• Published 9th Jan 2012
  • 6,138 Views, 320 Comments

Ponystuck - confoundtheseponies



A story about a filly and her friends, and a game they play together.

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Chapter 11

A young colt is in his apartment in Manehattan. He's playing a popular multiplayer first person shooter at the moment, and as such is a little too distracted to tell us about his interests. Let's leave him to it and see what we can figure out by ourselves.

His name is Ember Glow, and he is an earth pony with a knack for making things explode. He has a deep love for mindless destruction of all flavours, and is familiar with explosives and chemicals of all varieties. He is the baron of baratol, the monarch of mannitol hexanitrate, the prince of PBX. That said, some of his equipment is scattered about his apartment, and every so often he almost sets something off and scares the shit out of himself. Bombs, he understands. But packing away his equipment so he actually has some space in his apartment? What dark magic is that?!?

He has a tendency to become obsessed with things, to the point where those around him actively try to disassociate themselves with whatever is the current target of his boundless fascination. Because of this, his friends have long since stopped showing him new things, and with no motivation to find anything else to enjoy his interests have stagnated. This is why he is currently playing a first person shooter (that most of his friends view with little more than a certain amount of sentimentality) as though it was the greatest game of the decade - and it was, though that was a different decade entirely.

Despite their better judgement, his friends have invited him to play a game with them. However, due to deciding that the game was probably going to be really stupid and not fun, Ember has declined the invitation. Currently, Summer is preparing to get Diamond into the Medium, and once she has done so it will become too late for Ember to join. As far as he is concerned, this is a good thing. But the universe thinks differently!

After several minutes, the bleeping from his laptop finally caught Ember's attention (although that was more because the match finished than because he had any awareness of the world around him), and he reluctantly rose to check his messages.

[fractalAbomination began pestering mushroomAddict]

FA: ok, i think i've left it long enough

FA: idk if dawn's said anything to you about the game since we spoke about it

FA: but even if she has it hasn't worked, so...

FA: are you going to play the game or not?

MA: nO i ALREADY TOLD YOU

FA: yes, yes, i know. you're scared shitless of this game for some terrible reason

MA: i DONT WANT TO GET KILLED OVER SOME STUPID GAME

FA: just so you know, mild died a few hours ago

FA: and he's fine

FA: so even if you did die, it's not like it matters

FA: there's ways and means to get you back on your feet again

MA: wELL iM NOT PLAYING

FA: >:c

FA: ok, fuck you then. just don't blame me when the shit hits the fan

FA: or in this case, when the meteor hits your house

MA: iM NOT PLAYING SO THERE WONT BE ANY METEORS

FA: then look outside and tell me what you see

Well, Ember didn't see anything wrong with that if it would get Comet off his back. But frankly, Ember didn't really get what was so confusing about all of this. The meteors were there because you played the game. If you didn't play the game, there were no meteors. Simple. He looked out of the window.

MA: fUCK

***

Wait, what was going on?

Suddenly finding herself halfway through a particularly dense tome of macabre lore, Diamond Heart took a moment to readjust herself to where she was and how the world worked. Then she put the book down, trying not to think too hard about what a 'writhing horrorterror' looked like, and walked back over to her laptop. She had no idea how long she'd been gone for, and had already gathered that the game she was going to be playing was incredibly serious business. Her life was at stake if she didn't hurry things up.

[suspiciousSerpent (SS) began pestering mechanicalNoisemaker]

SS: so are we doing this or what?

MN: There you are

MN: Thank gog that was scary

MN: I thought we were going to run out of time

SS: heh, of course not. although I'm not sure...

SS: you know. how long I've got.

MN: No time to lose then

SS: quite.

And so Diamond began entering the Medium. Nothing of note happens until a little later, I'm afraid, so describing it would be very boring. So instead of describing it, let's go check up on Silver.

Silver was, at that point, asleep. She didn't know that, but that was because dream selves know very little about anything. They're kind of dumb like that. What she did know was that she was once again on the purple moon where she spent the many dark patches of her life. She was also once again wearing the familiar purple dress, but now - unlike every other time she had come here - she was not alone.

In the room with her stood a creature entirely unlike anything she had ever seen. Or was it? Something stirred in the depths of her mind, but she wouldn't have been able to recall the details even if she wasn't a silly dream pony at that point. Her half-hearted attempts to remember what she was missing were interrupted, as the creature spoke in a strangely familiar voice.

