Minusby MinusChaptersChapter 1: YesterdayChapter1: YesterdayChapter1. Yesterday.Chapter 1, YesterdayChapter 1 - YesterdayChapter One: YesterdayPart 1: YesterdayChapter 2: Last weekEpilogueChapter 1: YesterdayMy name is Minus Underscore. I live at number one, First Street, Stonebridge. I was born in age 990. I don't have a job. I'll tell you what happened. I wake up. It's probably 6PM as usual. I avoid mirrors in the morning, I dont need another reminder that I need a manecut. I take my time getting breakfast, because hey, they'd only tell me off for skipping it. I finish, and arrive late to the self-help group. What characters these ponies are. The one that talks the most about his problems, his name is Double... something. Then there's the gay duo Flint and Algorithm. It's nice they met each other through this group. They're nice and fun to be around. Vee the coffee addict, who is otherwise normal? I guess she's just so in touch with her issues that she looks in control. Minty is there too, I think she just walked in one day out of curiosity and then never left. And finally there's our main character Chess Piece. The lunatic that put this group together. At the start of every week, as this was, we were meant to complete a task. Today was a really childish one, to make an art piece in the shape of a friend here, without using traditional methods. Algorithm went first, showing a macaroni picture of me. I smiled wide, barely holding in my laughter. He luckily took my expression as me loving it! Dodging that bullet, I showed mine next. An egg I'd drawn on in a dark blue ink to look like Algo. A pony face with those rectangle glasses on, and his side swept fringe. I didn't even bother to change the mane's colour to a more accurate whitish blue, just used the same dark blue as his coat and horn. You could see how low effort the attempt was, but he was so genuinely happy to see it. This group is so sad. The next few images were pretty bad too. Somepony made Vee out of sweets. I guess there wasn't much else that right shade of purple to use. They forgot to include her wings though, which is an amazing thing to do. Vee's wings are something she takes such pride in, to forget them, that probably ruffled her feathers. Though she has several stand out features, like those weird mane loops either side of her head. That Double Moan guy was made with salt and pepper, sprinkled onto glue covered paper. Quite a clever way to get his white coat to show up on a white background, with it's noticeble texture. His black mane though was a sneezing hazard. Minty was depicted as a slice of bread bitten into a vague head shape. The green mare with a brown mane looked quite plain, so you could get away with something like that I guess. Flint didn't even get one though. I guess Minty was meant to do that? Since she instead did me, meaning I got two. I know it wasn't my fault, but I felt so greedy having more than anyone else. Flint dealt with it okay though. If I had wanted to do one for him, I'd probably use cheese somehow. He is a yellow earth pony with a two tone spikey yellow mane. Also it now occurs to me, we were never told to use food, just non-standard supplies. Funny we all picked something edible. Chess was proud of us all, and asked how our weekend had been. Double Moan, who's second name I really can't remember, it's not actually moan of course... He took this chance to moan about his weekend for a long period of time. It was draining, as usual. I bet most of us leave this group more depressed than when we arrived. I think I fell asleep during this, I dont remember a lot, and then it was over. I left, but not before Algo gave me that macaroni picture to take home. I had to say yes to that face, poor guy. I got home, stuck the image on my fridge just for that extra foal feel. I sat down on my couch planning to read a book, but instead I find myself staring out the window. The cross pattern started to become mesmerising, looking at those 4 panels, like it was 4 different places. I was really getting into a trance, and probably creeping out the neighbours. I was broken out of this by a spider dangling down, a BIG one! I killed it, but not before panicking it into a frenzy. It was horrible. I felt sick. Minutes later another one that looks the same, the same massive size, is on my front door. I kill that too. I sit down on the couch again, very rattled. And a 3rd one runs under my carpet! So big are these spiders that this one left a bump in the rug. Like it actually thought it was hidden at all. Killed that too. But more insects came in. Flying ones, crawling ones. I kept trying to calm myself down on the couch, which was when a nearly empty glass of wine shows up on my coffee table. I remembered this drink from 4 or 5 days ago. I remember it vanishing, I remember looking for it twice. I never found the glass, and now it was here. I gave it a taste test, and it still seemed fine. Does wine even go off? I spent that night sitting on my bed, not laying down. Huddled in the sheets waiting for something to move along the floor. It was a horrible and slow night of nothing but fear. I keep my windows tightly shut because of my fear. They shouldn't have been able to get in. That is what I remember from Monday. Chapter1: YesterdayMinus. Underscore. I live in the horribly coloured house. You know the one. I'm 20 something, I stopped celebrating birthdays after 21 so I actually just keep thinking I'm still that age. But it's been years so I can't still be 21 I know. I got up at probably midday. I know I sleep in late, but I also fall asleep late. I've never had an easy time getting rest. I just did usual stuff like have something to eat, have a wash. Talking to my roomate once she gets home. That's the highlight of my day. At 6PM I went to a self-help group. I've not been there long, and I don't know the ponies too well. They all seem worse off than me. Theres Flint, a yellow earth pony, Vee a purple pegasus, Minty the green and brown earth pony, uh, a white one with a black mane, Algorithm the all blue one, and Chess Piece the blue unicorn with a red mane. I think that's all there was. Chess was in charge of things and at the start of every week, as this was, he assigned us a task to complete. He said we should do a self-portait, and be honest. I expect he'll ask us to do it again later on so we can compare, and see if we look happier in the newer picture. Or maybe I'm looking too deep into it. I already finished mine, it's an image of myself drunk on the couch. Back to the session, we were asked about our weekend. I had a bad weekend, so I'm glad I didn't have a chance to talk. I actually did spend the whole time drunk. It started out well until my roomate had to leave for her overtime. I forgot about that, I try not to drink alone, but I messed up. And then I threw up. Sorry that wasn't the question you asked. Uh, black and white guy was talking about his home getting flooded, seemed bad. Flint and Algorithm got into an argument on a dance style, one of them saying their favourite is the best and even inspired the other's favourite. It was stupid. The examples they did looked the same to me, and pretty funny. Oh at the end there was a moment of silence. One of the members had recently taken their own life. Starfait, or maybe Starfall. I couldn't really tell from the handwriting and was too embarassed to ask. I went home. Wait I stopped by the shop and got a pizza, since they do a deal on Mondays. Got home and shared that with the roomate. We spent the night talking, and then I went to bed. I had a really bad night's sleep because of how unusually cold it was. It's been so hot it's made me ill lately, but that night was ice cold. I kept checking the clock and time just did not seem to be going forward, even when I thought I had fallen asleep for a bit. Guess my clock just broke? That is what I remember from Monday. Chapter1. Yesterday.Yes I'm Minus. Yes, first house, first street. Do I know you? Oh, sorry. Okay, I'll tell you what I can. I should have set an alarm, because I got up at about 4:30PM. It takes me a long time to wake up, so that was a bad start. My roomate had come home and I am so thankful they were that loud. I got