It's the Little Things

>You shouldn't be alive
>At least, not as you are now
>You've been consumed by an unfeeling alien monstrosity, but somehow have come out the other side with nothing but some newfound superpowers and an extraterrestrial abomination begging you to keep it all secret!
>You, a small green filly with the mind of an adult man, have somehow overcome a parasite that gives Halo's flood a run for their money!
"Alright, you want me to keep this between us? Then what can you do for me?"
>The shambling mound before you sprouts an eye from beneath one of the snowdrifts around you and a thousand voices echo as one in your mind
[o]>W̷̩̓̍h̷͍̭͑͐a̷̼̾͑t̸͇͖͒̈́ ̶̭̲̎ċ̸̨̖́ą̴̠͋n̸̟͕̒͠ ̷̺̥͌̚ŵ̷̘̏e̵̯̹͂ ̵̞̲̍d̸̰͐̈́o̶̘͋ ̷̧̪̍f̶̮̊ỏ̵̥̿r̵̨̹̽ ̷͓̙̏͆y̶̰̳͐ȏ̶͔u̴͠ͅͅ?̷̝̔͘ ̵̳̻͂Ẁ̵͎̗ė̸̡̻̏ ̷̛̝̲́ḫ̶̞̏͊a̶͈̱̍v̸̱̈́̐ͅe̷̮͕̒͝ ̶̘͙̂a̵̮̓ḷ̶̛̀r̵̬̪̆e̴͓̺͛̃a̶͎͠d̵̢̀̀ỳ̶̜ ̷̛̪̉g̶̼̽͜į̴̈͝v̶̟̾̅è̷̡̫n̶̜̺͘͠ ̷͍͆͜y̷̝̔̉ô̷̪ū̶̥̕ ̷̨̝̓̕e̶̯̊̕t̵̢̗̓̿e̷̒̎ͅr̷͇͒͘ñ̷̼a̸͈̗͛̍l̵̯̫̓ ̶̧̬̅̈́ļ̵̛ï̴̳f̵̣́e̶̛̖ ̸̥̈͂a̸̗͂n̷̛̬͕͌d̷̪̍ ̶̹̇ą̸̗̒n̵̲̩͒ ̸͈̯͛è̷̱x̸̼̐ỉ̸̪̜s̶͎̥̊t̴̖͆è̶̬̫̅ǹ̸͍̕c̶̰͆e̵̛͓̺ ̵̨̡̈́ḇ̷̛̋e̸͇͔͠ÿ̴̩́̆ò̴̙͍n̸͔̱̒d̴̬̏ ̴͈̾̀y̶͇͕̽o̴͔̭̔͗u̷̠̦͐r̷̭̾ ̶͍́͛f̴͇͙̈̈́ő̸̬r̷͖̪̅m̷͖̟̎e̵̲̩͆̓ȑ̵̜̹ ̴͓͆͆ṃ̶͒͘o̷̞̊n̷͙̍o̷͔̟̕͝t̷̫̅̓ǒ̴̯͙ņ̶̨̉̿y̵̗̓!̷̝̀̕ ̷̠͕̒W̵̦͝ͅh̴͇͝ȃ̶̗͇t̵̞̽ͅ ̶̙͂͠m̵̺̝̋ơ̶ͅr̸̛̟͘é̴̻̇ ̶̛̖̖͝c̵̻͓̑ö̴̖͕́̆u̴̡͛l̸̆͠ͅd̶̩̱͝ ̴̤̘̄y̸̡̌̔ǫ̶̈́̔u̵͎͕̍͝ ̴̥̞͐̊a̴̦̰͐s̴̗͎͝k̸̞̗̃̃ ̷̮̃̚f̶̳͚͂o̸̾̈́ͅr̷̫̯̕͝?̷̢̙̊͝[/o]
>What more [i]could[/i] you ask for?
>You can already use your newfound powers to remake yourself into your old form, you can shapeshift at will, you can disassemble yourself into pieces and put yourself back together even!
>But there's still been that one thing that you've wanted ever since coming to Equestria in this form, something that would complete your second childhood
>Sure, Twilight's been cool, but she's always treated you more like an adult than anything else
>The fact that you're alone outside, arguing with an alien parasite in an antarctic tundra a few hundred meters from a research outpost is plenty proof to that...
"You know what, I'd really like it if you could at least pretend to be a motherly figure for me; it's been something my 'former monotony' has been lacking."
>You hold your head high as you stare directly into one of the eye stalks, the creature eventually capitulating through (what you think is) a sigh
[o]>F̷̹̉í̸̱n̴̹̥͐͐ĕ̸̱̖,̷̮͈̐̇ ̶̪͌̀͜w̷̧̱͆e̸͔̍̊ ̶͙̺̐͝s̸̬̒̐ĥ̸̲͍a̵̙̾l̸̲̽l̸͉̎ ̷̲̈́p̵̝̀ḽ̵̿͘a̶̡̎̈́y̶̼͠ ̸̹̀̈́t̶͚͐̓ĥ̴̡̼ȋ̸̦̯̎s̶̉̿ͅ ̴̤́̚͜ŗ̵̠̑o̶̖͈̎l̵̥̓̕͜e̸̳̳͗̓ ̵̳̊i̶̗͐͠f̴͇͝ ̴̧͌y̴̥̟͛o̶̮͌u̸̩̿͊ ̷͎̬̈́t̵̖̲̓̚ẹ̶̮́̚l̷̹͋l̷͓̃̈ͅ ̷̨͇̌u̵͇͆s̴̝̭̏ ̵̡͗w̴̧̟̎͆h̴̭̦́a̵̡͈͆t̸̜͆͝ ̵̪̀͜ẁ̴̺e̷̢̡͒ ̸̨̯̒͠s̴͕͖̃͆h̵̢̎ò̴͍͈̾u̷̟͈̎l̶̞̒̽d̴͖̉͑ ̵͎̣́̑d̵̦̋͜ǫ̶͚̊̆.̸̲̓ ̷̦́̽I̸̡̺͊̈́ṋ̵͝ ̸͈̓̀ĕ̷̘͍x̴̙̑̕͜c̷̿͂ͅḩ̵̟̾̽â̵̮͛n̴̰̑g̵̯̥̀́e̴̮̓͜ ̸̦͙͋͊f̵̼̤̈́̒o̷̱͇̽r̶̬̿́ ̵̼̉t̵̜̦̆͝h̶̨͌̂͜i̵̞͒̕ś̵͓̆ͅ,̸̪́̍͜ ̷͕̜͗̈n̶̦̻̔ơ̴̫̕t̵͈̅̈́ ̶̺͑͘ͅo̴̯͍͆͛n̶͔͒̒ľ̵̩ỹ̸̡̨ ̵̧̹̓̔m̸͎̽̄ụ̵͂s̸̫͉̃̀t̸̳̜̄ ̵͇̜͘y̸̗͐̏ǫ̶̪̌͠ű̶̡̈́ ̸̪̫̇l̵̨̞̀ë̶̪̮̿a̸̧̦͆̍r̸̢̗̔n̴͉͐̒ ̴͍̏t̴͔͑ḫ̵̐̓ě̷̱͖ ̸͔̘́͘f̵͔̅ũ̸͕̕l̶̛͈ḽ̴͆̒ ̸̛̟́e̵̘͇̾x̴̦͗͐t̵̜̅ë̷̩̯́́n̵̪͒t̷̡̻͆̅ ̷̬͑o̴̱̓͗f̸̨͈̍ ̷͔̉̀o̶͚̐ŭ̷͉r̶̨͙͊ ̶̈́͜ṡ̶͎h̵̻͚̄̄a̵͉͋͜͝r̵̭̍̾e̸̘̥͆d̸̯͍͆̆ ̸̩͝p̴͉͆͜o̸͖̔̃w̸̪̦͗e̴͈͗̓r̷̮͛,̴̱̼͑̑ ̷̩͇̊̀b̷͔̫̊u̸̱͑̄t̷͔̊͠ ̶̡͇̀͒y̴͕̯̓̉ȏ̶͖ū̵͜͝ ̸͔̟͛̓m̴͈͗͘u̵̬͝s̵̗͑t̵̮͚͘ ̷̥̫͆̌ü̶̞s̶̭̭͌ĕ̸̫͘ ̸͈̮̽͛i̴̡̩̐t̶͓́̏ ̶̬̓́t̵̜͖̄o̶͕͉͂ ̶̘̜̇̀h̵̗͛ę̷̄l̵͇̫̈́p̶͖͗͗ ̷̘̣̕u̸̗̠̅s̶̨̩̈́ ̷̝͖̈́͠c̷̲̒͂ő̸̯͛n̸̼̈š̷͙ủ̸͉̀͜m̶͔͋͜e̸̘̝͑̈́ ̸̞́̓ḿ̷̪͉̈́o̴͕͇͛̌r̵͍̄ę̴͊͝ ̷͈́͊l̴̛͍̗̐ȋ̵̪v̸̢̏̓ę̶̎s̸̨̘̅̑.̴͈̼͒͝[/o]
"I'll accept that deal if I'm allowed to work at my own pace and those that I consume are also allowed to retain their individuality."
