A Sorcerer's Tale: A Virtual World of MLP Fanfic Writers

Archsage awakes from an odd but good night sleep.

“Man… Wait is it morning already?”

He looked around and sighed, remembering that he was no longer in Canterlot.

“Welp, that sleep at least was better than most nights back at my apartment,” Archsage said stretching his limbs. He hopped off the bed onto his hooves and walked out of the room, heading down to the first floor of the hotel.

He walked out of the empty hotel still confused as to why nopony was around at all. He looked all about his surroundings only to find no movement of anything at all but a useless piece of crumpled paper bouncing about in the small wind that swooped by.

“Goodness, where is everypony? This place is like a ghost town or somethin’ If only there was some map I could use… Wait a sec, maybe I could use this device here to map out this area.”

Archsage pulled out the laptop from his saddle bag when he heard the sound of hooves clopping from a distance. He was quite curious as to where the sound was coming from, so he put his laptop back into his saddlebag and walked down to where the source of the sound may have came from.

“I don’t really like following creepy sounds, especially watching “Pony Peepers”. In fact, that would kinda suck if I’m in a case like this. I don’t want my eyes to be taken out,” Archsage said shivering at the thought.

As he reached the end of the block, he peeped his head around the corner. He saw a white unicorn mare sitting alone on table near what appeared to be a restaurant. She looked as though she was typing on her laptop. Archsage turned the corner and slowly made his way towards her. Her red mane hung in spikes and curls, her eyes azure blue.. A ball of crimson fire with three gray z’s, one of which is large, is her cutie mark.

“Umm, Miss?”

The mare turned around. “Yes?” She asked, ears perked.

“Hi, umm… I’m Archsage. And I kinda wanted to know how to get back home to uh… Canterlot.”

“Well, I’ll be. You are from the town of rich unicorn ponies?!” She asks, shocked. She stands on her hooves.

“Well yeah… I’m not used to being here, and it’s creeping me out a bit. I just don’t want something terrible to happen to me before I could return. Oh wait a sec,” Archsage said as he pulled out his laptop. He opened it and turned it on to his user page.

“Umm, how do you watch some pony?” He said sliding through the options the laptop gave.

“Simple,” Replied the mare, pulling out her own laptop. She then scrolled to Arch’s page and clicked the little follow button. “That’s how.”

“Oh, so I just got to press this little eye button here huh. I see.” Archsage was struggling to scroll up on his user page.

“Umm, how do you do that so easily with your hooves? I mean is there some type of magic involved in it?”

“Yes.” Answers the mare with a smile.

“Really? Hmm… Say could I go into your user page?”

“Sure.” Says the mare with the glow of her horn. A bright flash occurs, and now she’s on her user page which consists of stuffed toys, game consoles and cartridges, and lots of drawings. There are also books which are the stories she has worked on, and they are categorized in a neat shelf. She lifts a book and opens it. The title inscribed on the front cover is Arcane Shadow.

Archsage slowly got up and stood agaped watching all the features her user page had to offer. He walked over to her status and tried pronouncing her name.

“Flor- Florar- ena? Umm is this your name miss?”

The mare looks away from her book, a quill levitating next to her. “Yes, that’s my name. I have a penchant for often unpronounceable words.” She answers.

“Umm… ok?” Archsage trotted over to her shelf and took out a book. On its cover was inscribed Foxfire’s Tail.

“So I take it these are all the stories you have written?”

“Yes. I am writing in this book right now.” Florarena answers.

“Wooh, you have some amazing writings here. Say, how long have you been around for. I mean, this world must be bigger that I thought,” Archsage said still looking through her writings.

“It is bigger than you thought. I’ve been around here since New Year’s Eve.” Flora sighs with a smile, continuing to write in Arcane Shadow.

Archsage looked up at her confused. He has never heard of such an event.

“It is simply the day the year ends. For some reason, everyone tends to get drunk. Don’t look at me--I didn’t invent it.” Flora sighs. She’s still writing in Arcane Shadow, the quill moving as though it were a big project.

“Well, where I am from it’s called Hearth’s Warming Eve?”

“That’s funny, because I read that Hearth’s Warming and Christmas are practically the same holiday.” Flora replies, amazed. “There’s tons of fanfictions about the stuff.” She points a hoof to a gargantuan and seemingly infinite bookshelf. A sign is next to it and it says ‘favorites.’

“Oh really… Christmas, the same holiday as Hearth’s Warming?” Archsage responded as he raised an eyebrow.

“Don’t look at me; I swear to GodCat that I didn’t do it.” Flora quickly retorts. She has stopped writing and placed Arcane Shadow back on its shelf alongside her other stories. The quill has been placed in a drawer with lots of other quills and the drawer is closed.

Archsage walks over to her Drawing Status and started to study them.

“I see you have a taste for drawing.”

“I’ve been drawing since kindergarten. I do both digital and hoof-drawn drawings.” Flora says with a smile.

“How come I don’t hear of these things back in Canterlot?” Archsage said scratching his head.

“I dunno. I’m gonna blame Yukari Yakumo.” Flora says, pulling out a picture of a woman with long blond hair and purple eyes. She is wearing a white dress and bonnet cap with red bow. The front of her dress details purple and orange flames and a yin-yang orb of the same colors. The woman is holding an umbrella.

