Scene #1382: After EQD...

Owner	Pose
Twilight Sparkle	After her experiences in Divided Equestria, Twilight headed back to Ponyville. But, discussing such troubling things with her friends just didn't seem wise. So, she went to Mortimer's house, knowing his pokemon would be sympathetic and understanding without the likely horrified faces she would see on her Ponyville friends' faces. She is currently stretched out on her belly on the couch, watching the fire. She has a book on the cushion in front of her, but her thoughts and the hypnotizing effects of flames have distracted her for the moment. What book, you ask? Why, it is 'Theories on Causality' by Starswirl the Bearded.
Mortimer Balman	Way off in the Balman House, the pokemon within are in a tizzy of activity. Reder was busy running a whetstone over what was left of Falstaff's head-scythe, while the great beast laid there and grumbled intermittently. Switchbait was trying to keep the rest of the house nice and clean inbetween bouts of having to comfort Roll- who was worried to the point of frequent whining and occasionally tears- and keeping Alter from attempting to execute Retrieval Program 683-D. So much busywork to be kept up on. Finally, after a long time, Reder hopped up and started meandering toward the door.. Switchbait's tiny hairs bristled. "<And where the bloody hell do you think /you're/ off to?>" Reder shrugged a bit, "<...Gonna go find the Sarge and make sure he doesn't get killed. What else?>" The butlerfree fluttered up into his face, brandishing a wooden cooking spoon threateningly while holding Roll in the air with his mind, "<No, you are not. I need you /here/, Reder, you're the only other person here who isn't half-mad or throwing tantrums and I will NOT be left alone with this mess! Besides, what if one of the youngsters shows up? You think I can handle that workload by myself?>" Reder blankly stared and replied in a flat, snarky voice, "<...Yes, that's your job, it's in your contract.>" Switch paused a moment. "<...Well that may be true but damn it all man, you're ostensibly in charge here, you need to stay!>" Reder, finally relenting, threw his claws up in the air and made an exasperated sound. "<Fine, fine, damn civvies..>" Reder hopped back to the living room grumbling, and up onto Falstaff's head. Falstaff, by this point, would be laying next to Twilight Sparkle with his head resting on her back. He's getting too old for all this, even if he is worried. Reder looks down from the old beast's skull, and tortles down to Twilight. "<Whatcha readin' there, sparklebutt?>"
Twilight Sparkle	The weight of Falstaff's head on her back brings Twilight back from her fire hypnotized state. She turns her head, then smiles softly and gives the big dog a little nuzzle before she giggles softly at Reder's nickname for her. "It is a book called 'Theories on Causality'. After experiencing how wrong things went in the other Equestria, I needed to reassure myself with some science that says a single individual is unlikely to change the course of an entire world's future. But, the book said just what I feared. That a single individual -can- alter an entire world's future. If I do something wrong, or don't respond in a certain way, I -could- somehow lead this Equestria down the very track of the other." She gives Falstaff some petting while she continues. "But, it also says that many things must happen in succession to cause a complete revolution of the status quo. So...I suppose there is some reassurance in that."
Mortimer Balman	Reder nods a bit, "<Well hell, kiddo. I could have told you that.. Any of us could. We're time travelers, remember?>" He'd hop down and perch up on the back of the couch, peering into the book. "<Yeah, that's all pretty much right.. Causality is a bitch like that. And so is time. It's all relativistic causality and determinism. Celebi had us pull that kinda crap all the time to ensure a stable timeline and reduce the instances of unstable timestreams that could cause catastrophic cascade events that could cause ripples or the metaphorical rivers to meet up and hit each other with Dire Consequences.>" He paused for a moment so Falstaff could grunt and lean into the nuzzlings and pettings. "<You okay there old timer?>" "Grumph." A clawed paw would gently pat Twilight's mane. "<You shouldn't worry about that happening here, though. Aside from the obvious Multiversal stuff that would prevent this kinda BS from happening, the Sarge and us are here! We'd never let you kids go off your rockers like that. We'd clank all your heads together till we could hear them rattling.>"
Twilight Sparkle	Twilight Sparkle looks up at Reder as he speaks from his spot on top of the couch, then looks back at her book. "I know, but...it is hard not to worry after seeing just how wrong the other Equestria has gone." She pauses, then lets her head slump down against her forelegs. "And...how similar that Twilight is to me, despite our differences." She lifts her head again as that paw comes to rest on her mane and looks back at Falstaff. "But, I vowed to Sweetie Belle..." Blink. "..er..their Sweetie Belle...that I would not let such a thing happen here. And I will do everything I can to keep that promise. This Equestria will never fall to chaos and maliciousness, whether our Queens stay around forever or leave us one day."
