> .hack//Secrets of Equestria
>  by Hallowedsoul
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Prologue: "Sigma: Unusual Ghostly Remnant”
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------






Prologue
“Sigma: Unusual Ghostly Remnant”


It had taken so long, years of study and research into interdimensional summons, but it was worth it in the end.  The large golden ring spun gracefully in place, the magical blue field stabilized and active; it was the masterpiece of Grim Tutor’s life.

However… it was also only step one, a tiny ripple serving as a prelude for the great wave to come.

He and his followers charged their horns in preparation for the final part of the summons, which was to call out for their leader.  And so they did, speaking the name of the one they believed would purify their world of those who have held it back for so long.

At first, there was no change in the portal as it continued to spin in place.  They waited a few more minutes, but still nothing, and a few of the unicorns present began to stamp their hooves in impatience.  Finally one of them spoke up.

“Your spell has failed, Tutor!  She does not answer us!”  He snapped furiously, but Grim Tutor ignored him, focusing intently on the portal.  He could feel the pressure building… she was coming.

“This has been the biggest waste of time in my life.”  Another one spat “I’m leaving, any of you coming with me?”

There was a murmur of consensus and they began to shuffle towards the exit but they were stopped when the ambient blue glow of the portal suddenly turned blood red.  When they turned back to look, they all saw the portal come to a slow stop facing them.  And once more there was nothing except for the ominously glowing portal, which caused the gathered ponies to shuffle on their hooves nervously… all except for Grim Tutor, who began to smile beneath his hood.

And then a single large eye opened in the center of the portal and glared balefully at all of them, settling on Grim Tutor.

“Where… am I?”  A voice said from nowhere.

“Equestria, on the planet of Equis, Great One.”  Grim Tutor replied, bowing deeply and the eye narrowed at him.

“I do not recognize ‘Equestria’ or ‘Equis’ as zones nor do I recognize you as a creature within the system.”  The voice said calmly “What are you, and how has this come to pass?”

“I am a unicorn, Great One, and I have summoned you from across dimensions in the hope that you would aid me in the liberation of my home from those who would bring it to ruin.”

“The sole purpose of my existence was to raise the perfect AI, Aura.”  The voice replied, though somewhat bitterly “Now that she has awoken, I have no further reason to exist.”

“Then accept my cause as your own and you shall have reason to exist once more, Great One.”  Grim Tutor replied calmly, raising his head and staring at the eye, which stared back at him thoughtfully.

“Your proposal is… enticing.”  The voice said “But my power runs low and I detect no viable source of energy… save for you.”

“Then take what you need from us, for we are your willing servants.”  The unicorn said, bowing once more.

“What?!”  One of the other unicorns cries out in horror “Buck that, I’m not giving my energy to some demon from another world.  I’m outta here!”

He turned and took one step before a stream of… something pierced him and he froze, a look of sheer terror on his face.  The others watched in horror as the unicorn turned gray and fell to the ground, quite obviously dead.

“Interesting… but I’m afraid I’m going to need… more.”  The voice says and then a strange object appears in front of the eye before it shoots out more of the glowing streams.

The rest of the unicorns scream in terror and scramble to leave the room, but the streams hit with perfect accuracy and, one by one, the ponies turned gray and fell lifelessly to the ground, their very essence drained from them.

Save for one.

Grim Tutor raised his head and looked at the eye staring back at him.  The eye considered him carefully for a moment before the voice spoke once more.

“Let us walk together, you and I.”  The voice tells him sweetly “Tell me; what is your name?”

The unicorn reaches a hoof up and pushes the hood back from his head, revealing a pony with a bone white coat and inky black mane that fell across his muzzle as though he'd just stepped from a pool of water.  He looked back with piercing blue eyes that, despite the heavy bags beneath them, glowed with intellect and cunning.

“Grim Tutor, Great One.”  He says and bows his head once more “I am your ever-loyal servant.  Your wish is my command.”

“There is no need for such formality between us, dear Tutor.”  The voice replies, giving a sweet laugh “You may call me… Morganna.”


> Ch. 1: "Lambda: Bottomless Soul Kaleidoscope"
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter One
“Lambda: Bottomless Soul Kaleidoscope”


Rosemary, MuSeiryu and Haruka all stood at the entrance of the dungeon.  The monsters here were tough, easily five levels above Rosemary’s, but she wasn’t worried about being defeated since MuSeiryu was keeping them all alive with his healing magic.



Name:  Rose Levins
Avatar Name:  Rosemary

Class:  Twin Blade
Level:  20
Avatar Height: 5’0’’
Avatar Eye Color: Crimson
Avatar Hair Color: Raven-Black



“Well…”  She said, glancing at the elite players standing next to her “We found the dungeon.  What now?”

The Wavemaster smiled and pushed his avatar’s glasses further up his nose.  It was completely unnecessary, but he felt it made him look really cool when he did it at the right moment.

“Now it’s time to show your stuff, Rosie.”  He replied and brought up his interface.



Name:  Jack Harvey
Avatar Name:  MuSeiryu

Class:  Wavemaster
Level: 60
Avatar Height:  6’3’’
Avatar Eye Color:  Emerald
Avatar Hair Color:  Red



Rose heard the tone signifying that MuSeiryu wanted to give her some items and she accepted the potions he offered her.  Once it was done, her companions turned expectant gazes to her, waiting for her to make the transition into the dungeon, but Rose took a moment to reflect.

She’d joined the Fireflies because she was new to the whole MMO-thing but didn’t want to try and get into the bigger Guilds, mostly because of those she’d read about those Guilds and what they required of their members just turned her away.  

She'd found the Fireflies when a member invited her to join them at their Guild Hall, which was really just an empty building in Mac Anu that they used as a gathering place to just hang out and chat.  What really made her want to join the Guild was that when she’d entered, every Guild Member present walked up to her and greeted her warmly, with a few even giving their Member Addresses.  

Later she found that the Guild had its very own forum board and at the very top of it was a topic that said “Introducing Rosemary:  Let’s Welcome Her to the Guild!” it was locked about a week after she joined, but nearly every one of the fifty or so members had greeted her.  She’d never felt so welcome in real life, where most everyone kind of ignored her, especially in school.

However her biggest surprise came when a virtual legend, the Heir of Jordan aka MuSeiryu, sent her his Member Address with a message saying she was welcome to invite him to a party whenever she wanted now that she was a part of the Guild.  Needless to say, she ended up geeking to her parents for half an hour because she’d read all about the Wavemaster who’d single-handedly conquered the Tower of Jordan event, which was a one-hundred floor dungeon crawl with an ungodly powerful boss monster at the very bottom.

In short, she was a huge fan.  She just wished she could go back in time and change her class to Wavemaster to be more like him.

“Hellooo, World to Rosemary!”  Her other companion, a Heavy Blade named Haruka, sang while waving a hand in front of Rose’s face “If ya needed to go AFK for a bit, ya should’ve just said something, Rosie!”



Name:  Sarah Irving
Avatar Name:  Haruka

Class:  Heavy Blade
Level:  42
Avatar Height:  5’10’’
Avatar Eye Color:  Golden, Cat’s Eye Orbs
Avatar Hair Color:  Pink
Extra:  Cat Ear and Cat Tail accessories installed



“Oh, yeah.”  Rose replied, thanking God that the blush on her face couldn’t be seen in-game “I’m ready, let’s go.”

They raised their weapons high and cried their Guild's slogan "Fireflies light up the Night!" before heading inside to tackle the dungeon. 

It was a challenging crawl for Rose, since it was higher in level than her, but the companions she’d brought with her made sure nothing got out of hand, with MuSeiryu using healing and status effect spells and Haruka keeping the tougher monsters in check.

“Staccato!”  Rose cried out and tore into the boss monster with a flurry of strikes, watching in triumph as its HP finally hit zero and it fell over dead, disintegrating into the game world.

“Great job, Rosemary!”  MuSeiryu exclaimed, giving her a thumbs up “The Gott Statue’s up ahead; let’s grab it and gate out.”

“Yeah, time to check out the phat lewts, Rosie!”  Haruka chirped and the three of them headed into the next room.

There it was, the whole reason they were there.  That one chest sitting in front of the statue, full to bursting with who knew what kind of rare goodies.  Rose approached it tentatively before glancing at her companions, who urged her to open it.

Upon opening it, she was disheartened to find that the rare item contained inside was a Blademaster weapon.

“Well…”  She said, examining the stats of the sword “Might make for a good trade, at least.”

“Eh, the experience was nice, wasn’t it?”  Haruka said and then gave Rose an excited look “Didja get a level at least?”

“No, but I’m close.”  Rose replied with a smile “About one hundred points or so.”

“In that case, I’ve got another set of keywords lined up.  Wanna try them out?”  MuSeiryu asked and the other two considered it for a moment before nodding.  Rose used a Sprite Ocarina and teleported them all out of the dungeon.

However, upon appearing outside, they all noticed something different about the world they were in.

“Hey, uh… didn’tcha say the keyword was for a sunny map, Mu?”  Haruka asked as they all stared up at the roiling pitch-black clouds above them.

“Yes it was.”  He replied and Rose nodded.

“It even said sunny when I put the keywords in.”  She said, a hint of fear in her voice “M-maybe they’re just doing some kind of event o-or they’re trying out active weather patterns.”

“The game doesn’t work like that, Rose.”  MuSeiryu replied, still staring at the clouds “Certain aspects of the map are affected by what the weather is when it’s created, like Monster Elements or the items given to you at Springs of Myst.”

As they spoke, the clouds suddenly began to rotate and the wind picked up steadily, threatening to knock them over.  Or it would, if their avatars could register it; the only way Rose even knew the wind was getting stronger was because MuSeiryu’s robe flapped crazily in the gale.

“H-hey, guys?”  Haruka gulped nervously “Part of me thinks we should probably bounce from this map.”

“I agree.”  MuSeiryu said and turned to the Twin Blade “Rosemary, gate us out of here, now!”

“O-okay, I’m on it!”  She replied and brought up her interface.  She hit the ‘Return to Root Town’ option, but was immediately met with an error message “It’s not working, something’s stopping us from leaving!”

MuSeiryu and Haruka stared at her in stunned silence before the Wavemaster attempted to take as much charge as he could.

“Haruka, Rosemary, remove your headsets and pull the plugs on your machine!”  He snapped and Haruka gave him a pouty expression.

“But I’ve got two hours of unsaved data I’m sitting on, Mu!”  She whined but the Wavemaster merely glared at her and she sighed “Alright, but what about you?”

“I’ll cut power as soon as I know you two are gone, now go!”  He bellowed, but then Rosemary spoke up and what she said made them look at her in horror.

“Um, guys?  I can’t feel my controller anymore… or my headset, and this wind is starting to seem very real to me!”

The other two Fireflies glanced at each other and paused a moment before terrified expressions came over their faces.

“Mu, I can’t feel my stuff either!”  Haruka cried out, her cat ears laying flat against her head and her tail whipping furiously in the wind.

“Neither can I!”  The Wavemaster responded.

And then the earth beneath them began to crack and tear, chunks flying up into the vortex above them, which was spinning so furiously that it hurt Rose’s eyes to watch it.  But then the ground beneath her shook violently and she fell forward, only to be immediately picked up by the wind.

“AHH, help me!”  She cried out and MuSeiryu’s hand shot out and grabbed her immediately, but then he was picked up with her.  However their flight was interrupted by Haruka grabbing MuSeiryu and slamming her sword into the ground, anchoring them.

“Hang on, guys, I gotcha!”  She called out over the roaring winds.  MuSeiryu attempted to pull Rosemary closer, but the winds were pulling at her with too much force.

“Dammit!”  He cursed and turned his attention to the Heavy Blade “Haru, try to pull us in, I’m not strong enough!”

“I’m on it, just don’t let go!”  She called back and began to tug on her companions.

They made it about a couple of inches closer when they heard a sound that made them freeze in terror.  There were a couple of tiny cracking noises, followed by the sound of shattering earth as Haruka’s sword was yanked forcefully from its post and the three of them screamed as they flew up into the vortex and disappeared.

Almost immediately the vortex dissipated and the map was returned to its sunny, pristine condition, as though it had never happened in the first place.  Even the earth showed no signs of having been damaged.

Save for a small tear in the ground.

> Ch. 2: "Sigma: Ancient Destroyer's Battlefield"
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter Two
“Sigma: Ancient Destroyer’s Battlefield”


Jack’s head swam and he felt himself laying on something soft, the first thought he had being that he must’ve passed out at his computer and had fallen out of his chair.

But then he remembered that his house was full of hardwood floors, not carpet, and the events of the last couple of hours came back to him in a flash and he snapped his eyes open, glancing around at the forest canopy above him before sitting up and looking around.

“Haruka?  Rosemary?  You two al-”  He began to call out but he was cut off by a hand gluing itself to his mouth and a head appearing next to him.

“Shh…”  Haruka whispered and Jack saw that her normally playful eyes were focused “Stay silent and don’t panic; we’re surrounded.”

Jack’s heart froze solid, but he nodded his assent and Haruka removed her hands before crawling quietly over to a prone form that he immediately recognized as Rosemary, whom she began to shake gently.  The Twin Blade stirred and made some kind of soft noise, which turned into a startled squeak as Haruka placed a hand over Rose’s mouth while she held a finger up to her own.

Just as they crawled back to Jack, he heard it, a low growling come from all around them.  He peered into the shadows of the dense forest around him and saw several pairs of glowing green eyes staring back at him, all of which gave him the feeling that he should be running as far and as fast as humanly possible in the other direction.

“What are those things?”  Rose asked quietly, fear heavy in her voice “Some kind of new monster in the system?”

“I don’t think so, Rosemary.”  Jack replied just as quietly “And I don’t think we’re playing the game anymore, everything feels too…”

“Real.”  Haruka finished for him and he nodded.