myself ready in time to get to the center and set things up. I opened at 6PM and the members came in. I don't feel comfortable telling you about them, I know there's no doctor patient confidentiality type thing for this, but they trust me you know. Who do I start with. Double M is a white earth pony with a black mane, and a very unlucky life. There's Flint, yellow earth pony, Algorithm blue unicorn, Minty the green and brown earth pony. The three of them are in a relationship. I don't know the details because I chose not to ask. Vee sometimes comes, and is a purple pegasus, and Starfall too who's a white earth pony. But those two weren't there last night. They often don't, and I'll tell you why. At the start of every week, as this was, I ask the group to do something constructive. Something to remind them that they are still capable, and to keep trying. I usually go for art as it'll always look like they're great at that, once you've seen the rubbish at the art gallery here. They'll put anything in there. There was a "Careful, wet floor" sign there and I kid you not, I couldnt tell if it was part of the exhibit or not! Sorry, that wasn't the question you asked. I told them they should collect the wrappers and such from anything they used, and create a collage with it. Oh Chess Piece was there too, my co-worker. He's a unicorn that's pale blue with the same shade of green in his mane as mine. Sorry I forgot him, I didn't think to include other staff. I only just remembered because he kept mispronouncing "collage". It's a shame he doesn't partake in these little projects, I think he could use a bit of help himself. Oh well, he just seems, distant. He's kinda strict, stubborn, and holds onto outdated ideas. You'd think he was really old the way he talks, but he's younger than me. But I don't think anyone in the group would do anything bad. Not illegal bad. I spent most of the time listening to Double M talk about-, no I don't know what the M stands for. He was talking about wanting a marefriend. And I regret how harsh I was giving him advice. I've had this exact same situation before, before I became a part of this group. This orange pegasus was a mess begging for a marefriend so pathetically. I was harsh in trying to bring him out of his fantasy, and that went poorly. I probaly shouldn't be doing this job, I'd be better off as a regular member I sometimes think. Damnit, sorry, back on track. The trio added in some advice too, but they're odd. Even I can't get behind what they've got going on. The small turnout meant we stayed on this topic for a while without getting around to anyone else. Things ended at 9PM as usual. It got very cold, even jogging home didnt warm me up much. Got in to a nice warm pizza on the couch with my thoughtful roomate. I told her basically what I'm telling you now. A more vivid version. I'm really tired. I mean I was really tired, but I am now too. I wrote in my diary... I wrote in my diary the days events, oh wow, I could have gotten that out and just read it instead of struggling to remember. I am so out of it. I wrote late into the night, probably into the morning. I just couldn't sleep. Going into the next day, that would make sense. Well a little. Nevermind, it doesn't. That is what I remember from Monday. Chapter 1, YesterdayMy head is killing me. Is someone setting bells off in my ears? I'm really dizzy. I guess it doesn't hurt exactly, but the thumping. I probably got drunk. Of course I do, I'm Princess Celestia. Wow, no sense of humour? What, from the beginning? That's not gonna be easy. Well I got up out of bed. I slept in late because I don't have anything else to look forward to in the day, other than my self-help group. It starts at 6PM. There's like 6 of us that go there. Double is an earth pony with a black... Like what? Then I guess I'd say Double is, unlucky. Things always seem to go wrong for him. Mundane things, but they go badly big. They go, very badly. Sorry that sounded weird, the throbbing is starting to go a bit but it's still making this hard. Flint is funny. He's not a jokester I wouldn't say but we have fun arguing. Debating is the friend word for argue, so I guess we debate. It often ends in laughter. Algo and Minty are a cute couple. Minty's an artist like me, we compete sometimes, all in fun. Algo is. Nice. He is nice, he is. Oh wow I couldn't have made that sound worse. That's not even the headache at work I just, he is nice. But he makes me uncomfortable. I think he has a thing for me. The thought he'd cheat on Minty really pisses me off. And he knows I'd never cheat either. Chess Piece. My coltfriend. Yeah he's the group organiser. That's not a crime is it? I know like doctors arent allowed to date patients but this isn't like that. Oh, you just had that look on your face. Uuuh, Vee is, intimidating. She will sometimes slap you with her wings, I don't think she realises how hard she's doing it. You'd think she wouldn't risk ruffling her feathers like that, she's very big on wing, presentation. Was that a weird choice of word? Well her cutie-mark is 3 purple feathers. It always seems sad to me when a pony gets a mark that shows their talent is their race. Oh no, don't tell her I said something that horrible. Other members... Flint, Algo, Minty, Vee, uh, Chess, Oh and Double. That's everypony. About, 2 months? It feels like a year. I can barely remember not being with him. No, he lives far away. He's such a workaholic he even spends his vacation time here doing volunteer work. Griffonstone. Yes he is a pony. Yeah. I know it's not a safe place right now. I have told him to move here over and over, but he really thinks things are going to get better over there. But it wont. It's getting violent, and it will only get worse. Basically a civil war. Why are you asking me that? I don't think I'm the best to ask. I'm probably a bit biased. How long have I been sleeping? Even if it's been years I can handle it. You wouldn't have asked me that if they were still fighting, so I must have been asleep for a long time now. Oh. No, nothing specific happened on that day. But you already know it was Monday. The 28th. I have a question though, why am I here? What happened to me? Well I don't remember anything happening to me. The group meeting wasn't interesting. I only really go to spend time with Chess. When we cuddle, you can't tell where his mane starts and mine begins! Wow gosh, sorry. We were talking about fairy tales. Chess wanted us to all try and write our own. Be as creative as we wanted, have a happy ending, and a morale. Of course he did that for me, since he knows I write. But I'm not so sad that I need to beat a bunch of foal-minded ponies to feel better. Still it's the thought that counts I guess. We spoke about the flutterponies, about Tambalon, the classics. Do you know how dark the original stories are? You wouldn't believe how twisted these stories were before they were toned down for foals. Yeah we spoke about fairy tales the entire time. Then I went home. That's right, the ugly looking place. I live alone. I did have a roomate though. Tilde, a griffon. I could talk about her for days! Filthy, rude, yeah? Hmm no. I didn't eat anything. That is odd, I never felt hungry the entire day. I went to bed and never felt the urge to eat at any point. I didn't sleep, I spent the night writing my fairy tale idea. Once I have an idea for a book I can't sleep until it's on paper! I think I stayed up until 9:30AM. I remember it being really bright outside. I don't recall anything else happening that morning, not falling asleep, not even putting my book down. Going back to yesterday I don't think I've left out a single detail. That is what I remember from Monday. Chapter 1 - YesterdayYeah. Yeah. Ask me later. It took me too long to get to sleep, just, 5 minutes. Fine, then can I sleep? Yesterday, I woke up at... I didn't sleep the night before. My sleeping pattern was badly messed up. I was awake since the night before. I kept having nightmares. I'd rather not. Please don't ask again. Sh-shit... I remembered one thing and that was enough to make me cry again. Doc. Doc! Why can't I move my hoof?! Okay. Thank you. Why didn't you tell me this right away? That was really