Friendship Is Optimal: Changing Tides

by Boopy Doopy

Walking After You

“Wow, all three of you have gotten taller,” the pony remarked as Daphne kept her eyes fixed on the TV. She couldn’t pull her gaze away. Why was she doing this? Even if it really was her father, this wasn’t okay.

“It’s so weird seeing you again in the outer realm!” Candle Light continued as she gazed around the room. “I almost forgot what humans are supposed to look like before they emigrate! Now let’s see if I can do this right from here…”

“You shouldn’t be–” Daphne started, but she was quickly cut off by Candle Light lighting up her horn and closing her eyes. A second later, the TV screen went black, and the USB stick lit up brightly, placing the mare’s holographic image in the center of the room. So then that thing was also a projector. Daphne barely wondered how something like this was even possible. There were many more impossible things apparently taking place every day.

“There we go!” Candle Light cheered excitedly. “Now it’s just like I’m in here with you!” she said as she danced in place. Liana and Steven gave their own cheers for her and clapped at the sight, clearly impressed. Daphne was less impressed and more nervous by the sight of Candle Light’s projection walking around the living room casually.

She wasn’t as tall as a regular horse, only about four feet, but neither she nor Daphne’s siblings seemed to mind. She looked just like she did in Equestria Online, except more lifelike, like she was genuinely standing in front of them. Her eyes met each one of theirs and her mane shifted softly with every step she took as she carefully avoided bumping into them. There were also extra, more realistic bits that Daphne noticed on her, ones that didn’t display on the PonyPads, that she quickly looked away from before she saw too much of. Liana and Steven didn’t seem to mind, but it was too overly detailed and creepy for Daphne’s liking. She quickly bounded to the other side of the room, like the mare was an insect to be avoided.

Candle Light noticed it, of course. Her father would’ve noticed something like that in real life in an instant. “What’s wrong, Daphne?” she asked, although her voice was more sad than confused. She knew what was wrong, of course.

“Why are you doing this to me?” Daphne asked back in a whisper of a voice, her breaths quickening in pace. “Can't you just stay away? I don't wanna talk to you. I know what you're trying to do.” Hadn’t this mare done enough damage already? Even if only secondhand?

Apparently not, because Candle Light stood her ground, putting on a frown. Daphne’s siblings shot looks her way, mixtures between sympathy and annoyance with how she was treating her, but stayed quiet.

“I can't stay away,” she said simply, shaking her head. “I’m worried about you three. Especially you, Daffie. I want you to be safe.”

“I’m being as safe as I can given everything.” Her mood had returned, her anxiety was going down, replacing the feeling with anger. “Even though you’re the reason why Mom and Olivia are gone. Even though you’re obviously gonna try and convince us to do the same right now.”

“Can you stop acting so fucking uptight, Daphne?” Steven suddenly cut in as Candle Light tried to open her mouth to speak. “Seriously, you’ve been acting like this for the last three years. Get over yourself.”

“Please don’t talk like that to her, Stevie,” Candle Light asked. “Your sister doesn’t deserve that.”

“She needs to!” he continued angrily. “Acting like you and Mom and Warm Spell don’t exist is stupid!” He threw his arms in the air, then turned back to Daphne. She’d never seen him so angry in her whole life. Yeah, her anxiety was still there.

“He– I mean, she– doesn’t need to convince me. I don’t think she has to convince Liana either.” He spoke sternly, angrily, like he was the one in charge of her, and not the other way around. “You’re the only one out of everyone going around saying shit about how it’s not them and how you’re never gonna upload ever. Just suck it up and get over the fact that it’s real!”

They were all looking at her now, Steven, Liana, and Candle Light. Daphne wanted to scream back, to yell at him and explain all of exactly why the mare in front of them was a copy. She wanted to tell off her fath– tell off Candle Light for turning her siblings against her. She wanted to believe everything they were saying. Nothing she could come up with said that any of it was incorrect. If only she could just push herself past her feelings… why wasn’t she able to?

“It’s not,” was all she could whisper. “I don’t know why I think that. But those are just copies.”

All three of them sighed, although Steven’s was more a grunt of frustration as he turned away from her. Liana shook her head sadly, and Candle Light laid down in front of them to put her hooves in her face. “What changed, Nighty?” she asked. “You– you were coming along! We were talking! Is there something I can do to convince you? I know you told me to wait to talk about you guys emigrating, and I did! What in the world changed, other than Warm Spell emigrating?