"So... we meet again, my dear. How have you been?" The voice sounded pleasant enough, although she was more than a little creeped out by its horrific appearance. Not to mention it had been waiting there for her while she was asleep. Eurgh. "Do you remember me, at all?" It leaned towards her earnestly, its oddly shaped eyes betraying a slight fear in this monster. It almost seemed to Silver as though it desperately wanted her to recognise it. Despite her misgivings about the whole situation, Silver found herself able to croak out a response.

"I... maybe." There was something there, she could tell. But at the same time, there was nothing. "Not really." The creature sighed, and nodded.

"To be expected. Never mind, though! You and I have a lot of catching up to do. Follow me." So saying, it turned and leapt through the window of her dream tower, flying down to the planet below. Pausing for a moment, Silver leapt after him. Whether it was because part of her trusted this creature, or whether it was because her dream self was stupid, not even she knew.

***

Placing her cruxite dowel into the totem lathe, Diamond carried out the same actions as many players had done before, after, and at the same time as her, and then retrieved the newly carved totem. Now she just had to take this up to the alchemiter, make the artifact, and she'd be away! And she had a leisurely 3:10 to get it all done in.

Wait, what was going on?

While Silver was accustomed to her house unexpectedly changing without warning, the assortment of large machines which now occupied her home were a few steps too far. And what about this pale purple cylinder? This must be part of the game which SS had been planning behind her back. And on any other day, she would probably have turned off her computer and thrown away this stupid cylinder. Because on any other day, she hadn't had the conversation her dream self had just been having.

Oh look, it was Summer talking to her again. What did she want now?

[mechanicalNoisemaker began pestering suspiciousSerpent (SS)]

MN: Well don't just stand there

MN: We've got to get this done now

SS: Hold on

[suspiciousSerpent (SS) ceased being pestered by mechanicalNoisemaker]

[shiningSeraphim (ss) began pestering mechanicalNoisemaker]

MN: ... fuck

MN: This is not a good time for you to be forgetting where you are

ss: No i know whats happening

ss: Were playing that game that i wanted no part of arent we

MN: Uh...

MN: We might not be

ss: Then what are we doing

MN: OK look

MN: Yes we're playing the game

MN: But if you stop now then you're going to get killed by the meteor which is 3 minutes from your house

MN: So feel free to burn up in the imminent explosion if you'd rather do that

She made a compelling argument, Silver reasoned. Plus she had already been convinced to play this dumb game.

ss: Then lets get started

MN: Really? Great

MN: Here's what you need to do

***

In the colossal void between Skaia and Derse, a lone battleship was making its slow, cumbersome way towards the dark planet. On board were three incredibly bored ponies.

"Are we there yet?" It was not the first time Acapella had asked the question, and it wouldn't be the last. She was Destiny's friend and everything, but as this journey wore on the pegasus found herself thinking increasingly dark thoughts involving Acapella's head.

"No, we're not there yet." To make her point, Destiny aimed a hoof past the front of the battleship they were sailing on, at the miniscule purple dot in the distance. "That is where we are going. This," she pointed down at the surface of the ship. "Is where we are. Note the fact that they are two different places. The reason for this is that we are not there yet, and will continue to not be there yet until 'there' and 'here' refer to the same place." Acapella was silent for a few moments.

"So... are we there yet?" Destiny buried her face in her hooves. This was going to be a long journey.

***

[fractalAbomination began pestering mechanicalNoisemaker]

FA: so i was talking to emmy

FA: merely possessing the patience necessary for that is an achievement, but w/e that's not the point

MN: Then get to the point

FA: i got him to play, so he'll be your server player.

MN: Oh

MN: Really?

MN: Thats good news

FA: is it? i would say something like "you're fucking welcome", but right now i think you need all the luck you can get

FA: it's hardly an enviable position having your life in the hands of a complete moron like him

MN: Why do you have to be such a dick to your friends?

MN: It makes it very hard to cooperate with you like I'm trying to at the moment

FA: hey, it's not my fault he was dropped on his head as a baby

FA: i'm just here to let you know that you have a server

FA: is diamond in yet, btw?