“So what do we do?”  She asked, slowly looking around at the numerous green eyes.

Jack honestly didn’t know, but he wasn’t going to say as much to the terrified Twin Blade.  He was the ranking player here which meant the other two were looking to him to get them out of this situation, so he calmly swept his gaze around him until he noticed that the eyes weren’t as numerous in one direction.

“Okay.  Haruka, Rosemary, there are fewer eyes at our eight; that’s behind and to the left.”  He whispered quickly and the other two nodded slowly “I’m going to cast a tornado spell over there and hopefully create a path out of here.  Once I do, we are going to run like hell, understood?”

“Understood.”
“Gotcha.”

“Alright, on three; one, two… three”  He said, crying out the last part and spinning to face his target “BiVak Rom!”

A vortex of flames appeared at the spot and the eyes closest to it leapt away immediately, leaving their path clear.

“It’s open, let’s get out of here!”  He yelled and the three of them immediately tore through the brush and into the forest.

At the exact same time he said that, a chorus of howls rose from the shadows and the creatures leapt out in pursuit of their prey.  Jack only caught a brief glimpse of one as he ran away, but he could’ve sworn that it was a wolf made of freaking wood!

‘Well I’ll be damned; Timber Wolves, how very literal.’  He thought dryly as they ran away from the monsters.

They were running for a good couple of minutes until the dark forest broke abruptly into a bright green meadow, with a  gorgeous view of an incredible expanse of apple trees.  Jack didn’t have time to enjoy it, though, because he saw a bunch of the stick wolves ran out ahead and cut them off before they could get to the apple trees.

The three players stopped running and regarded their new predicament carefully.

“Well…”  Haruka said, drawing her massive sword and holding it in front of her “Doesn’t look like these critters are gonna let us go, huh?”

“They’re wolves, at least I think they are.”  Jack replied, raising his Staff of Jordan “They’re just doing what comes naturally to them.”

“What’s the plan, Mu?”  Rosemary asked, pulling out her weapons as well “Are we fighting them?”

“Don’t got much choice, babe.”  Haruka replied, though Jack saw that her eyes were playful again and a huge smile played at her face, revealing sharp canines “I was starting to get a little bored anyway.”

Jack was about to give orders, but then he remembered a detail they’d temporarily forgotten in the chaos.

“Rosemary, you’re still Party Leader; how do you think we should handle this?”  He asked the Twin Blade and she blinked at him, mouth agape.

“Is now really the best time for that?!”  She asked incredulously and he shrugged.

“Until such time as we can determine whether or not we’re still in the game, let’s just assume for the moment that we are.”  Jack replied and Rosemary frowned, before nodding and glancing around at the slowly approaching wolves.

“Okay.”  She stated, her voice strong “MuSeiryu, stay in the center and keep us healthy with magic, using Area spells if you can spare them.  Haruka, take the point opposite me and keep the wolves focused on you and not Mu while I do the same on my end.  Use AoE skills if you got them but only if you have more than two wolves attacking you at a time.  Another thing, these guys look like they’re Wood Element so Fire Element attacks will probably hit Weaknesses.”

“Got it.  Anything else, Rose?”  Jack asked and she thought about it a moment.

“Considering they’re wolves, don’t let them distract you; wolves have been known to take down bears by tag-teaming them to death.  I think that’s everything, though.  Here they come, are you two ready for this?”  She said and her companions nodded grimly “Alright then; Operation Union Battle, let’s go!”

The wolves began their charge just as she finished speaking and the battle began in earnest.  Jack felt the wolves were surprisingly easy, considering how terrifying they appeared to be, with Haruka taking down about four in just a couple of smooth sword strokes and Rosemary deftly dodging the lunging wolves and methodically tearing them apart in a graceful flurry of blade.  Jack was especially impressed by the Twin Blade when her analysis of the wolves proved to be accurate; they burned very easily and were no match for Fire-based attacks.

But then they encountered a problem; the wolves were wising up to their tactics and had begun to swarm Rosemary while ducking away at the last minute as Haruka’s sword swung out to meet them before lunging during her attack recovery time, which was lengthy.

Fortunately, Rosemary noticed their change in tactic and acted immediately.

“Mu, try and slow Haruka’s wolves down a little!”  She yelled in between dodges and strikes “And see if you can’t give me a bit of breathing room!”

Jack’s response was to create a vortex of fire near Rosemary and then to start casting Suvi Lei and Dek Do on Haruka’s wolves to prevent them from avoiding her devastating sword strikes.

After a minute more of fighting, the wolves were all in pieces and the three players let out relieved sighs even as they began to recover their breaths.  Haruka shoved her sword into the ground and then began to massage her shoulder.

“Well, that’s my exercise today, I dunno about you two.”  She said in between breaths, but Jack just held up his hand and examined it, rubbing his thumb across his palm thoughtfully.  He shouldn’t be able to feel his avatar’s hand, but… he could, just like he could feel the clothes on his back, the staff in his hand and the glasses on his face.

His musings were interrupted by Rosemary, who suddenly took up an aggressive stance again, facing back towards the forest.

“Don’t get comfortable, you two, the wolves are doing something new!”  She yelled and the other two Fireflies immediately took battle positions again, with Haruka giving an exhausted sigh before effortlessly plucking her sword out of the ground.

At first they had no idea what was going on, but then Jack saw that the twigs and leaves were moving towards the forest.  They began to pile up and form something curled into a ball as the Fireflies all stared at it curiously.  Then a pair of enormous green eyes appeared and the pile began to unfurl.

This new enemy was still wolf-shaped, but the difference was that this one was huge and very, very angry.

“Aw snap, we got a boss fight on our hands!”  Haruka cried out excitedly but then she sniffed a couple of times and put a hand up to her face in disgust “Ugh, what the hell is that smell?!  It’s like something crawled up its butt and died!”

At first Jack didn’t know what she was talking about but then the smell hit him in the form of comically green smoke and he was crippled by the urge to keel over and vomit his guts upon the ground and when he looked around, he saw that Haruka and Rosemary were in the same state, the Heavy Blade more so since she was on all fours vomiting profusely.

He could tell they were in trouble then because they were all being crippled by the monster’s foul stench and the wolf knew it as well, judging by the fact that it stalked slowly forward, a wooden tongue hanging out as it drooled at the prospect of the meal before it.  Jack could only close his eyes and await the inevitable.

And then… they were saved.
	
> Ch. 3: "Delta: Bursting Passed Over Paradise"
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter Three
“Delta: Bursting Passed Over Paradise”


Applejack was gonna have a word or two with Rainbow Dash at some point… right after she was done cleaning up the damage that stupid windstorm had caused.

It wasn’t anything too bad, a couple of trees got knocked over and apples were scattered everywhere.  The point was that it shouldn’t have happened in the first place.  Fortunately, she had some help with the cleaning; one of her other friends had shown up to check on Applejack and her family.

“Ah sure am glad ya showed up when ya did, Twi.”  The cowpony said as she helped Big Macintosh straighten a tree back into place, while the lavender alicorn levitated numerous apples into baskets that would be sorted by Granny Smith and Applebloom later.

“Just because I’m a Princess now doesn’t mean I no longer care about what’s going on in Ponyville.”  Twilight Sparkle giggled “And I’m always available for my friends.”

With the tree back in place, Applejack trotted over Twilight just as she used her magic to load the filled baskets on to the cart so that Big Mac could take them to the barn.

“Did ya manage ta find out what that storm was all about?”  Applejack asked but Twilight shook her head sadly.

“I’m afraid not.  I ran into Rainbow Dash on the way here and she had no idea what had happened either.”  Twilight replied as the two of them began to head to the next section of orchard to continue the clean up “She told me that one minute it was clear, the next there was a huge storm cloud, and then it was gone before they could even mobilize pegasi to take care of it.”

“Yeah, well, it stayed long enough ta mess up the harvest.”  The cowpony huffed in irritation “If’n we’re very lucky, half a’ the apples knocked outta mah trees’ll be good enough ta sell on the market.”

“Well… if it’s any consolation, Rainbow Dash said she’ll be by later to help with whatever clean-up’s still needed and I’ll make sure she apologizes when she does.”  Twilight said, giving Applejack an apologetic grin.

Their conversation was interrupted a chorus of howls coming from the Everfree Forest.

“Tha’s odd, it’s way too early for the Zap Apples.”  Applejack said, staring in the direction of the wild forest “Somepony musta stumbled upon a pack a’ timberwolves, an’ a big one at that.”

“We should go check it out and make sure nopony gets hurt, AJ.”  Twilight replied and began to trot quickly in the direction of the howls.  Applejack looked back at Big Mac, who was beginning to strap himself to the cart.

“Keep an eye on things here, Mac, Twilight an’ Ah are gonna go see wha’s got the timberwolves all riled up.  An’ make sure Applebloom don’ wander off, ya hear?”  She called out to him and began to gallop after her friend.

Applejack didn’t think much about it at first, but as she and Twilight got closer to the meadow separating the orchard from the forest, they began to hear strange sounds; namely wolves snarling and yelping in pain along with grunts of exertion, what sounded like an axe smashing a bunch of twigs and a voice yelling out strange words that made no sense to her.

Suddenly it went quiet, causing her and Twilight to pause and look at each other.  Then they heard a voice call out.

“Don’t get comfortable, you two, the wolves are doing something new!”

“Aw snap, we got a boss fight on our hands!”  Another voice cried out excitedly, but it quickly turned to disgust “Ugh, what the hell is that smell?!  It’s like something crawled up its butt and died!”

The first sounded like a young filly, probably around Pinkie Pie’s age while the second sounded kind of like Rainbow Dash, but that’s not what concerned Applejack.  What worried her was that if they’d been fighting against the timberwolves, then she could assume the stupid things were about to band together to create an Alpha, which was not only bigger and nastier than a normal timberwolf, it also had a poisonous stench that made anypony that breathed it in very sick, making them easy prey.

“Are you thinking what I’m thinking, Applejack?”  Twilight asked in a worried voice and the cowpony nodded.

“Sure am, Sugarcube.”  She replied “Ah don’ suppose ya can conjure up some masks with yer fancy magic, can ya?”

“Yes I can, just give me a moment.”  The alicorn replied and closed her eyes just as her horn began to glow with a magenta aura.  

After just a couple of seconds, Applejack felt something appear around her muzzle, covering up her nose and mouth and she noticed that Twilight now had a magenta-colored mask around her own muzzle.  They nodded at each other and charged into the meadow to see the huge Alpha Timberwolf stalking slowly forward towards its victims, who looked extremely odd but Applejack decided she could talk to them once they’d dealt with the timberwolf.

“Twilight!  How d’ya suppose we go about stoppin’ this thing?”  Applejack called out to Twilight, who put a hoof up to her chin in thought.

“I’ve read about these things; normally, making a lot of noise is enough to drive them away since the spirits inhabiting them are hurt by sound waves, but that won’t work on an Alpha!”  Twilight called back, a determined look on her face “However, I think I can create a kind of bomb that will use a sonic frequency to disrupt the bonds the spirits are using to hold it together!”

“Alright, then.  Ah’ll distract it while ya get yer magic ready ta go!”  Applejack replied and turned to the huge timberwolf “C’mon ugly!  Ah’m yer new target, come n’ get me!”

She galloped up to one of its forelegs and bucked it, the wood cracking but not breaking.  However, the wolf gave a cry of pain and turned its angry glowing eyes to her just as she galloped under it and out the other side, turning to face it once more.

The wolf turned slowly around to face her and gave out a loud roar before raising one huge paw and bringing it down on her head.  Applejack managed to get out of the way just as it slammed the ground where she’d been just a couple of seconds ago and galloped to the foreleg she’d attacked previously, bucking it once more and this time, large chunks flew off and exposed the soft vines beneath.

Then the wolf surprised her by kicking out with its wounded leg and sending her flying away, landing hard on the ground and knocking the breath out of her.  She struggled to rise, but then saw a shadow descend over her and when she looked up, she saw the wolf had raised its paw and was about crush her.

Or it would have, but just before the paw began to fall, a third voice cried out from the other group.

“MeVak Kruz!”  The voice, a male by the sound of it, yelled and a bunch of flames appeared around the weak point on the limb and exploded, causing the wolf to howl in rage and pain as the severed limb went flying and landed several yards to Applejack’s right with a boom.

The cowpony turned to look at the one who’d summoned the flames and saw one of the strange group grasping its long and strangely shaped stick shakily and holding one strange claw-like appendage up before collapsing to the ground, whatever strength it had conjured up to save her apparently spent.

Unfortunately, Applejack didn’t have time to celebrate as glowing green strands snaked their way over to the severed limb to pull it back towards the wolf.  Applejack galloped over quickly and put as much strength as she could into bucking its supporting leg, but all she did was cause some of the bark-like armor to fall off and cracks to appear in its wooden hide.

But just before the wolf could reattach its limb, Twilight finished her spell with a great cry and energy burst from her horn in an explosion of sound.  The effect on the wolf was immediate and it fell to pieces as the glowing green wisps began to flee swiftly back into the forest to escape the terrible sounds.

Applejack galloped back over to Twilight and noticed that the lavender alicorn looked exhausted, though she gave the cowpony a weary smile as she approached.

“Whew, coming up with a new spell on the spot is a lot of work.”  She said, breathing heavily, but then pointed a hoof towards the strange beings “I just need a moment to catch my breath; go check on the ones the wolves were after, see if they need any sort of treatment.”

“Alright, Twilight.”  Applejack said with a nod and trotted quickly over to the one who’d saved her “Uh, hey there.  Y’all okay?  We got some medicine down at the farm if ya need it; timberwolves got a pretty poisonous breath to ‘em, ‘specially the Alphas.”

He was a strange fellow, with what appeared to be some kind of clothes covering him from top to bottom and the strange stick thing was lying on the ground next to him.