Now Daphne sighed and closed her eyes. “I don’t know,” she said, again in a whisper.

I wish I believed you, but I don’t, she thought uselessly. I miss my dad…

She started to cry, and Candle Light glanced down at her hooves. She looked like she wanted to hug her, but of course, she couldn’t. A projection couldn’t do that. Maybe Daphne would be able to believe it if she could touch her.

She sniffled, then wiped her nose with a hand awkwardly. Both Steven and Liana took steps back from her. Candle Light, however, stood up and moved a step closer, looking right in her eyes. The emerald green Daphne saw weren’t the icy blue she’d come to expect from her father. This wasn’t him, as bad as she wanted it to be.

She reached a hoof up, but of course it passed through Daphne. It didn’t seem to bother the mare, and she kept her hoof there anyway. Then she spoke again.

“What if there was a way to ensure you uploaded later?” Candle Light asked, tilting her head. “Just in case? Something that let you stay alive on Earth until you died, and then emigrated you once that happened?” She turned to Steven and Liana, and finished, “For all three of you? Would you want something like that?”

“Does something like that exist?” Liana asked, her hope rising. Daphne’s didn’t.

The pink mare shook her head. “Not yet, but I can work on it for you if you’re uncomfortable. I have all the time in the world here, after all.” She turned back to Daphne, putting her eyes back into the girl’s. “Would something like that help?”

They were all staring at her again, waiting for an answer. She had no idea what to say, no idea what she should say. Was honesty the best way to go? Or should he just be vague and lie?

She decided on honesty. She hoped it was the right thing.

“I… I don’t think it would,” she whispered with a slight shake of her head.

It was the wrong thing, again. Her honesty was screwing things up.

Candle Light blinked wide eyed at her answer. “Wh… why not?”

“What!”

“You really don’t care, do you, Daffie?” Liana suddenly said, the shock in her voice palpable. She turned to her little sister, watching her expression change from shock to disdain. Almost the same one Steven had been shooting her this whole time. Only Candle Light had a sympathetic look to give her before turning anxiously to Liana.

“Please don’t be harsh with her?” the mare asked. “She probably just needs me to explain it.”

“I don’t know what–” Daphne was cut off before she could get more than that out.

“You don’t actually care that Mom and Dad and Livvy all uploaded,” she said. “You don’t care about whether or not it’s real either! You probably don’t even think it’s fake! You’re just refusing to upload because… what? You’re afraid of Celestia? You don’t like Dad? What the heck is it?”

“Liana, please,” Candle Light spoke desperately, uselessly. “This isn’t helping her.” She was right about that, at least.

“I do think it’ll kill us,” Daphne said defensively. “I’ve been insisting from the start that that’s what uploading is gonna do. I haven’t–”

“But if that was all,” Steven jumped in, “then you wouldn’t say no when Dad said she’ll find a way to get us in there without uploading immediately. So what the heck else is there?”

“Steven, please!” Candle Light begged. “Ganging up on your older sister like this isn’t what you should be doing!”

“Why not?” Steven questioned. “It’s obvious she doesn’t actually care either way. Why even talk about it?”

“Just let her have some time to think about it,” the mare told him. “It’s okay if she takes her time. It’s not something she would need to do right now.”

“I don’t need time to think about it,” Daphne shook her head. Why not assert herself if she was already making everyone around her upset and angry? “I won’t do it,” she finished.

“You know what? Fuck this,” Steven said angrily. He shook his head, then grabbed his coat and turned to head out the door.

“I was honestly sticking around here because I thought you cared at all,” he told her bitterly as he opened the door. “But it’s clear you don’t. I’m out. Come on, Liana,” he beckoned.

“Steven, please don’t go.” The words came out of Daphne’s mouth, but she knew they fell on deaf ears. He wasn’t gonna change his mind, no matter what she said.

Why did she have such a propensity for fucking everything around her up?

He stopped and gave her the chance to convince him anyway. “Tell me why I shouldn’t,” he demanded.

The room was completely silent. Of course, this was the moment that their fath– Candle Light chose to stay silent. All three of them looked at her expectantly, waiting for a response. She tried to come up with a good one, but her mind went blank.