damn scary! What happend to me? Why am I here? Okay, I'll try. I was trying to read, anything to make time pass. Nothing was going in though, I had to keep re-reading the same passages before I remembered them. I was really tired. I tried cooking, I tried cleaning, It was horrible. And the entire time my roomate was at work so I couldnt even talk to her. Tilde? Wow that takes me back. She was awful. No she moved out years ago. Chloe. She's my girlfriend too. I wish she'd been here for me to count her jumping. You know you count sheep to fall asleep. She is a sheep. Sorry I ruined my joke there, I should have said that. Haha, yeah, It's like I'm a zookeeper. Whoa no, I did not mean that! I do not think that about sheep or griffons, I would never say that! No, I did nothing interesting. I did get to speak to Chloe at 4PM though, a little bit. I was being really clingy and unbearable. She got upset. I left a couple hours later to go to the self-help group. There's Chess Piece, a pale blue, oh. Chess is the organiser. He's, organised. Stone faced. Or stone hearted... I just, nothing. Vee, she's addicted to coffee. It always seems sad to me when a pony gets a mark that says their talent is their problem. It's a coffee mug. Her wings are really neat and tidy yes, do you know her? I shouldn't be surprised, she stands out. Estellea, I don't know what happened to her. Fought a door with her face and lost? Ugly and stupid. F-k-Sh-NO! That's not true! She's intelligent. I am in such a foul mood. I don't mean any of the nasty things I am saying. She's a unicorn, brown with a green mane. Darker than mine. She's basically a reverse Minty who's green with a brown mane. Minty is an artist who's really good. She's drawn me some nice gifts. Flint Steel is, not too bright. That's not me being nasty, but he's always getting things wrong. Feels like I correct him every day. Well not weekends. We have a session 5 days a week. Most of us need it... Uh, Algorithm. He's not somepony I know well. He's lonely, but he doesn't seem to put much effort into changing that. He wears glasses. All I can say about him. We had another member. Double M. I never spoke to him. He was such a talkative guy and I'm not, I knew things wouldn't mesh well between us. I regret it. I should have spoken to him at least once. At least pretend to care believably. That stupid Chess Piece chewd him out though, getting offended over the dumb shit Double was saying! Chess was meant to be the adult here, the professional one! He didn't come back after that, and on Friday Chess told us the news. He even had a little plaque dedicating yesterday's meeting to him. It made me so angry, for him to act like he cared now that it was too late. I hope he dies, he's the one that deserves it. I came home more upset than I had ever been. Oh yeah he did, but he didn't ask for them. It's not important anymore, I don't think anyone even finished their projects. I went home and laid in bed. I had another nightmare. I got up and paced, and kept going back and forth. Chloe told me to read a book again, even though that doesn't bloody work! She wanted sleep for work, but I just wanted sleep. I started seeing him, Double. Even whilst awake. He kept asking me to help him. He had a noose around his neck. Which is stupid because that's not even the method he used. I started binge eating after that. Sitting on the couch eating salad after salad. For hours. That is what I remember from Monday. Chapter One: YesterdayQuestions? Minus. Minus Underscore. Am I hurt? I don't feel well. Can you, un-reduce them? If I'm on some painkiller it's for a reason. I'll still answer your questions, but I'm in a lot of pain right now. No. What did happen? I don't know. I don't remember getting hurt. Uh... No I don't think I did. I was drawing, I don't remember finishing it before waking up here. Can you please tell me something? I have to know something before I start panicing really badly. Burnt? Where? That's not reassuring. I guess but, is this permanent? I just told you, I was drawing. The very beginning? That's not gonna be easy. I woke up at 1PM. I woke up earlier actually, and then struggled-sorry that's pointless info. 1PM, then I spent a while cleaning. Had a small dinner which I ate. That's important? Canned soup. Good brand, bad taste. Can you let me have just a little more of that painkiller? It's harder to think with this pain! Gah, I ate, I got ready. Brush my teeth that sort of thing. You really want these minor details? I walked to the local center to attend a self-help group meeting I'd been told about. It is organised and run by Chess Piece. He's okay. He's... He cares about rules. I only met him that day, it was my first time there. There's Algorithm and Flint Steel who are together, they seem nice enough. Double something, he was intolerable. Even for this group, he was just awful. I hope he leaves the group. Just about, stupid things. Love, money. Okay hold on, Orbit, Estellea. Starfall... I'll never remember them all, there's like 20 of them. 20, give or take. I think most were there for the first time like me. Nope, all new faces to me. Vee? No. Don't know them either. There were a bunch of us who either didn't have time to get introduced or chose not to. I was one of them. They were mostly just trying to big up the place to us. Make it sound like it was this amazing friendly place. It was cringey. Then they pulled out the arts and crafts projects and that did it for me. I wasn't going to join something like this. Well yeah Double is the reason I didn't join more than anything, but even without him it looked bad. I left disappointed like most after that, went home. Wait I stopped by the shop and got a pizza, since they do a deal on Mondays. Just adding that, as my eating habits are so important. Then I kept going home, got in, sat down, ate the pizza. Yeah Chloe Vanderhoof. She's a sheep and is back home abroad for her birthday right now. No, just friends. Yes, I was alone. I ate the pizza alone. I never left the house, and instead went to work on a piece of art I was doing. Just, art. Chloe. It was going to be a birthday gift. But I am sure I never finished it before, this. So can you finally tell me what happened to me? Are you refusing or. Did my house burn down? Was I attacked? Can I have more painkiller juice? Oh thank you! Does Chloe know about this? Did this ruin her birthday? But I already told you everything. I told you even the details that couldn't possibly have mattered! That is what I remember from Monday. Part 1: YesterdayWhat happened? Yes, I am calm, but that wont last if you don't explain-... How hurt? Oh, if you're not the doctor then who are you? Am I going to die? Is that the hurry? See, was that so hard? Now I can relax a bit. Uh yes. That's right. Who? No I don't know that pony. A sheep? Definitely not then. No. Uh I've never lived with any non-pony before. Algorithm. Is he okay?! Does he know what happened to me? Wh-, why not? Oh. Well, I don't know what happened either. Yesterday isn't really coming back to me. I'll try. Let's see. I got up late. I wanna say 11AM? Yeah I'm typically up earlier. I didn't have breakfast, but later on I had noodles. I just talked with Algo and did house work. It was very ordinary. I got cleaned up and ready for us to go to the self-help center. I don't think we need to go, but I find it fun. I met Algo there. Well there's Chess Piece, he runs the place, Mint Chocolate... Uh. Actually that's about it these days. Sometimes Double M comes over. Since me and Algo spent time away for a bit, the place has fallen apart a bit. Yeah Flint used to go. Vee, she left first I think. Don't know them. or them. Orbit yeah he'd show up from time to time, but always near the end. Is the group involved in what happened? You think... So was that all a waste of time? Well, If you say so. Um, Chess isn't exactly my friend, neither was Flint. Infact I got on with no-one in that group. Even me and Minty got on each other's nerves. But I have memories there you know. I don't really want it to fall apart, but it wouldn't ruin my day if it did. No. We never had anything like that. The closest thing to a weekly project was when Chess would try to encoruage