He rolled over a bit to look at her and she thought that his face seemed kind of pale, tinged slightly green.  He then raised a limb that looked similar to Spike’s claws to point shakily to his right where a strange, cat-eared being was laying next to a pile of what looked like vomit and it was groaning in misery.

“Help her…”  He muttered as he attempted to push himself up into a sitting position “Get her… medicine.”

Applejack nodded and trotted over to the cat-eared being, who merely continued to groan and when the cowpony put a hoof to her head, she could feel the being was burning up.

“Hey, Twilight, get over here quick-like!”  She called out urgently and her friend trotted quickly over, giving a worried glance to the cat-eared being “Ya got enough magic in ya ta get this’n over to the farmhouse?”

“Yes.  I think I can manage it.”  Twilight replied and put her own hoof to the stranger’s head “Sweet Celestia, she’s got a really bad fever!  The poison must be having an adverse effect on her system.”

“We got medicine at the house that can help, but ya need ta hurry and get ‘er there.  Don’ worry ‘bout actually givin’ it to ‘er, Granny n’ Applebloom’ll know what ta do.”  Applejack told her and the alicorn nodded resolutely.

She helped put the strange creature onto Twilight’s back, which made the alicorn grunt with effort.

“She’s really heavy!”  Twilight said “It must be that armor she’s wearing.”

“Ah imagine, jus’ be glad ya don’ hafta take that monster of a blade with ya.”  Applejack replied with a laugh and Twilight gave a small smile before charging her horn with magic and disappearing with a flash of light and a pop.

The cowpony then turned to the male, who was sitting up at this point and had his head in one of his claws.  Applejack thought he seemed well enough, so she turned her attention to the third stranger, who was sitting hunched over on the ground with one claw-like appendage to its mouth.

“Ya feelin’ alright there, Sugarcube?”  She asked the small stranger, who glanced up at her briefly before closing her eyes in pain.

“Ugh… I feel like I’m going to be sick…”  It, a female judging by the voice, replied.  Applejack sat on her haunches next to the stranger and patted her back with a hoof.

“Well don’cha worry none ‘bout that, Sugarcube.”  She assured the strange creature with a smile “It’s just an effect a’ the poison, you’ll be right as rain here pretty soon.”

“What… what about Haruka?”  The stranger asked, giving Applejack a concerned look “She looked pretty bad from what I could tell, plus you had that other one teleport her somewhere rather than try and talk to her like you did me.”

“Hah-roo-kuh?  Tha’s a weird name.”  Applejack said with a frown but then turned a calm expression to the stranger “Ah ain’ gonna lie ta ya, Sugarcube; yer friend’s in a pretty bad way.  But don’cha worry ‘bout her, she’s in good hooves.  She’ll be back on her, uh… her legs, ‘afore ya know it.”

The stranger gave a weak smile and looked like she wanted to say something else, but then a shadow fell over the two and when Applejack looked up, she saw that it was the male, looking surprisingly healthy for somepony who’d just been suffering the effects of timberwolf poison.  He crouched down in front of the female stranger and extended his claw-like appendage.

“Rip Teyn.”  He murmured and his claw glowed for a second as the female was surrounded in a strange silvery aura.

When they stopped glowing, the female stood up and stretched, giving a few experimental jumps before turning a smile toward the male.

“Thanks Mu, I feel much better now.”  The female said and the male nodded and smiled.

“No problem, Rosemary.  You did a great job against the wolves.”  He replied and then turned his attention to Applejack “Aren’t you a strange creature; are you a new kind of NPC the developers are introducing to the game?”

“Beg yer pardon?”  Applejack replied, giving the tall male a curious look and he put his claw-like appendage to his chin in thought.

“Never mind for now, I’ll explain later.”  He replied calmly and pushed what appeared to be glasses further up his strangely shaped muzzle “We would appreciate it very much if you took us to where you sent our friend.  We can probably help her better than you can.”

“Mmm, Ah suppose tha’s true.”  Applejack said, nodding in agreement and then stood up “The farmhouse is just a short walk this-a way.  C’mon, y’all!”

And thus the cowpony and the two strangers left the meadow, with the two strangers carrying a huge blade between them.  What none of them saw was the single eye on a tree staring at them as they left before closing.
	
> Ch. 4: "Theta: Dog Dancing Passionate Tri Pansy"
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter Four
“Theta: Dog Dancing Passionate Tri Pansy”


Twilight Sparkle could hardly believe it.  Humans, in Equestria!

It was all she could do not to freak out from this fact, though she was curious as to why they looked the way they did and not the like how she’d seen them when she’d gone through the strange mirror to Canterlot High School.  Applejack couldn’t stay, however, since she still had to clean up the farm after the wind storm.

The strange cat-eared human (Incorrect noun usage, readjusting to proper term; humanoid) wore this odd bright pink armor that weighed quite a lot.  It didn’t cover her completely, just the upper torso, shoulders, forearms and hands, lower legs and her feet.  Underneath the armor she wore a vest and leggings made of a strange, smooth material that felt tough, yet very flexible and underneath that was a sleeveless shirt and the undergarment often worn by humans that she had been told were called “panties”, with the shirt a dull green color and the panties pure white.  The humanoid’s tail was coming out of a hole cut into the back, which Twilight thought was odd.  It and her ears were covered in fur the same color as the largely unkempt hair on her head

“Well, my magic cleared the status effect from her character but as for the rest of her symptoms, I have no idea what to do about them.”  The male human known as MuSeiryu said (Correct noun usage; no physical alterations to his appearance noticed though must inquire as to his name).

The male human was tall and wore this long and flowing dress-like thing he called a robe.  It was royal blue color with golden-yellow trim on the edges and odd symbols embroidered in silver all across it.  He wore a pair of royal blue pants underneath the robe and on his feet were a pair of black shoes.  Hanging across his shoulders was a bag that looked not unlike one of her saddlebags although this one had several more pockets and buckles on it than hers.  Finally, his mane (Correction: on humans, it is always referred to as hair) was a deep red color that was cut short and hung flat around his head.  He pushed his spectacles, which were round and had a thin golden frame, back up his nose in front of his vivid green eyes (Note: he seems to do this quite a lot, even though I never once see the glasses move from their spot.  Must discuss with him at some point).

“Is she going to be okay?”  The other female human, who called herself Rosemary, asked curiously and MuSeiryu shrugged.

Rosemary, who was a smaller female than the humanoid laying on a quilt on top of a pile of hay and covered in a different quilt, had less extravagant clothing than her companions, though she revealed more of her skin than the other two.  Namely, she wore a vest made of that same sturdy material as the humanoid did underneath her armor that seemed to cling her chest almost like a second skin along with a pair of pants that only went down to just above her knees (someone in Canterlot High referred to such pants as “shorts”).  On her feet were a pair of sandals that had a long lace that snaked up and around her lower leg, tied off below the knee, and on her hands was a pair of gloves that left half of each finger exposed.  Also, at certain parts on her body were tattoos that resembled the symbols embroidered on MuSeiryu’s robe.  Her eyes were a lovely red color and hair was raven black and styled to where it’s mostly pulled into a tall tail in the back save for the two long bangs in front that framed her soft face.

“I don’t know.”  Mu said, taking a seat on the floor next to the long stick he carried with him “I’m not a doctor and even if I was, I don’t see how it would be relevant in a virtual reality world.  That reminds me, Rose, have you tried logging out yet?”

“I’ve been trying, but all it ever does is give me an error message.”  Rosemary replied, shaking her head and the other human puts a hand to his chin in thought.

“Hang on a minute.”  Twilight spoke up, deciding she needed some answers to make sense of what these two have been saying “Virtual world?  Logging out?  What are you two talking about?”

The two humans glanced at each other briefly before the male coughed and pushed his glasses back up his nose (again).

“Before I go into details, I have to ask a few things.”  He said and Twilight nodded “First; can you tell me where the nearest Chaos Gate is?”

“I’m… not sure I understand what you’re asking me.”  She replied, a hesitant expression on her face.

“Okay.  Can you tell me where I can find Grunty food suitable to raise an Iron Grunty?”  He asked and Twilight stared at him in utter confusion.

“Is this a test?  Because I have no idea what you’re trying to ask me.”

The two humans glanced at one another again, both looking slightly pale, before the male turned his attention back to Twilight with a look of deadly seriousness on his face.

“Alright.  Here’s the last question.”  He said and got closer to Twilight so that their faces were merely a few inches apart “What server are we on?”

“I don’t know what a ‘server’ is, but you’re in Equestria on the planet Equis.”  She replied carefully and she saw the male’s face pale to an almost white color and his green eyes widen in dawning horror.

“Oh no…”  He murmured quietly as he backed away from her “This can’t be possible, it just can’t be…”

“Mu?”  Rosemary said, her voice filling with fear “What did she mean when she said she didn’t know what a server was?  Is she saying… that we’re not…?”

MuSeiryu glanced from Twilight to Rosemary and back again before standing suddenly and grabbing his stick.

“I-I’m sorry, I… I need some air.”  He said and hurried out of Applejack’s barn, his face extremely pale.

The female human glanced from where MuSeiryu had gone to Twilight before standing and chasing the male out of the barn, leaving Twilight to wonder what it was she’d said that was causing them both such discomfort.



Jack left the barn and headed to a nearby apple tree, leaning against it and running his hands through his hair.  He stared at his shaking hands as his mind attempted to fully process the information the winged unicorn had told him.

They were no longer in The World or even on Earth; they were here, physically, in their avatars’ bodies!

“What the hell is going on here?!”  He asked himself, putting his hand to his head because it was hurting him just trying to make sense of it all.

“Mu?  What… what does all of this mean?  Why can’t we log out?”  Rosemary asked, walking up next to Jack with a worried expression on her face.

“I don’t know…”  He replied, shaking his head “I… need some time to think about this.  For now, let’s figure out where we are.  We’ll need Haruka back on her feet before I can do anything else.”

He took a deep breath and pushed his glasses back up his face.  There was no point falling apart now; there had to be a reason why this was happening to them.  He just wished he could get a message out to his family and let them know he was alright.

He and Rosemary walked back into the barn and saw the purple winged unicorn waiting patiently for them, though she also had a look of worry crossing her features.

“Are you two okay?”  She asked and Jack shrugged.

“Not really, but there’s nothing we can do about it right now.”  He replied and took a seat across from her “Okay, if we’re going to try and find a way home, we’ll need some information about this world first.”

“And I would love to know more about where you come from.”  The winged unicorn replied, smiling at him.

“Great!”  Jack said, a smile of his own spreading across his face “Then how about we conduct an exchange of information; I’ll tell you something about us and then you do the same.  To start with, where we come from, a lot of us have two names.  You currently know me as MuSeiryu, but that is not my true name.  My true name is Jack Harvey.”

“Hello, Jack Harvey, my name is Twilight Sparkle.  I’m the Princess of Magic and I run the library here in Ponyville.”  The winged unicorn replies and extends her hoof, which Jack shakes and he notices that her hoof is somehow able to bend around his hand.

“You don’t have to call me ‘Jack Harvey’, just ‘Jack’ is fine.”  He says as he releases her hoof and gestures to the Twin Blade sitting once more on a bale of hay “This is Rosemary and the one sleeping off the poison is called Haruka.”

“Oh, my name is Rose Levins.”  Rosemary interjected, giving Twilight a small wave “Either way, most people call me ‘Rose’ or ‘Rosie’.”

This continued for a little while, with one side telling the other something about their world, the other asking a question or two about it and then trading off.  Jack learned that the dominant species on the continent were ponies and that they were separated into three categories; there were the unicorns, which were capable of magic and were smarter than the other two, followed by the pegasi which were capable of flight, could walk on clouds and were generally faster and more agile, and ending with the earth ponies, which could neither fly nor use magic, but possessed the greatest strength and endurance out of all three of the different species.  There was also a fourth type called alicorns, which possessed traits of the main three but were exceedingly rare, with only four known alicorns in existence which were Twilight Sparkle, Cadence, Celestia and Luna.

She also told him about the Elements of Harmony, which were Equestria’s primary form of defense and were wielded by herself and her friends, one of them being the orange earth pony they’d first met named Applejack.

Jack, in turn, explained that the bodies he and his companions were inhabiting were not their original bodies, but something they created as part of a video game (which he in turn explained to Twilight, who had produced a quill and a stack of parchment from nowhere and was writing down everything he said, was a specially generated world that could only be accessed by certain kinds of technology).  He also explained to Twilight about their “jobs” within the game were; he was a Wavemaster, which was The World’s form of a mage or spellcaster, Rose was a Twin Blade, which was a good all-around type class but were well known for their speed and agility and ending with Haruka who was a Heavy Blade, which was one of the physically strongest classes in the game.

It was only after he’d said it did he realize that he, Rose and Haruka were essentially the equivalent of the three main species in Equestria and this was solidified when Twilight asked about a class that could do everything they could, which made him face-palm.

However, Jack’s mood soured when the barn doors flew open with a loud bang and next thing he knew it was raining confetti and streamers and he was tackled to the ground by a bubblegum pink pony that had the biggest smile he’d ever seen on anyone.

“Hi!  I had a feeling there were new ponies in town well you’re humans, not ponies, but I still think you should get a ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ party or would it be a ‘Welcome to Equestria’ party or maybe it could be both, how fun would that be and Sweet Celestia, I had just some serious déjà vu there!”  The pink pony said, the words flying from her mouth at a lethal velocity “Anyway, I should probably tell you my name hi, I’m Pinkie Pie, I should introduce all of you to my friends, Lyra will go nuts when she finally gets to meet some humans!”

‘Somehow, I think things have just spiraled out of control.’  Jack thought miserably.
	
> Interlude
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------





Fireflies Guild Chat
Main Channel




[Hallowedsoul] joined the room.

[Hallowedsoul]: huh... guess i'm the only one here right now."

