5 Hearts [visual]/[action]

[verygassy]

[Hey guys, its Minako!...And she looks like crud. Better than Kyouko, but that's not saying much.

She looks drained, almost defeated, as she speaks.]

As Kyouko said, Jappleack's been taken by the Pale Pony. There's...more to it than that, but if you need to know, I'll be at the library.

That's all.

[And in the library she'll be, stuffing her face with food. She's not eaten for weeks, even though for her, it had only been a night at the most inside that horrible place.

She's staring at one panel of shelves in particular, pulling a particular book in and out, while looking at another book at her side: the purple book with gold border that they'd brought from Stalliongrad.

Hmm.]

Comments

[ponycure_dream]

[First Kyouko now Minako?! Oi, this week!

And, entering the library is Nozomi, re: one of those on the files.]

Minako? You in here?

[verygassy]

[Oh, dear. Nozomi.

Minako looks up and tries to give a smile.]

Hey there.

[ponycure_dream]

[And in return, she gives her a sympathetic smile.]

Are you doing okay?

[verygassy]

Admittedly? I've been better.

[She scratches her hear.]

It...wasn't the best thing that happened, as you've probably guessed from Kyouko. Has she come to see you, by the way?

[ponycure_dream]

I came to her. She didn't want to move.

[She sighs and shakes her head.]

It's hard, isn't it? Being that helpless...

[verygassy]

...It was bad.

[She looks down.]

On her turf, the Pale Pony is incredibly strong. Her eyes don't get into houses, but going outside without protection is...not a good idea.

[ponycure_dream]

So, it's just as bad there as it was here...

[She grunts in annoyance.]

Just who is she?! What does she want from us?!

[discorderly]

[Discord is suddenly leaning over her shoulder, watching her pull that book.]

Looking for something?

[verygassy]

Hi.

[Great.]

I've found what I'm looking for. That's not the problem.

[discorderly]

[He puts on a pair of glasses and gets out a notepad.]

And what IS the problem? Perhaps what you were looking for is not what you truly wanted?

[verygassy]

I'm finding things just fine, thank you!

[discorderly]

Are you feeling unfulfilled? Looking for excitement?

[tsunpony]

Here.

[A box is levitated to Minako, one in a decorative pink design as Ako stood there behind her.]

You look famished, and I figured you'd probably need this anyhow. They're as close to Lucky Spoon cupcakes as far as I can make them. I'll get one to Kyouko later.

[verygassy]

Woah!

[They may as well be mana to Minako, because within seconds all the food in the box is gone.]

Fang yu!

[tsunpony]

You eat as fast as Hibiki does. You two must be related.

[All deadpan joking aside, Ako was glad she was still eating. Not eating was a sign of massive trauma, or just being sick to the stomach.]

So, what happened?

[verygassy]

[Well, that and she hadn't eaten in days.]

What didn't happen? We ended up within the Pale Pony, and we found a secret room in the Library.

[tsunpony]

Secret room in the library huh? I'm going to go on a limb and it's a replica of Ppnyville and everything beyond it? Or like people said, an absorbed one?

PAGING...WELL, MYSELF?

[verygassy]

That's the thing. Its not an exact duplicate. Calice is from the future, right? Or rather, a future?

[To prove her point, she goes to the bookshelf where the secret passage had been. To the approximate books where the door opener had been. She started to pull them out.]

[poolicide]

She...what...?

[Cameron's mortified...well, more than mortified.]

[magicalrealist]

(Twilight's been worried about Minako ever since she told the unicorn about her mission. She knew she could protect herself if necessary, but the Pale Pony is uncharted territory. There's no telling what could happen.

That's why the unicorn wastes no time in rushing over to the library, levitating a box of cupcakes with her. After yesterday's revelations, they seriously need to talk.)

How're you holding up?

[verygassy]

Hey, Twilight. Thanks.

[She takes the cupcakes because damn if she isn't hungry.]

...Eh, been better, but falling apart isn't exactly an option.

[magicalrealist]

It's usually not an option.

(Especially with others looking to you for help and leadership.)

I heard it was rough, but you seem to be taking it well.

[verygassy]

It sucked.

[Yeah, being a leader sucked sometimes, too.]

Its because I'm sure that Jappleack and Kreutzer will come back. If they're both part of whatever the Pale Pony's after - if those files meant anything - she'd want to study them more, right? So she has to bring them back.

Plus, I found a clue while we were there.

[magicalrealist]

(Twilight nodded. It made sense. They had answers that she wanted and would have to keep them alive until she got those answers. After that...there's no telling what she does with them after that.)

You mean something besides the flash drive? What did you find?

[verygassy]

That's right.

[She holds up the book.]

You remember the books we found in Stalliongrad, right? The purple one was the switch to open the secret room up.