us to do art to celebrate holidays. No-one ever did. I'm not an artist. No I don't write. I've been trying to learn the harmonica? But, not really. I'm just not interested in a hobby. Going home it was wet. Not raining, but it had done whilst we were at the center. The glare from the ground was so bad I could barely see my way back. Luckily I live close by. The sun was incredibly bright for that time of night. No way the pizza here is not worth getting, I always cook our meals. Usually stews because I can dump anything that's about to go off in and it'll always go together. I made a stew that night. Then I spent time with Algo. Then we went to bed. Y-yeah, we slept fine. I don't think this can be relevant to whatever happened. Okay you have a point, but there is no way algo, snuggled me, so hard that I wound up in hospital. I'll admit I don't recall falling asleep though. Actually, I think the sun was still shining. Just as it had been doing before. It must have been increidbly late but I remember a distracting light being there from the moment we left the center. That is what I remember from Monday. Chapter 2: Last weekDear Princess Twilight This is a collection of my findings after interviewing the survivors of the Monday night incident. Between the 28th and 29th during the night, a horrific scene was reported by a few witnesses. I arrived to find the stream that goes through the town of Stonebridge blocked and backed up with dead bodies. We identified 31, of which only 7 survived. Though I'm not sure I can say 24 ponies died. 1 would be more accurate. Minus Underscore from number 1 First Street was the identity of every body found. 20 seemed to have died from intentional drowning, but 11 had electrical burns. One Minus regained conciousness every day from Tuesday until Monday. I do not think any of the others will be waking up. I interviewed all 7 of them and found that none of them had experienced the exact same events, and none have any idea what had happened. Every one of them mentioned a self-help group and the ponies within it, as well as roomates and partners they had. We've found and interviewed all of them and found that this self-help group was disbanded a while ago. A pony not named by any Minus, Bright Shade, was the original organisor, and he was spoken to as well. Not one of these ponies knew who Minus was. We even got in contact with Tilde the griffon and Chloe the sheep, both living far away and neither ever having been to Stonebridge before. Chess Piece the named organisor told us he had intended to bring the group back together with him at the head, but chose not to. This was half a year ago. It was the only thing that we found to give Minus' stories any credence. No other named pony had been in contact with anyone else from that group since it disbanded. The one pony we couldn't contact is Algorithm, who had taken his life 2 months back, but his remaining family do not believe he had kept in touch with anyone else from that group, and they had not heard of Minus either. I know it's not my place to theorise, but these are clearly not just magic duplicates or changelings. Each one of these Minuses seems to have had a different life and come from a different Equestria. The one from ours has not yet been identified, but we know he isn't one of the survivors spoken to so far. We still haven't been able to work out what brought them all here, but the catalyst appears to have been our Minus jumping or falling off the bridge to his death. Some electrical phenomenom then occurred which caused injuries to several Minuses and propelled them away, causing further injuries, but keeping them from drowning. None of the ones that drowned showed signs of burns. The 7 that are recovering have not been told anything and we desperately await your solution to housing them once they are healed. We've done our best to keep them from seeing each other at the hospital, but the first one to wake up is already well enough to go home, and is quite the question asker. Yours sincerely, Investigator Dual Star EpilogueDear Princess Twilight I am updating you on the Minus situation. As per your suggestions we have let them meet each other, and now 5 out of 7 of them all live together in that one home. It's honestly very confusing being in there. But they're doing surprisingly well, given their situation. We have asked them to keep the story a secret and claim to be septuplets, and the papers are saying the incident was just an act of vandalism using manakins. They have also agreed to let you come down and run some tests. They've come to adopt nicknames that we were using for them, none of them going by "Minus" anymore. They're now Mondes, Tudous, Wendis, Thurnos, Fridas, and the two still in hospital, Saturnys, and Sunnus. Sadly they still all look the same at the moment. We will proceed with getting them proper paperwork under those names with your permission. We might also need to get them some bigger accomidation, they are living quite cramped at the moment. Now that they've met they refuse to be relocated to seperate homes. They've really come to rely on each other. The wizards you sent have had a few ideas about fusing all the Minuses into one to make things easier, but I don't think this is a good idea. If you spend time with them you'll see they are all too distinct for something like that, assuming such spells would even work. We now know for certain that they are not magical duplicates, but entirely seperate ponies with similar but different lives. Brothers is the most accurate word I can think of right now. More analysis has been done on the area above the bridge, and there is an intense, actually toxic amount of magical residue in the air there, but nothing else of note. Thankfully the area is too high up to hurt most ponies, but we have someone to keep watch incase a pegasus flies towards it. But we've not discovered anything else about the area since the 29th. It's been just a long frustration for the ones involved. The only interesting developments have been from going over the life stories of each Minus and seeing where their history diverges. Some are worth looking into, especially the griffon who started a civil war. Grunwald, who has not done that here, but we could monitor him incase he has plans to. Again, with your permission. There are other similar things like this we've been able to learn about, ordinary ponies who are famous in some histories, but not here. Ponies with untapped talent. And ideas not yet thought up by our versions of inventors. I think you'll find this to be the most interesting part in all of this. Everything they say is being documented and looked into. They've been very cooperative. However, there is one problem. All but one of them, the 6 that were in relatioships have been asking to see their significant other. Even after being told these aren't the same ones they know, they insist on getting the chance to talk to them. What is your suggestion for this? Take into account that 3 of them were with this sheep Chloe, who doesn't even live in Equestria. I don't know how that would work. I look forward to updating you next time in person. Yours sincerely, Investigator Dual Star Author's Note That is the end for now. This was all written on the 28th of August 2017 after I got ill and was lying in bed trying to sleep. I was exhausted but only had nightmares and horrible thoughts. Something forced me up and made me do something that was totally out of character. I began writing. I still had no explanation for this story. I just know I was in a really bad moment and I just had to write it. I've been avoiding coming back to it and giving it a spellcheck as I was honestly scared to. It's a weird story, written in a weird moment. But better late than never, here it is. Share your thoughts and if you were able to follow along, or if it made no sense. OH! I almost forgot the super important note: Those of you mentioned in this story. Do not think too deep into it. This isn't meant to be canon to your characters or be an indication of how I feel about you. I just needed actors. Also apologies to those that feel left out. This was also written months ago incase anything seems out of date.