[Crunchyz] joined the room.

[Crunchyz]: yo, hallowed, what's goin on?
[Hallowedsoul]: not much, crunch, have you seen mu today? 
[Crunchyz]: nah, man, but he likes to skip a day or two every now and then. no biggie.
[Hallowedsoul]: that's true. what about haru, you seen her at all?
[Crunchyz]: not today, no, and that's kinda surprising, considerin she's on nearly every day if she can help it. she might be sick or something today, I dunno.

[Pastee_Fac3] joined the room.

[Pastee_Fac3]: wow just a regular circle jerk in here, huh. where is everybody?
[Crunchyz]: this ain't exactly a big guild, paste, people ain't gonna be on when ya want em to be.
[Pastee_Fac3]: w/e, hey there's a news story on the web about a girl who was found in a coma at her computer yesterday, have ya read it yet?
[Hallowedsoul]: no I haven't could you send me the link?
[Crunchyz]: remind me why I should care about some random ass girl who fell into a coma at her computer?
[Pastee_Fac3]: well the rumor is she was playin The World before she collapsed and her parents are blaming cc corp. however people around the net are sayin it's a repeat of the second net crisis, y'know, when all those people suddenly started fallin into comas left and right?
[Crunchyz]: ...
[Crunchyz]: send me the link as well.

[Aurora] joined the room.

[Aurora]: Excuse me, have you heard anything about three people who have fallen into comas recently?
[Pastee_Fac3]: we were just talkin about a girl who fell into a coma yesterday. did you want the link too?
[Aurora]: No, that will be unnecessary.  Have any of your friends displayed abnormal log-in patterns today?
[Hallowedsoul]: what's with your text, are you trying to prove something?
[Aurora]: Please answer the question.
[Hallowedsoul]: okay uh, mu hasn't been on since yesterday though he's been known to skip days and haru hasn't been seen today which is odd considering she rarely ever misses a chance to play she loves it here.
[Aurora]: Could you please give me their full character names?
[Crunchyz]: yer kiddin, right? everyone in Fireflies knows MuSeiryu and Haruka they're like our most famous members especially mu considering he's the Heir of Jordan.
[Aurora]: I am well aware of his status.  Thank you for your assistance.

[Aurora] has left the room.

[Pastee_Fac3]: well that wasn't wierd or anything.
[Crunchyz]: no kiddin bro.
[Hallowedsoul]: hey guys, we might have a problem.
Pastee_Fac3]: what's up?
[Crunchyz]: what is it?
[Hallowedsoul]: I just checked the guild registration, and I didn't find any player named "Aurora" in the member list.
[Pastee_Fac3]: and that's a problem why?
[Crunchyz]: this is a semi private chat room, only guildies are allowed to join it which means one of two things.
[Hallowedsoul]: either "Aurora" was a CC Corp. sys admin, which is unlikely as they show up in chat with unique colored text, or we just got hacked.
[Pastee_Fac3]: seriously?! who'd wanna hack us our guild has literally nothing worth taking.
[Crunchyz]: she seemed to only be interested in the news about the girl in the coma. maybe we should take a closer look into that. didn't she say "three people" though?
[Hallowedsoul]: yeah, and she was also asking about the log-in habits of our friends.
[Pastee_Fac3]: so what's the game plan dudes?
[Crunchyz]: I'll contact the gm, I have his phone number IRL though he doesn't like me callin it and get him to set up an urgent topic for the clan askin everyone to check in with it.
[Hallowedsoul]: and I'm going to be checking news articles, particularly concerning sudden coma patients. I'll also check in with the guild and from there I can do some poking around in regards to the people who don't check in. Nothing invasive, just wanna make sure everyone's alright. Everyone on board?
[Crunchyz]: right behind you brother.
[Pastee_Fac3]: same here and I'll keep an eye on the BBS and let y'all know if I find something weird.
[Hallowedsoul]: great, we have a plan. move out Fireflies!
[Hallowedsoul]: Fireflies light up the night!
[Crunchyz]: Fireflies light up the night!
[Pastee_Fac3]: Fireflies light up the night!

[Hallowedsoul] has left the room.
[Pastee_Fac3] has left the room.
[Crunchyz] has left the room.


> Ch. 5: "Omega: Reincarnated Elusive Lyric Poet"
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter Five
“Omega:  Reincarnated Elusive Lyric Poet”


Grim Tutor watched through Morganna’s eye as the strange creatures departed with one of Celestia’s wretched Element Bearers.

“What are they?”  He asked his savior and she was quiet for a moment before replying.

“They are known as ‘humans’ in their world.”  Morganna replied calmly as the eye closed.

“Are they a threat to our plans?”

“No.  I expect they have no idea how they arrived here to begin with, let alone what our plan for this world is.  Even if they did, their capacity for interference is negligible at best.  We have nothing to fear from them, my dear Tutor.”

“Be that as it may, it might be prudent to monitor their activities for the time being, do you not agree?”

Morganna was silent as she contemplated his suggestion.

“If it shall ease your troubled mind, then I will ensure that the humans cannot move without us knowing about it.”

“And how will you accomplish that?  If you continue to use your great eyes, they will be noticed in short order.”  Grim Tutor asked curiously.

“This is where the first of your gifts shall come into play.  Behold!”  Morganna replied and the air distorted in front of Tutor as something materialized in front of him.

Grim Tutor thought it was an odd creature.  Even as it regarded him calmly, it seemed like it was less a living being and more of a fragment from a beautiful mural that had been carved into a wall.  It wasn’t terribly large, maybe just slightly bigger than he was.

“What is it?”  He asked his savior and Morganna made some kind of smug noise before answering.

“He is your servant, a mirage that can hide in plain sight and observe the humans for you.”  She said gently just as the ‘mirage’ shifted and turned into an exact replica of Tutor, albeit with dull eyes “And best of all, should the humans or anything else attack him, they will not be able to slay him.  Are you not satisfied, Tutor?”

Tutor smiled at the creature before him as it shifted once more into a different pony that looked to be an amalgamation of several of the unicorns that Morganna had drained earlier.

“He is perfect…”  He murmured calmly and he felt that Morganna was pleased as well.



The field was calm, a gentle wind blew across the plains, lazily turning the blades of an enormous windmill.  A field such as this would be ideal for many players to visit and relax in with its sunny and warm air.  However, the field was currently bereft of such players or even the monsters and items that would normally be scattered across it.

Save for a solitary woman, wearing a flowing prismatic dress and a white shawl, who was kneeling on the ground examining the only other anomaly on the field, which was tear in the graphics of the game that glowed ominously.

‘Here.  This is where they disappeared.’  Aura thought to herself, running a hand gently along the edge of the tear ‘I can feel it is connected to something… but where does it lead?’

She wanted to explore it, feeling as though it were connected to the sudden disappearance of the remnants of Morganna’s data.  But at the same time, she could not simply disappear; the world outside of the game was still recovering from her mother’s attempt to kill her.

She was stumped as to the course of action she should take, wondering if she should get in touch with Kite and his friends to see if they would aid her once more, but she shook her head in dismissal at the thought.

‘No.  I cannot continue to turn to Kite to solve the problems of The World.  I am it’s protector and I must handle the situation myself.’

And so she sat there, pondering her dilemma, when she had a sudden idea.  However she was unsure as to whether or not she could implement it; she had never tried to manipulate data on this scale before.  But she needed to at least try, for the sake of the three who were lost.

And so she focused, examining the data she needed and adjusting it until she finally had a mold for what she needed done.  Then she began to construct any extra data needed from her own memories and filled the mold.

‘Now comes the hard part…’ she thought to herself and began to try and coax the data into thought, trying to get it to awaken… to “live”.

It took a lot longer than she had anticipated, but she finally managed to get the data to begin working on its own and to her great excitement, she heard and felt it take its first breath in the digital world.  However when she opened her eyes and stood, she felt slight dismay at her results.

What stood before her could easily be called a mockery of Kite of the Azure Flame; its avatar looked stitched together in several places and several large straps covered most of its face, the only parts of it she could see were a pair of dull eyes.  It breathed in slow, deep breaths as it stared at her, little emotion flickering in its eyes.

“Do you understand me?”  She asked it, and the Kite clone nodded slowly “Excellent.  Do you know who I am?”

“Au… ra…”  It rasped in a mockery of Kite’s voice and Aura allowed herself a small smile.  It wasn’t perfect, but it will have to do.

“And you can speak as well, if only just.”  She replied gently, giving the mockery a warm smile “Now tell me… what is your name?”

It said nothing, only stood in place and stared at her which caused Aura to purse her lips in thought.

“If you do not possess a name, then I shall have to give you one.”  She said and put a finger to her chin in thought before smiling at the mockery “I believe I shall call you ‘Azure Kite’.”

“Az… ure… Ki… te…”  It rasped in response.

“Very good, Azure Kite.  There is an important task I need you to do for me now.”  She said and Azure Kite stood a little straighter, as though awaiting her command “I need you to go to where this tear leads and find the three players who are lost; I have created a copy of their character information for your memory.  Will you do this for me, Kite?”

Azure Kite merely nodded and turned towards the tear, but Aura stopped him before he could leave.

“Oh, before I forget, take these with you.”  She said, holding out a small case in one hand and a tiny ball of light in the other “The items held within the container are for the players.  Give it to them as soon as you find them, as I fear they may need the power held within.  As for the other, I need you to release it as soon as you arrive; it is a fragment of my data and should assume what is considered an appropriate form for wherever you are heading.”

Azure Kite said nothing, only taking the case and the ball of light and turning back towards the tear.  It held out its right arm and a copy of Kite’s Twilight Bracelet appeared around his wrist, which the mockery aimed at the tear.

“Gate… Hacking…”  It rasped.  It and the tear became enveloped in a transparent dome for a moment before Azure Kite disappeared as a set of golden rings travelled down its body.

“Farewell… and good luck, my knight.”  Aura murmured before disappearing from the field as well.



The newest Captain of the Guard, a pegasus by the name of Skyward Sword, looked around at the grisly scene before him.

‘So much death.’  He thought grimly ‘And not one of them have a single mark upon their bodies.  It’s as though they fell over and stopped living.  What could’ve done this?’

The investigation team had been on scene before he’d arrived; in fact, it had been them that had contacted him in the first place, saying the crime scene was unusual and very disturbing.  They might not have even known there was a crime if the family members of some of these ponies hadn’t gone to the Guard and asked them to check up on their wayward kin.

But to find the missing ponies dead was… disheartening.  Death among Equestrians was very rare outside of natural causes, with homicide being near non-existent, but what Sword saw before him was more than simple murder.

It was a massacre.

“What do we have?”  He asked a unicorn standing next to him and turning his attention to the only other thing that stood out of place apart from the corpses.  The unicorn, a mare by the name of Bella Donna, sighed in frustration before replying.

“Well, apart from the fact that we literally have no idea what killed these ponies, we’re going to have a hay of a time figuring out who’s who in this mess.”  She said, rubbing her eyes with one hoof.

“Why’s that?”  He asked, still staring at the enormous golden ring that merely sat there doing nothing.

“Because whatever killed these unicorns didn’t just kill them, it drained them of their very essence; their coats and manes have faded to shades of gray.  The only way we’ll get a proper identification is by having their next of kin take a look at their cutie marks.”  She replied morosely and Sword sighed heavily.

“And today was going to be so beautiful, too.”  He said and then pointed a hoof at the ring “What about this thing?  None of the corpses are within a few yards of it, so it must’ve been important.  What can you tell me about it?”

“Nothing much, I’m afraid.”  She replied before consulting the parchment being held in her magic “According to the analysis of Test Tube, he couldn’t find anything out of the ordinary about it; no magical residue, no method of operation, nothing.  His only note is that it appears that it can spin in place, judging by the stand, but other than that he said it’s just a large gold ring.”

“That’s not helpful…”  Sword growled and Bella shrugged.

“If it is not too much trouble, might I have a look at it?”  A regal voice spoke up from behind them.  Skyward Sword acted purely on instinct, spinning in place and saluting with one wing.

“Your Majesty.”  He stated as Princess Celestia trotted in through the door.

“At ease, Captain.”  She said and Sword lowered his salute.  Celestia glanced around at the corpses and a sorrowful expression fell upon her muzzle “My poor little ponies… what could have done this to you?”

Bella was about to respond, but Sword cut her off by shaking his head.  He knew the Princess had not directed the question at them… yet.  They didn’t have to wait long, however, as Celestia glanced at both of them expectantly.

“Tell me all that you have gathered so far.”  She said and Bella complied immediately, recapping everything she’d told Sword.  She sighed and looked at her Captain “To whom does this home belong to?”

“According to my Guards, it belongs to Grim Tutor, Your Majesty.”  He replied and the Princess’ face became alarmed and glanced at the unicorn corpses again.

“Tutor?!  He’s not one of the slain, is he?!”  She exclaimed in a worried manner, but Bella Donna shook her head.

“No, I don’t think so.  I’ve worked with him on a regular basis and I don’t see his cutie mark among any of the deceased.  And trust me, I’ve checked and doubled checked all of them.”  She replied and the Princess sighed, but then her expression became conflicted.

“I am glad to hear he may yet live, but if that’s the case… where is he?  Why didn’t he contact anypony about this?”  She asked and Sword opened his mouth to respond, but before he could the golden ring suddenly began to spin in place and an azure field appeared within it.

“Guards, defensive formation!”  Sword called out and several Guardsponies filed in swiftly, aiming spears at the gracefully spinning ring.

They stayed that way for a few moments, staring carefully at the ring.  Just as they were beginning to think nothing was going to happen, a figure appeared before them as a set of transparent golden rings descended from the ceiling.

“Halt, stranger!”  Sword yelled and the figure, a strange alien standing on two legs, turned its largely obscured head to stare at him “Identify yourself!”

