Chapters Nothing. There was nothing.
Or... is there? Yes. A pony. Is it blind? No. For now, it holds sight. It awakes.
Female. It is female. It is a she.
For now.
She awoke, having no name. Having some knowledge. Can she speak? Not yet, but she can think. And so she can learn.
She looked around, confused, but not frightened. Not yet.
She has no personality.
I can not. Only they can.
"Hello?" She speaks! The Pony got to her hooves, her skin so gray. She heard no answer.
Where is she? Where?
She looked around. She seemed to be in some meadow of sorts. It was a mix of autumn and summer.
She can tell the seasons.
She took a step forward. She can walk! For now.
Why always FOR NOW?
They may hurt her. Cripple her, make her lame.
Can she hear us?
She turned her head sharply, eyes slowly scanning the area. She didn't know what she was looking for, yet nothing seemed wrong.
"Have you ever had to crawl through a thorn bush, just to see a bird at the right angle?" she suddenly asked. Her ears flicked. There was no response. She continued on, wary.
Her face shows no emotion. None at all. Why?
They will decide for her. For now, she is making herself. A machine of flesh and... Not blood. Not yet. Her world is hers, until they choose to change. If she is in danger, then they can safe her. Or they can kill her.
She walked out of the clearing. She breathed in. The air was crisp. She stepped on both fresh and crunchy leaves. "Hm Hm. Hmmm Hm." She repeated this simple rhythm as she walked through the odd woods.
Is she humming?
Yes
It sounds so odd.
Yet she hums. Simple, but shows she has a Former Personality. Until they change it.
Why should they change it?
It is the purpose. If they do nothing, she is for nothing. Nothing will progress, until they add change.
Oh.
She turned her head, glancing around. She saw nothing but leaves. She turned forward and saw an odd clearing. It was not a circle, but stretched sideways. Very far sideways, beyond her sight. On the left it simply stretched on and on. On her right it led to a mountain.
Which way will she go?
I don't know. It's not for us to decide which path she takes.
She walked to the right. "Path." she said softly. "Pahtha. Pah thu." She let out a cold laugh. "If you were excited, about to bump your hooves together, but you were a boxer, would you punch yourself and laugh? Or would you cry?"
She is too smart.
How?
If she knows too much she will be too affected.
Will they fix that?
Maybe. Maybe.
Does she know where she is going.
"Right. I am going right. I am going forward, and I am going right." she said, answering herself.
But we are not part of her.
"Yes. Yes you are." she said, entirely convinced.
We near the mountain. It is in a desert.
A desert? From forest to desert? But it snows on the cacti.
For now.
Always for now. This land makes no sense.
For
Yes, For Now.
She walked up to the mountain. She found odd rock formations.
Stairs. There are stairs on the mountain.
Yes. There are. We are close, so close.
She glanced around, her ears flicking. She glanced over the top of the trees. "Nice." Nice was a pale description, but she knew not the words to describe. She faced the steps once more, walking up. And up. And up. And up. Up all the many stairs. So far up. And up. And up.
This is a tall mountain.
Yes, it is.
Why is it so tall?
It touches the stars. For now.
You keep saying that. Why?
"You'll see."
She froze, her head rapidly moving. No one. Nothing. She advanced up the steps, up. And up. And up. Until finnally, she crawled on the top. She was...
Out of breath and hungry.
Yes. That. She got to her hooves, and let out her first gasp. "Better than nice. So more better." She looked out on the landscape, the desert with it's blizzard, and the forest with it's green and orange. It was the best nice. A light shone above her. She glanced up, before gawking.
The stars.
The stars were within reach. She raised a hoof, touching one. It felt... gentle. Then she swatted it. She screamed in pain.
She knows true pain. She has a limit we can apply.
Then IT appeared. "Greetings." IT said. "The rules are simple. You choose everything. You can choose how she feels, what she likes, how she looks. You can even choose who she loves, and how she loves." Apple Bloom formed, and Celestia formed. "You can choose for her to be younger then Apple Bloom, to be older then Celestia. For her to be their mother or father. Or even lover, even if..." Apple Bloom became a newborn foal. "No mind is sick here. For this is a test. If given the choice, what will you do? You can even effect the rating. E, T, M. Please be careful how you rate. We don't need to be removed."
She is ready. She can be changed.
The earth shook. A massive gust of wind started blowing. She found herself flung off the mountain.
"Your choices can start here! Will the pony wake up in Equestria, or the Griffon lands? Will she wake to a world of peace or war? Perhaps even a different species. Is she Pinkie Pie, or Rainbow Dash? Hitler himself in the Equine land? Or does the pony awake back in the forest, only to go left. Maybe left wondering the desert. Or perhaps they become Discord."
IT started to lose it's light.
"What ever the case, be sure to click the thumbs up. The more who see this, the more people who can join the experiment. The more who join the experiment, the more she can develop. The one thing you can not do, is take away the option to change. She will never be immune. A new chapter can only happen IF change is stated in the comments. No change nor suggestions, no chapter. Your change doesn't have to be drastic. Perhaps a chapter is complete. You can simply say She sings a theme song as she continues to travel! Or something like such. It's a change, but not much is changed. You don't have to be dramatic."