MN: I'd be lying if I said yes

MN: But let's pretend I did because that will be less hassle

MN: She's as good as in

FA: kk

FA: well, ima go check what's up with this weird round platform thingamawhatsit

FA: so cya

MN: Uhuh

[fractalAbomination began pestering mechanicalNoisemaker]

Eventually, the tedious process of translating the turtle ruins had been completed, and the Page of Time had descended further into the depths of his planet. Within the depths, Comet had found himself at a dead end. The twisting network of hidden tunnels had led him towards a room with no other exits, and no contents save for the circular platform. After captchaloguing his laptop, he stepped on the platform, which turned out to be some kind of transportaliser as he emerged into a strange, apparently abandoned, laboratory. He decided to explore.

***

Exploring the laboratory had yielded an astonishing amount of complete rubbish that somepony had stored away in chests, several large containers filled with giant chess pieces, and an awful lot of wires and slime. In the room Comet currently occupied, there were several large machines that he was currently inspecting. The nearest was shaped like a house, made up of four large monitors and a roof, beneath which there was a control panel bearing several large buttons. Currently, only one of these monitors, one in the top right, was active, apparently locked onto a specific point in time and space. The specific point in time and space apparently took the form of a dark blue mare, a pegasus, several centuries earlier. Curious.

Out of morbid curiosity, if nothing else, Comet pressed the central button on the control panel. It was a large blue square, bearing the symbol of four circles linked by a central design. This then began a process which drew his, and our, attention to the other machine in the room.

This other device was comprised of another circular platform beneath an appearifier. To either side of this platform were large machines, both supporting two glass canisters on top of them. After pressing the blue button, the appearifier apparently attempted to appearify the mysterious pegasus. As everypony knows, however, appearifying something from a different time zone, when doing so would create a paradox, instead produces a paradox ghost imprint of that object. The upshot of all that is that instead of a very surprised looking pegasus, the appearifier created a solid green imprint of a relatively calm looking pegasus, which naturally collapsed into a puddle of green slime. Lovely. As Comet watched, a pipe extended from one of the two machines and collected the ghost slime, using it to fill one of the four glass canisters.

Turning back to the monitors, Comet decided to use one of the four green buttons which presumably corresponded to the monitors. He hit the one in the bottom right, and sure enough the related monitor switched on, as the other turned itself off. This, again, was set to a time several centuries in the past, this time locked onto a stallion, a light grey unicorn. Repeating the process, Comet collected this unicorn's ghost slime, and the machine dutifully collected it into the second canister.

Now switching the bottom left monitor, Comet performed the process yet again. This time, the ghost slime was a unicorn, taken from a beige colt who happened to be asleep at that moment in time. Waiting for the slime to be collected, Comet switched to the fourth and final screen in the top left. This one showed a young white filly, standing atop a hill while the village below her was quickly becoming a raging inferno. Although Comet didn't know it, this was due to a recent meteor collision. All he knew was that he was pressing buttons like nopony's business, so he wasted no time in collecting the fourth and final sample of ghost slime.

With all the tubes filled with slime, the machine apparently began an automated process. In the centre of the room, undescribed until now, was a large round platform bearing the same symbol as the blue button he had been pressing. It was on this platform that, with a flash of light, four baby paradox clones were created. From the collected slime, the DNA of the target ponies had been extracted, and replicated, to create four exact clones of the original four ponies. Incredibly exact. And yet, as Comet surveyed the four young ponies, he had a nagging feeling there was something else left to do. Ah yes, there was one last button, a green square bearing the symbol of a portion of DNA.

At this, the glass tubes of slime emptied their contents into the machine below them, where the slime mixed together as another automated sequence began. After it finished, another flash of light created several more babies. To be precise, it created six. A teal unicorn, a red pegasus, a grey earth pony, a green unicorn, a deep blue pegasus, and an orange earth pony. That was... oddly familiar, Comet reflected. Either way, the creation of these ponies was apparently an achievement worth celebrating.

You have advanced three (3) rungs up your echeladder! You achieve the title of 'Ectobiolobabysitter' and receive 1 boonbuck!

Gel Viscosity: +1200!

Cache Limit: +2500!

Intellect Vim: +4000!

Wow. Three rungs in one go, just from making a load of babies? Nice. But still, why were there six ponies who lined up with the members of his group? And who were these other four supposed to be? What about Diamond?

[midnightEclipse began pestering fractalAbomination]

ME: Hello.

FA: oh look, what a fucking surprise

FA: yet another pony i've never met before, who is going to somehow understand everything about me and what i'm doing

FA: please, go ahead and deliver whatever cryptic message you have for me, then reply to all my questions with bs answers about causality

FA: actually don't, just leave, because i have had enough of this nonsense

ME: I wasn't going to.