The newcomer did not respond, only turning its head slowly away.  It held up a strange appendage with digits on the end that reminded Sword of a dragon’s claw and a small sphere of light appeared briefly before vanishing.

“By order of Her Majesty, Princess Celestia, I command you to identify yourself or we will use force!”  Sword yelled at it once more.

This time it growled and a pair of wicked looking weapons appeared in its strange claw-like appendages, both had three, sharply curved blades attached to them.  It crouched as though preparing to charge while Sword barked a command and he and his Guardsponies braced themselves for an assault.  However, just before the strange creature could attack a calm voice spoke from nowhere.

“Stand down, Azure Kite.  They are not hostile.”

The figure, ‘Azure Kite’, disengaged its stance and returned to merely standing there in front of the ring.  Sword took a tentative step towards the creature when the voice called out to him.

“Do not be afraid.  We will not harm you.”

Sword looked around quizzically at the ponies around him, but everypony he looked at just shook their heads as though to say they hadn’t spoken.  The voice cleared its throat and Skyward Sword realized the voice was coming from a point lower to the ground, so that is where he looked next.

What he saw made his eyes go wide.

“Hello, denizen of this world.”  Said a small alicorn filly with a pure white coat, a wavy lavendar colored mane and tail and what appeared to be a white shawl around her withers “I am Aura, and I am looking for three who are lost.”
	
> Ch. 6: "Sigma: Tested Morphean Alchemy"
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter Six
“Sigma: Tested Morphean Alchemy”


A man sat in an office with his wife and they held each other’s hand as they both stared at the doctor sitting at the desk, who tapped a pencil rhythmically.  Eventually the husband opened his mouth to speak.




”Doctor… will our girl be alright?”




The doctor kept tapping his pencil as he responded.



”As I’ve told you both before, being in a coma is significantly different than being brain dead.  For starters, coma victims have a chance of recovery and most wake up within a few months or so.  Your daughter is going to be just fine.”



The mother stood up suddenly, her raised voice panicked as she confronted the doctor.



”But what about all of those people who fell into comas during the network crisis last year?!  How many of them were ‘just fine’?!”



The doctor stopped tapping his pencil and was silent for a moment as he regarded the woman carefully, then he spoke once more.



”I will admit that while most of the victims admitted were released with a clean bill of health after just a couple of weeks… not all of them survived.  However, those particular patients all had critical issues with their health whereas your daughter is perfectly healthy.  A successful recovery is an almost complete guarantee.”



The mother sat back down and the husband placed a comforting hand on her shoulder before turning back to the doctor.




”But there’s still a chance she won’t wake up… isn’t there?”




The doctor regarded the family calmly all the while thinking to himself that it was just like last year, with all of the coma victims and their angry, confused and desperate family members.  He honestly felt bad for them and wanted to flat-out tell them their daughter would be absolutely fine, but he couldn’t.  Not just because it would bring all kinds of legal liability down upon himself and the hospital, but he could not, in good conscience, tell them something that he wasn’t one hundred percent sure was true.



”I’m not going to lie to you; there is a slight chance your daughter won’t wake up.  What I can promise you, though, is that she will be well cared for.  We’ll ensure she receives the proper nutrients and is bathed regularly.  That’s all I can promise, though.  Anything else will be up to her.”



The mother and father looked at each other for a moment before standing and thanking the doctor for speaking to them before departing.  On the way out, they bumped into a Japanese man who spoke very good English.  Both groups apologized swiftly and went their separate ways, with the Japanese man walking up to the counter and speaking to the receptionist.



”Hey there, I was wondering if you could help me out.  I’m here about a comatose girl that was admitted into this hospital a couple of days ago and I was hoping to be able to speak to a doctor that’s in charge.”





Sarah’s head hurt soooo much.

The last time her head hurt this much was after that party her college friend, Jennifer, had invited her to and where she’d gotten into a drinking contest with a bunch of jocks.  She’d sworn the next morning that she was never doing it again, but she’d felt tremendous pride when Jenny had told her later that the idiots were out cold an hour before she was.

It didn’t help that someone was running their mouth a million miles an hour.

‘Reminds me of Patricia a little.’  Sarah mused, remembering her eternally optimistic and incredibly hyperactive best friend.

“Patty, go home, I’m hung-over and I’m tryin’ to sleep…”  She mumbled in her pain-and-sleep addled state, turning over in her bed which was amazingly comfortable, especially the blanket that was covering her.  It reminded her of her grandmother’s quilts.

“I would, I’ve got a lot to take care of, but I haven’t gotten all the details sorted out for your ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ party yet!”  A peppy voice replied and Sarah frowned.

‘Welcome to Ponyville party?  What does that mean, and where the hell is Ponyville?’

The extra bit of thinking made her head hurt more and she groaned, moving one hand to her head and running it through her strangely silky-smooth hair (this was odd, because her hair was normally a snarling, tangled, demonic mess on the best of days).  Her journey through her fantastically smooth hair ended when her hand ran into some large object covered in short fur(?).  As she felt it up, it strongly reminded her of a large ear like on a dog or a cat.  

She was wondering why it was attached to the side of her head and pulled at it, yelping in pain as the agony from pulling her ear was now added to the massive headache she was experiencing and she sat up rubbing the offended extremity.

“Ow…”  She moaned and blinked her eyes open “Can someone please tell me why that hurt?”

“That’s… going to be rather complicated to explain, Sarah.”  A familiar voice spoke and she froze.

Sarah turned her head very slowly and her heart began to race when she saw that MuSeiryu, Rosemary, a brilliantly pink pony with a huge smile and a pony-sized unicorn with wings all stared at her intently.

“Wh-what is this?!”  She stammered, glancing frantically between all four of them with wide eyes “Rosie, Mu, why are you here?!  Wait, this isn’t my dorm room, where the hell am I?!”

“Sarah, calm down.  Freaking out about this isn’t going to solve anything.”  Mu said softly, walking over and putting a hand on her shoulder which she slapped away quickly.

“And why the hell are you using my name?!  I told you never to call me that online, Jack!”  She yelled fiercely and he held his hands close to her, but not touching.

“We’re not online, Sarah, so you need to calm down or we’re not going to get anywhere.”  He replied calmly, which caused her to stare at him in disbelief.

“So… all that crap that happened – the vortex, the fight with the wolves… that was all for real?”  She asked and Mu nodded solemnly.

Sarah thought it had been an extremely vivid dream, brought on by too much time spent playing The World.  She had assumed she would just wake up at her computer since she was no stranger to playing until she collapsed but no, this felt too real.  The ears were physically attached to her and when she felt around underneath the covers she found a tail.  It was too much for her and she held her head between her hands, feeling like she just wanted to scream and yell and cry until it all went away.

“Hey… you okay, Pretty Pink Cat Lady?”  The pink pony asked, genuine concern in her voice, though she retreated at the ferocious glare Sarah turned to her.

“All of you…”  Sarah snarled in a threatening and terrified voice “Get. Out. Now!”

“Hey, we’re only trying to help-” The purple winged unicorn began but Sarah cut her off.

“I SAID GET OUT NOW!”  She roared furiously and the other four in the room scrambled toward the door.

“Twilight, get the sword!”  Mu called out and before Sarah knew it, her weapon was flying out the barn doors with the ponies and other players before it slammed shut.

Once they were gone, Sarah looked all around her at the simple wooden barn she was laying in with a mixture of curiosity, disdain and sorrow before wrapping the blanket around her shoulders and pulling her legs up to her chest where she buried her head in her knees.

And then she wept pitifully.



“What was that all about?”  Twilight asked the human male with the really wonky name “Why was she angry with us, we didn’t do anything to her.”

“I don’t think she was angry, Twilight.”  MuSeiryu replied (Bleh, that’s way too many words.  I’ll just call him ‘Jack’!) “What’s happened to us, and especially to her since those feline features appear to be very real, is a lot to handle.  I think she just needs some time alone to process what’s happened.”

“So does that mean we can’t have a party?”  Pinkie asked somewhat sadly, her mane and tail deflating a bit, but Jack smiled and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

“Sure we can.”  He tells Pinkie softly “While Sarah’s adjusting, why don’t you go get everything set up and we’ll surprise her with it.  She likes parties, so throwing one for her might make her feel better.”

“Okie dokie lokie!”  Pinkie replied enthusiastically, her mane and tail returning to their natural fluffiness with a pop, and she hurried away.  As she got back to Sugarcube Corner, she began to think about what Sarah would like.

‘I wonder what kind of cake she likes?  She seems like a red velvet kind of girl so let’s start with that, but what kind of frosting?  Oh, maybe she likes a nice vanilla whipped!  But how many layers, three, maybe?  Better make it five just to be safe.  Now for games.  Hmm, I think I’ll just go with the standard stuff like Pin the Tail on the Pony and my usual collection of board games.  What about drinks?  She seems like somepony who enjoys alcoholic drinks, but I can’t serve that at a party with foals, that’d just be irresponsible.  Maybe I can get Berry Punch to bring some of her sparkling non-alcoholic juices with her!  Yeah, that’s a great idea, Pinkie Pie!  And why are you still writing my thoughts, Hallowed, shouldn’t you transition already?’



Sarah didn’t know how long she’d sat on the bale of hay crying and she didn’t particularly feel like leaving anytime soon.  That was until a tiny voice called out to her.

“Hey, ya feelin’ alright, Miss?”

Sarah looked up from her knees and glanced around but didn’t see anybody.  Just as she was beginning to think she was hearing things, a small yellow pony with a red mane and tail that had a pink ribbon tied in it jumped up next to her on the bale of hay, looking at her with worried eyes.

“No… I’m not.”  Sarah murmured and turned away from the little horse “I’d really like to be left alone right now, if you don’t mind.”

“Why would ya wanna be alone if ya ain’t feelin’ good?”  The little pony asked and Sarah thought it sounded like a child, or foal in the case of horses “Wouldn’t ya want yer family ta take care a’ ya?”

“My family’s… not here, so there’s no one here that cares about me.”  She replied bitterly.

“What about yer friends, ain’t they a part a’ yer family?”  The foal asked and Sarah began to get tired of the endless questions.

“I can barely call them my friends.  I know only one of them personally and I’ve never met either of them in real life.”  Sarah replied derisively.

“What do ya mean by that?  They’re outside waitin’ on ya, ain’t they?”

“I… yes, I guess they are, but I don’t know them well enough to actually call them my friends.”  Sarah replied and the foal stepped into her field of vision with a smile sweeter than a bag of marshmallows.

“But if they weren’t yer friends, wouldn’t they have left already?”  The foal asked and Sarah blinked, realizing something important.  She may not know them in real life, but online they were as good as friends to her.

“What’s your name, kiddo?  I assume you have one since you can talk and all.”  Sarah asked and the foal practically beamed at her.

“Mah name’s Applebloom, Miss!  What’s yers?”

Sarah considered Applebloom for a moment, wondering if she should tell the foal her online name or her real life name.  Then she decided that it didn’t really matter right now and that she may as well be straight with the little one.

“Sarah.  Sarah Irving, and it’s a pleasure to meet you, Applebloom.”  She said and the two of them shook hands – er, hooves… something, and then Sarah had a sudden thought and smiled at the adorable foal “Hey, can you help me with something?”

“A’ course Ah can!  What do ya need help with?”  Applebloom asked her excitedly and Sarah hopped off of the hay and walked over to her armor, which lay in a pile nearby.

“I’m gonna need your help putting all of this on.”  She said as she picked up the vest and leggings that would go on first and turned to Applebloom “Do you think you can do it?”

Applebloom nodded enthusiastically and hopped down as well and Sarah noted that the foal wasn’t very tall, only coming up to her thighs.  The foal looked up at her with a huge smile and absolutely adorable orange eyes.

“Great.  Okay first, I gotta get this stuff on; it’s to prevent the armor from chaffing me and to provide just a bit of extra protection…”
	
> Ch. 7: "Sigma: Noisy Sacred Ringing Ears”
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter Seven
“Sigma: Noisy Sacred Ringing Ears”


“Alright, now we shut this clasp here and… we’re done!”  Sarah said, rising to her feet and stamping her boots a bit to make sure they were secure “Looks good, feels good, we did a good job, AB, thanks for your help!”

“No problem, Sarah, Ah was happy ta help!”  The little yellow filly chirped happily and Sarah stretched a bit, getting used to the weight of armor which actually felt strangely comfortable “What’re we gonna do now?”

“Now?”  Sarah replied, turning towards the door “We go out and join my friends.  That pink pony from earlier also said something about a party and personally, I’d love a good party right about now.”

“That’s great, ‘cause Pinkie always throws the best parties ya ever did see!”  Applebloom replied, trotting up next to Sarah, also facing the door.

“Good to hear.  But I don’t think we should keep my friends waiting, do you?”

“Nope!”

“Well alright then.”  Sarah said and approached the door, her arms outstretched.





Rose hung upside down from the limb of a nearby tree she’d climbed rather effortlessly.  However, this was just the beginning of the test of her abilities as she grabbed a hold of the branch, planted her feet on its side and pushed off, landing on her hands and pushing off of the ground before landing gracefully on her feet some distance away.

“This is amazing!”  She exclaimed, staring at her hands “I mean, I do gymnastics in school, but what I can do in this body is unreal!  I’ve never been so… light before.  And I could probably also outrun any track athlete with my new foot-speed!”

“That’s great, Rose, but don’t let it go to your head.”  MuSeiryu replied, sitting in the shade of another tree “I wouldn’t count on any of this to stick once we get back to our world.”

“What’s the hurry, Sugarcube?  Don’t ya like it here in Ponyville?”  A familiar voice with a thick country accent spoke, which Rose and Mu both recognized as the orange pony from earlier.

“Hello there, ma’am.”  Mu replied with a smile, standing and walking over to greet her “It’s a good thing you came around, I don’t think we’ve thanked you yet for saving us from the wolves.”