Author's Note
Changes are to be in the comments of the most recent chapter, or will otherwise be ignored.
She landed at the foot of the mountain, her bones cracking. She let out a scream, before slowly getting up. She pushed her bones back in place, screaming with each movement. Her ears flicked. Where were they?
She expected the voices, and yet there were none. Wait. She heard something. "How does one take so much pain, past the point of survival, and yet they survive?" She examined herself, before noticing her tail. Or rather, her lack of a tail. A memory floated to her mind. She couldn't make it out, yet something happened to her tail in that memory. When she was... Small. She shook her head. "Voices, are you gone?" Nothing responded. She glared at her lack of a tail. "I am sure I had one when I woke-" She indeed could not remember if she did or didn't. But that wasn't important.
What was important was traveling. She needed to go somewhere. She needed to explore. So she looked around herself. She faced the snowing desert, the mountain behind her. "Alright. Let's go."
She walked into the desert, the hot sand burning her hooves while the snow chilled the wings on her back. "Wait. No, don't wait." She smacked her lips. Her words felt... Odd. As if they were... Different. She glanced at her wings. "I have wings!" She stated to herself. She felt... Different.
She walked for... she didn't even know how long. She walked until her hooves were sore, and her aching muscle could take no more. Finally, she collapsed. She faintly heard something talking. "H-hello?" she asked, blackness swimming in her vision.
Hello? What happened?
What? She is! Oh look, she's taking her into a stone hut. That's a cozy looking fire.
She raised her head, groggily staring around the area. She stared at a child, who glowed a soft white. She grabbed the filly and pulled her in for a tight hug.
"Woah! Okay, I like hugs too." Ambient Light giggled. Her light stripes reflected on her fur, making a slight red glow around the hut. "I'm Ambient Light! What's your name?"
She opened her mouth, before closing it. "I... Ezra? No, Amber. Amber Jigsaw."
"Wow! Those are very different names!" Ambient said. "And no, I'm not an angel."
"I- What's an angel?" Jigsaw asked.
Ambient rubbed her chin. "I think they're dove ponies." she said. She then stared out the door. A sad look covered her face. Light then rapidly shook her head. "Hey, may I ask you some stuff? I'm super boorred!"
"Okay." Amber answered.
"Can you let-" Ambient seemed to think, before reaching out and grabbing a brush from a pile of seemingly random items. "Can you brush my hair while you hold me?"
Jigsaw grasped the rush with her... With her wing, and started brushing the child's hair. She shifted so the child now sat in her lap.
"Why do you have no tail?"
Jigsaw thought for a moment. "I don't know."
Ambient frowned. "Okay. Why do you have weird tiny clothes?"
Jigsaw stiffened. She craned her neck to look at her short jean shorts (Jorts). "They're comfy... Do they really look weird?"
"Uh huh." Jigsaw cringed at the response. Her ears flattened as she heard what she thought to be her inner thoughts confirming her cringe.
A growl sounded through the air, making Ambient blush. "Hang on, I need to grab some food." She squirmed out of Amber's grip. "I'll be right back." She stopped to look at the strange smoke that shifted out of Amber's mouth, leaving wonderful shapes drifting up to the sky.
Amber watched the child leave, heading out into the cold heat. She returned quickly with a mix of mushrooms. "Careful. Some of those are poison."
"Hey!" Ambient Light complained as some were removed. "We need all of it or we'll go hungry!"
"No, we won't. We need a pot, a fire, and water. We're having soup." Amber Jigsaw said.
"Okay!" Ambient
What's that?
The whole desert seemed to shake from that. A large apple dropped to their hooves. Ambient grinned. "YES! More foo-
WHUMP
"food?" she asked feebly.
WHUMP
The two stared outside, staring at the distance. There was... there was an old tree. An oak tree, in this desert. Amber knew it odd only by Ambient Light's puzzled gaze.
Hang on something is happening.
Amber Jigsaw stood up, taking the mushrooms and setting them in the grip of her wings. Then she starting to walk.
Oh. Oh my. Someone just
Amber walked up to the oddly shaped tree. Like a living creature, it moved as if staring. Amber raised her hoof, touching the rainbow. It felt like hair. She felt along it, before reaching the wood. "What are you?" she whispered.
"What is it?" Ambient asked.
Amber felt along the wooden thing, noticing a pattern on what seemed to be the flank. An odd circle on each side. She motioned Ambient to one side, before pushing on the circle. "Let's find out." she answered.
Ambient pushed against the circle, feeling a bit odd about it. "Why are we poking a tree's butt?" she asked.
Suddenly, a crack formed along the tree, a beam of warm sunlight flowing from the circles. The tree enveloped in light. "Oooo" Ambient whispered in awe.
"Come on then." Amber said, a smile on her face. She walked through the light.
I feel a tug. WOAH!
Amber Jigsaw held her eyes closed as she walked through the light. A pleasant smell, not much unlike that of the forest, entered her nose. There was a hint of apple.
"Where are we?" Ambient asked.
Amber opened her mouth to answer, only for a cyan and rainbow blur to slam into her.
SOUL: AMBER JIGSAW
We have reached a good amount of comments. I will accept no more for the time being.
Author's Note
We have enough Changes. I will take no more for this chapter.