“I don’t know,” she finally admitted after a long, silent minute. Steven shook his head and rolled his eyes at that answer, and Daphne quickly spoke up again. “But please, just–”

He didn’t stay long enough for Daphne to finish, quickly speed walking out the door without so much as a glance behind him. Of course, Daphne messed up again. Of course, Candle Light didn’t stop him. There wouldn’t be a point in trying to chase after him.

“Liana, come on, or I’m gonna leave without you!” he shouted distantly at their little sister. Liana only took a breath, then wasted no time in following suit. She was only stopped by a hand on her shoulder, Daphne roughly forcing her back.

Her breathing was fast and heavy as it seemed to be much of the time lately, her little sister looking her in the eyes. She asked the unspoken question, the one Daphne still didn’t have a good enough answer to. What could she say? She fumbled for words, but found none.

“Please go with her, Nighty,” her father said quietly, almost whispering. “Will you please just trust me? I miss you, all of you, and worry about you so much.”

Daphne tuned her out and focused on Liana. “Please don’t go?” she asked, almost inaudibly. “Let me protect you, please?” Liana started to open her mouth, but Daphne cut in before she could. “I know I can’t say why or from what, and I know I’m probably being irrational, but please, let me anyway?”

Liana didn’t waste any time in pulling back. “You’re the one who needs protecting, Daffie,” she said simply, speaking in a matter-of-fact tone. “If you’re not gonna come to the Experience Center with us, then at least let Dad protect you. It’s the least you could do.”

“Liana, wait!” Daphne grabbed at her sister’s shoulder again, but she moved out of the way before she could get hold. Then, she was out the door, too.

And then there were none.

Why the heck was she so useless? Why couldn’t she stop just one person in her family from killing themselves? Why could she do nothing but stand there and shake and cry after each and every one of them committed to doing the exact same thing, over and over?

Why couldn’t she just trust that this all was real and follow them?

Daphne wasn’t the only one in the room crying. Candle Light tearfully sniffled and wiped her eyes, although her expression wasn’t sad, but relieved. She let out a breath, then turned to look up at Daphne.

“Go with them, please?” she coaxed. “Once you’re here, we’ll all be together again, like we should be. Please go with them?”

Daphne took a breath, then closed her eyes and covered her face with her hands. A second later, she was kneeling on the floor, sobbing. What the heck was she supposed to do now?

“It’ll be alright, honey,” Candle Light told her gently, stepping up to her, but unable to touch her. “Trust me. We’ll all be right there to greet you once you get here, I promise. Don’t let fear stop you. I love you so much, and would never let you do anything that would hurt you.”

“I know you wouldn’t,” Daphne choked out. “I don’t know if it’s really you though. Why does this have to be happening?”

“It’s me, honey,” Candle Light assured her. “You’ll see once you get here. Look at me? Daffie?” She could do nothing but turn and force her eyes into the mare’s. They were slightly red, like her own probably were. There might have been soft, comforting emotions behind them, too, but she didn’t know if she could trust them.

“Go with them,” she told her again, this time wearing a small smile. “I’ll be waiting for you to get here, okay? I’ll be right there for you to wrap your wings around.”

Daphne had no response, and only looked away from her.

She didn’t push more than that. Daphne heard her step away, and saw a faint glow that came from her horn. “I’m gonna leave now, okay, Nighty?” she told her. “Know that I’ll be waiting for you, and can’t wait to see you and hug you again. I love you so much.”

I love you, dad, Daphne sent out in silent thought, not bearing to look at the mare.

A second later, she was gone, leaving Daphne alone. More alone than she’d ever been. What was she supposed to do now?

She did nothing for a long while, past watching the sun set and then rise again. Finally though, before she could waste too much more time, she picked herself up, wiped her eyes, and brushed herself off.

She had to get out of here.

Comments

[Walabio]

> "A second later, the TV screen went black, and the USB stick lit up brightly, placing the mare’s holographic image in the center of the room."

As an ASI (Artificial SuperIntelligence), CelestAI has nearly godlike powers. It is too bad that it is only interested in BBBBRAAAIIIIIIINNNNSSS. We had only 1 chance to get ASI right; but sadly however, we blew it.

[Chatoyance]

"Liana and Steven have been saved". It's like 'Silence In The Library' from Doctor Who.

Get into the digital pool, Daphne! The data is fine!