ME: I just wanted to tell you about those ponies you created.

ME: They're your group.

FA: they're oddly similar to my group, i'll admit, presumably because they're exact clones

ME: Yes, exact clones. Incredibly exact. They're paradox clones.

FA: which means fuck all

ME: Which means that they're literally your group. Later in the game they will be sent back in time, from the perspective of your personal chronology, and will grow up to become you.

ME: The same goes for those other four.

FA: ok. let's pretend i believe you

FA: when do they get sent back

ME: During the Reckoning. Until then, just make sure they can't do any harm. They'll get teleported to the meteors once the Reckoning starts.

FA: what's the reckoning?

ME: Think of it as the endgame. It's nothing you have to worry about for now.

FA: ok. thank you for either being cooperatively helpful, or for at least telling plausible lies

ME: You're welcome.

[midnightEclipse ceased pestering fractalAbomination]

Hm. So these ponies were actually his group? Cool. Now he just needed to make sure they couldn't get - OH GOG WHERE DID PARADOX DESTINY GET A SWORD?!?

***

Sitting back from her computer and wiping her hoof across her forehead, Summer let out a sigh of relief. Diamond/Silver/whatever the fuck she wanted to be called had finally entered, and now she could relax for a few short moments before worrying about who was going to be her server player. It was at that point that she realised she was supposed to be talking with Ember about playing the game. Oh well. It was probably too late now, either way, and she could always get Comet to be her server it if it came down to that.

A new conversation popped up on her computer, but she didn't recognise the username. Who was this supposed to be?

[heliacalDreamer began pestering mechanicalNoisemaker]

HD: HELLO SUMMER!

HD: How are you on this fine day?

MN: Uh...

MN: Who are you?

HD: HEEHEE! You have no idea, do you?

HD: THIS IS AWESOME!

MN: So... uh... what?

HD: Basically, I'm going to be your friend!

HD: IN THE FUTURE!

HD: And you, in the future, told me, now, that I need to give you a message.

MN: What message?

HD: GO OUTSIDE! That's what you said to say, anyway.

MN: There's basically no good reason to trust you

MN: Or even believe you actually met my future self

HD: HA! It's funny that you're doubting me. HIGHLY AMUSING.

MN: Why?

HD: Oh, no, I can't tell you that. JUST LOOK OUTSIDE!

HD: Anyway, got to go! BYE SUMMER!

MN: Goodbye

MN: Goodbye creepy high mystery future pony

HD: :)

[heliacalDreamer ceased pestering mechanicalNoisemaker]

Slowly and deliberately adding 'heliacalDreamer' to her block list, Summer briefly contemplated going outside. But it was probably nothing, and besides she had to get her prototyping item ready. She had been trying to design something which would help her as a sprite, but which wouldn't give the queen a huge advantage, and had settled on a system littered with sensors and other equipment that is better left undescribed, if only because nopony was really sure what it was. The point was that it was going to be cool, if it worked.

On a related note, Summer realised, she was completely out of uranium. Gog damn it. That was what came from building hundreds of battle robots and getting them to fight for her amusement. She supposed that there was probably time to get more from her reserves, if she left now. And really, that was all she could do until it was time for her to enter. Striding over to her front door, she opened it and stepped out into the mid-morning light; almost tripping over the pile of uranium somepony had left on her doorstep.

Oh. Well. That was... convenient? She shrugged, deciding that questioning this turn of events was a waste of time, and quickly brought the uranium inside. A short distance away, two princesses watched from their hiding place. Back inside her home, Summer had the conversation that we already saw. The one that began like this:

FA: so i was talking to emmy

And ended like this:

MN: Uhuh

And then she went to talk with Ember.

[mechanicalNoisemaker began pestering mushroomAddict]

MN: I believe you've agreed to play?

MA: yEAH i GUESS SO

MN: Well then

MN: Let's get this party started

***

The Land of Shadow and Spirit was a strange place. The entire planet seemed to be made out of a thick purple fog, which resolved itself into cliffs and trees as Diamond approached them, then dissolving away again once she moved on. The effect was very disconcerting, not knowing if the space ahead of her was a cliff, or just more solid ground that would appear as she continued forwards. It also meant there were few constant landmarks that she could rely on for navigation, except for the cities where there would always be a certain amount of structure. This kind of nightmare planet was just the type of place she imagined that 'Silver' would get a kick out of. Typical.