Amber let out a groan, slowly picking herself up. "Watch it pun-" She stopped, seeing the cyan mare before her.
"Are you alright!?" the cyan winged mare asked, concern in her voice.
"Uhhhh..." Amber stared at the rainbow mane the pony had. "Cool hair."
"Oh, thanks! It's really awesome, isn't it?" the mare responded. Ambient walked over and stomped on the mare's hoof. "Ouch! Hey, what was that for!?"
"You crashed into my friend!" Ambient shouted.
"What in the hey is goin on here?" a new voice called out. An orange mare climbed up the small hill. "Rainbow Dash, what you do?" she asked, sounding annoyed.
Oh my it's her!
"What makes you think I did something?" Rainbow Dash asked, sounding offended. The orange mare simply arched a single brow, before motioning to the amber mare with a bruise on her chest and the angry filly. "Oh."
The orange mare shook her head. "Sorry bout my friend. She's a bit of an idiot." She extended a hoof. "I'm Applejack. Welcome to Ponyville, partner!"
Amber stared at the hoof. She reached forward, and gently pushed the hoof down. Ambient walked over and shook the now lower hoof eagerly. "I'm Ambient Light!"
"Jigsaw." Amber said with a nod.
"Nice to meet cha!" Applejack began.
"I'm Rainbow Dash, the best flyer in all Equestria!" Rainbow Dash said, puffing out her chest. She then frowned, looking up at the sun. "Crap, I'm late! See ya Applejack!" Rainbow Dash shouted. She zoomed off, leaving a rainbow blur.
'Well, she seems cool.' Amber thought to herself.
"So, y'all here for the town brunch?" Applejack asked.
"YES!" Ambient shouted, bouncing in place.
"Heh, sure looks like you're excited. Come on then sugar cubes, food's waitin!" Applejack trotted down the hill.
"Come on Jigsaw!" Ambient began pulling on Amber's hoof. "Also weren't you gray earlier?"
"I- No?" Amber said, confused. She followed her friend to the bottom of the hill.
"Oh. My. Chaos. THERE'S SO MUCH FOOD!" Ambient squealed, before rushing to the food tables.
"Did somepony say"
"CHAOS!?"
Amber jumped back as a poof of pink and a burst of brown appeared.
"I'm Pinkie!"
"And I'm Discord!
"And together we are
Party Patrol!"
CHAOS CREW"
The two looked at each other. "We gotta work on our intro." Pinkie commented, grabbing a slice of pie from a nearby table.
Discord nodded, before munching on a pie tin. "That we do." he said, before being sprayed with water.
"Git! Get on now, git!" Applejack scolded Discord while spraying him with a squirt bottle. Discord let out a hiss and scampered off.
"Applejack, that wasn't very nice!" Pinkie exclaimed.
Applejack picked up the half eaten tin. "It ain't nice when he eats mah cookin utensils!" she replied. "Besides, we got you some new folks to throw a party for!"
Pinkie let out a gasp. "OHMYGOODNESS!" she shrieked. She then disappeared in a cloud of dust. Amber could see her in the distance down a dirt road.
"Well that was... odd." Amber Jigsaw said.
"That was Pinkie." Applejack said with a chuckle. "Any who, I see your daughter is quite the muncher, ain't she?" she said, looking at the table where Ambient Light was stuffing her face.
"Not dau-" Amber began in a dull voice, before coughing. "Sorry. She isn't my daughter. She just follows me, I guess."
"So just kin, then?" Applejack asked.
"I guess." Amber said with a shrug. She headed over to the tables, grabbing a slice of pie. Her eyes glanced around the crown, before stopping on a filly. Her heart skipped a beat. "Question."
"Shoot." Applejack said.
"Whos the cutie in the bow?"
Applejack opened her mouth to an
BUT
"That's my lil sis, Apple Bloom! Reckon your kin and her will be good friends!" Applejack answered.
Amber nodded, biting into the pie. 'She's really cute.' she thought to herself. She began pondering on why the two voices in her head argued.
Oh right. She can hear us.
'Actually is there a difference? Cute and attractive. Cute is aw. Attractive makes your heart feel strange. So Apple Bloom is both.' Amber thought with a nod. She wondered why the nod was mentioned. "I nod a lot." The mouse on her head nodded in agreement.
Amber gave the mouse a piece of the pie. "Thank you." the mouse said, in an oddly deep voice that would normally be impossible for it's size. Amber only knew it was small, but did not know what it looked like, for she had yet to see it. But she did want to see the Rainbow Dash again.
"Hey you!" a voice called out. Amber looked up and saw Rainbow Dash zooming towards her. She stepped to the side at the last moment, only to step into Rainbow Dash's landing spot.
"OOF!" "OUCH!"
"Rainbow Dash!" Applejack scolded. "Why you crashing into the poor girl!?"
"I didn't mean to!" Rainbow Dash said, getting off of Amber. She extended a hoof to help her up.
Amber took the hoof. "Thanks." she said, getting up. "Hey, I wanted to ask you a question."
"Sure! Least I could do after crashing into you." Rainbow Dash said.
"Nah, that was my fault. I stepped directly into your landing zone." Amber said with a shrug. "Question. We, Ambient Light and I, come from a different world. Now we are here. Did you see how we arrived when you saw us?"