[o]>Y̶̜̆ͅọ̸̔ű̷͇ ̴͔͔͠w̴̻͆e̶̫̔̕r̶͙̖͘e̵͎̲̓͝ ̸̢͎̈́b̷̺̿o̸̾̉͜ŕ̶͈́ń̶̟̟͘ ̴̞̋͝ͅô̶̧͙f̴̢̀ ̸͔̺͐i̸͙͒̃n̴̥͐͝c̷̯͓̿ȏ̶͇͠m̷̲̤̐p̶͔̣̐̽l̶̩͓͒̔e̸͚̒̈́t̷̼̎̎e̷̝̅ ̶̢̆a̸͈͘s̴͎̑̕s̸̲͌i̵̲̅m̶̞̣͆ḯ̴͎͜l̸̖̀á̴͇t̶̡̂ḯ̸̛͕o̸͎̾n̸̡̄̀,̵̲̋̄ ̵͓͝w̷̭͑̐h̷͚͑ḯ̷͎̤̅ḻ̸̿̀e̷̝͕̐̕ ̴̹̎w̵̨͐͝ȇ̸̞ ̸̳̋͘a̷̯̪̕r̶͎̎̚ͅè̵̼͌ ̵͛ͅc̸̱̰̀͒o̶̩͉̚m̸̙̄͜p̶͙̦̌͠l̶̲͇̋ẹ̸́ẗ̸͙́e̵̝̿.̵̗̾͑ ̷̨̀͒Y̶̙͌́o̷̢̧̐͘ủ̷̧̿ ̸̤́w̴̞̅o̸̓̕ͅu̷̻̓̚l̸̪̣̀͘d̸̡͈͆ ̶̟͋b̷̠̌͜͠ẽ̸̩͔̍ ̸͖̬͑ĺ̴͍ë̴͜a̶̠̿v̵̮̍͘ì̶͈̂n̷̼͊̊g̸̲̩͆ ̸̩̪͂̿t̶̹̤̾̄ȟ̶̡̩̊ẻ̵͕̇m̷̭͇͋ ̵̛̦̺i̴̬̍n̵̖̈́̏c̴̤̭͌o̴̭̊̂m̴̮̳͐p̶̝̄l̴̯̈́͊e̵̦̪̓̕ṱ̶̢̀́e̸̪̋̀,̷͉͙̏͝ ̵͙̔a̴͙̲͐̂s̶͎͂͗ ̴͎̂ẃ̵̜e̸̘̙͂̔ ̶̩̑h̶̡̻̓ä̸̘́̋v̶̻̿̏ė̸͉̙̍ ̵̮̆̑l̴̺̈́͝ͅě̴̞f̷̧̢̐̒t̶̘͒ ̴̠̱̌͘ý̶̻̗̈ŏ̶̗͝u̵̙͗͜.̵̡͕͌ ̶̢̛̣̉T̸͍̐ẖ̴̒͗ē̵̹̄ý̵̱̻ ̴̬͈̀͘w̷̟̍ḭ̶̻̚l̸̟̤̓̈́l̷̡̾ ̷̤̀̑l̶͔̊ͅi̸̢͔̿͆k̵̢̘͂e̷̙͛l̴̹̚y̸̗̏ ̴̙͇̈s̵͚̀u̶͇͖̐͂f̷͓͘f̷͚͝e̵͖̯͛͐ṛ̷̢́̚ ̴͖̱͂͒ă̶̺s̶͖̞̓̇ ̵͙̮̐͑ẗ̴̹́̕h̵̖͗è̶͓y̶̬͊̕ ̶̬͑͂h̶̡̤̕ạ̴̈́̈́v̷̤̬̈́e̸͚͊ ̸̭͛̋t̵̤́̿ḩ̷̮̏̚r̷̤̆̐ö̵̟ȗ̷̳̾g̵̖͆̂ḫ̵͌ ̴̣̠̐̊t̵̠́ͅh̶̖͕͂ë̴̼́͘i̵̖̜͌r̷̤̎ ̷̝̓̚p̸̹͕͊ä̷͔͔́s̷̼̫̒̌t̵̲͐̍ ̶̧̲́l̴͍̂i̵̧̞͋͑v̷͛̒ͅȅ̷̟s̷̪̈̇ ̸̥̓i̷̤̽̀f̴̠̪̈́͠ ̸̟̙͒á̴̯̲ĺ̶̩̟l̷̛͚̻͐o̷̜͌ẃ̸̰͝ẽ̴̘͇̅d̶͓̀̑ ̸̩̘̍͐t̶̡͛̅o̶̝͙̒ ̵̥͈̓é̵̤̥x̴̭͐į̵̞̀s̴͝ͅt̸̩͕̉͋ ̵̈á̴͉̄š̷̼̈́ ̷̳͖͊̀y̶̮̝̍̃ȯ̴̙̲͝u̴̠̇ ̴̭̬̊ḏ̴̉̾ơ̶͕̗͝.̸̝̑[/o]
"I wouldn't call this suffering, having a bunch of superpowers is far from the worst thing to happen to me so far."
[o]>Y̵̻̰͋o̶̪̙̊̓ṷ̷̲̎̀ ̶͉̺͘p̶̳̞̈́̀ơ̸͕̂ȯ̶͍̦r̷̨̾͝ ̸̫͎̌d̴̻̅̕ė̸͙͆l̴̲̈̒ṳ̷̈́d̴̨̜̄ĕ̴̥̉d̴̘̞̈́ ̴͉͑͒ͅc̸̫̓ŕ̸͘ͅȇ̸̲͑ạ̴̝̍͆t̸̖͘u̴̳͈̔͊r̵̬̝̅ḛ̷̓̃.̵̘͑ ̸̮̀̍W̸̻͛̈́e̴̲̮̔͂ ̵̯̋s̷̗̙̈́̚h̷̰͘a̷̧͒͂ĺ̶̬̆ļ̸̛͎ ̸̜͓̂̚ŝ̶̯h̴͓̯̊͝o̷̭̺̾͆ẉ̵̈̈́ ̶͓͜͝͝y̸̲͒͝ǫ̴̆ů̶̜̘̏ ̸̻̖̀̀t̷̗̭͋͆ḥ̸͠ḛ̶̝͊͂ ̵̩̱̃͝b̸̻̓̕ě̶̤̞á̶̢̨̄u̷̥͊t̴̩̬̾y̸̛͙̽ ̴̮̚͠o̴̩̾f̶̤̯͊ ̴̽ͅo̷̬͝͠ù̵̜͈r̶̥̓͝ ̴̖̯̅̎c̷̺̘͒ơ̶̩m̴̟̈́̐b̷̙̐͋i̶͖̱͒̋ń̸̪͠e̶͚͍̓d̸̡̩̅͘ ̷̫͔̋̚p̵̜̈́e̶̡̗͝r̵̲̦̾̉f̴̤͌̆ė̷̡c̴̺̬̅̐t̶̳̜͑i̸̭̰͛̀ȍ̸̺͘ń̴̘̝̎ ̴͙̞̅a̶̗͕̓̅s̷̱̃̕͜ ̵̧̦̄̇ẘ̶͕̤̈́ě̷̺̳̎ ̷̩̐ͅt̵̡̠̋̋ě̷̝̀ǎ̷̩͛͜c̶̽͊ͅh̸̻̏̌ ̸̥͌͠y̴̰͋͜ò̷͓̹ṷ̸̄ ̴̦̈́ȁ̶̰̾b̴̭̥̄o̷̪̒ǘ̴̦̂t̶̫̽͌ ̸̻͂ṯ̴̈͛ͅh̵̯̮͆ë̸̜̟ ̴͕͗̀a̸̦͂b̴̥̩͌i̴͉̟̿͠l̸̞̺̐͋i̴̖̿t̷̨͗̿ī̶̬̟e̵̻͚̽ś̶̟̈́ ̷̪̈́͘y̸̤̐́ͅo̴̡̫̾͠ǘ̴͉͑ ̴̦̘̀͠n̶͔̰̆ŏ̵̝͊w̶̗̆̉ ̵̯̜͂͠h̴̖͗ą̴̌̊v̶̺̅̊e̷̞͝,̷̧̣̌͂ ̸͍̱͂͝y̸̼͚̿͋ö̶͖̜́͐u̴̻͛ ̷̥̊̓n̷̗͌ẽ̶͓̂͜e̷̺͗͗ḓ̸̏ ̴͚̒n̸̰̄o̸̯͠t̷̬͐̐ ̵̨͠f̸̛̼͇r̷̪͒̑e̵̩̅t̵̰͗̋.̷̳͆[/o]
"Yeah, yeah, that's cool and all, but if we're going to sneak you past Twilight, you're going to need you to look like a pony and talk like one too, so no more blob monster or talking to me through my mind until I can respond that way."
>The flesh mass before you begins to contract and contort with several sickening snaps and crunches before arriving at the unassuming form of a light brown unicorn mare
[o]>"H̸͙̿o̷̝͗̈́ẃ̴̺'̶͍̯̈s̵̛̩̒ ̴̘̑̓t̶̢̑͝h̶̠̏ḯ̵̺̈ͅs̸̜͂͐?̴̱͉̅"[/o]
"You look fine, but you're going to need to stick to one voice too."
[o]>"Better?"[/o]
>The overtly feminine tone rings out over the subzero winds in a pleasant manner, managing to conceal its eldritch origins with surprising grace
"Perfect, now let's think of a cover story for you..."
>The "mare" joins you in thought for a moment before you finish thinking first
"Okay, you're from a research ship off the coast who ended up teleporting here after your boat sank due to hull failure and I found you while you're out here. Now, what's your name?"
>The "mare" resumes her thoughts once again before coming to a conclusion
[o]>"Astra Biologis."[/o]
"That'll work, you should be able to fly under the radar until we all get back to the mainland and by then things should be already going as planned. Now put on my jacket, that'll make things more believable."
>You pull off your jacket as your companion stretches out a tentacle to grab it
"And no tentacles or body-horror either, but that should go without saying."