[mechanicalNoisemaker began pestering suspiciousSerpent (SS)]

MN: Hey

SS: oh, hey again Summer.

MN: So me and Comet have been working on this upgrade that lets us have group conversations

MN: And also conversations with our past and future selves

SS: I see.

MN: So just switch over to this new version so we can make sure it works

SS: sure.

[mechanicalNoisemaker sent suspciousSerpent (SS) the file "memobeta.~ATH"]

MN: Just start it up and it should work

SS: OK.

[mechanicalNoisemaker ceased pestering suspiciousSerpent (SS)]

Well, this certainly provided a distraction from her terrible planet. Besides, she really didn't talk with everypony enough. Starting up the new program, she was presented with a slightly modified interface that allowed her to join or create memos. There was currently one open already.

[CURRENT suspiciousSerpent (SS) began responding to memo TEAM FUCKASS]

[CURRENT mechanicalNoisemaker began responding to memo TEAM FUCKASS]

CSS: OK, I'm here.

CSS: what's with the 'current' tag?

CMN: Well like I said we can have conversations with ourselves in different time periods

CMN: So it's important to have the distinction

CSS: ah, I understand.

CSS: I mean, that makes no sense and shouldn't even begin to work, but I understand.

CMN: Heh

CMN: This is the memo we're going to be using for making plans and stuff

CMN: So it might be a good idea if we everypony keeps half an eye on it

CSS: so are we all on here?

CMN: Most of us

[FUTURE fractalAbomination began responding to memo TEAM FUCKASS]

FFA: i'd just like to add, because later on in this particular memo we've had problems with this

FFA: that if you see a discussion between a group of us in the future

FFA: it does not concern you, so please have the common sense to leave well enough alone

CSS: like I said, that makes no sense and shouldn't even begin to work.

FFA: if you think you can make a better system, i'd love to hear it

FFA: seriously. this time shit is doing my head in

CSS: also, can i ask, why is this memo called 'team fuckass'?

FFA: that's our team name

FFA: i wanted to choose something which summarised how i felt about you all

FFA: and, taking an average of all of you, this is the result

FFA: if it makes you feel any better, you were one of the ones bringing the average up

FFA: but when you're in the same group as ember, it's really just a losing battle

CSS: O_O

FFA: anyway, that's all, i'm going to try and follow my own advice as much as possible

FFA: later

[FUTURE fractalAbomination stopped responding to memo TEAM FUCKASS]

Compared with the pointless time nonsense, Diamond reflected, maybe her planet wasn't too bad after all.

In the fog behind her, the creature that had been following her crept ever closer, waiting for the right moment to strike.

***

[fractalAbomination began pestering desertedDestiny]

FA: hey des, guess what

DD: What?

FA: no, guess. go on

DD: I really don't know... what is it?

FA: i made you

DD: ...

FA: no, seriously, i just created all of us. and some other random ponies we've never met, but are apparently our parents

FA: at least, in a confusing ectobiological time paradox kind of way

FA: except for diamond, but i guess she'll come along later in some kind of really convoluted and probably really stupid kind of way

FA: to be honest, it's a little confusing

FA: just think of this as the biggest game of transdimensional blind date ever. that's what this is

FA: and i'm a time travelling cilla black

DD: What are you talking about?

FA: long and short of it is:

FA: we're all related. mostly

DD: Mostly?

FA: yeah

FA: in the interest of keeping temporal / moral obligations to a minimum, that's really all there is to say on the matter

DD: Right...

FA: so yeah, that's interesting

FA: FUCK

Rushing forwards, Comet was barely able to grab Ember before he tried to pick up a sword the wrong way. Picking the baby off of him with his magic, he then strode back towards the small fenced off area he had constructed to store the ponies in. To his faint amusement, even in the confined space Mild had managed to move as far away from the others as possible.

FA: heh, that was close. anyway

FA: how's your little assault on derse going?

DD: We're almost there. It should be fun, I guess.

FA: you are just so pumped about this, i can tell

DD: At least I'm not babysitting.

FA: neither am i. i just need some time to hook a few of these machines together, and then the babies will be taken care of

DD: If you say so. Just don't get us killed, OK?