"No, not really. But my bits are on Discord. He's always doing stupid ponycrap like that." Rainbow Dash answered. She then downed a mug of cider.
Amber tilted her head. "...Pony... Crap?"
"It's an expression." Rainbow Dash replied.
Amber nodded. The mouse also nodded.
Time went on. Amber stood mainly to the side, before grabbing Ambient, who seemed to have fallen asleep from all the food she ate. They heading back into the orchard. The two found a shady tree and fell asleep at it.
On a hillside, through a tree, through a pony shaped gate, past a freezing scorch, up the tallest mountain, in the very stars, IT watched.
"I must confess, this is interesting even to me. I suspected little would come of this tale, and yet it arrives with many eyes on it." IT said, glowing brightly. "Then came the strange thing. I gave a blank vessel, and made the mistake of giving it gender. It became 'She'. And then the greatest oddity. Feelings. I paint feelings on an empty vessel. While the idea of pedophile might bring disgust in self or a villain about in the main character, this one merely has the idea imprinted. Attraction to not children, but to "Apple Bloom", painted in her mind. I am forced to think of this creation in new ways to further it's attitude, as you seem to keep the vessel. I thank you Commenter for bringing this unique challenge to me."
"I would change 'Her' to 'It' if I could, but that sort of change would disrupt the idea of the experiment. So I guess it will be called she, so long as you refer to them as such. Additionally for any of you who don't see the comments."
Name: Amber Jigsaw
SOUL: AMBER JIGSAW. VESSEL [VERY] EMPTY
The sun rose gently over the hills of the orchard. Three creature rested, bathing in the golden light. Amber laid on her back, legs limply in the air. Her ears flicked in annoyance. "Shut up." she told the voice-
Suddenly, Amber was trampled by a colony of rabbits. She let out a loud "OOF!" as they jumped on and off her stomach.
"Oh my goodness, please wait!" a soft voice called out!
Amber let out a groan as she got up. She grabbed one of her ribs and screamed as she shoved it back in place.
The animals froze. The yellow pegasus froze. The mouse froze. Ambient let out a yawn as she woke up. "What I miss?" she asked, rubbing her eyes.
"Are you alright?" the yellow pony asked in a panicked voice.
"I would be better if these things didn't break my rib." Amber said simply, examining the rabbits. The small critters turned away, ashamed.
"Oh my goodness, we need to get you to a hospital strait away!"
"What's a hospital?" Amber and Ambient asked, their voices overlapping.
The pegasus looked as though she was about to faint. "Y-you don't know? I- Um..." She looked heavily confused. "Have you ever had a broken bone before?"
"Yes, I have shattered every bone in my body. I simply push them back in place and let them fix themselves." Amber said. She reached up and grabbed an apple from the tree, before giving it to Ambient.
"Food!" Ambient snarfed down the apple.
"Do not eat too much, or your stomach will burst and eat you instead." Amber warned.
Ambient Light stared. "Okay?" she said, confused as to how a stomach could eat someone.
"A-are you sure you're alright?" the pegasus asked.
"Yup." Amber said with a nod.
"I'm bored. What should we do?" Ambient asked.
Amber blinked. She turned to the yellow mare. "Any ideas?"
"I- me? Um. W-well I guess you two could come over to my cottage to pet some animals later if y-you want. Oh my the animals!" The mare headed over the rabbits. "Alright, you've had your fun. Please come home with me."
The rabbits followed the pegasus as she began walking. Amber looked down at Ambient. "Follow." she said simply.
Ambient giggled. "Your voice is back!" she said as she began to walk.
"My voice?" Amber asked, sounding confused.
"Yeah! The one where you sound fed up!" Ambient said with a grin. "Or is it just empty?" she said, rubbing her chin.
"Stop talking." Amber said, frowning at Ambient.
For a while, the group simply walked.
I never really like these parts. There's so much silence, isn't there.
Quit it.
Sorry.
Eventually, the group arrived to a cottage, overgrown with life.
They don't know her name yet.
Amber blinked. She tapped the mare on the shoulder. "I never got your name." she said.
"O-oh! Sorry. My name's Fluttershy." Fluttershy said.
Huzzah!
You know what? Fine. Keep interrupting. At this point, I won't even try to stop you.
But you'll still talk with me, right? Right?
Yeah sure.
Amber's ears flicked as she nodded. "Fluttershy." she said, feeling the name. She followed Fluttershy through her house to her backyard.
Ambient let out a squeal as she saw all the animals, and ran towards a bear.
"Be careful little one!" FLuttershy said with a smile. She turned to Amber, who was setting down her mouse. The mouse was tall at a whole 8 inches in height, sporting a bowler cap that was tiny even on his head. The hat sat between his two ears and a mustache sat on his muzzle. He scampered off to frolic.
Amber sat and stared. She wanted to explore, but chose to stay, to let this child decide where to go. She watched as the wind moved the clouds through the sky, and- She sniffed.
Fluttershy walked over. "Are you alright?" she asked.
Amber stood up. "I smell apples." she said.
"Oh, I invited some friends." Fluttershy said. A small bunny arched a brow at her. "Or, well, they invited themselves. But they did speak politely about it, and I did agree." she said with a nod. The bunny seemed skeptical.