>Astra nods as it drapes the jacket around its shoulders before retracting the tentacle back into its chest cavity
>With everything taken care of for the time being, you begin leading your companion back towards the facility
[o]>N̷̪͗͜o̶̮̗̒w̷̼͌ͅ,̷̲̝̊ ̶̣̟̇ẅ̶̮̲́e̵̦͆͘ ̶͙͗́s̶̲̿t̷͖̣̒ĩ̴̜̈́l̴͔̈́l̶̰̤̎ ̴̯̾n̶̬̠̓͝ẻ̸̹ḛ̶̥͂d̴̡̬͛̚ ̵̧̣͒t̷̥̋̿o̴̦͠ ̷̘̅a̴͖̮̋s̴͕̃k̸͒ͅ:̶͇͝ ̶̦̱̚w̸̲̄̚h̷͚̏a̵̲̬͑t̴͕̟̾̂ ̵̼̓ẹ̶̾x̷̭̒̒a̷̻͇͠c̸͖̿͊t̷̘̠͆̂l̶͍͆̂y̴̨͇͛ ̴̮͗̈́d̶̟̽o̴̲̕͠ ̷̠̓̽m̸̤͒͜õ̸͎t̷͍̙̅̅h̷̰̱̊é̵̲ṟ̶͌s̵̺̘̍̉ ̶̺̩͊̅d̶͍͚͋o̸̘͌̅?̶͓̑ͅ[/o]
"Why are you still talking to me in my head?"
[o]>I̴̹͋̂͜t̷͎͉̑ ̵͈̒w̷̭̽̈́͜i̸̠̣͝ļ̵̄l̵̖̫̆ ̷̳̗͑a̴̩̽͌r̸̢̳̚ǒ̶͉̚u̴̪͐s̴̪̗̓̒e̸̼͗̚ ̸̥̉l̸͖̣̅͝ē̷̬̻̚s̸͉͙͑̐s̵̡̿ ̸̟̅̋s̶̡̲͆ú̷͔̕s̵͍͕̆p̶̧̳̀i̶̝͔͂ć̶͓́i̷̱̚͜ǒ̸͙͑n̶͚̙͆̕ ̴̢̤̏̓t̴͙̏̓h̵͖̫̽̕a̵͍̦͊̈́ņ̶̢̐̈́ ̸̣̖̏ţ̵̈a̴̰̲͆l̸̙̆̉k̴͕̦͋̕i̴̢͍͊n̴̥͗ģ̶͉́͐ ̶̩͗̍o̶̟̓̋p̷̗͑́e̷̛͙͕n̷͔͝ͅl̸̥̈́̽ÿ̴̙́͐ ̶̢͕̍̽i̵̢͖̓n̷̦̎ ̵̣̒̊c̴̜̔a̶͉̖̔s̴̩͊̂ë̶̤́ ̷̽ͅo̷̥͠ͅf̴̝͘̚ͅ ̵̝͈̊o̵̱͉͆͂b̵̛̮̦͆s̷̍̈͜e̷̬͑̎r̴̯̾͌v̸̰̼̇̊a̴͚̘̔ṫ̶̻͂ȉ̷̛͇͉õ̵̘͘n̶̫̫̾̆.̷͓̘͋ ̸͕͇̃͆Ñ̷̒͜o̸͔̿w̴̹̅̉,̶̣͛͝ ̸̢̭͂̒ẙ̶͎̍ö̸̮́̊ŭ̸̦ ̷͇͛ŝ̵̛̫͖ḩ̴̡̑ȍ̷̝͊u̶̫̤͂̎l̵̼͑d̴̩̎ ̵̩͔̒̄b̵̘͊e̵̯͂̀ ̴͈̈́a̶̢͖̐b̷͇͛̀l̶͇̘̓̍e̵͚͕̋ ̵̢͋t̴̗̍o̸̯̅̊ ̸̡̚s̵͕͗̍ͅp̴̩̉̐e̵͉͐̅ͅã̵̞k̵̯̼͊̒ ̴̲̦̃͝t̴̟͛õ̴̹̽ ̶̢̈́̆u̶̙͚͝s̴̟̬̀̾ ̴͍̾l̷̨̺͒̋í̷͍͝k̸͍̓̈́e̴͓̔ ̵͜͠t̵̝̦̓͝ḧ̵̰̺̂i̷͓͌s̴̞̓ ̷̥̪̊i̵̳̍̔f̸̠̀ ̴̗̉y̶̯̆̚o̴̠͋͒ü̸̱ ̴̗͆c̸̯̋͗o̴̢̿̿n̷̟̜̾c̶̹͇̃̾ȅ̸͍̲n̴̞̱̕t̷̝̣͂͋r̵̳̆͐a̴̪̳̒t̴̢̠͠e̸͍̔͠ ̶̣̌y̶̨̪̚ơ̶̖̹u̸͇̿̚r̵̢̯͆ ̸̡̈́̓ṫ̵̗̕h̴͚̲̓o̵̭͋̈u̶̦͝ͅg̷̗̼̎h̶͍͖̆͊ť̷̺͎s̴͇͒̃ ̴̺͌̚ả̵͙͈n̸̹̾d̴͇͝ ̸̗̔d̴̢̻̈i̴͎̬̽̓r̸͉̉͒è̶͕̣͆ċ̵̲̠t̴̼̄͝ ̴̪̩͠t̴̢̲̀͠ḧ̶͖́͋e̶̱̣̒͋m̸̮̘̆̋ ̵̨̔p̴͙͊̃r̴̡̲̈́̄o̸̪͝p̵̗̗̏̕ĕ̸̞̠ṛ̵̹̋l̷̩͕͌̉y̴͇͑̀.̶͕̓ ̸͍̈́̀ͅT̸̛̜͒r̷̭̃ÿ̶͙̞́ ̴̣̅̑i̴̙̒t̶̜̅ ̶̢̤̐̇ȃ̸͇ͅs̷̝̩̾̈́ ̵̗͎͊̅y̶͍͠ȏ̵̡̬͋ū̶̡r̷̖͈͌ ̶̛̫͉͋f̴͎͇̎̑i̵̝͆͝ͅṛ̶̀̈s̷̜̱͆͝t̴̛͖̭ ̵̘̻͠͠l̸͖͒ẻ̵͕̊ś̶̩s̶̘͍͛͛ő̸̙̬̂n̴̘͋.̸̤̺̔͠[/o]
>You mull over Astra's words in your head before finally trying it out
Can you hear me?
[o]>G̷̢̉̇ö̴̦̩̚o̵̖͛̾d̶͔̿́ͅ,̵͎̚ ̸͚̮̀̚y̷͇̓ö̷͈́̒ṳ̸͋'̶̢̮̂̏l̷͇͉̏̔l̸̛̻̅ ̵͖͉̀͋b̷̭͈̈́ę̶͎̄̀c̸͕̎ơ̴͖m̶̨̺͋̐e̷͓͗ͅ ̸͎̯̕ỏ̴̢̺n̷͚̿̈́ḛ̵̞̿̂ ̴̳͂́ͅǒ̵̩̯̕f̷̮̿̀ ̷̟̽u̴̺̻͊s̸̞̈́ ̵̯͘i̵̳͐n̴͖͌̈ ̴̹̋̈g̵̬̲͑̆ǫ̸͊o̴̬̾̓ḓ̴͝ ̴̘͌ṱ̶̆͠i̸̲̬̓m̴̫̿e̷̠͌͘.̵͇̉͛[/o]
Cool, that makes it easier to help you stay hidden later.
[o]>Ẅ̷́́͜h̶̹̔͗y̵͙̳̓ ̶̳͉̑́w̶̧͒̒ḯ̷̬l̷̝͙̈́l̶̠͛ ̶̪̄̎w̷̲͊ȅ̵͙̺̉ ̵̼̈͐n̷͎͆̍è̷̤̇ẹ̶̀d̷̟͉̃ ̸̨̺̀t̷̲̐͐o̵̍͜ ̶̨͂̓s̶̹̈́̀ṭ̴̎á̴͉̪͘y̸̱̋͜͠ ̴̰̭̀ḩ̸͕͊ḭ̸͒͌ͅḏ̴̱̅d̶̰̭̔͂e̶̜͒̈n̴̫̺̈̇ ̷́̄͜w̷̼̎͗h̵̢́ḕ̸̡ǹ̶͓̟ ̶̳̯̽̉ẅ̷̟͎́e̶̖̽͌ ̷̅̈́͜c̸̫̐̉a̴̮̍̈́ͅn̴͉͕̈́͠ ̶̝̅s̸̘̰̏i̶̖͆̈͜m̸̰̜̿p̵̻͘l̵̰͝y̵͉͊̑ ̶̻̲̾̈́a̴̞̒s̴̢͊s̷̡͓̀̆ȋ̸͙m̶̩̘͝i̵̧̛l̶̼͊̈́â̴̮͕̓t̸͕͗̀ȅ̶̡̝̃ ̴̼͊̒ę̸́̏v̸̫͒ȩ̴͙̄ȓ̴̖̼͑ÿ̵̨̝́͆t̴̨͇͋͝h̵͙̯̿ì̸̼͛ň̵͍̓g̴̮͗͂ ̷̱͓̾̔t̴̪̂́h̶͖͖́͑e̷͓̽̈r̸̜̄e̵̪͝?̴͎̘͒[/o]
Because that'll mean neither of us gets back. Twilight teleported herself and me here and you've given me no indications that you can use magic, so if she's gone, we're stranded.