“Aw, shucks, it wasn’t anythin’ special.  Jus’ doin’ what anypony woulda done and besides, Ah oughta be thankin’ you for savin’ my flank at the end there.”  The orange pony said with a blush and then held out a hoof “Dunno if Twi told ya already, but mah name’s Applejack.”

“Jack Harvey, although I’m known to my companions as ‘MuSeiryu’.”  He replied, shaking Applejack’s hoof “Don’t worry, you can just call me ‘Jack’ if you want and about saving you, it was no problem, really.”

“Now don’ be lyin’ ta me, Jack, Ah saw yer face there after ya cast yer magic.  It took everythin’ ya had jus’ ta do that much.”  The cowpony said with a smug expression on her face “Anyhoo, it’s good ta see ya both on yer feet again, though it seems like one a’ ya is enjoyin’ it a little more than the other.”

Rose realized Applejack was talking to her now and so she hurried over and gave the cowpony an embarrassed smile, while rubbing the back of her head.

“Sorry, ma’am, I was just getting a feel for my new body.”  She said, her voice becoming slightly quieter since she was a little shy in social situations “My name’s Rose Levins, or ‘Rosemary’ to my friends.”

“Ain’t no reason ta be all formal ‘round me, Sugracube, Ah ain’t no fancy Canterlot noble.”  Applejack replied with a small blush of her own “Ah’d prefer it if ya just called me ‘Applejack’ or AJ.  Anyway, it’s good ta meet ya both properly.”

“And you too, AJ.”  Mu said, then tilted his head slightly in curiosity “So what brings you back here?  I thought you had lots of work to do.”

The cowpony blinked and then blushed “Right, nearly forgot, y’all seen mah sister ‘round here?  She supposed ta be helpin’ with clean-up but she up and disappeared on me.”

“Is she the little yellow filly with a red mane and large pink bow?”  Rose asked curiously and Applejack nodded enthusiastically.

“Eeyup, tha’d be her alright.  Have ya seen ‘er?”  She asked but Rose shook her head.

“Not since a few hours ago when we first got here.”  Rose replied and the cowpony sighed irritably.  

Applejack was about to say something when the barn door opened, with the wayward filly skipping out happily, at least until she saw the stern expression on her sister’s face.  Following her out was Haruka, who was wearing her armor and that playful expression again as though what she’d done earlier hadn’t happened.  Applejack broke out into a big smile as soon as she saw her.

“Well, look who it is!”  The cowpony exclaimed “Ya had us worried there fer a moment, partner.  Ah ain’t seen somepony have such a bad reaction ta timberwolf poison before and wasn’t sure if our medicine would work.”

“It’s all good, gonna take a lot more than some stupid stick wolves to keep me down.”  Haruka replied with her trademark bravado and then saw her companions “Hey there, you two, sorry about earlier.  This is all just so new, so much to take in.  But I’m good now, there won’t be any more issues, and it’s thanks to my new friend here.”

She gestured to the small yellow filly, who adopted this smile that Rose felt could qualify as a weapon of mass destruction.  However the filly’s smile vanished when Applejack glared at her again.

“Well, that explains where she ran off to.”  The cowpony said, trotting over to the two “Did ya think ya could get out a’ helpin’ yer family with clean-up by hidin’ in the barn?”

“Actually.”  Haruka interjected before the filly could speak “I saw several baskets full of apples in there.  Unless I’m mistaken, they looked like they needed to be sorted and upon closer inspection, I saw that several of them were.  So my guess is, Applebloom had been in there sorting apples during my whole dramatic episode.”

Applejack blanched at Haruka and then face-hoofed.

“Sweet Celestia, Ah’d fergotten about that…”  The cowpony muttered and then looked at her sister apologetically “Ah’m sorry, Applebloom, Ah really need ta keep better track a' what everypony’s doin’ ‘round here.”

Haruka nodded at Applejack and shot a wink towards Applebloom, who gave her a radiant smile as thanks for getting her out of trouble.  Haruka, then, turned to Rose and Mu.

“Alright, to begin with, where’s the purple one?  She was just here a moment ago.”

“Twilight Sparkle left half an hour ago not long after you kicked us out of the barn.”  Rose replied “She said something about sending a letter to a princess.”

“She does this every time; somethin’ big happens in Ponyville and first thing she always does is send a letter ta Princess Celestia.”  Applejack quipped, shaking her head with a small smile “A’ course, Princess Celestia might know how ta get y’all back ta yer homes.  Ah bet yer families are missin’ ya right about now.”

Applebloom’s ears drooped and she looked at the three players dejectedly “What?  Y’all are leavin’ already?  But ya jus’ got here, ya ain’t even met mah friends yet!”

The three players looked at each other a moment before MuSeiryu walked over to Applebloom and knelt down to be more to her level.

“It’s not that we don’t want to meet your friends, we just want to make sure we have a way home.”  He said, ruffling her mane “And Twilight said it could be a little while before everything’s ready anyway, so there’s plenty of time to meet everyone -er, everypony.”

“Yeah, and there’s still that party the pink pony promised us.”  Haruka added, crossing her arms over her chest.

“And I’d love to know a little more about this world before we leave.”  Rose chimed and the filly beamed at all of them.

“Hey, Applejack!”  A raspy voice called out from somewhere and almost immediately a pegasus with a cyan coat of fur and a rainbow-colored mane and tail appeared in front of the cowpony, much to the surprise of the three players “Glad I found you, Pinkie says to bring the new guys over to Sugarcube Corner but not to tell them why.  I think she wants to surprise them or – uh, hi, why are you waving your hoof at me?  It’s not like I wasn’t just here helpin’ with clean-up and… they’re standing right behind me, aren’t they?”

“Yep.”  Was the unanimous response.

“Ponyfeathers… Pinkie’s not gonna be happy.”  The cyan pegasus said, face-hoofing before composing herself and striking a confidant pose “Hey there, I’m Rainbow Dash, the fastest flier in Equestria!”

“Jack Harvey.  Pleasure to meet you.”
“Sup, Dash, I’m Sarah Irving.”
“My name is Rose Levins, but you can call me Rose.”

“Great to meetcha!”  Rainbow Dash said, shaking each of their hands though she was nearly pulled out of the air by Haruka “Whoa, you’re pretty strong!  I think only Applejack might be stronger.”

“Huh, how ‘bout that?”  Haruka murmured as she examined her hand while flexing her fingers.

“Anyway, since you’re all here and I’ve ruined the surprise, we might as well head over to the bakery.  C’mon, it’s this way!”  The cyan pegasus said and then shot off like a rocket, leaving a rainbow trail behind her.

Applejack, Applebloom, MuSeiryu, Haruka and Rose all stared after Rainbow Dash a moment before Applejack sighed and turned to the players.

“Sorry ‘bout that, she often fergets that not everypony can fly like she does.”  Applejack said and turned to leave “C’mon, y’all, Ah’ll show ya the way then it’s back ta work fer me.”

The three players nodded and began to follow her when Haruka stopped suddenly.

“Hey Jack, what did you do with my sword?”

“I put it next to the barn door, you should’ve seen it when you walked out.”  He replied and then cocked an eyebrow at her as she hurried over to retrieve it “You’re not seriously going to carry that thing into town, are you?”

“Why not?”  Haruka replied, sliding it into a sheath on her back “You’re bringing your staff and Rosie’s got her daggers.  Why should I be the only one that walks into town defenseless?”

“She’s got ya there, partner.”  Applejack quipped and then turned away again as the three followed once more, although what they didn’t see was Haruka pause a moment after grabbing her sword and sniffing at the air before looking around, suspicion clear in her eyes.

But she shrugged and hurried to catch up.  As they walked into town with Applejack, many of the ponies that were out on the streets paused to stare at the strangers.  Rose felt slightly uncomfortable with the attention, especially considering the outfit she was wearing; she’d never worn something so form-fitting and revealing.  Her mother would have a conniption if she knew!

Applejack explained to them the different parts of town they travelled through, though they arrived at the town’s bakery and café, which was called Sugarcube Corner, within a few minutes.  The cowpony stopped by the door and gestured to it.

“Well, this here’s where Ah take mah leave.”  She said and smiled at them “If ya need a place ta stay, y’all are welcome back down at the farm; we can set ya up with some mighty comfy quilts that’ll make sleepin’ on hay bales much more tolerable.  Ah’d offer ya a room in the house, but Ah don’ think our beds would be terribly comfortable to ya, considerin’ how tall y’all are.”

“Thank you for the offer, Applejack, we’ll consider it.”  Mu replied and stepped into the bakery, with Rose and Haruka following close behind.

It was dark inside, seeing as the lights were out.  Rose wondered if maybe it was closed when suddenly the lights flashed on and several ponies yelled “Surprise” at the top of their voices, causing Rose to scream and leap away.

“Sorry Rosie, didn’t mean to scare you!”  Pinkie Pie said, rushing over to hug the Twin Blade “Good to know you were surprised though, considering Dashie nearly ruined it in an earlier paragraph!”

Silence reigned and crickets began to chirp as everyone in the building stared at Pinkie in confusion, with a pony in the back giving out a low “What?” as Pinkie let Rose go and giggled, completely unaware of the random comment she’d said.  Eventually someone cleared their throat and the ponies trotted forward, all eager to meet the new arrivals, especially a mint-green mare who’d rushed over to Rose and was going on and on about finally meeting humans and about how useful hands would be in pony society.  It was during all of this that Rose got a good look at the room and saw that it was completely decked out, with a buffet table set up on one side that was loaded with all kinds of sugary treats that made her mouth water just to look at them and a whole bunch of games set up in a corner.

“This shindig looks like the bomb-diggity.”  Mu said approvingly and both Rose and Haruka cringed, with the latter smacking him across the head.





In Canterlot, Princess Celestia had invited the strange alicorn filly to her office, where they sat across from each other drinking tea while Aura’s macabre guardian took up a silent vigil in a dark corner of the room.

“So these… humans, as you call them… you believe they are here in Equestria?”  She asked and the filly looked at Celestia with those startling blue eyes.

“Yes, and it is important that I find them as soon as possible.”  Aura replied, using her magic to levitate the cup to her mouth and drank daintily from it “You see, their character data has disappeared from The World and their bodies have fallen into comas.  We won’t have much time before their lives will be imperiled.”

“I see…”  Celestia said, also taking a sip from her tea “So why do you not send your guardian to find them?  Surely he’d be able to in short order.”

“Because his programming is… imperfect.”  Aura replied sheepishly, a touch of red on her pure white cheeks “It’s not to say that he can’t, he will follow my instruction to the letter, but he may hurt anything that attempts to interfere with his task.  I’m not going to send him anywhere until I know for certain where they are, that way I can be specific with the parameters of my request.  In that regard, I was hoping you would lend the use of your Royal Guard.”

Celestia sighed and placed her cup back onto the table before staring morosely at the AI-turned-alicorn.

“As much as I would like to help you with your search, I’m afraid I have my own problems that take precedence.”  She said calmly “The unusual circumstances surrounding the disappearance of Grim Tutor and the most heinous murder of my subjects requires the full attention of my Guard and until such time as they complete their investigation, I cannot spare any of them.  I’m truly sorry, Aura.”

“I understand, Your Majesty.”  Aura sighed and then looked back at her “In that case, I must cut our conversation short, as I have much ground to cover.  If you could at the very least loan us a map of Equestria, I would greatly appreciate.”

“Of course, I shall lend you whatever aid I can.”  Celestia replied and levitated her tea again as a piece of parchment and a quill levitated in from somewhere, with the quill dipping itself in ink and beginning to write “Although if you don't mind waiting a few hours, I can arrange to have one of the Wonderbolts provide an escort for you.”

“Thank you, but that won't be necessary.”  Aura said, also levitating her tea and gesturing with her head towards her guardian “Azure Kite should be more than sufficient to handle whatever tries to assault me.”

There was a pop and a flash of green fire and a scroll landed on Celestia’s desk, right next to the letter she had finished writing.  Celestia unraveled the scroll with her magic and read the contents silently for a moment before a smile graced her muzzle.

“It appears you need not search for long.”  The Sun Princess said and Aura looked at her in confusion “My student in Ponyville has just informed me that three strange beings referring to themselves as ‘humans’ have appeared in the forest near there. She wants me to meet with them and see if there is a way to send them home."

Aura stood up in her chair, an urgent expression on her face.

“We mustn’t waste any time, how soon can we get out there?!”  The filly asked and Celestia gestured with a hoof to try and calm her down.

"Remain calm, Aura.  I have one question for you before you go galloping off."  She said, causing Aura to look at her curiously "Have you given any thought to how you're going to return the humans to their bodies?"

"I... no, I haven't."  Aura replied, rubbing at her head in frustration.  Then she blinked and looked at Celestia, her eyes glittering "The Chaos Gate!"

"I'm sorry?"

"The Chaos Gate; the large ring Azure Kite and I arrived here through!"  Aura exclaimed "Chaos Gates are used in The World to travel between Root Towns and fields.  If we can get the Chaos Gate working again, I should be able to return the players to their homes!"

"Very well, then I do not believe there's any reason to retrieve your humans just yet."  Celestia said, much to Aura's confusion.

"I do not understand, Princess."

"Aura, with your Chaos Gate as it is currently you would not be able to send them home whether they were present or not."  She explained carefully.

"What would you have me do?"  Aura asked.

"Let my student and her friends watch over the humans for you while we find a way to activate the gate.  We can send for them when we are ready."  Celestia replied but Aura shook her head.

"No, I can't take that risk."  She said "I do not know anything about this world and if something should happen to the players while they are trapped in their avatars, there will be dire consequences for their actual bodies."

Celestia smiled and gestured calmly with a hoof "Be at peace, my little pony, they are in good hooves.  You see my student, Twilight Sparkle, is both a Princess of Equestria and a bearer of an Element of Harmony.  There is no place safer in Equestria than with Twilight and her friends."