Amber watched as three fillies entered the yard. Her eyes widened.
Oh boy, here we go.
They can't tell your tone.
Oh. I said that sarcastically.
Apple Bloom and two other fillies wondered around the yard, talking and petting the animals. Amber's eyes slid around the area, before landing on a daisy. Amber went over to pluck it, before walking up to Apple Bloom. "Here." she said stiffly. "A pretty flower for a pretty girl."
Apple Bloom looked at the flower, before grabbing it with her mouth. "Thanks!" she said, before trotting away to pet a buzzard.
Amber walked over to Ambient, before collapsing. "Oh Discord my heart is pounding." she wheezed.
"Smooth moves." Ambient said, rubbing the bear's belly. She then frowned. "Hey, are you a giant?"
"Huh?" Amber asked.
"I mean, I've been thinking you're an adult. But are you just a really big kid?"
Amber thought to herself. "I..." Her muzzle wrinkled as she tried to think of anything past when she woke up in the clearing. "How old are you?" she asked Amber.
"I'm very young. And I'm this high." she said, holding a hoof on her head. "So I'm normal height."
Amber stared at the sky. "I... I guess I am a giant." she whispered.
"Also are you a boy or girl?"
What?
Hang on, why that question?
Amber shared the same confusion as her voices. "Huh?"
"Cause you look like a girl, but your voice sounds... like neither."
"I..." Amber frowned. When she awoke, she called herself 'she'. Then she became a 'she'. Her head began to hurt, before her cutie mark flashed beneath her shorts. "When it began, it didn't matter. Afterwards, it did." she said with a nod.
"Sooooo... You're a them or a it?" Ambient asked.
Amber raised an eyebrow. "Why?"
"Because." Ambient answered, sticking out her tongue.
Amber thought hard about that. "I... I am 'It' until someone desires to call me otherwise."
Ambient nodded, lying against the now sleeping bear. "Got it. Pibling Amber." she said, nodding rapidly.
"Pibling?" Amber asked.
"Pibling means Parents sibling, and is a gender neutral term to call a non binary uncle slash aunt slash whatever. Nibling is for nieces and nephews who are non binary." Ambient explained.
"How do you know that?" Amber asked.
"That yellow filly explained to me yesterday. Apparently the Apple family is 'open minded', whatever that means." Ambient replied.
"A family open to the change of Chaos." Amber said. "Sounds like a fun family." She looked at the sun. "Well, I suppose we've been here long enough. Let's go."
Ambient and Amber got up with a groan. Ambient walked up to Fluttershy. "Thank you letting us play with your animals, miss!"
"Oh, you're welcome." Fluttershy answered. "Have a nice day!"
The mouse ran up and scampered up Amber's leg, sitting on her back.
The three trotted towards town.
favoriting is nice, but it doesn't show others how good the story is. Be sure to click the thumbs up so more people join the experiment!
LUST LEVEL SCALE
LUST LEVEL does not align with romantic inclination or stalker behavior, but simply Physical intimacy
SOUL: AMBER JIGSAW. VESSEL [VERY] EMPTY
Amber trotted forward. "Hello you two." she said, looking at the sky, then the ground.
Hello.
No, you don't talk with her!
It. You don't talk with it.
Her. the readers decided.
Actually another changed it. They wanted it to comment on pizza.
It let out a dry laugh, hearing the two conversate with each other. Ambient looked at her friend in confusion. "Are you alright?"
Amber gave a single nod. "I'm fine."
Ambient smiled, before smacking her head. "Oh my chaos! We have to go back."
Amber shrugged. "Alright, back to Fluttershy's."
"No, I mean back through the tree!" Ambient seemed panicked. "We gotta grab Midnight!"
Amber nodded. "Alright. Let's go."
Oh heavens curse it.
"WAAAAIIIT! WAIT FOR ME!" Pinkie galloped towards the two, before tripping and faceplanting into the dirt. "Ow, my snoz!" Pinkie crawled forward. "Can I come?
"Hmmm..." Ambient starred for a moment. "You may walk with us."
"Hooray!" Pinkie shouted, a large grin on her face.
And so, they walked. As they
"Hey, wanna play I spy?"
Crap.
"Sure" Ambient said. "I spy with my creepy eye... something grey."
"Ooo, that's a toughy." Pinkie said, scratching her chin. "Ahh! Wait no. Maybe, Nah. Hmm." Pinkie's head rolled about, looking around the place. She started inspecting Ambient closer. "Uhhh..." She looked at Amber. "Is it Amber's eyes?"
"Nope! But you're close!"
Many minutes passed as Pinkie stared at Amber, trying not to get too close as to not seem rude. "Is it Amber's skin?" she asked, peering closely.
"Ding ding ding!" Ambient said. "That was fun. Your turn."
"Oo oo, I know! I see with my little eye, something white." Pinkie said, bouncing around the group.
Ambient thought about that. "Uhh... The clouds?"
"My eyes?"
"Nope!"
"Your eyes."
"Guess again!"
"...That flower?"
"Beeh! That's four guesses! I win!" Pinkie exclaimed.
"What was it?" Ambient asked.