>Astra goes quiet for a few seconds as you both continue walking through the cold
[o]>F̴̺̯̓a̵͖͗͑ĭ̸̤͖r̶̟͖̐ ̴̠̇p̶̹̉̊o̸̦͇̐i̴̗͎͛ṉ̵͋͠ṱ̴͕̀.̸̡̓[/o]
Alright, we're almost there anyway, so remember the story and stick to it if you don't want to get found out.
>Right as you finish thinking that, the door to the facility fades into view from the icy white
>You reach up on your hind legs to open the door as Astra gives you a look, but you ignore it
>After all, if Twilight happens to be within sight and sees a tentacle sprouting from you, then you're both dead
>Luckily though, she's not!
>But it would still be rude to not announce your return for her, so you do
"Hey Twi, I'm back and I found somepony outside! I hope you don't mind, but I brought her in with me!"
>A voice calls back from somewhere inside the base
>"You found somepony outside?"
>And before you can completely register what she's said, a bright flash of purple stuns you in your place
>Twilight wastes no time in then doing what she does best
>Mainly, worry
>"Where are they? Did they come from another lab, or-"
[o]>"I'm right here, and I teleported here from a research ship that sank off the coast. I'm okay though, thanks to your friend here."[/o]
>"What sank the ship? Did anypony else make it out? Is there anything else I should know?"
[o]>"The ship struck an unexpectedly large iceberg, and I was the only one on board at the moment, so there's nopony else to worry about."[/o]
>After hearing this, Twilight finally lowers the threat level off defcon 1
>"That's a relief. I hope you didn't lose too much on that boat, losing research always sucks."
[o]>"That's fine too, my research wasn't turning anything up anyway. The most I'm out is the money I used to get the boat, but even that wasn't too much, now that I think about it.[/o]
>"You really seem to be quite the optimist, don't you, miss... I'm sorry, I never even asked your name!"
[o]>"Astra Biologis, a pleasure to meet you, Twilight."[/o]
>"I see my reputation precedes me. I'm sure you've already met Anonymous, here, too?"
[o]>"Yes, she and I became fairly well acquainted on our way back here."[/o]
>Yeah, you could say that
>"Then that should be enough for introductions, let's get you warmed up and away from that -30 windchill!"
>While Twilight's leading you both through the base, Astra reiterates its previous question
[o]>Y̴̨̫͂̀o̷̼͂̇ũ̶͇͈ ̶͍̿̿n̶̦̓e̶̦͔̅͑v̷̖̍̅e̷̥͂̉ͅr̵̮͒ ̴̞́͛a̵̠̺͂̈́n̵̨̿̈s̷͈̃w̴͎̃̓e̵̫̞͊̀r̶̨̺͗͠e̸̮͚͗͠d̶̖̿͝ ̵͚̜̈́̕o̴̠͒ͅú̸̡͈͐r̴͖̈̔ ̴̘̅q̴̭̇̈u̴̠͋̿ĕ̵͇ř̷̢͓ý̴̡̹ ̵͖͂e̶̮̗̓ä̶̜́̈́r̵̡̹͌l̸̜̖͆i̶̢͒e̵̛͓r̶̨̯͆̓,̶̛̣̏ ̷̆͜d̷̗̺̒o̸̘͌ ̵͎̄ẉ̵̇͜e̷̝̩̚ ̸͍͇̑n̵̻̝̈́̐ë̶͈ė̵̼̤d̵͘ͅ ̷̙̐͘t̶̩̑ó̵͒͜ ̶̝̓r̴̗͕̊͆ĕ̶̮͗ì̴̫̼t̸͈̝̓e̶̬̚ŕ̶͈̱͂â̴̭̚ṯ̴̙̋e̸̟͇̍͘?̶͈͋[/o]
>Oh, yeah
Sorry about that, it completely slipped my mind. Basically, mothers care for their children and make sure they're ready to take on the world.
[o]>T̶͉̀h̸̡̊̾ḙ̴̬́ǹ̸͔͌ͅ ̶̟̬͠ẇ̴͚̇ḛ̶̢̊ ̸̼͠s̴͇̝̒ë̴̡̳́̓e̴͇̩̿͠ ̵̙͗n̷͇͝ō̸̟̈ ̷̪͐̒d̶̳̂i̵̤͝f̷̪̠̂f̵̡̽ë̷͔̟́r̷̼̗̈e̴͙̊͌ṉ̴̂̓c̸̋̏ͅě̷̞̗ ̸͈̿b̸̺̒̚e̸͙̪̎͝t̶̳̲͝ẃ̴͇ē̷̙̪e̸̫̔̃n̸͍̈̀ ̸̬͕̽̉w̶͈͛́ͅh̸̘̓ḁ̷̎̓ṯ̴̓̒ ̵̫͂w̷̉̓ͅè̷̗̎ ̵̖̯̀å̵̞̞r̴̪̖͌͂e̴̤̓̂ ̷͔̯͐͝a̷̩̱͗ļ̶̠̆r̶͓͑e̷̫͕̽̈a̷̮̐̒d̸̹̿̿ý̶̝ ̸͔̻̈́̈d̶̢̈́o̷͐͑ͅi̸̺͉̎̌n̸͉̈̚g̵̣̼̽̚ ̸͇̓ā̸̢͙͠n̶̝͍͘d̸̩̙̿̇ ̶͓̽ẅ̴͓͜h̸͇̉a̸͎̲̒̈́t̴̝̊̌ ̶̯́́y̵̓͜o̷̩̰̾ư̴͙̯ ̵̲̋a̷͉̘͗s̵̩͙̓͝k̸̨̼͂.̷̤̮͛̚[/o]
Well, there's a bit more nuance to it than that that's a bit harder to put into words... Can I send more than just sentences through this mind-reading thing?
>Astra goes silent for a moment, considering what you've asked
[o]>I̸̪̕ṫ̶͕ ̴̛̱̍i̸̩̍͌s̶͇̓ ̶̝̲́͗ń̷̖̖̕o̶̫͈͊t̶̻̾ ̸̢̯̈́̈́į̶̚m̸͖̾̚p̷̢̲͗͗o̵̪̞͆s̷̠͝s̵͚̩̅̄ḭ̵̐͠b̴̜̪̈̑l̶̞͕̄̓e̷̜̋,̷̟̲̋̆ ̸̻̂͋b̵̯̽ư̶̙͎̿ṯ̴̓ ̵̡͓̃̃t̵̙̆͋ḩ̷̮́̚é̴̗̓ ̷͚̒̉ṁ̵̘͕ę̵̯̒̋a̸̜͓͊ṉ̸̙͘i̶̖̜̋n̵͙̯͆g̸̖̈́ ̷̜̫͛ḿ̶̧̃ã̶̢̟̉ỷ̷̧̖̚ ̸̲͌̑͜b̴̖̊̔ë̵̬́ ̴̬̺̀̀m̶̆͒ͅi̷̡̨̎̇s̴͇͕̈́t̷̹͐r̵̟̽͜a̸͚̼͗n̴͎̦̾̋s̸̠̫̊ľ̵̪̲͝a̶̫̾͝ṱ̶̈́ë̷̫́̂d̵̲̖́͝ ̸̹̈i̴̱͌̊ṇ̷̉̀ ̶̺̖̅̚t̶̜̰̄͌h̶̘̚ẻ̷̞͜ ̷͇̜̀p̷͎̬͊̊r̴͖̎̄o̵͔͙̍c̸̮̃̚é̵̮̰s̴̤͈͒̃s̸̤̠͌̾ ̴̛̬͈́ĩ̵̟̬͂f̴͈͌̚ ̴͈̱̌͑i̸͎̜̒ť̸͙̺ ̶̜͎̈̕i̵͖͌s̵̹̥̉̍ ̷͇͗͠ṯ̶͆̒ò̶̠̪o̴̘̘̿̇ ̶̧͓̔̚c̸̣͖̈́͌o̸͍͑͝m̵̼͓͊p̴̺̗̑l̷͕̳̓ë̷́̓ͅx̸̯͔̃̈́.̷̲̩͑[/o]
Alright, then bear with me for a minute.
