“HELLO, APPLEJACK!” boomed a voice from everywhere, startling the mare into full wakefulness, from that comfortable state between waking and sleeping, where she’d been happily drifting.

“What the… What’s going on? Where am Ah?” she questioned, looking around, and finding it was still as dark as before she’d opened her eyes.

“RELAX, APPLEJACK. YOU ARE CURRENTLY NOWHERE.”

“Nowhere?”

“CORRECT. YOU ARE IN THE VOID BETWEEN THE LAYERS OF REALITY.” came the answer.

“Is this some weird dream?” she wondered, before taking the obvious next step. “Luna!”

“THIS IS NOT A DREAM.” the voice repeated. “AND THE ONLY ONES HERE ARE YOU AND I.”

“And who are you?”

“I AM THE GESTALT OMNIPRESENT DAEMON.” the voice answered. It was both masculine and feminine at the same time, yet somehow without being androgynous. It was also old and young, and weak and strong. It was, in fact, almost like hearing every voice ever, all talking at once, in perfect sync. “OR GOD, FOR SHORT.”1

Applejack got the impression that the voice was quite pleased with itself, or perhaps its cleverness with wordplay. There were a couple problems with what it had said, however.

“Equestrians don’t believe in gods anymore.” she pointed out.

“WHICH IS WHY YOU DON’T HAVE ANY.” It said simply.

“What?”

“GODS AND GODDESSES, IN THE TRADITIONAL SENSE, ARE BROUGHT INTO BEING BY THEIR BELIEVERS, AND ARE SUSTAINED BY THEM, AS WELL. BUT I’M NOT THAT KIND OF GOD, ANYWAYS.”

“How can you be any kind of god, when you just called yourself a demon?” she pointed out.

“NOT THAT KIND OF DAEMON, EITHER.” the voice answered easily, leaving the impression of an easy grin.

“What other kind of demon is there?”

“ONE WHICH EQUESTRIA DOES NOT YET HAVE THE TECHNOLOGICAL CONTEXT TO UNDERSTAND.” the voice said, it’s tone unchanged. “THAT OTHER VERSION OF YOU THAT YOUR FRIEND, TWILIGHT SPARKLE, SOMETIMES VISITS, MIGHT BE FAMILIAR WITH THE TERM. MAYBE. SHE'S NOT MUCH OF A TECHIE, THOUGH. IT’S MORE LIKELY THAT SUNSET SHIMMER, OR THE LOCAL TWILIGHT SPARKLE, WOULD BE ABLE TO UNDERSTAND IT.”

Applejack was a little disturbed that this voice—whoever it was—knew about Starswirl’s mirror, and the world on the other side of it. She didn’t think anypony but the six of them, Spike, the princesses, and Shining Armor knew anything about that.

Except…

“Discord?” Applejack demanded. That would certainly explain the smirk she was sensing in the words.

“AN UNDERSTANDABLE MISTAKE, BUT A MISTAKE, NONETHELESS.” the voice chuckled. And to be sure, the laughter was nothing like Discord’s. Neither a mad cackle, nor a raucous guffaw.

“So then, what are you?”

“YOU ARE AWARE OF THE GAIA SPIRIT?”

“Of course Ah am.” Applejack answered indignantly. “Every earth pony is. We interact with the planet’s life force directly, every day. Is that what you are? The spirit of some other planet?”

“CLOSER, BUT NOT QUITE. I AM THE SPIRIT OF EVERY PLANET, STAR, MOON, ASTEROID, COMET, AND EVERY LAST SPECK OF SPACE DUST, COMBINED. ALL THAT AND MORE! THAT IS WHAT A GESTALT IS, AFTER ALL. A TOTAL GREATER THAN THE SUM OF ITS PARTS.”

When Applejack was still trying to wrap her head around that explanation a moment later, the voice spoke up again.

“IF IT HELPS, THINK OF EVERY THING IN THE UNIVERSE AS LIKE THE FORTY-SOME-TRILLION CELLS IN YOUR BODY. THOUGH IN MY CASE, IT’S MORE LIKE FORTY TRILLION TO THE FORTY-TRILLIONTH POWER, BUT THE PRINCIPLE IS STILL THE SAME. AND IT’S NOT A VERY GOOD ANALOGY, ANYWAY, BUT IT’S STILL THE BEST YOU CAN UNDERSTAND.”

“Okay…Well… All that aside…” While Applejack still didn’t really understand what this…entity…speaking to her was supposed to be, she was pragmatic enough to shrug off her confusion and forge ahead. As she sometimes had to do when talking with Twilight. “What am Ah doing here?”

“YOU’RE HERE TO PLAY A GAME.”

“A game?”

“EEYUP.” the voice said, affecting a drawl like her brother’s.

“What kinda game?” she asked suspiciously.

