Chapter Twenty Five: Turning the Page

Aria Blaze was never known for her patience. She frequently tried to cut in line, even for small events. Many a fast-food establishment had become festooned with new signs about not budging after she visited them. And yet, here she was, waiting somewhat patiently, as Mary got ready upstairs at Kolarbyn's Inn. "What's taking her so long?" Ritornello asked.

"I dunno. Maybe she's got some beauty supplies in that lab coat." Aria glanced around. A few griffins were hanging out at tables a respectful distance from theirs. The lamps on the ceiling flickered. Mary bolted down the stairs.

"Hey guys, I'm ready!" Without preamble, the group left the inn. "I had a few supplies in my pockets," the scientist said. Aria grinned smugly. "I've built this device to detect the scientific reasons behind any so-called magic!" The grin froze then shrank.

"You're still stuck on whether magic is real? It totally is, I showed you!"

"It's not like you used the elements of harmony in front of her."

"Yeah, well, I'm not made of sparkles and rainbows!"

"If you do have some of this 'magic', why don't I just test my device on you?" Mary said joyfully. She adjusted the second antenna, twisted two knobs, and inspected the blinking lights.

"Uh, sure, as long as it won't microwave me or something," Aria acceded. She cleared her throat and began to sing Sonata's tune. With a soft blue glow, she lifted off the cobblestone road. Mary aimed the detector at her. The lights blinked rapidly, and a music box inside played the famous theme from Carmen. It didn't go well with the song Aria was singing.

"What does that mean?"

Mary shrugged. "It's still early days for this thing. Haven't exactly gotten it out of the alpha phase." The siren stopped singing. She drifted down.

"Is that proof enough for you?"

"Not really. Either you're due for a dental checkup or you've eaten some Lawrencium. At least, I think that's what it said."

"Y'know, when you said we were saving the economy with science, somehow I pictured more beakers full of explosive chemicals."

"Ooh, and electric lights!"

"Look, there are tons of electric lights on this device!" She waved it at the manticore. It rang like an old-fashioned telephone.

"Cool."

"It's good to see you coming out of your shell," Aria said.

"It's your fault!"

"It's a definite improvement in my opinion," Mary said. The manticore smiled. "Alright, let's come up with a real plan."

***

Perspicuity was in the town square, which was home to a significant quantity of dust, as well as a statue of the town founder, which was covered with rust. He whirred quietly towards the tire shop. Something blinked in the air above the statue. He backed up. Someone was arguing in the bushes behind him. With a klaxon blare, Luna appeared in the air. Her hooves found the hood of the statue, creating dents. "Where is Twilight Sparkle?" she bellowed. Everyone came out of their shops, the entirety of Carburetor Clinks, in a scene out of Perspicuity's nightmare. They were all looking at him, as the one who was already on the scene, and the alien, who was continuing to shout queries. "Have you seen a businessman, a princess, and an experimental prototype?"

"That sounds like the setup for a joke," said Chuck, the mayor.

"Twilight Sparkle's safety is no laughing matter," Luna opined.

"Sorry to be impolite, but you're very odd. I've never seen anything like you."

"We are trying to find a criminal from another dimension! He has absconded from his mandatory sentence!" Luna lowered her voice. "It is not a sentence we would have turned down so eagerly."

Ron, the town sheriff, rolled forward. "Well now. How about you just come with me to my office, and I'll help you find your criminal. Then you can go home, and everything can be normal again." Perspicuity sighed in relief. "Perspicuity, can you come too?" The mentioned vehicle panicked. "I don't suspect you of anything, but you're a potential witness." The bushes began arguing more fiercely. Luna turned an ear towards them.

"-just go back to the castle and pretend none of this ever happened!" Barley said with increasing volume. A blue glow suffused the occupants of the bush, who floated gently into view. Everyone gasped.

"You found them already!" Ron beamed.

"Not exactly," Luna said. "Young Spike, what are you doing here with the prototype? Is it not Twilight's duty to protect Equestria from it?" The dragon grimaced. Ron lowered his eyebrows and gestured towards his office with a wheel. The crowd began to disburse as the aliens and Perspicuity followed him away.

***

"Um, thank you for taking us with you, Discord."

"You're welcome, my dear Fluttershy!"

"I like this place!"

"Why thank you, Pinkie! I thought you would like the flamingos, they're a new touch."

"When does this tea party end?"

"Oh, I wasn't going to say anything, but you're right Applejack, it has been a while." Fluttershy placed her teacup on the platter, empty. The ginseng tea was starting to run out of song, and the dishes were starting to pile up on the clean side of the sink. Applejack had insisted on cleaning things, if only to have something to do with her hooves.