Chapter 1: YesterdayMy name is Minus Underscore. I live at number one, First Street, Stonebridge. I was born in age 990. I don't have a job. I'll tell you what happened. I wake up. It's probably 6PM as usual. I avoid mirrors in the morning, I dont need another reminder that I need a manecut. I take my time getting breakfast, because hey, they'd only tell me off for skipping it. I finish, and arrive late to the self-help group. What characters these ponies are. The one that talks the most about his problems, his name is Double... something. Then there's the gay duo Flint and Algorithm. It's nice they met each other through this group. They're nice and fun to be around. Vee the coffee addict, who is otherwise normal? I guess she's just so in touch with her issues that she looks in control. Minty is there too, I think she just walked in one day out of curiosity and then never left. And finally there's our main character Chess Piece. The lunatic that put this group together. At the start of every week, as this was, we were meant to complete a task. Today was a really childish one, to make an art piece in the shape of a friend here, without using traditional methods. Algorithm went first, showing a macaroni picture of me. I smiled wide, barely holding in my laughter. He luckily took my expression as me loving it! Dodging that bullet, I showed mine next. An egg I'd drawn on in a dark blue ink to look like Algo. A pony face with those rectangle glasses on, and his side swept fringe. I didn't even bother to change the mane's colour to a more accurate whitish blue, just used the same dark blue as his coat and horn. You could see how low effort the attempt was, but he was so genuinely happy to see it. This group is so sad. The next few images were pretty bad too. Somepony made Vee out of sweets. I guess there wasn't much else that right shade of purple to use. They forgot to include her wings though, which is an amazing thing to do. Vee's wings are something she takes such pride in, to forget them, that probably ruffled her feathers. Though she has several stand out features, like those weird mane loops either side of her head. That Double Moan guy was made with salt and pepper, sprinkled onto glue covered paper. Quite a clever way to get his white coat to show up on a white background, with it's noticeble texture. His black mane though was a sneezing hazard. Minty was depicted as a slice of bread bitten into a vague head shape. The green mare with a brown mane looked quite plain, so you could get away with something like that I guess. Flint didn't even get one though. I guess Minty was meant to do that? Since she instead did me, meaning I got two. I know it wasn't my fault, but I felt so greedy having more than anyone else. Flint dealt with it okay though. If I had wanted to do one for him, I'd probably use cheese somehow. He is a yellow earth pony with a two tone spikey yellow mane. Also it now occurs to me, we were never told to use food, just non-standard supplies. Funny we all picked something edible. Chess was proud of us all, and asked how our weekend had been. Double Moan, who's second name I really can't remember, it's not actually moan of course... He took this chance to moan about his weekend for a long period of time. It was draining, as usual. I bet most of us leave this group more depressed than when we arrived. I think I fell asleep during this, I dont remember a lot, and then it was over. I left, but not before Algo gave me that macaroni picture to take home. I had to say yes to that face, poor guy. I got home, stuck the image on my fridge just for that extra foal feel. I sat down on my couch planning to read a book, but instead I find myself staring out the window. The cross pattern started to become mesmerising, looking at those 4 panels, like it was 4 different places. I was really getting into a trance, and probably creeping out the neighbours. I was broken out of this by a spider dangling down, a BIG one! I killed it, but not before panicking it into a frenzy. It was horrible. I felt sick. Minutes later another one that looks the same, the same massive size, is on my front door. I kill that too. I sit down on the couch again, very rattled. And a 3rd one runs under my carpet! So big are these spiders that this one left a bump in the rug. Like it actually thought it was hidden at all. Killed that too. But more insects came in. Flying ones, crawling ones. I kept trying to calm myself down on the couch, which was when a nearly empty glass of wine shows up on my coffee table. I remembered this drink from 4 or 5 days ago. I remember it vanishing, I remember looking for it twice. I never found the glass, and now it was here. I gave it a taste test, and it still seemed fine. Does wine even go off? I spent that night sitting on my bed, not laying down. Huddled in the sheets waiting for something to move along the floor. It was a horrible and slow night of nothing but fear. I keep my windows tightly shut because of my fear. They shouldn't have been able to get in. That is what I remember from Monday.
Chapter1: YesterdayMinus. Underscore. I live in the horribly coloured house. You know the one. I'm 20 something, I stopped celebrating birthdays after 21 so I actually just keep thinking I'm still that age. But it's been years so I can't still be 21 I know. I got up at probably midday. I know I sleep in late, but I also fall asleep late. I've never had an easy time getting rest. I just did usual stuff like have something to eat, have a wash. Talking to my roomate once she gets home. That's the highlight of my day. At 6PM I went to a self-help group. I've not been there long, and I don't know the ponies too well. They all seem worse off than me. Theres Flint, a yellow earth pony, Vee a purple pegasus, Minty the green and brown earth pony, uh, a white one with a black mane, Algorithm the all blue one, and Chess Piece the blue unicorn with a red mane. I think that's all there was. Chess was in charge of things and at the start of every week, as this was, he assigned us a task to complete. He said we should do a self-portait, and be honest. I expect he'll ask us to do it again later on so we can compare, and see if we look happier in the newer picture. Or maybe I'm looking too deep into it. I already finished mine, it's an image of myself drunk on the couch. Back to the session, we were asked about our weekend. I had a bad weekend, so I'm glad I didn't have a chance to talk. I actually did spend the whole time drunk. It started out well until my roomate had to leave for her overtime. I forgot about that, I try not to drink alone, but I messed up. And then I threw up. Sorry that wasn't the question you asked. Uh, black and white guy was talking about his home getting flooded, seemed bad. Flint and Algorithm got into an argument on a dance style, one of them saying their favourite is the best and even inspired the other's favourite. It was stupid. The examples they did looked the same to me, and pretty funny. Oh at the end there was a moment of silence. One of the members had recently taken their own life. Starfait, or maybe Starfall. I couldn't really tell from the handwriting and was too embarassed to ask. I went home. Wait I stopped by the shop and got a pizza, since they do a deal on Mondays. Got home and shared that with the roomate. We spent the night talking, and then I went to bed. I had a really bad night's sleep because of how unusually cold it was. It's been so hot it's made me ill lately, but that night was ice cold. I kept checking the clock and time just did not seem to be going forward, even when I thought I had fallen asleep for a bit. Guess my clock just broke? That is what I remember from Monday.