"It was your stripes!" Pinkie said. "Oh, and speaking of stripes, did you know..." Pinkie babbled on until
"We're here." Amber said, looking at the tree.
Pinkie shivered. "Yikes, I can't go in that. But I know who can!" Pinkie stepped to the side, revealing... herself? Amber tilted it's head in confusion.
"Hello. I'm Pinkamena." Pinkamena said. "And I'll be your reader reference for the day." she said cheerfully.
"Woah." Ambient said in awe. "The sweet Chaos I could create." she said, examining the two.
Amber reached over to the tree, twisting a knot of wood. It cracked with beams of light. It smiled, and walked through.
And the world opened with beams of sunlight, the scent of peppermint and vinegar in the air. To many, it would smell strange. To the strange, it might smell of home.
"Ooh, poetic!" Pinkamena said.
Did she
No, actually. She's hearing a different thing. Something called The Narrator.
Oh.
Amber looked around the frozen desert. It's eyes turned to The Mountain. It now turned to Ambient Light. "Where do we go?"
"Huh!? How should I know?" Ambient asked in surprise.
Amber thought about that. Midnight was Ambient's friend. However, she likely had a guide during those moments.
"Why not ask the comments?" Pinkamena asked, pointing down. She frowned, seeing the two forth walls didn't line up.
Amber slowly tilted it's head, uncertain of all this information. "We take a break here. Let us know when we should push on." it told Pinkamena.
"Sure! But let's find some cover first. I can't tell if I'm sweating or freezing." Pinkamena said, glancing around. "Narrator! Add a raider or something, I need to stab stuff!"
A scroll appeared, words forming on CRAAAP!
Amber looked around in panic. Where had they gone? It noticed the scroll and sighed in relief, seeing it's voices still remained.
It hugged the scroll tightly. "Do not leave me, my voices."
Amber let out a yawn, short and simply. She frowned, and yawned a second time, this one stretching with a lighter tone. She smacked her lips. "Well then, have we all rested?" she asked, looking at her group of... Would she call them friends? Yes, she thought to herself. Yes she would.
"We didn't really rest." Pinkamena said.
"Well, I feel rested." Amber replied.
You know, I thought- Oh! I see. Our own thoughts on the matters pot up like so.
I suppose that's good. Now anytime you whine about something, they'll know it's not me.
Oh, you really didn't have to call me out like that!
Huh. They may get a tone of color, but they still don't get the tone of voice.
Oh. Well I said that playf
Do NOT clarify. That will get annoying.
Pinkamena stared at the scroll. "Hey, you can hear them too, right?" she asked Amber. Wait, can you hear us? "Yeah." Pinkamena nodded.
Amber opened her scroll, checking the words. "Well, I can't, but it's good to know they still can be heard!" She set the scroll on her back, and started trotting towards the mountain. The others started following along.
"So, where are we going? Pinkamena asked as they trotted through the surprisingly dry sand and mounds of snow.
"To find the bats." Amber said, her eyes fixed on the mountain.
"Oh! That's... That's quite the distance!" Pinkamena said, hopping through the snow. "So how long of a trip will this be?"
"Depending on how broken the day is, a hop and a skip, or a few days travel." Amber said, her eyes fixed on the mountain. She stopped. She... She knew how to travel through the land. She turned back to the others. "Stare at the base of the mountain, and follow me." She turned back and began walking once more.
Ambient giggled as they arrived at the mountain base. "Hey, we got lucky!" she said cheerfully.
Pinkamena glanced around. "Huh. I did not expect that. That's pretty nifty!" She let out a small cheer.
"Come on. Traveling through the woods should be a longer trip, if luck is on our side! Ambient said, rushing ahead around the base of the mountain.
"Why would a longer trip be better?" Pinkamena asked.
"Chaos has a discharge. A slow burn of small things are better than a big wammy." Amber explained. They stopped in front of a massive cave entrance, decorated with skulls and flowers. "Ah. Well." She turned to the others. "I guess we're getting that wammy pretty soon. Heh heh..." She coughed awkwardly.
What do you think the wammy will be?
Why are you interjecting?
Well, I just thought it might be fun.
No. Ambient walked up to the cave. "Hoo boy! We're in for it later!"
"You most certainly are!" Pinkamena jumped as one of the skulls started talking. "You think you can just waltz up like this and not offer tribute?"
"I can offer you pony flesh!" Pinkamena said.
"Oh goody!" The skull opened its jaw, a flower poking out. "Stick your hoof here!" Pinkamena pulled out a chuck of meat from her hair, only for the skull to slam shut. "Goodness gracious. I thought you were gonna let me right your arm off. I'm a little disturbed you have that, you monster."
Pinkamena frowned. "Do we need to talk to these Chumps?" she said, pulling out her knife.
"She's armed! Rattle them, boys!" The skulls launched off, nashing as they fell towards Pinkamena. Amber quickly shoved Pinkamena out of the way.
"Woo! You got this!" Ambient sat down, watching as the two fought off the skulls. Surprisingly, the red filly's white glowing stripes did not make her a target. It didn't take long, as the skulls were weak from nature slowly degrading them.
Amber flicked bone dust off of her. "Alright, lead the way."
