There's not much you can do without a weapon, so you wait.

The princess sighs, "I suppose I can be patient." She settles down and waits with you. "Are you afraid?"

"If I don't do anything, then nothing bad can happen."

"Indeed!" The voice of the clumsy concurs.

"I had a friend like that, once, I think."

"Tell me about her."

"Her name was... Fluttershy, I think. She embodied the 'shy' part of the name. Locked herself indoors. Kept herself safe."

"Sounds good. Never meeting people, never doing anything."

"That doesn't sound right... she had friends. She had adventures."

"That can't be right. She wouldn't be safe on adventures. She wouldn't have friends if she was shy!"

"Maybe you're right...." the princess closes her eyes and her head lolls back. "Chatting with you... clears things up."

A long time passes. You don't need to sleep or eat or defecate. You're in a floating dream and are surrounded by fog and intoxicating music. It seems like this could go on forever.

"You don't have much time..." the narrator says.

"Do I?"

"If we don't move, nothing bad will happen," the voice of the clumsy says, reiterating it like a mantra.

"Yes," you yawn.

"You don't need to sleep!" the narrator insists.

"Funny thing. In dreams, we don't need to sleep."

"This isn't a dream!"

"Life could be a dream..." you postulate.

The princess nuzzles you and cozies up. "And we are all actors on a stage?"

"Please," the narrator says. "Time is running out."

"Maybe for you..." you say.

Despite the passage of an indeterminably long time, you hear nothing more from the narrator.

The voice of the clumsy and the princess keep you company.

"I'm not sure I really need to leave," the princess says, leaning her head against your shoulder.

"Agreed. We don't," you say, patting her mane.

And the story doesn't quite ever end.

Author's Note

You have reached "an" ending.

Ending Type D: Stasis
Ending Variation: "The Slug"

Play again from the beginning to reach another ending type and to unravel more of the mystery of what is happening.

Some key questions:
1. Why is the princess developing the way she is developing?
2. Why can't the princess leave the cabin... except when she can?
3. Why seemingly can't you stay dead?
4. What does the narrator really want? (Ending Ds give some insight into the narrator and its goals.)
5. Is there one or multiple universes?

Ending Types:
A. Slay the Princess
B. Free the Princess
C. Failure
D. Stasis