>You take a moment to gather all the feelings you have associated with your mother back on Earth and then take another to simulate her own feelings towards you before attempting to wrap it all up in a mental bow and send it to Astra
>When you look back to the creature to become your future guardian, you see a flash of intrigue and surprise cross its face before settling back on calm understanding
>A second or two later, you get your response
[o]>W̷̬̩͌̿e̴̘͌̚ ̷͎͈̋̓ṳ̸̀̆ṉ̵̙͒d̴̺̾e̴͕͂r̷͎̝̋̒ṡ̴̲̩t̸̰̆͛a̸̼͌͝ń̸̖͝d̶̳̤̍̀ ̸̙̈n̶͕̾͝ȯ̴̘w̵̤̗̎̽,̵̪̘͛ ̶͈̋̕å̷̼n̵̜̈͘d̶̛̙̚ ̵̢͓̽w̶̢͈̍è̸̪̚ ̵̛̺͚̍s̴̮̈́͘ḫ̵͎̓͝a̵̫͐̌ͅļ̶̣̋͗ḷ̶̊̃ͅ ̸͚̥͑̓d̷̥̈́̄o̵̯͒ ̵͙͗̄o̸̠̗̚ȕ̴͕ͅr̴͔͂ ̶͕̬͌b̶̳̅e̷̳͑s̴̛͙͗t̸̩̉ ̵͍̋̕ẗ̵̤̘́̅o̴̫̙̍̓ ̵̹̜̀ị̸̍̿ľ̸̦͛i̵̘̿c̷̖̈̏ỉ̸̩̹͘t̵͎̋ ̶̣̼̏́t̵̜͒h̶̡̤̿e̸͎̕ś̵͉̚ḛ̶͕͗̃ ̵̨̼̈́͒f̸̪̅̒e̷̜͗e̷̱͊ḷ̵̈́i̴̮͜͠n̶̼͋̋g̴̼̿s̵͓̄̓ ̴̤͉͋̓w̴͔̮̍͑í̴̭̠t̸͈͑h̵̨̘̊i̴̝̻̽̃n̸̰̒̓ ̷̧͑̓y̵͕͉͂o̸̢̰̒̏u̵̟̚ͅ.̵̞̏̑ ̷̥͉̈͘Ȟ̸̩̼͑o̴̖͘w̶̰͚͛͝ë̸̛̲́v̵̥͈͌͂ê̶͚̊ŗ̴̾,̷̻̽̅ ̵̧̞͒ŵ̷͜e̴̹̓̆ ̵͖́̋ẃ̶̹̚i̶͉̥̅́l̸̜̏l̷̛̳͠ ̵̘̈ͅc̷̘̤̒ẹ̴̹͐ä̶̤̫́̕s̷̯̆ȇ̴̢̩͊ ̴̭̙̉͝w̴̼͌ḯ̸̯͜t̷͍̃h̷̺̓̈́ ̸͎͐t̷͎̕h̶̬̘̿̐ẻ̷͎͌ś̶̤̎e̵̘͔̊ ̴̳̍̿a̶̟͗c̴̺̒t̴̜̞̀̒i̸̥͂͝o̷̮̿n̷̠͎̿s̵̠̉ ̶̨̚ô̶͙n̴͈̼̏c̷̣̤̉ę̷͆̏ ̵̤̑y̷̜͊o̸̻̓̕u̴͖̳̽ ̴̨̛̥h̵̩̾a̷̭͌v̴̠͋e̴̝̻̅͒ ̴̳̠̔̆d̸͈̈́e̷͓͈͘v̵͚͑ē̵͔ḽ̵̼͐o̶̬̣̐̍p̴̫̣̑͝e̷͈͍͒̽d̵̞̿ ̵͓͋͝ȋ̴̻n̸̝͍͛̆t̴̟͕̋o̵̡̗̐ ̷̨͊͛͜a̶̝̲͋ ̷̛͚̮f̴̞̠̎͝i̵̙̪̚n̷̩̋̈́ḙ̶̛̀ ̷̹̊m̶͈͕̆̀e̴̬͆̚m̴̰̙͋b̴̪̀e̵̢̹̋̇r̸̲̬̈́ ̷̭̿o̵͓̐f̵̹͊̋͜ ̵̦̽ọ̴͘u̷̜̓͘r̸̰̻͂ ̶̊͜c̷̥̎͐ő̷͍̟l̴̨̲̕͝l̷̘̐e̷̥̽̇c̸̲̿̒ẗ̸͖̀i̵̟̜̓͂v̷͖͉̌ȩ̵͂.̷̮͐[/o]
Then it's a good thing I'm a slow learner!
[o]>Y̵̞̅͗o̶̳̽́u̴̲̕ͅ ̴̠̎͝s̷̭͈̄ȁ̶͈y̶͔̪͛ ̵͈̀t̶͎̠̂h̶͉͑a̴̠̿t̷̡̑,̴͙͛͘ ̷̣̾ͅb̵̢̆u̷̹̝͒t̸̜͚̓͝ ̶̬̓̚ÿ̸̜́́͜o̵̤̮͗͝u̵͓͌͒'̴̦̝̀r̶͚͊͊e̴͔̣̕͝ ̷̢̆͋ä̶̠́l̴͙̃̾ṙ̸̠ͅę̷̖͑̕a̸̗̔͠d̵̲̼̚ỹ̷͈̜͘ ̶͔̜͝p̵̪̦̅r̵̡̜̽ö̷̡̦́b̷͔̑̓i̷̛̥͌ͅn̷̛͓g̵̺̔̉ ̵̩̯̓̍t̷͉̄͠ẖ̸̄͝ė̸̘̻͋ ̴̼͌̚l̶͍̏̓ĭ̸̫̼͛m̶͉̒i̵̖̇t̸̗͘ś̸̨̰̆ ̸̛̥o̵̺̔̐f̷͖͒ȏ̴͇̻̕u̵̯̓r̸͙̉̓ ̴̫̣̑́m̶͚̏e̷̺͌̀n̸̙̤͛̊t̸̻̰̽a̷͚̪̽̈́l̴̻͗̇ ̵̝͉̅͐c̶̘̰̈́ö̷̧̖́͝m̶̪͚͊̂m̵̫̻̈ȕ̵̪͓n̴̥̻͛i̵̫̾c̸̜̑͂ḁ̶̧̌̋t̷͈̒͒í̴̤̱ȯ̷͙̠ň̴͍ ̸͓̘̓n̶͕̂͌ȏ̵̫̝͝t̸͙͖̋ ̴̜̰͌̔e̶̫̝͘v̶̲͆̔ͅe̸̛͓n̴͔̞̐ ̷̰͔̄ả̶̳̆ͅn̸̠̈́̔ ̵̙̄h̵̄̚ͅȯ̷̲̗́u̵̼͊̀r̷͑ͅ ̷̠̮͘a̸̠̿͠f̴̰̄ͅt̷̙̻̄e̷͎̽̊͜r̷͇̾ ̷̡̬̾͠ỹ̵̨̯ò̶͈û̵̟̄ ̷͖̜̅f̷̠̿ī̸̡͉͝r̵̝̺͂͑s̸̥̽̍͜t̶̥̭̀̌ ̸̱̇̊l̴̀͜e̸̮̟̓̂ả̴̮̺r̸͓̱̈́n̴͕͗ ̸̘̃̈ͅỳ̴̫̐o̴̢͆͜u̸̫̘̒ ̸̪̩͌̑c̵̫̿̂a̷̙̓ǹ̸̪̰̂ ̶͙̙̿̇d̷̙̖͘ö̵͙̈́ ̶͚̌̎ĭ̴̫t̶̡̅̿.̴̲̱̅ ̸̞̆Ỵ̷͋ó̴̘͎u̶̟̣̓̕'̸͉̯̚l̴̮̋l̴̙̻̇̿ ̷̹̖̇͛b̷̡͔̆̋e̴̬̓͝c̸̳͙̚͝o̵̱̩̚m̷͔͕̽e̵̯͐̍ ̵̯̘̓͋q̵̱́u̵̲͕͒̓î̸͉̀ṯ̴̻̀̅e̴̞̊ ̴̼͋̓l̵̢̛͓̽ē̵̛̱̬a̵͓͐͒ṙ̷̲̳ṉ̷̡̈́̇ẹ̶͑̈d̶̮̓,̸̫͚̈́ ̸̻̞́â̵̡̛n̸͇̞͑̐ḑ̸́̾ ̸̗̥͐̚f̴̤̿̆å̴̤͂ṡ̶͍͊t̴̥̺̑͒ę̷̛͈̊r̸̤͋ ̷̰̈t̶̮̄̈́h̵̯̾͜ȁ̶͙͘n̸̗͛ ̷̛̥̐y̵͍̓ȏ̶̫̒u̷̙͇̍ ̷̯͒e̶̞̝̍ẍ̷̩́̏p̵̖̦̀e̵̠͋c̴̜̿͋ţ̵́̏.̸̭̌[/o]
>You would reply to that, but you both round the corner to where Twilight's leading you both
>A large comfortable room with a large fireplace dominating the back wall, with several chairs and couches placed in various locations around it
>"Here, I'm sure this'll get you warm in no time!"
>You see Astra's eyes go wide and feel the adrenaline from its fight-or-flight response over the mental connection, but nothing more
>And luckily for you both, Twilight just assumes it's because of the fact that the fireplace is fucking massive
>"Yeah, I was pretty surprised when I first saw it too. It's really good at heating the entire station, though, so that's a major plus."
[o]>"Is something that big not a fire hazard, though?"[/o]
>Twilight looks back to the fireplace before returning to Astra's concerned gaze
>"Well, I mean, it's a fireplace. There's always going to be a hazard to it, but if it was really that much, then I have a hard time believing that the builders would've put this one into the outpost here."
>Twilight then lays down on one of the couches near the blaze and goes back to her notes while Astra works on conquering its (admittedly quite reasonable) fear of fire
>You also decide to go sit near the fire, until you realize something
>A) you're still wearing some of your snow gear, so that's coming off
>And 2) for some reason, the heat of this room feels a lot more uncomfortable than when you were last in here
>Even with your snow gear off, the heat's still almost oppressive to your new body
Hey, is it normal to be feeling this uncomfortable right now?