Mortimer Balman	Reder nods. "<Well.. Yeah, she's /you/, sparklebutt. Just.. Older you who's gone through some Hell and made some Real Bad Decisions. What you should consider worrisome would be if she /wasn't/ like you, see- hang on. Hey Switch toss me a smoke will yah?>" A stogie flies through the air like a dart, which Reder handily catches in his teeth. He is not able to catch the zippo which bounces off his skull and knocks him off the couch a second later though. "<AUGH!>" Grumbling, he climbs back up on the couch and lights it. "<Jerk.. Anyway. If she's still like you, Twilit.. There's hope, see?>" Puff puff puff. Ahh, sweet carcinogens. Finding a brief moment, Switchbait flutters up and puts Roll on the couch. The tiny delibird immediately burrows and buries herself under Twilight, wibbling. How she is wibbling with a beak is unknown but she is making it work. She is Not Happy with Mort being as he is right now. "<Twiiiipony when is Uncle Morty coming hommme.>" (;v;) as much a statement as a question. Switchbait speaks, ignoring the whining, "<The lot of us- save Roll of course- will be long in the ground, cold and broken, before we let /that/ happen here, madam Sparkle, this I promise you.>" He sounds oddly aggressive with that statement, but manages to maintain his usual professional politeness. "<Please watch her for a few, would you? I must attend to Alter, he's sparking something fierce.>" And then he fluttered off again. Reder nodded at the butlerfree, "<Yeah, what he said. Don't break yourself over this, okay?>" He'd fuzzle Twilight's mane some and smile. "<That was only a potential reality that got yanked out of the fever dream that is Time and has gotten to take root. Hell, just dating Staren has probably erased that as a potentiality for here.>"
Twilight Sparkle	Twilight lets out a surprised 'eep!' as Roll suddenly burrows her way beneath Twilight. She giggles softly before cuddling the little bird between her forelegs and giving her a nuzzle. "I will not allow the events of a possible future to affect my future decisions, but...to me, it is more worrisome that she is like than it would be if she were not. If she were unlike me, I could easily surmise that she made choices I would not and those choices led to her and her friends' downfalls. But..." Twilight snugs Roll again. "...she is like me, which could mean I have the potential to make those same decisions." She noses at Roll again, then tickles at her belly. "But, that is only a possibility. I do not believe I could ever make the decisions she made. We must be different on some levels." Twi then turns her attention to Roll and smiles. "Morty will return soon, I am sure of it. He is just trying to help take down a very bad pony. He is strong. He will be fine. Especially with that crazy ghost pokemon keeping him company." she says before she leans down, and...applies a noisy raspberry to Roll's belly! "So don't you worry about him, okay? Morty is the toughest person I know. He will be fine."
Mortimer Balman	Reder nods, tapping some ashes off into the ashtray by the couch. "<Don't worry about the events of the possible future- by all means, keep them in mind. Let them serve as a warning, but don't let them /eat/ at you, is the trick. Remember, but don't /obsess/. That's where you'll screw it up.>" Roll squeals a bit when snuggled and wraps her flippers around Twi's foreleg, only to start flailing when raspberry'd. She starts smiling again, flailing around happily and hugging Twilight Sparkle- happy again. So easily taken care of. "<Okay!>" <(^v^)> and then she thinks. "<Uncle Morty always goes off and fights..>" She looks a bit downcast. "<He always comes home but he always gets beat up real bad. He's all scars and old breaks.. Switchy says he needs to stop and just retire and settle down with a nice lady but he never does. He just looks for new fights 'n then he gets all hurt again." Sadbeak. She burrows back under Twilight and stays there, pouting. Reder chuckles some. "<He's a fighter, Roll. We've always been fighters.. If it ain't hell, we ain't happy.>" Birdy-squeak, "<I know but you can just fight each other! You don't break his bones or make holes in things with his face!>" Reder pauses, "<Well.. No, I don't, but still. Anyway sparklebutt's right. Nettle's with him. Though.. I dunno how much help Nettle can be, if what she said's true. That thing was a Dark-type, easily, and whatever it was, scared the sheets out of her. ..But Sarge'll be okay. He always comes home..>"
Twilight Sparkle	Twilight smiles softly to Roll, then gives her another cuddle. "Mortimer is a soldier. If he didn't fight, he wouldn't know what to do. But...we could try getting him to fight less dangerous and mind-crushing foes. Perhaps Staren could make a nice army of attack robots just for Mortimer and you guys to break." she says, then nuzzles between Roll's two ice crystal-like feathers above her eyes. Then, Twilight's ears perk. "Hey, where is Ulbrecht? Is he not allowed inside the house?" To her that wouldn't be unusual. Smart or not, he acts like a hyper puppy, and many pets are outdoor pets.