Chapter1. Yesterday.Yes I'm Minus. Yes, first house, first street. Do I know you? Oh, sorry. Okay, I'll tell you what I can. I should have set an alarm, because I got up at about 4:30PM. It takes me a long time to wake up, so that was a bad start. My roomate had come home and I am so thankful they were that loud. I got myself ready in time to get to the center and set things up. I opened at 6PM and the members came in. I don't feel comfortable telling you about them, I know there's no doctor patient confidentiality type thing for this, but they trust me you know. Who do I start with. Double M is a white earth pony with a black mane, and a very unlucky life. There's Flint, yellow earth pony, Algorithm blue unicorn, Minty the green and brown earth pony. The three of them are in a relationship. I don't know the details because I chose not to ask. Vee sometimes comes, and is a purple pegasus, and Starfall too who's a white earth pony. But those two weren't there last night. They often don't, and I'll tell you why. At the start of every week, as this was, I ask the group to do something constructive. Something to remind them that they are still capable, and to keep trying. I usually go for art as it'll always look like they're great at that, once you've seen the rubbish at the art gallery here. They'll put anything in there. There was a "Careful, wet floor" sign there and I kid you not, I couldnt tell if it was part of the exhibit or not! Sorry, that wasn't the question you asked. I told them they should collect the wrappers and such from anything they used, and create a collage with it. Oh Chess Piece was there too, my co-worker. He's a unicorn that's pale blue with the same shade of green in his mane as mine. Sorry I forgot him, I didn't think to include other staff. I only just remembered because he kept mispronouncing "collage". It's a shame he doesn't partake in these little projects, I think he could use a bit of help himself. Oh well, he just seems, distant. He's kinda strict, stubborn, and holds onto outdated ideas. You'd think he was really old the way he talks, but he's younger than me. But I don't think anyone in the group would do anything bad. Not illegal bad. I spent most of the time listening to Double M talk about-, no I don't know what the M stands for. He was talking about wanting a marefriend. And I regret how harsh I was giving him advice. I've had this exact same situation before, before I became a part of this group. This orange pegasus was a mess begging for a marefriend so pathetically. I was harsh in trying to bring him out of his fantasy, and that went poorly. I probaly shouldn't be doing this job, I'd be better off as a regular member I sometimes think. Damnit, sorry, back on track. The trio added in some advice too, but they're odd. Even I can't get behind what they've got going on. The small turnout meant we stayed on this topic for a while without getting around to anyone else. Things ended at 9PM as usual. It got very cold, even jogging home didnt warm me up much. Got in to a nice warm pizza on the couch with my thoughtful roomate. I told her basically what I'm telling you now. A more vivid version. I'm really tired. I mean I was really tired, but I am now too. I wrote in my diary... I wrote in my diary the days events, oh wow, I could have gotten that out and just read it instead of struggling to remember. I am so out of it. I wrote late into the night, probably into the morning. I just couldn't sleep. Going into the next day, that would make sense. Well a little. Nevermind, it doesn't. That is what I remember from Monday.
Chapter 1, YesterdayMy head is killing me. Is someone setting bells off in my ears? I'm really dizzy. I guess it doesn't hurt exactly, but the thumping. I probably got drunk. Of course I do, I'm Princess Celestia. Wow, no sense of humour? What, from the beginning? That's not gonna be easy. Well I got up out of bed. I slept in late because I don't have anything else to look forward to in the day, other than my self-help group. It starts at 6PM. There's like 6 of us that go there. Double is an earth pony with a black... Like what? Then I guess I'd say Double is, unlucky. Things always seem to go wrong for him. Mundane things, but they go badly big. They go, very badly. Sorry that sounded weird, the throbbing is starting to go a bit but it's still making this hard. Flint is funny. He's not a jokester I wouldn't say but we have fun arguing. Debating is the friend word for argue, so I guess we debate. It often ends in laughter. Algo and Minty are a cute couple. Minty's an artist like me, we compete sometimes, all in fun. Algo is. Nice. He is nice, he is. Oh wow I couldn't have made that sound worse. That's not even the headache at work I just, he is nice. But he makes me uncomfortable. I think he has a thing for me. The thought he'd cheat on Minty really pisses me off. And he knows I'd never cheat either. Chess Piece. My coltfriend. Yeah he's the group organiser. That's not a crime is it? I know like doctors arent allowed to date patients but this isn't like that. Oh, you just had that look on your face. Uuuh, Vee is, intimidating. She will sometimes slap you with her wings, I don't think she realises how hard she's doing it. You'd think she wouldn't risk ruffling her feathers like that, she's very big on wing, presentation. Was that a weird choice of word? Well her cutie-mark is 3 purple feathers. It always seems sad to me when a pony gets a mark that shows their talent is their race. Oh no, don't tell her I said something that horrible. Other members... Flint, Algo, Minty, Vee, uh, Chess, Oh and Double. That's everypony. About, 2 months? It feels like a year. I can barely remember not being with him. No, he lives far away. He's such a workaholic he even spends his vacation time here doing volunteer work. Griffonstone. Yes he is a pony. Yeah. I know it's not a safe place right now. I have told him to move here over and over, but he really thinks things are going to get better over there. But it wont. It's getting violent, and it will only get worse. Basically a civil war. Why are you asking me that? I don't think I'm the best to ask. I'm probably a bit biased. How long have I been sleeping? Even if it's been years I can handle it. You wouldn't have asked me that if they were still fighting, so I must have been asleep for a long time now. Oh. No, nothing specific happened on that day. But you already know it was Monday. The 28th. I have a question though, why am I here? What happened to me? Well I don't remember anything happening to me. The group meeting wasn't interesting. I only really go to spend time with Chess. When we cuddle, you can't tell where his mane starts and mine begins! Wow gosh, sorry. We were talking about fairy tales. Chess wanted us to all try and write our own. Be as creative as we wanted, have a happy ending, and a morale. Of course he did that for me, since he knows I write. But I'm not so sad that I need to beat a bunch of foal-minded ponies to feel better. Still it's the thought that counts I guess. We spoke about the flutterponies, about Tambalon, the classics. Do you know how dark the original stories are? You wouldn't believe how twisted these stories were before they were toned down for foals. Yeah we spoke about fairy tales the entire time. Then I went home. That's right, the ugly looking place. I live alone. I did have a roomate though. Tilde, a griffon. I could talk about her for days! Filthy, rude, yeah? Hmm no. I didn't eat anything. That is odd, I never felt hungry the entire day. I went to bed and never felt the urge to eat at any point. I didn't sleep, I spent the night writing my fairy tale idea. Once I have an idea for a book I can't sleep until it's on paper! I think I stayed up until 9:30AM. I remember it being really bright outside. I don't recall anything else happening that morning, not falling asleep, not even putting my book down. Going back to yesterday I don't think I've left out a single detail. That is what I remember from Monday.
