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

[tsunpony]

Hmm I see. So if it's from a future, the setting may very well not be accurate to this timeline. And if that's true, then history can be changed quite severely without a Singular Point in this world.

Provided there isn't a person like that who exists as one. And which also means we have a chance of changing the timeline drastically if we need to.

[verygassy]

Its likely, though there's a lot of similarities in this world to the Pale Pony's.

[At this, she holds up the purple book.]

This was the book that was in the bookshelf that opened the passage to the secret room. But even if the Pale Pony is from this world's future specifically, that means that the passage probably hasn't been built yet.

[tsunpony]

Which means we still have time, going by that theory. We should look into ensuring it doesn't need to be built then by stopping the Pale Pony's ambitions when we have a good sense of what it can and cannot do.

[verygassy]

I guess the next question is, if that's the case, why Twilight's place?

[The possible answers...well, she won't touch on them yet. There is still very little they knew, in comparison to what they should know.]

Why put such an advanced database in the Library? And the book...did the Pale Pony know about Alicantor?

[tsunpony]

It's possible there's a connection. Wasn't there a note somewhere that the Pale Pony attacked the Elements? If so, then it probably felt drawn to that place.

And if anything, the Library is sort of Ponyville's symbol of knowledge.

[verygassy]

But if I were a Pale Pony, I wouldn't put that in a place where anypony could find it, right? So...why the Library in Ponyville?

[tsunpony]

Symbolism probably. Sometimes, enemies pick out something familiar about the place where it all began. Perhaps the Pale Pony has some kind of symbolism or important meaning for Twilight's Library. If so, that might be a connecting clue to it's full intentions other than "assimilate everything".

[verygassy]

[She takes a breath. She doesn't like the possibility of this theory, but she does have to point it out.]

Or...maybe its a clue to her true identity.

[tsunpony]

Mmm that too.

Make no mistake, I am not ruling out the possibility, however remotely, that the Pale Pony is someone very close to Twilight, or a Twilight. One that fell into some kind of state and is struggling to remember herself.

My own father fell to darkness when he tried to save our kingdom, so I know the pain of fighting someone who could potentially be your friend or family. So I'm not ruling it out. Also, Mayfieldian Cruelty Levels keep reminding me of just how horrible a possibility is, like when the milk may have been made from human souls.

[verygassy]

I don't like the possibility, but it can't be ruled out.

[She pauses.]

The AI of the computer...it had Twilight's voice.

[tsunpony]

Then she had a hand in it somehow. You can't rule that out. Inadvertently, or with meaning, all will become clear soon I'll bet.

For now, I think we need to focus on the now than the future, so that we can best prepare for later.

[verygassy]

Well of course, but we need to also save the future too!

[Because the future is in the lady's...she doesn't know, small intestine?]

[tsunpony]

Of course, but one step at a time. We can't rush into anything.