Mortimer Balman	Reder chuckles. "<Hey that's a good idea. Tell your boyfriend if he wants to waste the money to build'em we'd be happy to see whatever he can spit out so we can break it. That'd be /great/ for us.>" Another fuzzle, and he'd slip down to sit beside the pony and the delibird- who was much calmed down now and cooing softly at Twi's affections. "<Ulbrecht? We hired a few of the local kids to talk him for walks and socialize him with the locals when he's not being trained. He's gotten a lot better about not pouncing people. Which is good because if he keeps growing at his current rate, he's gonna be freakin' /huge/. I think he'll be even bigger than Karian's Ygdril. He can still fit inside though, Sarge planned in advance for this stuff, we can mod the doors if we need to..>" A few moments of quiet, and Reder asks, "<So.. You gonna be okay, Twilight?>'
Twilight Sparkle	Twilight looks down at her book, then up at Reder, then smiles. "Yes. I will be fine. Equestria's future is bright, and so is all of our futures." she says, then she snuggles Roll nice and warmly. "I will talk with Staren. I am sure he would welcome the challenge of making an army of combat training robots that could stand up to you guys." she says. She yawns softly after that, then reaches to pet Falstaff again. "I feel better. And kind of sleepy." she says, rolling slightly to the side so she can lay her head down on the couch while still keeping Roll snuggled.
Mortimer Balman	Reder reached down to gently ruffle Twilight's mane a bit, smiling. "<You do that, kid. You've had a rough time. You can kick back here, long as you please..>" He'd hop off the couch. "<Be quiet so she can snooze a bit, okay Roll?>" The little burd nodded, "<Kay.>" And snuggled up to Twi, cooing and yawning herself. Falstaff simply snored, already well asleep. Reder briefly looked at the old beast before walking into the kitchen.. "Maintenance has been completed, Lord." Alter stared lifelessly down at Switchbait, who was busy closing up one of its hatches. "<Good. Now tend to the gardens and don't concern yourself with the Master, am I understood?>" "Yes, Lord. Gardening routine 721 initiated." It calmly started tromping off to head out to the greenhouse so it could tend to the meat plants. Reder hopped up on the counter, "<You alright, bro?>" "<...No, Reder, I don't believe I am. I cannot help but worry when Master Balman gets into one of his 'moods' as t'were. I can safely say I'd rather he be here.. Hell, man, I'd even tolerate him in one of his more lust-addled states of mind, chasing mare or some such, than be out hunting a dark godling. Every time he goes on the March, he comes back home either empty-handed and frustrated, or on death's doorstep.. He's past his prime, and so are the rest of us. We're not going to be able to keep that sort of thing up forever, you know.>" Reder puffed on his stogie for a minute, "<Yeah.. Prolly. Look at the bright side, though, Arthur. We got family to help us out with that, now." Switchbait flutters up to stare out the window, cleaning his little paws on an apron. "<Mmm.. Yes, there is that. I suppose we shall simply have to wait..>" The two quietly watched the sun start going down. Worried, but nonetheless confident that things would eventually turn out alright.
Mortimer Balman	And somewhere, out in the Divided Equestria... Mortimer stands along the river that runs through what used to be Ponyville. Face hard as stone, eyes staring blankly at the water while he waits. He's been standing there for almost fifteen hours, without rest or pause. The scroll that Twilight made to transmogrify him has long since worn off, he's back to his usual form. A while latter, Nettle appears. She is quick, and quiet, in reporting that she has thus far found no trace of the Laughing Mare's presence. Only the remnants of painful memories and bad dreams. She disappears to continue her search shortly thereafter. Mortimer's eyes briefly narrow as he lifts them up to meet the setting sun. "..I know you're out there, Laughing Mare." His voice is still an eerily emotionless monotone. So very uncharacteristic of his usual self. "I know you're watching us from the pit you're hiding in; that you're not so far banished as the Magister would like. Either you will return or I will find you. And then we will have Words. And there will be Answers." He finally moves, and starts walking toward where the Sugarcube Corner used to be. "And then we will fix this broken mess. ..One way, or another."