"I..."  Aura began hesitantly while Celestia merely smiled confidently at her.  She eventually sighed and nodded "Very well, I shall trust in your judgment."

"Wonderful!"  Celestia replied, her smile widening "I shall have somepony show you and your guardian to a guest room if you wish.  Or if you prefer, you can return to the crime scene with me and examine the ring."

"Actually."  Aura said, a thought coming to her "If it is at all possible, may I see the deceased please?"

"I... suppose that can be arranged."  Celestia replied, struck dumb by Aura's request "I will send for Miss Bella Donna; she will show you to the mortuary."

"Thank you, Princess.  I will try not to inconvenience you any further than I have."

In truth, Celestia had been more amused than inconvenienced by the little filly's arrival.  The looks on her subjects faces when she trotted out into the street with Aura had been well worth any trouble the AI might have caused her.  But despite her levity, she shared Aura's concerns for the humans.  She planned to dedicate every available resource toward investigating the Chaos Gate and to making it work again so that Aura and her humans could go back where they belong.

And while she had supreme faith in Twilight, she also hoped that her student would be able to handle these new and mysterious beings.
	
> Ch. 8: "Delta: Voluptuous Her Remnant" (Rewritten)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter Eight
“Delta: Voluptuous Her Remnant”


“The Element of Magic has sent Celestia a letter…”  Grim Tutor said as he paced, his tail swishing irritably “These humans of yours have stirred up quite a bit of trouble, Morganna.”

“It matters not; your Sun Princess remains unaware of our intentions.”  Morganna replied and Tutor sighed heavily.

“That is true; if anything she’ll be doing us a favor by returning the humans to their world.  Their very presence here unnerves me, Morganna; ponies are easily cowed into submission, you show a modicum of force and they shall bend a knee but these humans…”  He said, still pacing “I haven’t the first clue how they’ll react, which is worrying to say the least.”

He continued to pace for a moment, a thoughtful look on his face.  A strange eye on a nearby wall tracked his movements carefully.

"Let us see what is occurring in Ponyville."  He said and the eye blinked slowly, opening to reveal a point of view from the eyes of the strange being Morganna had summoned to this world.  

It was across the way from the local bakery, where it appeared a party was just wrapping up and ponies were dispersing.  The humans came out a moment later, with the females waving at the male as they left with a small yellow filly and an orange mare that Tutor identified as one of Celestia's Element Bearers, while the male with the staff turned and left with the newly crowned Princess of Magic.

"It appears they are separating, perhaps to gather information on their own."  He said.

"Do you wish to strike against the humans while they are vulnerable?"  Morganna asked but Tutor shook his head.

"No, that would be foolish on multiple levels.  Our greatest weapon at this time is anonymity; if we make any sort of move against the humans, not only do we risk bringing the wrath of the Elements of Harmony and the Princesses of Equestria down upon us but we risk the success of our plan."  Grim Tutor explained "Better to let them fritter away their resources playing with the humans while we stay in the shadows and seek our prize.  Do you not agree, Great One?"

"Of course.  I shall trust in your wisdom, dear Tutor.  Although if you do not mind my asking, what is it that we are here for?"

Grim Tutor turned away from the eye and looked out over a balcony to a throne room that at one time had been majestic and proud.  While a portion of its majesty still remained in the form of great columns and enormous tattered tapestries, the castle they resided in was nothing more than a decrepit ruin now.

"We are here to find the source."  He replied simply.

"I see.  How do you wish to handle the humans, then?"  She asked and Tutor paused a moment before answering.

"Have your servant follow the females and keep one of your eyes near the male.  I do not want any of them moving without us knowing about it."  He replied.

"As you wish."

In Ponyville, a stallion with a beige coat and a black mane and tail detached itself from a crowd of ponies and began to follow Haruka and Rosemary back to Sweet Apple Acres.  What it didn't see was a lean unicorn mare with a dark grey coat and a teal mane and tail appear from some nearby shadows, her emerald eyes staring carefully at the stallion before turning her head and gesturing.  A pair of pegasi flew out from the shadows and began to follow the stallion while the mare turned and followed MuSeiryu to the library.



"Thanks for letting me stay here tonight, Twilight, I really appreciate it."  Jack said as he perused the various books in the library.

"You're welcome, Jack."  Twilight replied amiably as she trotted out of her kitchen, levitating a tray with a tea kettle and a couple of cups on it "I was actually hoping you would tell me a little bit about how magic works where you come from."

"Well, to start with, the kind of magic you want to hear about doesn't actually exist in my world except in fairy tales and games."  He said, taking a seat in a cushion next to a coffee table which Twilight set the tray upon while also sitting in a different cushion "In fact, the magic I used earlier comes from The World, which I've already explained is a game I play back home."

"I can't imagine not having any magic, especially since I'm a unico- I mean, since I'm an alicorn and also the Element of Magic.  Magic's a part of me."  She explained and Jack nodded.

"Understandable.  If you don't mind me asking, I've noticed that you appear to be the only alicorn here in Ponyville.  Are your kind rarely born or something?"  He asked and Twilight glanced away nervously.

"Well... to tell you the truth, I wasn't originally an alicorn."  She began, shifting uncomfortably in her cushion "You see, I used to just be a unicorn.  My mentor, Princess Celestia, sent me out here to learn about Friendship and one thing led to another and she turned me into an alicorn."

"So the only way an alicorn can be made is if a pony... ascends, I guess you could say.  Is that right?"  He asked but Twilight shrugged.

"I'm not really sure; no pony is.  My old foalsitter, Cadance, once told me that she used to be a pegasus before becoming an alicorn.  Then there are various professors around Equestria that claim a naturally born alicorn is possible, but if that were the case it hasn't happened in a very long time."  She explained.

"How long, do you suppose?"

"Probably not since Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, though their exact origins are shrouded in mystery as well since there are no known documents in Equestria that describe when the Royal Sisters came to be."  Twilight continued, sipping her tea "As far as anypony is concerned, the history of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna is a closely guarded secret between them.  Some ponies even go so far as to say they destroyed any records of their birth they could find, though I believe that is highly unlikely."

"And why do you think that?"

"Well, it has to do with the fact that there aren't many books that go back any further than the forming of Equestria during the Windigo Winter.  The reason is that with resources running low, the three pony tribes began to burn whatever they could to try and stay warm, which meant many books were destroyed during that period."  She said but added under her breath "Heathens..."

"Okay."  Jack said, thinking her words over carefully "Would there be anyone in the world who would know?"

"Well, there are the dragons.  The Great Wyrms among them might have lived long enough, but good luck getting any of them to talk to you.  There's also the Eidolons that live in the Spirit World except no pony's heard or spoken to them in ages though there's a rumor that Princess Luna has been trying to open up a dialogue with them."  Twilight replied.

"Okay.  Anyone else?"  Jack asked and Twilight shifted uncomfortably once more.

"Well... there is one more race in Equestria that might have been around during that time."  Twilight said carefully and Jack quirked an eyebrow at her.

"Who are they?"

"Um... o-oh, would you like more tea?  Perhaps another cookie or three?  Ha ha ha."  Twilight said, her eyes darting around suspiciously.

"Twilight, you didn't answer my question.  Who are they?"  Jack asked again and this time Twilight gave him a desperate, almost pleading look.

"I really doubt they'd know, so let's just move on and-"

"Please answer my question, Twilight."  Jack stated sternly.

"That won't be necessary, I can answer it for you."  A voice from the door spoke, causing Jack and Twilight to turn their heads where they saw a tall unicorn mare with a dark grey coat and teal mane approaching them calmly, a satisfied smirk on her muzzle "But first, let's ensure a bit of privacy, shall we?"

And with that her horn glowed with a green aura.  The door to the library slammed shut and locked, then the various windows shut and curtains slid closed.  Once that was done, the mare fixed Twilight with a piercing stare, with the lavender alicorn staring frightfully back.

"What Her Majesty doesn't want to tell you is that the only other race who would know anything regarding the circumstances of the birth of the Royal Sisters are the changelings.  But that is neither here nor there, human, for I have come to you with a warning."  The mare said as she approached Twilight and Jack "There is something lurking within the shadows of the world and its attention is focused on you and your friends.  Strange eyes have been appearing in town lately and a doll of a stallion shadows you.  Your every step is being watched."

"How do you know all this?"  Jack asked and the mare chuckled.

"It's simple, really."  She said and suddenly erupted into green flames, which dispersed quickly leaving a creature whose tall, lean body spoke of noble grace and predatory beauty.  It smiled wickedly at them, its sharp fangs glinting in the light.

"I am the monster that goes bump in the night.  Now be a dear and fix me some tea, would you?  We have much to talk about."
	
> Ch. 9: "Lambda: Merciless Evil Eyed Milestone"
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter Nine


“Lambda: Merciless Evil Eyed Milestone”


“Chrysalis, queen of the changelings!”  Twilight exclaimed in both anger and terror as she stood to face the newcomer “I thought Cadance and Shining Armor cast you and your swarm from Equestria!”

“How sweet, you remember me.”  The changeling queen replied dryly as she conjured a cushion and sat at the coffee table “And yes, I was indeed thrown far, far away by the Royal Couple.  They should consider themselves lucky that they managed to best one of the greatest tacticians to walk Equestria.”

“What are you doing here, what do you want?”  Twilight snarled at the queen, who merely feigned a yawn “Start talking and I swear to Celestia if you’re lying to me I’ll-”

“You’ll what, put a moustache on my muzzle?  I have centuries of training over you, fledgling Princess, I could destroy you with but an errant thought.  Yet I did not come here for a petty dispute, no; I am here to give your human friend a little warning.”  Chrysalis replied venomously.

Jack could tell there was some pretty bad blood between the two mares simply from the way they glared daggers at each other.  But at the same time he could easily tell who would have the advantage in a fight.  He knew Twilight was magically adept, being an alicorn and the Element of Magic, but Chrysalis held herself with a complete lack of fear towards Twilight.  The changeling queen radiated confidence and power and the look in her harlequin eyes said she would not be afraid put her power on display.

“Twilight, she didn’t come here to fight.”  Jack said, trying to placate the alicorn “Let’s see what she has to say before we go causing a problem.”

“Like I’ll believe anything she says and you shouldn’t either!”  Twilight countered vehemently “She’s a changeling; a monster that abducts ponies and takes their place so that they can leech off the Love of their friends and family!”

“A common misconception.  Changelings don’t need to feed solely on Love, it is merely a popular choice for its enticing aroma and unique taste.”  Chrysalis stated with a shrug “It’s much like eating pony food, honestly.  Many changelings, myself included, have an acquired fondness for Anger for its spiciness.”

“Oh, so you’re making me angry on purpose to feed on me, is that it?!”  Twilight snapped but Chrysalis chuckled.

“Don’t flatter yourself, you have but the barest hint of Anger; it’s Fear that you feel most prominently and I do so despise that flavor.”

“The only one who should be afraid here is you!”  Twilight retorted hotly “You and your changelings are nothing but parasites!  If you don’t get out of my library, and for that matter Ponyville as well, I will be forced to take drastic measures!”

“I have tolerated your insolence long enough, whelp!”  She snapped at the alicorn “Until such time as you are able to stand with Princess Celestia upon a field of battle, you will hold your tongue in my presence!”

“Settle down, ladies.”  Jack said, gesturing with his hands to try and avert a conflict between the two mares “Your Majesty, you were saying something about my friends and I being watched?”

Chrysalis blinked her eyes in surprise and smiled “Well, it appears there is a creature that still remembers his manners in the presence of true royalty.”  She said approvingly “Tell me, human; what is your name?”

“Jack Harvey, Your Majesty.”

“Indeed I was, Jack Harvey.”  Chrysalis stated “It arrogantly believes itself to be terribly clever and smart, but it does not take into consideration that it would be intruding upon the territory of my hive.  Just as its eyes observe you, so too does my brood observe it.”

“Do you think it means us harm?”  Jack asked but Chrysalis shrugged.

“I can only sense ill intent from these eyes.  Whether the being behind them means you harm is another thing entire.  My guess is it’s watching to see what you do, possibly waiting to see if the esteemed Princess Celestia will send you away.”  She replied calmly as Jack fixed her a cup of tea.

“What makes you think that?”  He asked her.

“It’s what I would do when an unknown ingredient has been cast into the works.”

“This is absurd; why are we even listening to her, Jack?!”  Twilight exclaimed, gesturing a hoof towards Chrysalis “Do I need to remind you that she’s a changeling?!  There’s no guarantee she’s telling the truth.  We can’t trust anything she says!”

“You are correct; you have no reason to believe that what I say is true.”  The changeling queen said with a shrug, but then fixed Twilight with a piercing gaze “But before you dismiss me outright, I want to ask you a question.”  

“Yeah, what’s that?”

“When was the last time Ponyville faced a serious crisis?  And I am not talking about the banal chores you and your friends come up with for your reports; I speak of a crisis like the parasprites or the Ursa Minor.”  Chrysalis stated.  Twilight opened her mouth to retort, but hesitated when the changeling queen’s words hit her.

“There hasn’t been one, or at least not one that I’ve heard of.  And I’m usually the first one anypony goes to when something comes up.”  She eventually replied and the changeling queen grinned at her.

“And why, pray tell, do you think that is?”  Chrysalis asked.  Twilight stared at her warily.

“I figured things were finally settling down around town.”  She replied “Why do you ask?”

“No reason.”  The changeling said in a sing-song voice while giving Twilight a smug look and drinking daintily from her tea.

While Twilight growled in frustration, Jack was staring at Chrysalis, trying to gauge her motives.  Nothing added up; near as he could tell, there was no advantage to her revealing herself.  For all she knew, the country’s military could swoop down on top of her head and systematically wipe the changelings out, so why do this?  What was she hiding?