Ambient hopped up. "Okay!" She took a step towards the cave and halted. "Actually, its pretty dark, and I can't glow bright enough for us all to see... Oh! I know! Just use your glowy words!"
Amber rubbed her chin. "How do I do that again?" She peered at her scroll. "Can you remind me how I did that exactly?"
And so the scroll read, "She found with each step, her breath curled into the mis-matched world. Her heavy breath forms odd and odder shapes that seemed to echo the stars themselves. Some found life, others still blinked and never woke again ."
Amber frowned. "Thank you, but how does that help if they twinkle out?" Pinkamena opened her mouth to speak. Amber quickly raised a hoof. "No, no. I want to figure this out myself."
Amber sat down, rubbing her chin. "With each step, her breath curled. Forms odd and odder shapes that echo. Some found life, and others blinked." She hummed in thought. "Hm Hm. Hmmm Hm." As she hummed, stiff grey shapes floated up, before fading. "Huh. So if I sing... Oh how much is that doggy in the window."
More grey shapes floated up, for her singing voice was just as flat. Ambient smiled, hearing the familiar flatness from her friend.
Amber's frown deepened. "Hm. My breath needs to find life... A story?" She stood up. "Once there was a pony." A white pony floated up, shining dimly, before popping. "Once upon a time, there lived a foal, with a red hood. She wore her hood so often, she was known for it." A pale pony with a red hood floated up, shining brightly. It started dimming. "One day she was sent out with a basket, and a mission. To deliver a basket of goods to a family member." A basket floated up and joined the pony, who started trotting.
"Ooh!" Ambient and Pinkamena clapped. Very impressive!
Amber opened her mouth and shut it. "I do not know anymore of this tale," she admitted, embarrassed. The story above popped.
"So, so long as you tell a story, you're a lantern?" Ambient asked.
"Pretty much."
CRACK
The two turned to Pinkamena, who had seemed to have broken her spine. That stared in mild surprise as she was now glowing pink. "Glowstick time baby! Let's go!"
Amber nodded. "That will work. I don't really have any stories to tell. I didn't know you could glow."
"Neither did I" Wait then why did you snap your spine if you didn't know this would happen!?
Pinkamena shrugged. "You learn something new every day!" the insane mare said, walking to the opening.
The trio walked into the cave and down a set of rocky steps, Ambient in front, Amber in the middle, and Pinkamena in the back.
"You guys are gonna love Midnight!" Ambient exclaimed as they walked down the steps. "She's really fast and has pretty wings! She's got these really cool teeth..."
Ambient rambled on about her friend as they delved ever deeper. She talked about the games of Gravity Catch they would play, the friends who played Breakball. She seemed to like the schoolbooks they ate, but found Math to be hard to chew. Or in Midnight's case, hard to drink. She remembered one time when Midnight's and Ambient's dads.
When their dads. Ambient stopped in her tracks, simply staring in silence for a moment. She shook her head. "O-oh hey! We're here!" she said, her red tail wagging. And indeed, they had arrived. At the bottom of the steps was a large cavern entrance with a sandy floor, with skulls attached to the top of the opening. Inside this second cave, strange bat pegasi walked on the ceiling, chatting with each other and walking from place to place.
"Wow." Pinkamena said. "This place is blowing my mind."
A bat pegasus foal with bright blue fur and wings looked up in boredom, before noticing the newcomers. Her black eyes flashed. "Ambient!" She suddenly plummeted, landing head first into the sandy floor. She popped her head out, kicking up sand as she ran towards her friend. Ambient had no time to react as she was instantly tackled. "Oh how I missed you!"
"I missed you too!" Ambient said excitedly. "This is my friend Midnight Splash!"
Midnight tugged on her friend's arm. "Common, we gotta get you- Hey waaiit a minute." Midnight stopped, and stared at Ambient suspiciously. "Where's your Dad? Our dads never miss the chance to beat each other up. Did you sneak out?"
Amber's ear is flicking. Amber watched as Ambient's glow seemed to fade to a white stripe of fur. Amber quickly stepped forward. "Don't worry, she's with me." Amber said.
Midnight stared for a few more moments, before nodding. "Well okie dokie! Come on to the stepladder and we'll send you to town!"
"You mean this step ladder?" Pinkamena sai- Where is she? Oh. Over there. Pinkamena had wandered off and found a singular stepladder made out of sticks. She stepped up and plummeted upwards, slamming into the ceiling above. A bat pegasus simply stared at her, before pulling out a small bell.
Ti-i-ling
Multiple bat pegasi in security uniforms arrived and began setting up a trampoline above the step ladder. They dragged Pinkamena away, and set her on a cot. "Ooh, comfy!" Pinkamena said, complimenting the cot.
Are her wings upside down? Amber continued to watch, trotting -Shame. I forgot she can't hear us anymore. I don't suppose the dear readers could make both
If you dare and ask anything of them, I will make sure you regret it.
Duly noted. Amber watched as Ambient hopped off the stepladder, twirling through the air as she fell towards the trampoline, Midnight flying around her in excitement. Her ears twitched as she looked back. "The cave goes deeper." She turned upwards. "Pinkie! Keep an eye on them!" Before Pinkamena could reply, she was already running towards the steps.
"Well okAY!" Pinkamena started convulsing and shaking, sliding off the cot. "O-o-h! I-t-s a Doo-zy!"