FA: i can't get us killed. we're living proof of that

FA: there is literally no way i can fuck this up

FA: anyway, just so you know, there's a transportaliser in this ectolab place

FA: which is a much quicker way of getting back into the action, if you're interested

DD: Really? That sounds a lot better than another few hours of confirming that we are not there yet.

FA: C:

DD: Well, I'll speak to you later then.

FA: yeah, ok

[fractalAbomination ceased pestering desertedDestiny]

A faint noise echoed from a few rooms away, and Comet twisted his head around towards the source. He couldn't see any change. Maybe he wasn't as alone as he had thought?

In his distracted state, he forgot about the small series of steps where the floor descended into the pit where he had stored the babies. Finding air where he was expecting solid ground, the unicorn promptly tumbled down the staircase. It was only a few steps, so he was mostly unharmed, but had a brief moment of panic when he realised he had dropped Ember. Quickly getting to his feet and glancing around, however, he saw that the pony was mostly fine, sitting up a few feet away from him rubbing its head with a pained expression. Oops. The irony in this situation was not lost on Comet, who resolved to apologise to current Ember when he got the chance.

***

On this planet, even the underlings were calm. The light of Skaia danced lazily over the open meadows, slipped through the gaps in the trees, bounced off of the trickling streams. Something about the Land of Brooks and Woods just made it feel good to be alive. It was only fitting, Summer mused, that the best pony should get the best world. She watched from her vantage point as an imp strolled happily through the woods, without a care in the world. Just look at that aloof little bastard. He doesn't give a shit about anything. Briefly, Summer paused before firing her rifle, wondering if it was morally wrong to kill enemies as carefree as this.

Then she shrugged, and blew its head off. It immediately exploded, but then she had to walk all the way over to where it had been standing in order to collect the grist it had dropped. Had she been anywhere less calming, she would probably have been quite frustrated about that.

***

With the Black Queen dead, it was with high spirits that Destiny, Acapella, and Mild Darkness entered the ectobiology lab where Comet had told them they could find a transportaliser back to his planet. The unicorn in question was waiting for them.

"So I take it you won?" They confirmed their victory, but he noted Acapella's purple dress. They hadn't succeeded unharmed. "Well, it's good to know your little expedition wasn't a complete waste of time. Now let's go. Something about this place sets me on edge."

"Oh, already?" Acapella sounded thoroughly disappointed. The others gave her a quizzical glance, until she mumbled out an explanation. "I was just wondering if we could see our past selves?" Comet thought for a moment, then shrugged.

"Fine, if you really want to. It's not like coming into contact with yourself makes the universe explode or anything." He then walked out of the room towards where he had kept the ponies, followed by Destiny and Acapella. Remaining behind, Mild then left the room as well, but by a different exit. Once separated from the others, he began his search for Silver Edge. It didn't take him long to find the room that she had hidden herself in, partly because he could see the minds of everypony within a certain radius of himself. He nodded in greeting as he entered.

"Are you ready?" It was barely a question - both of them knew full well that she was ready. Regardless, the unicorn nodded.

Many miles away, on LOSAS, the creature received the signal, and leapt towards its unsuspecting victim.

Diamond barely had time to scream.

***

"Summer!" Summer's ears twitched in recognition as she heard her name being called from the general direction of her home. Glancing back, she was pleasantly surprised to see Destiny soaring towards her. "I skipped ahead a few planets, because I was bored of questing on my own." She explained as she landed next to Summer.

"And you thought to come and help me? How sweet!" Summer grinned, ducking beneath the oncoming sword. "What about the others?"

"Acapella's meeting up with Diamond on LOSAS, and Comet's getting Ember into the game to complete the loop."

"And what about Mild?"

"Uh..." Destiny thought for a moment. Now that she thought about it, she didn't remember Mild transportalising back to LOCAR with the rest of them. "Not sure. Still, he can take care of himself, being a horned pegasus and everything."

"I guess. Anyway, never mind him. There are adventures to be had!" So saying, she took off into the sky, shooting towards the horizon. Allowing herself a brief sigh of resignation, Destiny followed.

***

"Diamond?!?" Once again calling her friend's name, Acapella continued onwards through the shadowy fog, searching for any sign of her friend. "DIAMOND!" She thought for a moment. "SILVER?" Still, there was no response. Unfortunately, neither account was currently logged on, and Acapella had no other way of reaching her. Where was she? "DIAMOND!" She tried again.