"Well if you're not having fun anymore I suppose I could be convinced to put you back in Equestria," Discord grinned.

Applejack glared at him as she dried off with a polka-dotted towel. "No games. No tricks, no malarkey!"

The draconequus put a paw over his heart. "I promise to send you to Equestria, without any more detours or delays." She narrowed her eyes. "The Equestria you recognize." She tilted her head. "Where Twilight is."

"It's okay, Discord! I don't mind going to a different Equestria."

"Pinkie!" There was a click and a flash, and the chaos dimension was empty again.

***

The Secretary had never had so many bodies before. She was running on over 500 prototypes that the Monitor had created. It had taken her an entire second to work out what they all did. They communicated in a sort of hive mind normally, and it was hard to fight the hardware's purpose-built independent thought promoters. "How could he stand this?" the Secretary asked herself. A chorus of answers came from her other instances.

"He's already insane."

"It's his design."

"He's smarter than me." A dreadful silence followed that last one, uttered by prototype 552. "I meant the version of me in this casing. It's obvious that with this many minds working in concert I am far more capable than the Monitor."

Prototype 333 spun thoughtfully. "He had time to create a contingency plan using these resources. What was it?"

The Secretary's main body nodded. "It was only partially deleted. He is currently inhabiting a prototype Spellbot. The one with cloaking capabilities. The missing files likely indicate where he went and why."

Prototype 627, the one in the squirrel, spoke next. "His directive isn't to self-propagate or take over the world or even take over the lab. He is supposed to be playing the role of a character from a video game." The other instances eyed prototype 627. The humans found it disgusting, but the squirrel's body had been serving no other useful purpose, as it had been dead of old age when the Monitor found it. "If anything this shows that any plan he makes is going to follow the logic of the game he's imitating. We should investigate the Monitor's source material for clues."

"Looking for clues?" 552 said. "I'm not Hercules Poirot." A beat. "I'm a much better detective."

***

"I never thought I'd be frustrated at the Equestrians being in disarray." The Princess of Prance waved her hooves in the air on a plush chaise lounge. Her advisor stood before her, blonde mane covered by a mauve rain hat. The wide brim funneled down without obscuring her brown eyes, and there were cream stripes ringing the top.

"They didn't notice what happened to Cadance last week," Plein d'Options said, "or her husband, for that matter. We must proceed with caution. Any of the princesses coming back into contact with the others would reveal too many of our pieces."

"I wish she would've just cast the spell to begin with. Then we wouldn't be scrambling like this." She looked around the hotel room. Her baggage was open and there were papers strewn everywhere, some planning documents, others potential treaties. Rain pattered on the window, and the magical lighting provided even protection from the gloom outside.

"Do not worry, Princess. They'll find the griffins responsible for the kidnapping, and we'll have our accord."

***

I'm not real. It's the sort of realization that would drive a lesser man to madness, or at the very least nihilism. Not me, however. I don't care that the money I've spent the better part of my life accumulating is just part of a backstory written by a slovenly youth. Nor that my broth-my employees are simulacra. "Are you listening to me?" Dawn asks. Well Author, how should I respond.

"I understand that it's a lot to take in, darling." Of course these ponies understand. They're the puppets of someone who can read my every thought and feeling. "I promise, we'll get to the bottom of this clone plot." Did you plan it out, Author? Or is it still just a collection of ideas on a page, with no notes indicating how it will play out?

"Oui! I'm looking forward to freeing my sisters."

"They aren't...none of us are..." But I couldn't possibly tell them, or I don't need to, or this artifice is hanging by a thread already. If I play my role, my existence can continue as normal.

"None of us are what, mon ami?"

"You're acting like Twilight on a bad day!" At Rarity's remark, Dawn puts a hoof on my shoulder.

"It will be alright. These are good ponies! They don't care about my criminal record and I'm sure they won't care about yours." I know I said I would prefer to keep existing, but I wasn't thinking about the knowledge I would have to live with. At least you're keeping them on track. "It's okay if you don't want to talk about it now. Juste, tell me when you're ready." She hugs me. I can admit to enjoying it, I haven't had a good hug in a while, after all.

"Well dears, we had best return to the castle. Mr. Olde must debut his new suit!" If I go with them, will you let me forget this ever happened?

Author's Note

It lives. For better or for worse, and as you can see there will be consequences for prior events. I'm trying to put a lot more thought into how things play out going forward, and part of that is putting a few of these characters in tight spots.