Amber arrived back at the step, her eyes flicking as they heard some unknown sound. She went past the stairs and into the dark- She's going into the dark.
The cave formation grew rougher. More natural. Amber stumbled over sharp rocks that lacked any sort of flat bottom sides. She moved blindly, listening for a sound to guide her. That's when I hear it.
Amber arrived to a part of the cave where water dripped from the ceiling. In the center of a large chamber steed a tree.
BleuBlooms
A woven knott of oak bound a pony. Stiff and old. Little escaped the cage but, for a ream of long...long mane...that trailed in curls of vivid rainbow light.
Amber walked up to the bark. She remembered words from last time she encountered this. But last time felt... like a mistake. This one?
"Once Upon a time, there were two sisters. One of day, and one of night. They kept the world in Harmony." A white and black pony floated up. "These sisters could not stand to see their ponies becoming truly free, and so sought out the Elements of Harmony, their Pillars already lost to time." Crystals floated above the ponies head. "And so they sought to lock away chaos. To turn the Lord to stone. But he played a trick on them. A terrible trick." A tall spindly creature of many colors laughed as the two ponies writhed. "He bound them away, with a requirement for their freedom. One would need to be entirely loyal. Unwavering. Believing wholly that chaos was better than order. Only such a person could set them free." The pictures floated down and covered Amber in a pale light.
"I have been on the other side of the tree. I know how wonderful that land can be." Amber said, setting her hooves on the tree. She pushed down on the flanks, where the cutie marks should be. "I set you free." For a moment, nothing happened. "I suppose it's just an old mare's tal-"
Light erupted out of the tree, blasting Amber back. As she blinked the spots out of her eyes, she noticed a shape barreling towards her. She opened her arms wide for a hug, and felt hooves around her neck. Well that's not right.
Celestia slammed into Amber, pinning her to the ground. She let out a scream as she throttled the smaller mare. "DIE!"
SOUL: AMBER JIGSAW. VESSEL [Almost] COMPLETE
A reminder: Things can naturally occur in the story, but ultimately you choose what happens next. Even if it's something like a nuke drops and we must suddenly switch to survival of Ponyland, or continuing on the current adventure but the Wasteland is here.
Amber let out a gurgle as Celestia strangled her. "GLLLLGA!" She beat her hooves against the Alicorn, with fruitless efforts.
"AMBER!" Amber's eyes frantically looked around, spotting Pinkamena and the others rushing towards her. Pinkamena was shaking like crazy. "AMBER! THE SPIKY FISH ARE DEADLY TO EAT!" she shouted.
Amber was confused. Why was her friend talking about fish while she was getting strangled? And why wasn't she trying to help? Amber blinked, and when her eyes opened again, she could feel sand under her back, and the scent of salt.
Celestia suddenly let go, laughing manically. "Sunshine! Yes!" She giggled as she proceeded to roll away from Amber. "Pretty pretty sunshine!"
Amber gasped for air, coughing. She looked back at her friends, seeing only water. More water than she has ever seen before. Had ever seen.
What?
Its not Has. It's Had.
Well it's the present moment for her, and she's never even seen a puddle! Sometimes I think you only listen to what I say, "And nothing beyond that. It's getting on my nerves."
Amber's head shot up. "Friends!"
"Who's there!?" Celestia scanned the area, her horn glowing dangerously. Amber quieted, attempting to make herself as invisible as possible to Celestia. She held her breath, sweating as her heart beat. She wondered how Celestia had yet to hear the thunderous noise. Celestia stomped forward, her hoof crushing Amber's into the sand. Amber gritted her teeth.
Celestia let out a growl, moving to the jungle of the island. Amber waited a minute, before letting out her breath. "*GASP!*" She wanted heavily, slowly raising herself. She looked out at the ocean, and back to the jungle. With no better option, she stood up and followed Celestia's hoof steps.
SOUL: AMBER JIGSAW. VESSEL [Almost] COMPLETE
A far,far shorter chapter this time, but this story isn't made for length. It's made for choices! Chapter 7 was meant to be larger, with the goal of heading back to Equestria. However, anyone can derail any given story line at a moments notice. That's the beauty of this story!
IT light floated on a mountain top, watching as all unfolded. "Well now! So many new ones being made for this story! But alas, I have some unfortunate news." IT danced in the air, twirling about. "This is not a story full of OC's my dear readers. But rather just one, whom you all have complete control over. So as pretty as the changeling or cat may be, these are recommendations." A paw reached out, as though to comfort the readers.
"And whilst recommendations may be fun ideas that I might consider, they do not count as a change. And a change must affect The Pony in someway, from simply humming a tune, to having to figure out how to operate a gun to win at the fair." The light shook slightly in disapproval. "So, please dear readers, keep this in mind. The story cannot continue without changes, after all."
IT's light began to fade as IT twirled through the air. "Until next time!" IT called out cheerfully.
Author's Note
EY EY EY WHOA! Why are people adding this to Finished Stories!? It's only finished if people stop sending comments!
The only one whom you can directly control is The Pony. Do not worry, if I personally like a "recommendation" it may be included in a later chapter. But do not count on such occurring, as it would be up to my personal preference