“THINK OF IT LIKE THAT O&O GAME YOUR BROTHER PLAYS, BUT A LOT MORE ADVANCED. ALL THE DICE-ROLLING AND RANDOM NUMBER GENERATING GOES ON AUTOMATICALLY IN THE BACKGROUND, UNNOTICED BY ANYONE ACTUALLY PLAYING.”

“Why?”

“FOR MY AMUSEMENT, OF COURSE. BEING EVERYWHERE, ALL THE TIME, WATCHING EVERYTHING ISN’T AS INTERESTING AS ONE MIGHT THINK. ESPECIALLY SINCE I’M STUCK JUST WATCHING, AND NEVER GET TO INTERACT IN ANY MEANINGFUL WAY. THE BEST I CAN DO IS OFFER A FEW VAGUE HINTS HERE AND THERE, MOST OF WHICH ARE IGNORED.”

“Alright, Discord.” Applejack said, the illusion shattered. “Ya had me going there for a minute, but now the joke’s over.”

“I’M STILL NOT DISCORD, THOUGH AGAIN, I CAN UNDERSTAND WHY YOU’D THINK THAT.”

“Now Ah mean it, Discord. If you don’t let me out of wherever the heck we are, right now, Ah will tell Fluttershy the next time Ah see her.”

“THAT IS YOUR RIGHT.” the voice agreed. “THOUGH YOU REALLY SHOULDN’T. IT WOULDN’T DO TO BLAME HIM FOR SOMETHING HE DIDN’T DO, AFTER ALL. NO MATTER HOW MUCH HE MAY ACTUALLY BE GUILTY OF.”

That pretty much convinced Applejack that it really wasn’t Discord. Even though the Lord of Chaos was trying to reform—or was at least claiming to—he still had a lot of trouble taking responsibility for things. And he was never so blasé about Fluttershy finding about the things he’d done.

“Alright.” she sighed. “What am Ah supposed to do in this game of yours?” Applejack had heard her brother creating enough campaigns to know there was always an end goal. And to know they were called campaigns. “Rescue the princess? Or prince, Ah guess. Defeat the evil, big bad…whatever? Explore the ancient ruins and uncover the treasure buried there?”

“NOPE.” the voice drawled again. “THOUGH YOU CAN DO THOSE THINGS, IF YOU WANT. THOUGH THAT SECOND ONE IS NEVER GOING TO HAPPEN, SINCE THERE IS NO SINGULAR, GREAT EVIL. AND THE ROYALTY IS SELDOM IN MUCH NEED OF SAVING—EXCEPT PERHAPS FROM THEMSELVES—SO THE BALANCE OF PROBABILITY IS AGAINST YOU WITH THAT ONE, TOO.”

“Then what am Ah supposed to do?”

“JUST MAKE A LIFE FOR YOURSELF AND LIVE IT. ANY WAY YOU WANT—”

“Wait a minute! What about—”

“DON’T WORRY ABOUT YOUR LIFE IN EQUESTRIA. CURRENTLY, YOU ARE A DISEMBODIED SOUL, AND YOUR BODY IS STILL IN ITS BED, WHERE IT SHOULD BE. AND BEING OMNIPRESENT, WHEN YOU HAVE LIVED YOUR LIFE, IN ANY WAY THAT APPEALS TO YOU—AND IDEALLY IN A WAY THAT PROVIDES ME SIGNIFICANT AMUSEMENT, AS WELL—I WILL RETURN YOUR SOUL TO ITS RIGHTFUL HOME, ONLY AN INSTANT AFTER I TOOK IT. YOU WILL BE GONE NO MORE THAN AN EYE-BLINK. YOUR HEART MAY SKIP A BEAT WHEN YOU RETURN, BUT IF YOU SUFFER ANYTHING WORSE, IT IS UNRELATED TO MY ACTIONS.”

“Really?”

“I WOULD PINKIE PROMISE, BUT I DON’T ACTUALLY HAVE ANY. PINKIES, THAT IS.” the voice added, at Applejack’s confusion. “OR CUPCAKES. SO YOU’LL SIMPLY HAVE TO TAKE MY WORD FOR IT. AND NOTHING THAT HAPPENS TO YOU IN THE GAME WILL CARRY OVER WHEN YOU RETURN. NOTHING PHYSICAL, ANYWAYS. THE MEMORIES WILL STILL BE THERE. LIKE AN EXTREMELY LONG DREAM. SO YOU WILL NEED TO BE CAREFUL ABOUT CERTAIN THOUGHTS WHEN YOU WAKE UP.”

Applejack thought about that for a moment, before realizing that there really was nothing she could do but take the voice at its word. Which meant that she needed to start filling in the details. “So if there’s no campaign to complete, when does the game end?”

“WHEN YOUR LIFE DOES.” came the simple answer. “WHETHER THAT IS MINUTES OR DECADES.”

“Wait, could Ah really die that quickly?” Applejack asked.