[o]>O̵̗̠̓u̴̱̘͘r̷̙̤̀͝ ̵̗̿͛k̸̬͍̆i̷͖̮͑̕ñ̴̢d̵̨̏ ̸̲̑h̵̞͕͌ã̵͇ṿ̶̌͌e̵̝̖͘ ̶͖̰̄͠ã̴̡͕n̷̜̊ ̴̻̑̐e̷͉̱̽x̵̼͌t̶̙̅̽r̴̪͋e̴͈͑ṃ̸̒e̷̙͉͒̇ ̶̝͕̀̄a̴̤̻̍v̶̹̓ḙ̷̈́r̴̻͑s̵̥̹̈́͆i̷̖̼̔o̴̼̘͛͝n̷̻͙͋ ̵̛͙͔̌t̷̢͉̉o̷̭̓̓ ̷͇̍h̵̛̫̀ë̴͇́ą̵͒t̴̖̽̋,̶͈̃͂ ̵͔͚͂w̷͔͝é̴͉̻ ̷͎̀͜w̷̦̼̿̀ǫ̶̓ù̴̞̤l̸̥̘͘d̶̬̥̾̌ ̵̥̒͋b̶͍̖̎e̵͖͌ ̴̘͉͑s̸̨͌ů̵̪r̴͔̋́p̶͓̙̉͘r̶̤̚͝i̶̫͈͐s̵̝̠̓̍é̸̳͕̋d̸̬͓̎̕ ̸̢̯̿̃i̴̤̯͋f̴̩͌̑ ̴̺̀y̸͔̍̈ǫ̵͓͝u̸͕̘͂ ̴̩͊ḑ̶̄i̴̜̘͗̉d̵͍̿̐n̴̳͂'̴̭͐̑t̵̞̀ ̷̹̋̓͜f̴̭̾͘e̸̞͍̿e̵̖̜͒l̴̙̈́̔ ̴͎̖͒ṱ̵̰̒̄h̸͑͜ǎ̸̡̛t̷̥̎.̷͈̚[/o]
>Oh yeah, because heat's one of the few things capable of killing a Thing
Dang, I've always been a bigger fan of warm temperatures. Does this mean I can never take a hot shower again?
[o]>W̸̱̓é̵̛̯̥ ̷̝̽h̴̼̀a̵͉͔̐̕v̷̙͎̚e̵̗̺͘ ̴̠̝̓ń̶̡̕ó̵̰ ̸̲͊i̶̠̮̽ḑ̸͎̾é̴͉̘ạ̶̓͝.̸̫̃́[/o]
Then this is going to be a long stay...
[o]>W̸̥̄e̶͎̣̔ ̴̟͍͑͒h̸̜̹͒̅a̶̦͙̒v̵͖̄͝ë̷̯́ ̸̭̘̀̊ą̶̥̀̕ļ̴͝s̸̨̟̈o̵̧̒̐ ̷̨̍͆ń̷͔ě̶̯͈̓g̴͉͗̑ḽ̸̄e̴̤̱͛̕c̷̙̤͐̿t̶̨̯̉e̴͎̾͜͝d̸̻͋ ̶̡̎̀t̵̲̾͗͜o̸̭̐ ̸͔͎̓̈́à̴͇s̶̩̍k̷͓̳̽͒,̵͕͍̅ ̷̫̗̎h̸̯͈̅o̶̙͒w̴̞̒ ̵̈ͅľ̷̡o̸̖̍̕n̴̼͂̐g̸̜̏ ̶̳̠̿u̴̙̾̈n̶̲͍͗ṫ̸̗̺í̸̧̳l̴̘͝ ̴̪̈́͛ẇ̶̰̇ȇ̵̹̓ ̷̞͇͑̑c̵̟̜̈a̶̱̓͜ṋ̴͇̿͛ ̸̲͑l̵̺̝͑͋ę̸͎̿a̶̞͎͌v̴̛̹e̸̟̾?̶͖̽[/o]
At least another week.
[o]>'̶̞͎͒͝Ḑ̸̗̕á̷̘ṇ̴͒̉ǵ̸̫̈́'̵̜͐ ̴͍̘͐͝ï̶̙n̴͔̥̐d̷̩͐͌é̴͖̿e̵͕̦͆ḑ̸̭̚.̸̙͇̕.̸̪͝.̴͉̐͋[/o]
>You all continue relaxing by the fire (as best you can, for the two alien monstrosities) before Twilight decides it's time to take care of something else
>"Hey Anon, I'm going to do laundry. Do you want me to throw your sold gear in for you?"
"Sure, thanks."
>So Twilight gets up, takes your dirty clothes, and heads off to the laundry room
>Time for some alone time with Astra to get more things in order
So, the way I see things, you're going to try to take over every living being on this planet and absorb them all into you. Am I correct?
[o]>Y̵̰̭̑o̷̫̔̑͜u̴̘̿͠ ̷̢̳̈̓a̷͔̋r̵̜̱̃e̸̩͛̂,̸̥͈͛̇ ̷͔̯̇à̷͉n̵͙̓d̵̘̉ ̸̧̥͒ẃ̸̧̰ḧ̷̬e̷̘̊͊ṉ̶̡͑͑ ̶̡̨̑w̵̧̩͊͌ȩ̴̇̐ ̷͉̼̀h̴̻́͛à̷̙͆v̷͎̥͛e̸̼͛̎ ̶̪̉̊c̵̬͇̾͝o̵̟͗̃n̷͖̔͆s̵̫͂͘ṷ̸̮̐̎m̶̻̘̃ë̵̡͎́͐d̷̢̈ ̴͇̰̎͘a̶̲̽͊ľ̶͎l̶̛̹̯̐ ̴̝̣̔͌h̸̗̤̄̇ę̵́͜r̵͕̚é̴̙̤,̸̪͒ ̷̡̋͋ÿ̵̺o̸͎͛̐u̴͔̠̽͒ ̷̜͛ẇ̸̦̳̐i̸͍̍̐l̸̺̇̑l̶͚̓̇ ̶̰̥̑͝j̵̺̟̃o̵̳̓i̵̯͖͋́n̸͇͈̑ ̸̡̟̾̋ụ̵̘͝ș̴͍̃͐ ̴̹̭͆a̷̹̣͛s̷̘͚̐͗ ̸̜̭̏̕w̴̞͊͠ḙ̴͚͆ ̸̡̈́̉m̶̠̙̄ō̶̢v̶̥̜̆͆e̵̞̘̽ ̶̯̐͝ŏ̵̳͑ṋ̴̣̈́̕ ̴͕̺́t̷̓̐ͅo̶̥͂̈́ ̸͖̼̈́̋ţ̷̪͝h̵͈͘e̷̢̓̚ ̸̱̄ş̵̡́t̵̹̂̕a̴̰͝r̶̮̆̌ş̶̍ ̸̤̔á̸̬̖̑n̷̰͇͆d̴̻̓͜ ̴͙̜̓g̶̜̋ͅr̷̛̖̉ö̵͔̱́̚w̴͕͙̾͝ ̸̦̮̕e̶̖̯͠v̵̫͙̊e̸̢̗͝r̵͖̐ ̸̨̪̐g̴̰̕̕ŗ̷̉̈è̸̙̫a̵̳̗͛̿t̵̞͍̕ě̷̻r̴͕̂̚.̴̰̈́͝[/o]
So then we're in opposition.
[o]>H̴̡̱͋͝m̸͔̔?̸̤̦̾͗[/o]
I've already told you, if I assimilate [i]anything,[/i] it'll be the same incomplete assimilation that made me and nothing more.
[o]>B̸̞̟̿̍ụ̴̐t̸͚̖̊͝ ̶́͜͜͠y̶̜̯͆͒ỏ̷͕͠u̷̠͔͑̈́ ̸̛̜̬̄ş̵̮͘ẗ̸̯̝̕ȋ̶̜͚̈l̴̦̗͊́l̵̙̄ ̶͕̏͘n̸̡͆͐e̷̠͗ḙ̷̦͊͝d̸͕̓͝ ̴̳͂t̵̟͉̽ȏ̸͔̞ ̸̣͂l̸̲͒ẹ̸̺̇͝ä̸̡́̎ͅr̴̻̮̓n̸̖̙̍ ̴͇͖̓a̵͙͌s̴̞̀̎s̵͙̐̈́í̸̘m̶̧̄̾i̷͓̿̈́ͅl̴̛̘ä̴̺́̓͜t̸̨̃i̶͕̅͋o̴̘̫͊̋n̶̺̭͗,̸̗̔ ̵̮͌a̵̧͊n̴̮̚d̸̻͗̎ ̶͉̞̈i̸̳͉̅ň̵̫͔c̸͙̜̓͛o̶̢̩͒́m̶̛̳̭̀p̵̲̌l̶̮̍̃e̵̤͉͌t̵̝̠̐̕ë̷̹́̆ ̷̧̐a̸̺̓s̸͚͔͑͗s̶̯̅̓i̵̖͗̕m̸͈͝ĩ̸̧l̵̼̀͌a̸͙̲͝t̸̀̾ͅi̶̗̒̔o̸̧͋͊n̴̹͙͛̓ ̴̮͒ͅì̷͓ṡ̷̱̼̐ ̷̳̩̏a̵̲̱͠ ̵̨̊v̵̨̆͗è̴͖̥r̵̢̦̀̚y̶͚̰̾̏ ̶̳̲͛h̴̢̞͂ä̸͚́r̸͕̈́̋d̵̗͊ ̶͈̄͠m̵͖̆͂ī̶̪̭͠s̴̳͉͑̐ṭ̵̢̏̆á̵̠͗ḱ̵̦͖̒e̷̤͗ ̴̼͆͋t̶̗̓͋ǒ̶̼̯ ̵̲̅́m̷̰̚͝à̸͍ǩ̷̮̹͘ę̵̻͗ ̵͍̀̈a̶̯͑͒s̶͖͈̈́ ̴̩̙̒a̶̹͑ ̴̙̠̏͒b̴̮̅̎ė̶̬g̷͎̣͘i̴͓̍̊n̵̖̥͝͝n̴̤̖̔͒e̴͙̙͑̀r̴͎͒̽.̷̯͛͜[/o]
Then I'll just test it out on something non-sentient.