Chapter 1 - YesterdayYeah. Yeah. Ask me later. It took me too long to get to sleep, just, 5 minutes. Fine, then can I sleep? Yesterday, I woke up at... I didn't sleep the night before. My sleeping pattern was badly messed up. I was awake since the night before. I kept having nightmares. I'd rather not. Please don't ask again. Sh-shit... I remembered one thing and that was enough to make me cry again. Doc. Doc! Why can't I move my hoof?! Okay. Thank you. Why didn't you tell me this right away? That was really damn scary! What happend to me? Why am I here? Okay, I'll try. I was trying to read, anything to make time pass. Nothing was going in though, I had to keep re-reading the same passages before I remembered them. I was really tired. I tried cooking, I tried cleaning, It was horrible. And the entire time my roomate was at work so I couldnt even talk to her. Tilde? Wow that takes me back. She was awful. No she moved out years ago. Chloe. She's my girlfriend too. I wish she'd been here for me to count her jumping. You know you count sheep to fall asleep. She is a sheep. Sorry I ruined my joke there, I should have said that. Haha, yeah, It's like I'm a zookeeper. Whoa no, I did not mean that! I do not think that about sheep or griffons, I would never say that! No, I did nothing interesting. I did get to speak to Chloe at 4PM though, a little bit. I was being really clingy and unbearable. She got upset. I left a couple hours later to go to the self-help group. There's Chess Piece, a pale blue, oh. Chess is the organiser. He's, organised. Stone faced. Or stone hearted... I just, nothing. Vee, she's addicted to coffee. It always seems sad to me when a pony gets a mark that says their talent is their problem. It's a coffee mug. Her wings are really neat and tidy yes, do you know her? I shouldn't be surprised, she stands out. Estellea, I don't know what happened to her. Fought a door with her face and lost? Ugly and stupid. F-k-Sh-NO! That's not true! She's intelligent. I am in such a foul mood. I don't mean any of the nasty things I am saying. She's a unicorn, brown with a green mane. Darker than mine. She's basically a reverse Minty who's green with a brown mane. Minty is an artist who's really good. She's drawn me some nice gifts. Flint Steel is, not too bright. That's not me being nasty, but he's always getting things wrong. Feels like I correct him every day. Well not weekends. We have a session 5 days a week. Most of us need it... Uh, Algorithm. He's not somepony I know well. He's lonely, but he doesn't seem to put much effort into changing that. He wears glasses. All I can say about him. We had another member. Double M. I never spoke to him. He was such a talkative guy and I'm not, I knew things wouldn't mesh well between us. I regret it. I should have spoken to him at least once. At least pretend to care believably. That stupid Chess Piece chewd him out though, getting offended over the dumb shit Double was saying! Chess was meant to be the adult here, the professional one! He didn't come back after that, and on Friday Chess told us the news. He even had a little plaque dedicating yesterday's meeting to him. It made me so angry, for him to act like he cared now that it was too late. I hope he dies, he's the one that deserves it. I came home more upset than I had ever been. Oh yeah he did, but he didn't ask for them. It's not important anymore, I don't think anyone even finished their projects. I went home and laid in bed. I had another nightmare. I got up and paced, and kept going back and forth. Chloe told me to read a book again, even though that doesn't bloody work! She wanted sleep for work, but I just wanted sleep. I started seeing him, Double. Even whilst awake. He kept asking me to help him. He had a noose around his neck. Which is stupid because that's not even the method he used. I started binge eating after that. Sitting on the couch eating salad after salad. For hours. That is what I remember from Monday.
Chapter One: YesterdayQuestions? Minus. Minus Underscore. Am I hurt? I don't feel well. Can you, un-reduce them? If I'm on some painkiller it's for a reason. I'll still answer your questions, but I'm in a lot of pain right now. No. What did happen? I don't know. I don't remember getting hurt. Uh... No I don't think I did. I was drawing, I don't remember finishing it before waking up here. Can you please tell me something? I have to know something before I start panicing really badly. Burnt? Where? That's not reassuring. I guess but, is this permanent? I just told you, I was drawing. The very beginning? That's not gonna be easy. I woke up at 1PM. I woke up earlier actually, and then struggled-sorry that's pointless info. 1PM, then I spent a while cleaning. Had a small dinner which I ate. That's important? Canned soup. Good brand, bad taste. Can you let me have just a little more of that painkiller? It's harder to think with this pain! Gah, I ate, I got ready. Brush my teeth that sort of thing. You really want these minor details? I walked to the local center to attend a self-help group meeting I'd been told about. It is organised and run by Chess Piece. He's okay. He's... He cares about rules. I only met him that day, it was my first time there. There's Algorithm and Flint Steel who are together, they seem nice enough. Double something, he was intolerable. Even for this group, he was just awful. I hope he leaves the group. Just about, stupid things. Love, money. Okay hold on, Orbit, Estellea. Starfall... I'll never remember them all, there's like 20 of them. 20, give or take. I think most were there for the first time like me. Nope, all new faces to me. Vee? No. Don't know them either. There were a bunch of us who either didn't have time to get introduced or chose not to. I was one of them. They were mostly just trying to big up the place to us. Make it sound like it was this amazing friendly place. It was cringey. Then they pulled out the arts and crafts projects and that did it for me. I wasn't going to join something like this. Well yeah Double is the reason I didn't join more than anything, but even without him it looked bad. I left disappointed like most after that, went home. Wait I stopped by the shop and got a pizza, since they do a deal on Mondays. Just adding that, as my eating habits are so important. Then I kept going home, got in, sat down, ate the pizza. Yeah Chloe Vanderhoof. She's a sheep and is back home abroad for her birthday right now. No, just friends. Yes, I was alone. I ate the pizza alone. I never left the house, and instead went to work on a piece of art I was doing. Just, art. Chloe. It was going to be a birthday gift. But I am sure I never finished it before, this. So can you finally tell me what happened to me? Are you refusing or. Did my house burn down? Was I attacked? Can I have more painkiller juice? Oh thank you! Does Chloe know about this? Did this ruin her birthday? But I already told you everything. I told you even the details that couldn't possibly have mattered! That is what I remember from Monday.