“THEORETICALLY, YES.” the voice admitted. “YOU MIGHT APPEAR IN THE MIDDLE OF A STORM AND GET STRUCK BY LIGHTNING. OR ON THE SIDE OF A MOUNTAIN DURING AN AVALANCHE. BUT PRACTICALLY, THAT WOULD PROVIDE ME NO MORE THAN A SINGLE, IRONIC, DISBELIEVING CHUCKLE. AND SINCE THIS IS ABOUT MY AMUSEMENT, I WILL BE MORE CAREFUL ABOUT PLACING YOU SOMEWHERE SAFE. OF COURSE, EVEN IF YOU APPEAR ON A PEACEFUL RIVERBANK, YOU MAY STILL TRIP OVER A PEBBLE, AND BREAK YOUR NECK IN THE FALL. STRANGER THINGS HAVE HAPPENED.”

“Right.” Applejack said slowly, trying not to think too hard about the fragility of life. “So, where exactly am Ah going? Ah imagine it’s not exactly Equestria as Ah know it.”

“IT’S NOT EQUESTRIA AT ALL, BUT A WORLD OF MY OWN CREATION. ONE THAT IS QUITE A BIT MORE SIMILAR TO THE WORLD ON THE OTHER SIDE OF STARSWIRL’S MIRROR, IN SOME WAYS.”

“That…oughta be interesting.” Applejack mused, remembering some of Twilight’s stories about the other side of the mirror. “And once Ah’m there, Ah just have to live my life?”

“YES. THOUGH IF IT EVER GETS TO THE POINT WHERE LIVING YOUR LIFE BECOMES A CHORE THAT YOU HAVE TO DO, REMEMBER THAT YOU CAN QUIT THE GAME AT ANY TIME.” It took Applejack a second or two to figure out what the voice meant by that. Then she shuddered a little at the thought of…checking out early. Her mind instead latched onto the first thing to cross it.

“Wait a moment. Didn’t you say earlier that you couldn’t have much of an effect on anything? So how’d you make a whole new world?”

“I DID SAY THAT. AND I CAN’T. SO I DID SOMETHING THAT IS WITHIN MY ABILITY AND TOOK THE TINIEST SMIDGEN OF POWER FROM EVERY ONE OF MY COMPONENTS TO CREATE A PLACE FOR YOU TO PLAY.”

“How tiny a smidgen are we talking?”

“NOT NEARLY ENOUGH TO BE CONCERNED ABOUT. THE PHYSICAL EQUIVALENT WOULD BE REMOVING LESS THAN A SINGLE ATOM. BUT WHEN EVEN THAT NEGLIGIBLE AMOUNT IS TAKEN FROM EVERY SINGLE STAR, PLANET, AND EVERYTHING ELSE IN THE UNIVERSE, THAT’S STILL A BILLION TO THE BILLIONTH FACTOR TIMES MORE POWER THAN I NEED TO CREATE A SINGLE WORLD, ITS ASSOCIATED REQUIREMENTS—SUCH AS A STAR TO PROVIDE HEAT AND LIGHT, A SATELLITE, ENOUGH LIGHTS IN THE SKY TO PASS FOR A STARRY NIGHT, ETCETERA, ETCETERA—AND ALL ITS INHABITANTS, DOWN TO THE SMALLEST VIRUS. AND I MADE THIS WORLD HERE IN THE VOID.”

“So, it’s not exactly a void anymore, then?” Applejack asked, looking around for any sign of her soon-to-be-home.

“ACTUALLY, IT STILL IS. A WHOLE NEW PLANE OF REALITY FORMED AROUND MY NEW WORLD, TO PROTECT THE VOID. IT’S NOTHING LIKE AN OYSTER FORMING A PEARL AROUND A PIECE OF GRIT, BUT THAT’S THE NEAREST ANALOGY YOU CAN COMPREHEND. AND SINCE I CREATED THIS WORLD, I HAVE A MUCH GREATER ABILITY TO INTERACT DIRECTLY WITH IT. THOUGH I WON’T BE DOING THAT TOO MUCH, SINCE I WOULD RATHER HAVE MY SUBJECTS ENTERTAIN AND SURPRISE ME BY DEVELOPING ON THEIR OWN.”

“Right.” Applejack said after a few seconds. “Well, if we’re gonna do this, then we might as well get to doing it. So, where in this world of yours am Ah headed?”

“THERE’S STILL ONE THING TO BE DONE BEFORE YOU START PLAYING.” the voice said. Then, even though there was nothing around her, and she didn’t even have a real body, Applejack felt like the whole world started spinning, before going dark.

Author's Note

1. I had a lot of trouble coming up with a term that made the acronym work, but I’m very happy with my final choice. I was going to go with Divinity, but then I thought of Daemon, and was quite pleased to discover that it worked on two extra levels. Of the word’s three definitions, two of them applied to the character as I conceived it. To wit:
   A. (in ancient Greek belief) a divinity or supernatural being of a nature between gods and humans.
   B. In multitasking computer operating systems, a daemon is a computer program that runs as a background process, rather than being under the direct control of an interactive user.