“I recognize that look on your face, Jack.”  Chrysalis purred and she leaned a little closer to him “You are wondering what my motives are for such a bold move, why I would risk the wrath of the Diarchy for something so mundane as a warning.  Well, feel free to wonder at your leisure; I am a changeling, and secrets are what we do best.”

“Even so, you have to have some ulterior reason for coming to warn me, Your Majesty.”  Jack said and te changeling giggled.

“Perhaps I do.  Or perhaps I merely felt like portraying a model citizen for once.”  Chrysalis stated with a shrug but then leaned even closer to Jack, her eyes half-lidded and a coy smile on her muzzle “Or perhaps I am curious and want to see what you will do with this knowledge.”

Suddenly she stood from her cushion, which disappeared swiftly “Whatever you plan to do, I’m afraid I must leave.”  She said, but then walked behind Jack and leaned in close to his ear “I hope you bring your manners with you when next we meet.  I find it refreshing to be respected by somepony other than my changelings.  Farewell, Jack Harvey.”

And with that, Chrysalis shifted back into the disguise she entered in and exited the library.  Jack and Twilight stared after her for a moment before Twilight sighed and regarded the Wavemaster.

“I’m glad that didn’t devolve into a conflict.  I’ve seen what she can do and I’m not exactly eager to fight her.”  The alicorn said but then noticed that her guest looked puzzled and a little flustered “Jack, what’s wrong?”

“Well…”  The Wavemaster began hesitantly “She said a lot without actually revealing anything, and it didn’t help that you were antagonising her.  Even so, while she seemed to be on the level, I’m still wary of her true motives.”

Then he blushed and pushed his glasses along his nose “That and, uh… I’m not entirely sure, but… I think she was flirting with me.”



Chrysalis trotted away from the library, no pony giving her a second glance.  Even the Eye that was observing the tree house didn’t pay her any mind.  However, once she managed to disappear into the first available alley, she got in touch with the some of her changelings.

<What’s the status of the other two humans?>  She asked and it was a moment before one of the changelings she had sent after Rosemary and Haruka responded.

<The pink one is helping with the apple harvest, which looks really good this year, and the tiny one is climbing over anything she can lay her hands on.>

<What of the puppet?>  She asked.

<It disappeared shortly after leaving town.  We lost sight of it for just the briefest of moments and then it was gone.>  The other changeling replied morosely <We’re sorry, Your Majesty, we just don’t know what happened.>

Chrysalis sighed irritably <I was expecting as much; most likely it is still in the area but hidden.  Whatever forms you are wearing now, stay in them until I say otherwise.>

<But, but, but what if we get hungry?!  Do you expect us to starve from lack of Love?!>  One of them replied and Chrysalis growled.

<I’m sure the humans will provide you with enough sustenance to last the night.>  She replied and there was silence for a moment before one of them responded.

<What if we have to use the facilities?>

“YOU ARE GROWN CHANGELINGS AND YOU WILL ACT AS SUCH; HOLD IT IN!”  She snapped and then realized she actually spoke, with a few concerned ponies glancing down the alley at her.  She put on an embarrassed smile and waved a hoof at them “Sorry about that, we’re shooting an independant movie down here.  Nothing to worry about and certainly no real changelings.”

She looked away and growled; those two were not her brightest ponies but they did exactly what they were told… that and her choices were rather limited at the moment; most of her other workers were busy building a hive for her brood.  So with that out of the way, she decided to get in touch with her agent in the castle.

Instead of just outright communicating with her agent, however, she “buzzed” her; a signal she sends to deep cover agents to let them know she needed to talk to them.  There was a brief glimmer of panic on the other end and a moment of silence before the agent responded.

<I mean no offense, My Queen, but I can’t afford to be gone long; I’ve got a tiny alicorn poking around my morgue and she keeps asking ridiculous questions.>

<Oh my, that sounds very interesting!>  Chrysalis mused and then her thoughts became coy <But before we go into that, I must ask; how are things between you and your coltfriend, oh what was his name, Skyward Sword?>

<I sincerely hope you didn’t buzz me just for “Mare Talk”, Chrysalis.>  Bella Donna retorted irritably.  Of all the changelings in Chrysalis’ hive, Bella Donna was both the changeling queen’s best agent and best friend; they had sleepovers, they gossiped and they had “Mare’s Nights” in Las Pegasus.  She even let Bella get away with not using her title most of the time.

<Of course not, Bella, the alicorn filly is of tremendous interest to me.  I do, however, require a progress report.>  Chrysalis replied, her tone becoming professional <What’s the status of the cadavers and the golden ring?>

<Status is that it sucks, Your Majesty.  While we were able to identify the purpose of the ring, which the alicorn filly has referred to as a ‘Chaos Gate’, we lack the means to actually use it.  As for the corpses…  no progress has been made although-> Bella suddenly cut off for a moment before coming back, her tone urgent <I gotta go, the filly has identified what killed these ponies.  I’ll tell you more later.>

Chrysalis frowned but she didn’t press it.  The only ways agents remained agents was if the changeling queens left them largely to their own devices.  So instead she mulled over Bella’s new coltfriend.  She must really like him, considering the changeling agent had been dating him for over two months; her previous lovers never made it past two weeks.

She smiled, excitement coursing through her at the prospect of their next Mare’s Night.



‘Dammit, Chryssie, can’t you ever buzz me when I’m not on duty or with my coltfriend?!’  Bella thought irritably as she trotted back into the morgue, where Princess Celestia and Aura awaited her.  Azure Kite stood in a corner and tracked her progress.

“Is everything okay, Bella Donna?”  Celestia asked and the changeling nodded.

“Yes, Princess, everything’s fine.  Just clearing my head.”  She said and the Sun Princess gave her a coy smile.

“Is it Chrysalis again?”  She asked.

Yes… I love my queen as much as the next changeling but that mare is going to drive me insane one of these days.”  Bella sighed and then looked at both alicorns expectantly “Alright.  So you’ve figured out what killed these ponies?”

“Yes I have, and unfortunately it does not bode well for your kind.”  Aura said “These ponies were the target of an ability known in The World as Data Drain.”

Bella looked from Celestia to Aura and back again in confusion.

“But ponies aren’t made up of data.”  She stated, causing Celestia to quirk an eyebrow at her.

“Are they not, my little pony?”  She asked quizzically.

“Of course not, Your Highness, ponies are made of microscopic strands in their bodies called DNA which contain all of the genetic codes that determine…”  Bella began but then her own words hit her like a brick “Oh… so what does it man?”

“It means your world is in grave peril.”  Aura stated, giving the changeling a worried look “A being that had been beaten in The World has appeared here via the Chaos Gate and she now seeks to regain her lost power.”

“What is it called?”  Bella asked, her heart thumping rapidly in her chest.  The little alicorn was silent for a moment before uttering three words that made the changeling tremble.

“Morganna Mode Gone.”
	
> Ch. 10:  "Theta: Lonely Forbidden Paradise"
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter Ten
“Theta: Lonely Forbidden Paradise”




The antique clock ticked in the dark and silent house, with Rose staring up at the ceiling in an effort to try and get some sleep.  But unfortunately she couldn’t; she was a city girl and therefore unused to the dead silence that befalls farmsteads at night.  The silence was periodically broken by two other sounds, one a soft whinny from Applebloom and the other obnoxious snoring from Haruka, which made Rose grimace every time.  Sighing inwardly, Rose got up from the cot Applejack had been kind enough to get out for her and walked over to the window.

‘Well… at least the view is nice…’ Rose thought as she looked out across the vast field of apple trees.  

The town of Ponyville lay just beyond and there were still a few lights on in the town, with one building in particular lit up like a beacon with any number of lights, signifying some kind of rave or something was going on.

She sighed again.  Though she hadn’t said anything to either Haruka or MuSeiryu, she was very deeply worried.  She was worried about her family back home, she was worried about how long they were going to be stuck there and she was worried that they may not be able to return home at all.  She glanced back at Haruka, who was sprawled out on Applebloom’s bed with the little yellow filly sprawled out on top of her, both completely dead to the world.  Rose wondered briefly how the Heavyblade could sleep so soundly, considering her breakdown earlier, but then turned back to looking out the window, her eyes drawn skyward towards the absolutely stunning nightscape above her.

‘It’s so beautiful… like someone had painted on the sky like it was their own canvas…’ She thought, her mind blown by how breathtakingly beautiful it was ‘I’ve never seen so many stars in the sky; too much light in the city…’

After what seemed like forever, she lowered her gaze from the stars, and the incredibly luminous moon, and looked out over the trees again.  

Then a glimmer among the trees caught her attention and she stared carefully at where she’d seen it.  When it didn’t reappear, she began to turn away with the thought that she was just seeing things when she caught the glimmer again out of the corner of her eyes.  She frowned, thinking that maybe the situation was finally getting to her… and then saw the glimmer once more, this time further to the left of where she’d seen it.

Now she knew she wasn’t seeing things; there was something in the field of trees that should not be there.  She knew it wasn’t any of the Apples, seeing as they were all in bed by nine sharp, and none of the ponies in town had any business in an apple orchard in the dead of night as far as she was aware.

She turned to wake Haruka, but then thought better of it and instead climbed out the open window, her current body carried her nimbly and gracefully to the ground.  She crouched low and hurried into the field of trees, her footsteps falling lightly upon the ground, where she began her search of the glimmer she’d seen.  She moved quietly, peeking out from behind trees, but saw no sign of the glimmer.

She searched for upwards of an hour, with no sign of the glimmer, and turned to go back to the house when she saw him, a lone stallion trotting amongst the trees as if he owned them.  While this wouldn’t normally be suspicious, Rose remembered this stallion; he’d been following her and her friends for the better part of the day.  At first she thought that maybe he’d been curious but now she was beginning to think he was watching them, for whatever reason.

She followed the stallion silently for a moment, then he stopped in the middle of the road.  Rose looked at him, then ducked back behind her tree to mentally and psychologically prepare herself to confront him.

‘Okay… just ask him what the heck he’s doing here and then very politely ask him to leave.  If he refuses, I’ll just have to ask… less politely.’  She thought to herself and shuddered nervously ‘I hate these kinds of confrontations… I wish Mu were here, he’s really good at talking to people.’

Steeling her resolve, she walked out from behind her tree and opened her mouth to speak… only her words died in her mouth when she saw the stallion was gone.  She looked down the road going both ways but there was no sign of the stallion.  Then she looked down at the ground to find tracks, as if she’d be able to recognize them, but she quickly dismissed the idea when she saw the road was a well-travelled mess; hoof-prints were everywhere and it would be difficult for an experienced tracker to make out tracks in clutter, let alone a rookie from the city.

“Where did he go?  He couldn’t have gotten far in so little time…” She murmured “I should still be able to see him.  This is strange…”

Then she felt it; the hairs on the back of her neck were standing on end.  It was just like earlier, when they had just regained consciousness and were awoken by those wolves.  Something was watching her… and it was very, very close.  Instinctively, she spun around and drew her knives but before she could strike, some unseen force grabbed a hold of her body and froze it in place.  Her eyes widened as she saw the stallion behind her.

As the stallion stalked forward slowly, carefully, Rose wanted to scream out as loud as she could, but her mouth would not work properly.  All she could do was hyperventilate and make terrified little squeaks as he approached her, his dead eyes fixed upon her.

Then it happened; the stallion melted away to reveal something monstrous.  A high-pitched sound rang in her ears and her heart began to race in terror at the sight of the creature in front of her.  It was like some mosaic carving from hell, with a silhouette in one side shaped disturbingly like a person.  Tears began to stream from her eyes as she silently begged the creature to let her go.

But instead it “looked” at her a moment before a strange glowing ring appeared in front, aimed at her.  There was brief silence as a beam shot and pierced through Rose and she screamed in pure agony.



Alarms were going off as doctors scrambled around the room.  The family that had been in there when everything had started had been pushed gently and firmly outside to await for word from the doctors.  Eventually, a doctor came out to speak to them, his face grim and the mother immediately walked up to him.




"I-is something wrong, doctor?  The alarms went off and everybody came rushing in a-a-and we're worried about our daughter... can you tell us what's wrong with her?"




The doctor sighed and rubbed at the back of his head before replying.




"Mrs. Levins... your daughter has gone into cardiac arrest.  We're doing everything we can to save her, but... she might not make it."




The father stepped forward angrily, pointing a finger accusingly at the doctor.




"You promised us you'd take care of her!  You said you'd do everything in your power to help her!  Now our little girl's in there, fighting for her life and that's the best you can give us?!  You're a lying piece of garbage; you don't give a damn about our daughter!  She's just another god damn number to you, isn't she?!"




The doctor clenched his fist angrily at the false accusations.  He cared deeply for every single person under his care; he came in on his time off to make sure his patients were comfortable and getting the treatment they needed, he slept at the hospital when he had patients that needed round-the-clock care and he often volunteered in the pediatrics department to play with the sick children and keep their spirits up.  Sure, he knew he couldn't help everyone, but he'll be damned if he doesn't help as many as he possibly can.

He forced himself to calm down before he spoke though.




"Mr. Levins, I promise I've done everything in my power to help your daughter.  I must please ask that you go to the waiting room and calm down for a few minutes; we'll come get you when we-"




He was interrupted by the one sound he never, ever wanted to hear yet heard nearly everyday; the sound of the girl's heart monitor flat-lining.  He rushed back inside without another word as the other doctors and nurses prepared the defibrillator while he began CPR on the dying girl.  After doing CPR on the girl and trying to revive her with the defib unit, a nurse finally managed to pull him away as he stared at his charge with watering eyes; he couldn't believe this was happening to someone so young.  She was too damn young to...

Eventually he managed to find his voice.




"Stand down, everyone... I'm calling it... Rose Levins, time of death..."




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BEEP!