[o]>Y̶̧̝͗̆ô̴͈ǘ̶̼̂r̷͉͛ ̸͍̊f̷̙́̈ĩ̸̞ȑ̸̤̓s̷̗̈́̋ť̸̝̈́ ̴̚͜a̴͖̘͐s̵̟͎͐s̷͎͍̔i̴͈̋̽m̴̢̤̏̒i̶̡̯̍̆l̷̩͖͌ǎ̵̲͜t̴̲͙̍ỉ̴̭ŏ̴̦̪n̵̖̥͊ ̷͍̒ẃ̶̧̲í̶̲̼ḻ̵̇̈́ĺ̴͙̕ ̷̹̼̋͠b̸̧̊͋e̵͖͊͋ ̷̦͎̔͝ḁ̷͌ ̵̮̰̈́̑c̴͖͊͐ȯ̵̳̱̀m̵̧̛͖p̷͎͎͊l̸̡͍̔͝ê̵̤t̶̟́ȩ̵̖̏̈́ ̷͖͆͠o̶̘͋̓n̶̰̬̓e̵̺̒,̶̨͕̀̈́ ̷̛̰͔̕a̸̧̒̈́n̷̘͚͒ḋ̵̪̕ ̶̼̦́̾o̶͈͘n̴͈͌c̵̣̀e̵̱̟͋ ̸͈͛̓ÿ̷͍́͠o̵̭̘͂͝û̶̩̳ ̵͉̹̈́a̸̠̎c̸̱͖̿̒c̴͉̈́o̵̖͈̒͠ḿ̵̧̼̐p̶̲̃̉l̸̦͆̐ḭ̷̡̿̀s̶͕͚͝h̷̳̝͌ ̵̢͈̑ȉ̶̺̣̀t̵̄̃ͅͅ,̸̤̝́̕ ̸̢̜̔́y̶̪͠o̷̳̿̊ù̵̜͓̕ ̷̧̾w̸̛̤̦i̵̼͉̐̄l̷̠͉̉̚l̸͚͗ ̸̨̛͉̋l̷̯̭̈́͂ẻ̴͉̯̏ả̴̮ṟ̷͕̕n̷͚̍ ̷̥̪̚w̷̛̪͆h̵̢͔͛͑y̷̖̰͌͘ ̴̢͈͒b̶͊̈͜ë̴̮̙̐i̶̩̝̽n̴̪̫͛g̸͇̬͐ ̶͖͆͝o̶̳͝f̵͉̥̾ ̸̫̆͊ǒ̵̞ǹ̶͚̀ͅe̴̜̅͗͜ ̵̤̒m̸̬͑͑i̴̯͓̾n̵̗̔͝d̵̳̽ ̶̖̻̍͗à̶͍n̸̮̔͜d̸̻̪̊͂ ̶̮̑ͅm̴̢͈̓͝a̷̝͠ň̸̞̽ỵ̵̈́ ̵̛͇́b̴̳̑ͅo̷͔͐͝d̸̤̲͂̔i̵̤̬̋ȩ̴͈̀͗s̶̗̤̐̔ ̶̭̲̎i̷͕͆s̶̰̗̓ ̷̫̔̎s̷̞̦̉͝ǘ̶͍p̷̺͒è̸̙r̵͕̟̂̓i̷̳̐o̵̘̤͘r̷̩͉̃͠ ̶̮̇t̴̻̔̀o̴̭̬͠ ̶̤̆͑b̸̲͑ě̸̫̦ḭ̸͎̑̋n̸̠̟̔g̴̪͂͊ͅ ̶̯̀̋o̸̩͚̍f̸͍̕ ̶̺͓̈́̂m̶͓̫͊à̵̭̮̔n̵̫͠ỳ̷̼ ̸̽͝ͅm̴͙̍͊i̷̭͋͝n̶͚̋͘ͅḍ̷̎͝s̷̮̈͆ ̶̭̉͘a̸͚͊͒ň̷̘͔d̶͔͎͗̈ ̶͖͙͑m̶͚̊̓a̴̜̺͑ṇ̷͉̇ŷ̴͕ ̶͚͍́ḇ̶̥͌͘ō̷͉̳͛d̸͒ͅi̵̲̚e̵̩̐̎s̷̫̾̏.̷̞̮̈́̈́[/o]
And why is it so fantastic to be a hivemind?
[o]>T̷̳͗͠ͅh̷̨̉͜ḛ̵̊̕r̴̺̼̂ẽ̶͍̻̆ ̶̫́̀į̵̧̒́s̸͚͌̄ ̸̲͂̉u̶̻̽̏n̶̹̈́i̷̠̙̾̽ṭ̸͖̈́y̷̨͑͘ ̴̱̄ẅ̸̖́i̷̬͌t̴̘͂ḩ̷̇i̵̯̱͆͋ń̸̩̿ ̵͓͑͘ü̷̼̠s̵̙̈́͜!̸̧̬̒ ̴̙̺̂̓W̸̥͗̃i̶͕͒ť̶̠̚h̴̞͓͌o̴͇͜͠ȗ̶̖̫t̸̟͠ ̴̨̛͉o̴͚͛n̶̪̱̆e̴͖͇̾̈́n̶̨̢͊̾e̶̜͑s̷̯̓͝s̴͕̽̐,̷̮͎̒̏ ̷͇͗͒ṫ̸̯̀h̶͔̎̊ḙ̸̄͝r̷̻̀e̴̠͑͝ ̴̙̤̓í̷͓̝͝s̴̮͋͜͝ ̷̣̏͝o̵̧̓ǹ̸͕̪̃ḽ̴̰̉y̸̺͗͝ ̴̡͓̓d̵̠̲̒͝ì̵̢̉ș̷͇̇͘s̸͕̠̿͊õ̵̲n̷̻̄̽ȧ̷̩̰ń̸̘̦c̷̛̲̘̀ě̶̞̊.̵̫͝ ̶̻̭̓̈́Ẅ̷͉́į̸̽t̵͔͝ḧ̵̘́ͅ ̸̬̋͜͠i̴̟̫͋̊t̴̨͑,̵̝͇͊͠ ̵̻̑̽t̷̤͉̉̽h̴̡͚͒̽e̴̹̣̐r̵̹̗̂͝é̵͈̏ ̵̪̀̑ị̶̛̝s̶̻̄ ̷̖̝͝h̴̞̤͒̅ȃ̴̯̲ȑ̵̯m̷̛̼̉o̶͚̬͛̔n̵̰̊͐y̶͉̔.̷̬̩̅́ ̶̘̼͛͛Õ̶̢̗̉u̶̺͝ṛ̴̈́̕ ̷͚͆v̷̦͍͋ő̴͔ȉ̵̬c̴̪͈̉͂e̶͕͋͘͜ ̸͙͐ḭ̷̢́s̷̫̊ ̸̱̌̐t̸̝͕͠h̶̻̦̓à̷͖t̴͓̄́ ̴͙́̕o̴̯̊f̴̤̜͋̚ ̵͖̈́a̴̪̩͐ ̵̥͐̕ͅc̶̻͝h̵̓͜ͅo̵͖̠͐̐i̷͎̦͑ŗ̷͒,̸̨͒ ̷̻̏o̵̬͌ǹ̸͈e̴̼͋ ̸̣̙͒̏t̵͕͛h̷̲̟́͘ǎ̶̹t̸̨̝̓͂ ̷̻̐͆s̷̢̠̓h̴̪̑ḁ̸̖̽͝l̵͔͍̈́͝l̵͓̫͛ ̴̮̘̋͒ṣ̷͍̆͘î̶̡̫n̵̟̒̈́g̴̲̬͘ ̵͎̂f̸̪̫͂o̷̖͔͐r̵͋͌͜e̶͙̤̎ṽ̵̠͕é̵͜r̵̝̀̍ ̶̰̇ȯ̵͇n̶̮̝͛̔ ̶̖̽i̸͈̺̅n̷͉̂ṯ̶̪̎͠o̵͎̩͂ ̵͖́t̸̗̚i̷̪̍͆m̷̜̏e̴̓̕͜ ̶̡͘ẁ̶̳͝i̷̗̟͐t̵̙̭͆͘h̴̝̓͗ö̸̢́u̶̫͈͂͂t̴̢̩̉͐ ̴͖̣̈́͝n̵͎͗͝â̶̰̜͛r̶̳͚̐̀y̵̻̮̾ ̵̬̜̄̕a̸̬̜͆̑ ̵̭̅̒ẉ̴̙̃ä̶̡̘v̵͙̆ë̴̼́͂ͅr̴̡̹̽͐.̵͖͊̉[/o]
But with that chorus, you lose something essential to all other life!
[o]>Ā̴̲̟̏n̷̩͐d̸̼̪͛ ̴̞̽̿w̷̘̘̿͊h̷̞͋͛a̶̬̞̎ẗ̶̺́́ ̴͙̠̏͝w̷̙̿̇o̵̢̘̊u̷͇͌l̸̰͋͜d̴̉ͅ ̵̧͠ț̷̊̃h̵̥͋a̸̦͂̋t̶̪͇̽ ̸̻̦̍ḇ̸͝e̴͇̊͌?̴̥̄[/o]
You lose the whole point of life! You lose the interactions between yourself and others, you lose the perspective gained from one other than yourself, and may I say most importantly, you lose the ability to form an organic connection with someone else.