Archsage cocks his head back.

“Wait, isn’t that a human?”

“No. She sure looks like one though. She’s actually a youkai--Japanese demon, basically. She controls any and all dimensions; time, space, life and death included.” Flora replies, wide-eyed. She puts the picture away.

“Welp, haven’t seen it from the lore books I’ve read.”

“There are so many lore books nopony knows who’s right nowadays.” Flora points out. “It also explains the fanfiction to an extent, depending on what you write and the material you use.” She adds, her ears twitching.

Archsage’s ears dropped.

“Umm… fanfiction?”

“Yes. You looked at my stories for about two seconds? Those are fanfictions. Heck, all my favorites are fanfictions. We writers write these things for many reasons. Me, I enjoy writing, and I have to purge my mind on a daily basis.” Flora answers with a big smile.

“Right, I glanced through your work. Ok, so… you’re a fan writer but of what?”

“Well, Fimfiction wants pony-related stories only. Other than that, we more or less have free say on what happens in the stories, provided we follow certain guidelines. Me, I like alternate universes and crossovers. Alternate universe is pretty self-explanatory, but a crossover is where you take ponies and your favorite cartoon show, for instance, and write a story where those elements of both come together and….do….whatever you will it to do.” Flora answers again with a nod.

Archsage looked at her quite confused and then shook his head and held up a hoof to it.

“Ok, wait… just a moment to process this. It’s kinda new to me here.”

“Trust me, I was a noob once.” Flora sighs, her tone now quite sad. She points a hoof towards a board posted with all sorts of papers. At the top and in gold letters is “comments.” And something about revolving around the cosmic number.

“No, I mean this whole place. Ok, so you said your favorite cartoon, alternative universe, and what crossovers, and that Fimfiction wants you to write about us? Ok… well I kinda get that… but what?”

“There’s so much shipping around here I sadly partake in it. As for what you said….please, be a tad more specific. I hardly understood what you were trying to say. It’s a bad habit of misconstruing people left and right, I’m afraid.”

Archsage is dumbfounded by the sentence and starts to laugh.

“Uh, don’t we all do shipping? I mean we ship every time we have to send a mail like when I have to send an important mail to my boss back in Canterlot every month or so.”

“I do suppose you raise a point. A very valid one too.” Flora agrees, putting a hoof to her chin. “....I get the feeling you want to know more about me….or rather, my other ego beyond the virtual realm.”

Archsage’s eyes averts to all sorts of directions before looking back at Flora.

“Umm… other ego, virtual realm… Is there something I’m not getting?”

“I was invisible to you when you first arrived here. I overheard something you and two other ponies spoke of. One said she was really a woman in college. It’s why I bring this up.” Flora answers, crossing her forelegs. “I hope I didn’t hear wrong then.”

“Oh that… wait, how did you hear about that? And I actually thought she was talking a whole bunch of guacamole there to be honest.”

“We’re from different, alternate universes.” Flora points out. A smile is on her face. A warm, motherly smile. “I simply walked past and overheard everything--hence my usage of the term ‘invisible.’”

“Alright, alternate universes? Explain yourself,” Acrchsage demands putting down his hoof on the ground.

“I kinda just did.” Flora says, her ears dropping. A frown is now on her face, and it’s the pouty kind.

“What do you mean alternate universe? Are you saying that you’re not really a pony and that you come from yet another world that Celestia knows I don’t want to venture through again?”

“Depending on what you choose to look at and how you see it, yes and no. I’m from a world in another galaxy that Equestria doesn’t sit in.” Flora says, a grin on her face again.

Archsage holds up a hoof to his forehead.

“Ok, this is making me go bananas. Let’s switch to another topic.”

“I was thinking the same thing. I want to be a prosecuting attorney after I graduate and get into college.” Flora says, grinning still.

“And I’m not even going to begin processing that sentence, but good luck with that.”

“Thanks.” Flora says, her mouth curled in such a way it looks like it belongs on a cat’s face.

“Ok,” Archsage said walking over to her Groups section. “Are these groups as big and spacious as this place? Because this Bureau is huge, but I would like to see a change of scenery. Could you teleport us to another place?”

“Where do you want to go?” Flora asks.

“Well, anywhere really. Just need to know how to get back, and clearly this place has nothing to offer me right now oddly.”

Flora trots to Archsage and her horn glows. Next thing they know is that they’re standing before grand golden gates with the words “Human in Equestria” on it.

Archsage gazes up at the size of the gates then looks down at her.

“Umm, Flora, are we going to see humans here?”

“Yes. Though only the admin shows his human form. Other than that, human fanfictions galore.” She answers. She trots over to a board labeled ‘forum.’

“Oh my sweet GodCat and in the name of the Valkyrie Tank…..who’d post this? Someone’s in this group insulting all human fanfictions…..and he really likes Knighty a bit too much.” Flora says. Suddenly, a piece of paper is on her horn. “Augh, someone left a messed up comment on Arcane Shadow. Who keeps letting the parasprites in…?” With that, she teleports back to her userpage to straighten the issue out.

Archsage looked all around at the massive city of Amethyst. He then looked back at Flora who teleported leaving him there alone in an unknown once more.

“Drat… well here we go again with the pioneering of yet another place…” he said trotting about the city.