"What?" The voice behind her sounded vaguely irritated. Whirling on the spot, Acapella experienced a mixture of shock, relief, and confusion as she took in the sight of her friend. It was Diamond, hovering several feet in the air, wearing a golden dress.

"Diamond? What happened? You... died?" This didn't make any sense, she thought to herself. If Diamond had been killed, then she would be dead unless there was somepony around to revive her. How had she come back?

"Yeah. I just remember hearing a noise behind me, then I turned around, then I woke up in my dream tower. But it's weird, I feel..." she cast around in her mind for the right word. "Liberated. Lighter, somehow." Diamond shrugged. "Anyway, let's go!"

And so the two unicorns continued on into the fog, both of them revived dream selves - one of Prospit and one of Derse. Behind them, the creature checked the updates Mild had been sending it.

PD: Silvers awake, it worked.

PD: Get back here and then Ill be heading back into the Medium.

PD: Once Ive taken care of this ring.

Satisfied, the creature retreated from the adventuring ponies, and began the long flight back to the veil.

***

Sitting down in his home again for the first time in several hours, Comet set up his laptop in a more comfortable position and connected to Ember. He tried not to pay too much attention to what the turtles had done to his alchemiter.

[fractalAbomination began pestering mushroomAddict]

FA: ok, let's do this

FA: fuck, this is nice. it's been way too long since we sat down and played a game together, hasn't it?

FA: the last time we did that must have been...

FA: oh yeah, back when your games were popular

FA: c:

MA: hAHA

MA: tHATS JUST SO FUNNY

FA: yeah well, don't go getting ahead of yourself

FA: let's do this

MA: ok

***

Having received a bandage around his head, the baby Ember was sitting happily in one corner of the small box where Comet had trapped the young players. As Mild approached, none of the small ponies made any particular movement towards or away from him, simply continuing as normal. As he stood over them, however, most of them stopped whatever they were doing and looked up at the God with curious expressions. It was incredibly disconcerting, so Mild decided to get this over with as quickly as possible.

Offering a brief prayer to whatever deity may have been listening, including himself, he attempted to retrieve the queen's ring from his sylladex. Once, long ago, he had spent an afternoon attempting to code his own fetch modus. Sadly, his code was far from perfect, which was the gentle way of saying it was completely and utterly broken, to the degree that he was now incapable of changing the modus. He was stuck with this half-finished inventory system that was just as likely to give him his item as it was to destroy it without a trace.

This time, though, it was cooperative enough to grant him the ring, which he promptly dropped into the box. It landed directly in front of Ember, who picked it up with a slow smile on his face. Job done.

With that, Mild turned and walked away from the group of foals. It was really creepy to have them all looking up at him like that.

***

Standing on the roof of his tower block, Ember Glow neared the end of his entrance. Watching him closely were the two princesses, several blocks over. He could have easily seen them, had he been paying attention, but fortunately for them his attention was focused entirely on the task at hand.

More specifically, the task at hand involved prototyping his kernelsprite. He had been given strict instructions to use something simple and useless, so had managed to dig up an old family heirloom that he had owned for as long as he cared to remember. It was a simple gold ring, adorned with seven orbs. Six of these were glowing a soft white light, while the seventh was a bland grey colour. It probably had some kind of magical power, but as far as he could tell it was just a stupid ring, and prototyping with it would have no negative consequences whatsoever. Several buildings over, Luna turned to Celestia.

"We could stop this, sister. We could stop him right now. Wouldn't that be better?" Luna was almost pleading, and would have been if she didn't know exactly what the answer was going to be.

"Luna, please try and remember what I tell you. We are here, not as a reward, but as a punishment for our errors. We must, and will, do as much as we can to help this world. But we may do no more than that." Celestia sighed deeply. "No matter how much we may wish otherwise."

And so the sisters stood and did nothing, as the hapless orange idiot threw the ring into the kernelsprite.

[FUTURE fractalAbomination began responding to memo TEAM FUCKASS]

FFA: ember.

FFA: i would just like to say, so we have this on record for everypony to see

FFA: you are the dumbest piece of shit who has ever lived

FFA: what the fuck were you even thinking

FFA: were you even thinking i can't tell any more

FFA: you are responsible for everything that has ever gone wrong and ever will go wrong, even the stuff which isn't your fault

FFA: die in a fire

[FUTURE fractalAbomination stopped responding to memo TEAM FUCKASS]

***END INTERMISSION***