; A worn network line buried deep under the ground, as I was told by the network operators, was severed, likely by some poor little critter mistaking the thing for a snack. It shouldn't be long before we find and correct any other points of issue along the lines."

The room filled at once with murmurs and nods of approval. "Now then." The professor continued, "Any other questions?"

"Twilight!" Timothy whispered, pointing towards the man, "Do you recognize him? He looked at us several times, and I heard you gasp earlier when he came onto the stage."

Lisa nodded, silently raising her hand up at the same time.

Professor Argall turned towards the girl. "Oh? I believe I already know what you're going to ask. We can talk later, once I'm done with the other questions. Alright?"

The girl nodded again, lowering her hand as the professor addressed another question.

---

"Hey, Lisa."

The girl glanced towards the professor.

"Do... do you remember me at all?" Professor Argall stuttered, fiddling with his shirt collar, "Y'know, with how you even went as far as dedicating one of the characters to me?"

Lisa raised a brow, then shook her head.

"...Starswirl." The professor mumbled, "Starswirl the Bearded, wasn't it? You based the guy's look off of the fact that I decided to wear my wizard Halloween costume over Christmas break because it looked like Santa's suit."

Lisa shook her head again. "I don't remember really anything..." She began slowly, leaning on the moonlit wall of the city hall. "I wish I could, but there's just been so much going on recently, and I've got my own worries about what's going on in Eques-"

"Ha! There's the girl that I tutored all those years ago!" Professor Argall laughed, "So many years have passed, and you're still just as focused on your work and studies as ever, I see. How's this Equestria project coming along, anyways?"

The girl shrugged. "Fine, I guess. I... er, we've more or less been in an almost-yearly rotation of fighting some monster or villain of some sort." She stared at the ground. "Though, I'm guessing that you already knew that?"

Smirking, Argall let out a sigh. "Yes I do, Lisa. I still remember how you would go off rambling for hours about some aspect of the simulation that you decided to add, or even just a new character that you and your friend created as a joke."

"Meaning..."

The old man shook his head with a chuckle. "I'm getting old, Lisa. I can't remember anything that specific, not unless it's something that you've absolutely drilled into my mind."

A slight smile crept across Lisa's face. "Like Starswirl?"

Argall's eyes lit up. "Yes, Lisa. Just like Starswirl. I remember you going on and on about all the little things that you'd put into the guy to make him be this... this sorta glorified mentor of sorts that you would meet sometime down the road once you've entered the simulation yourself." He turned his gaze towards the moon shining overhead, falling silent as a gentle breeze whistled through the streets. "Sheesh, has it been a while. Just a decade's difference, and look where we are now... a world of virtual lives, separated cleanly from reality by the will of any who wish to start from the beginning."

Lisa smirked. "I guess that's just the way things turn out sometimes, huh professor?"

Comments

[mastermenthe]

How very intriuging. Much less dramatic than i feared but the drama can't be over yet. More talking will come, and with additional concerns revealed, more dread will rise forth.