Part 1: YesterdayWhat happened? Yes, I am calm, but that wont last if you don't explain-... How hurt? Oh, if you're not the doctor then who are you? Am I going to die? Is that the hurry? See, was that so hard? Now I can relax a bit. Uh yes. That's right. Who? No I don't know that pony. A sheep? Definitely not then. No. Uh I've never lived with any non-pony before. Algorithm. Is he okay?! Does he know what happened to me? Wh-, why not? Oh. Well, I don't know what happened either. Yesterday isn't really coming back to me. I'll try. Let's see. I got up late. I wanna say 11AM? Yeah I'm typically up earlier. I didn't have breakfast, but later on I had noodles. I just talked with Algo and did house work. It was very ordinary. I got cleaned up and ready for us to go to the self-help center. I don't think we need to go, but I find it fun. I met Algo there. Well there's Chess Piece, he runs the place, Mint Chocolate... Uh. Actually that's about it these days. Sometimes Double M comes over. Since me and Algo spent time away for a bit, the place has fallen apart a bit. Yeah Flint used to go. Vee, she left first I think. Don't know them. or them. Orbit yeah he'd show up from time to time, but always near the end. Is the group involved in what happened? You think... So was that all a waste of time? Well, If you say so. Um, Chess isn't exactly my friend, neither was Flint. Infact I got on with no-one in that group. Even me and Minty got on each other's nerves. But I have memories there you know. I don't really want it to fall apart, but it wouldn't ruin my day if it did. No. We never had anything like that. The closest thing to a weekly project was when Chess would try to encoruage us to do art to celebrate holidays. No-one ever did. I'm not an artist. No I don't write. I've been trying to learn the harmonica? But, not really. I'm just not interested in a hobby. Going home it was wet. Not raining, but it had done whilst we were at the center. The glare from the ground was so bad I could barely see my way back. Luckily I live close by. The sun was incredibly bright for that time of night. No way the pizza here is not worth getting, I always cook our meals. Usually stews because I can dump anything that's about to go off in and it'll always go together. I made a stew that night. Then I spent time with Algo. Then we went to bed. Y-yeah, we slept fine. I don't think this can be relevant to whatever happened. Okay you have a point, but there is no way algo, snuggled me, so hard that I wound up in hospital. I'll admit I don't recall falling asleep though. Actually, I think the sun was still shining. Just as it had been doing before. It must have been increidbly late but I remember a distracting light being there from the moment we left the center. That is what I remember from Monday.
Chapter 2: Last weekDear Princess Twilight This is a collection of my findings after interviewing the survivors of the Monday night incident. Between the 28th and 29th during the night, a horrific scene was reported by a few witnesses. I arrived to find the stream that goes through the town of Stonebridge blocked and backed up with dead bodies. We identified 31, of which only 7 survived. Though I'm not sure I can say 24 ponies died. 1 would be more accurate. Minus Underscore from number 1 First Street was the identity of every body found. 20 seemed to have died from intentional drowning, but 11 had electrical burns. One Minus regained conciousness every day from Tuesday until Monday. I do not think any of the others will be waking up. I interviewed all 7 of them and found that none of them had experienced the exact same events, and none have any idea what had happened. Every one of them mentioned a self-help group and the ponies within it, as well as roomates and partners they had. We've found and interviewed all of them and found that this self-help group was disbanded a while ago. A pony not named by any Minus, Bright Shade, was the original organisor, and he was spoken to as well. Not one of these ponies knew who Minus was. We even got in contact with Tilde the griffon and Chloe the sheep, both living far away and neither ever having been to Stonebridge before. Chess Piece the named organisor told us he had intended to bring the group back together with him at the head, but chose not to. This was half a year ago. It was the only thing that we found to give Minus' stories any credence. No other named pony had been in contact with anyone else from that group since it disbanded. The one pony we couldn't contact is Algorithm, who had taken his life 2 months back, but his remaining family do not believe he had kept in touch with anyone else from that group, and they had not heard of Minus either. I know it's not my place to theorise, but these are clearly not just magic duplicates or changelings. Each one of these Minuses seems to have had a different life and come from a different Equestria. The one from ours has not yet been identified, but we know he isn't one of the survivors spoken to so far. We still haven't been able to work out what brought them all here, but the catalyst appears to have been our Minus jumping or falling off the bridge to his death. Some electrical phenomenom then occurred which caused injuries to several Minuses and propelled them away, causing further injuries, but keeping them from drowning. None of the ones that drowned showed signs of burns. The 7 that are recovering have not been told anything and we desperately await your solution to housing them once they are healed. We've done our best to keep them from seeing each other at the hospital, but the first one to wake up is already well enough to go home, and is quite the question asker. Yours sincerely, Investigator Dual Star
EpilogueDear Princess Twilight I am updating you on the Minus situation. As per your suggestions we have let them meet each other, and now 5 out of 7 of them all live together in that one home. It's honestly very confusing being in there. But they're doing surprisingly well, given their situation. We have asked them to keep the story a secret and claim to be septuplets, and the papers are saying the incident was just an act of vandalism using manakins. They have also agreed to let you come down and run some tests. They've come to adopt nicknames that we were using for them, none of them going by "Minus" anymore. They're now Mondes, Tudous, Wendis, Thurnos, Fridas, and the two still in hospital, Saturnys, and Sunnus. Sadly they still all look the same at the moment. We will proceed with getting them proper paperwork under those names with your permission. We might also need to get them some bigger accomidation, they are living quite cramped at the moment. Now that they've met they refuse to be relocated to seperate homes. They've really come to rely on each other. The wizards you sent have had a few ideas about fusing all the Minuses into one to make things easier, but I don't think this is a good idea. If you spend time with them you'll see they are all too distinct for something like that, assuming such spells would even work. We now know for certain that they are not magical duplicates, but entirely seperate ponies with similar but different lives. Brothers is the most accurate word I can think of right now. More analysis has been done on the area above the bridge, and there is an intense, actually toxic amount of magical residue in the air there, but nothing else of note. Thankfully the area is too high up to hurt most ponies, but we have someone to keep watch incase a pegasus flies towards it. But we've not discovered anything else about the area since the 29th. It's been just a long frustration for the ones involved. The only interesting developments have been from going over the life stories of each Minus and seeing where their history diverges. Some are worth looking into, especially the griffon who started a civil war. Grunwald, who has not done that here, but we could monitor him incase he has plans to. Again, with your permission. There are other similar things like this we've been able to learn about, ordinary ponies who are famous in some histories, but not here. Ponies with untapped talent. And ideas not yet thought up by our versions of inventors. I think you'll find this to be the most interesting part in all of this. Everything they say is being documented and looked into. They've been very cooperative. However, there is one problem. All but one of them, the 6 that were in relatioships have been asking to see their significant other. Even after being told these aren't the same ones they know, they insist on getting the chance to talk to them. What is your suggestion for this? Take into account that 3 of them were with this sheep Chloe, who doesn't even live in Equestria. I don't know how that would work. I look forward to updating you next time in person. Yours sincerely, Investigator Dual Star Author's Note That is the end for now. This was all written on the 28th of August 2017 after I got ill and was lying in bed trying to sleep. I was exhausted but only had nightmares and horrible thoughts. Something forced me up and made me do something that was totally out of character. I began writing. I still had no explanation for this story. I just know I was in a really bad moment and I just had to write it. I've been avoiding coming back to it and giving it a spellcheck as I was honestly scared to. It's a weird story, written in a weird moment. But better late than never, here it is. Share your thoughts and if you were able to follow along, or if it made no sense. OH! I almost forgot the super important note: Those of you mentioned in this story. Do not think too deep into it. This isn't meant to be canon to your characters or be an indication of how I feel about you. I just needed actors. Also apologies to those that feel left out. This was also written months ago incase anything seems out of date.