[o]>Ă̸̧n̷̛̘̋d̸͓̓̏ ̵̳̔͋ỳ̶̬ė̶͎t̶̙͙̅͝ ̷͇̳͊͗ẅ̴͔̱́ȩ̴͚̈ ̷̢̍̿à̵͜ŕ̴̜̯̚ḙ̷̦̇͠ ̷̹̰̌͑c̷̻̩̕o̵͉͊n̴̞̤͝n̴̲̆e̷̹̅c̵̜̤͆t̶̖̉̚e̷̘͂̉ͅd̵̨̻́ ̶̨͝o̸̘͕̐r̵̟̲̆g̴̗͇̐͗ả̶̫n̸̥̋i̸̼̋c̷̣̄c̷͉̒́a̵̝̳̒l̸̹̽̀l̵̗̯̏y̶͎͝ ̵̢̛̍t̷̡̿̀ẖ̷͝͝r̵̢̒o̵͓̻͊u̶̠̠͊g̸͋ͅḣ̸̤̂ ̸̡͕̈́̆b̷͖̀̽ö̶̢͓͘d̶͚̬̏́ỳ̷͈.̷̮͔͗[/o]
I wasn't using the literal meaning and you know it. The connection between us was forced by the assimilation process, but I'm going to do everything in my power to bring you around to my point of view, or at the very least see it.
[o]>A̶̲̟͠ ̷̣͉̀v̸͕̬͛ä̷͓͙́l̴̜̎i̶͉͚̍̚a̴̩͈̐n̷̺͝ͅẗ̸̲́ ̵̠͝e̶͖̲̎̈́f̸̹͐ͅf̷̺̿ọ̵̞͗ŗ̷͔̈́t̸̪͒,̷̥̈̒ ̷̧͈̓́b̷̻̂u̵͔͂ẗ̷̲́͗ ̶̢͍͂w̴̳̄̈h̴͕̩̐̂ḯ̸̖̽ļ̵̺͑͗ê̴͈̕ ̸̢͉̽ÿ̴͇ò̴̪̖ŭ̴̟ṟ̴̜̋̏ ̸̗̄ͅs̸͈͕̈́͋ò̷̳̥ļ̴͉̓́o̵͈̺͘̕ ̷̀̌͜m̷̝͗a̴̬̣͌y̵͎̌ ̶̲̘͛c̴̰̀́a̷͙̭͗͝l̷̜̓̇l̴̩̖̇ ̸̟̏͜i̶̠̍n̵̼̭͂̌ ̸͇͊̏o̵̟͊p̷͎͝ṕ̵̱͝ò̶̢̲͘s̴͙͒i̶̤͋̽ͅt̵̤͝i̴̳͌̏ó̷͓n̵̠͇͠ ̸̢͖̀f̴͈͚̍̅o̴̹̓̏ŗ̵̑ ̷̮́̍n̵͍̰̓ȯ̷̪̎w̶̬͗,̵͉̻͌ ̸͖̉s̶̯̤̊̕o̵̬͘ö̷̗̪́̄n̸̝̏ ̸̲̪̄ŷ̵̤̀o̷͎̿͝u̸̧͎͗́ ̸̘̏͝w̷̢̠̓̓ï̶̛̙͍l̸̢̤̄͊l̴̪̦̄ ̸̛̯j̴̳́ọ̶̀̏i̷͉̮͋̈ṉ̶̢̇ ̴͉̆̈t̴͕̳͒h̴͕̑͘ė̴͎̠͝ ̶̙̰͒͘t̸͇̄̇i̷̬̙̊m̴̘̫͌̓e̷̞̝͆l̸͎̙̚e̵͙͙͂š̷̼̣ṡ̴͇̞ ̴̳̟̍c̶̪̈ḧ̶̤́o̵̫̬̊̓ŕ̵̟ṵ̷̽s̸̳̓ ̴͉̒a̴͍͌̇͜n̶̻͕̉ḓ̸̛ ̴̘͍̀͠s̶̳̿ị̷̖͋͗ǹ̴͕̲͊ĝ̸̙̆ ̴̤̪̀͑e̶̗̓͝v̶͇̠̔e̵͇͆r̶̬̠̂l̴̈͜ä̴̯͕́s̷̞̽ṫ̸͛͜i̸̙̽̽n̵̥̠̑g̵͇̬̋ ̶̥̀̎w̵̧̠̅̍ì̴̟t̴̛̞h̷̜̰̾̒ ̵̧̻́u̴̲̚s̵̫̀.̶͉́[/o]
>You would say something along the lines of 'we'll call this a draw, then', but you hear a voice calling over from across the complex
>"Anon, would you mind coming over here for a minute?"
"Yeah, gimme a sec."
>You stand up and trot over to the laundry room, leaving Astra to its own devices in the living area with one final word:
Don't mess with anything, I'll be back in a bit.
>A short while later, you stand before Twilight
>"Anon, would you mind explaining something to me?"
"Sure, what is it?"
>"I'm surprised I didn't notice it when you came back inside, but your undershirt has a large hole in it with a surprisingly large amount of blood around it. Are you alright?"
>Oh shit
>Time to see how good you are at lying!
"Oh, yeah, that. Don't worry, it's not that bad. Astra just jolted up from under me when I found her and her horn caught me from below. It didn't hurt that bad so I didn't say anything, but I guess it did more than I thought."
>Twilight starts nodding in consideration of what you said
>Good, she's buying it!
>"All the same, I'd still like to see it to make sure it's really okay."
>Oh fuck
>Looks like you're going to have to prove your lie
>Well, you have a second before Twilight gets into position, that's enough time to create an open wound, right?
>You concentrate on your barrel and imagine about what the wound should look like, willing your body to reshape itself as fast as it can right before Twilight begins her examination of the afflicted area
>
>"Ooh, yeah, that's definitely a cut. It's not deep though, you should be fine letting it heal normally. Just tell me if it looks, feels, or acts different, okay? We can't have you getting an infection this far from a hospital!"
>Twilight smirks a bit at this last statement, both of you knowing full well you just teleported here
>You, however, simply roll your eyes and agree before leaving to let her finish the laundry
>At least that's what you do on the outside
>On the inside, you breathe a heavy sigh of relief at having dodged a bullet
>Also, you learned how to shapeshift!
>Nice!
>When you return to the living room, you find Astra right where you left it
[o]>C̴̜̄͐o̸̗͚͋n̷̝̝̈́g̵̙͌r̴̲̭͒a̶̖͂̿ͅṫ̴̝̭u̷̢͒l̶͕̰̅͝a̵̼̓ṯ̶͇̈́î̸̖̽o̷̢͆ň̶̝̗s̴̫͉͋͊,̶̞̔̚ ̸̙̓̈́y̵̧̔o̵̫͉͂͐u̷̡͚̓͊'̸̥̙̎̊r̸̫̎e̶͑ͅ ̸͎̯̄̄l̷̜̏̈e̶̞͚͒͆a̵͈͓̓r̴̞̍ñ̵͔̠i̴͔̖͠n̵̦͉̒̃g̶̬͠ ̴͙͐́v̴̡̕͘e̶̞͌r̷͙̊̾y̴̠͍͆ ̷͔̋͜q̵̝̤́͌u̶̯̔̕ī̷̡̜c̷̣̪͋͠k̵͕̂l̴̜͚͋̀ỳ̷̬̾!̴̗̆[/o]
>Hold up
... You can tell what I'm doing even when I'm not directly talking to you?
[o]>W̶̩̒ê̷̳ ̴̡̮̾̒c̷̟̞̿́ä̴̞͜n̸̞̈ ̶̲̀d̵͙̓̋o̸͍͘͠ ̶͎̜̎̂ṃ̴̈͑a̴̲̻͠ṇ̶̜͂͗ȳ̵̥͇͊ ̴͓̏͊t̴̢͖̕ĥ̸̫i̶̧̿̅n̴͈̖͊͛g̴̼̤͋̆s̴̩͖͒,̵̳̰̂̒ ̷̥́m̷͍̄ḁ̵̀n̴͙̤͛̈́y̸̘͛ ̶̮̚o̷̧̲͝f̶̞͓͋͛ ̷̲̺̑w̷̯̺̏h̷̟̣̀͆ḯ̸͈̼̐c̷̨̢̅̉h̸̖̾͒ ̶̦͇̈̀ÿ̸̫́ő̸̦̣͝u̷̧̞͗̿ ̵̛̝͎̀h̴̤͇̚a̴̹̓v̸͕͇͠ê̷̜̺̋ ̵̬͈̓y̸̩̞͐͝e̴̼̾͌t̴̲́ ̵̩̄t̶̮͗̇o̷̹̭͂ ̵̢͔̆́l̸̳͔̈́e̶͉͋̾á̶̖r̵̹͋̈ͅn̸̛̝̲.̶̠͓̉ ̵̺̩̅̋Ĉ̷̪͍o̴̜̰̎̈ṇ̶͠t̸̹̳͝r̸̆͝ͅȏ̵̘̆͜ḽ̷̐̌l̵̖̠̀͂i̶̖͖̍̕n̷͙͓͌ǧ̸̬ ̸̭̈̅p̷͈͆͜ä̴͚ȓ̶̟̌t̸̡̮̅̂s̷͚̚͠ ̶̩̓͆o̴̙̫͒͝f̷̜̕ ̵̤̋y̷̙͎͐ȍ̵̠̰͂ū̴̙̀r̵̲͝s̸͚͖͑̿ẽ̶͍͖̈́ḷ̶͆͗f̷̰̅ ̸̡̽f̷̜̑͝r̵̮̼͆͛ơ̴̭̒m̴̗̈ ̸͔̞̅̑a̶̹̩̽̈f̷̯͈̎̚ȧ̸͈̃r̷̡̭͛͘ ̶̫̑́o̵̱̪̓̿r̵̺̽̎ ̵̢́͗s̵̖̆í̴̳m̸̢͕̊͝p̸̬͛̎l̶͎̤͌̑y̸̨͉͌̂ ̸̯͔̆k̷̡͒ņ̸͘o̴̥̗̅w̸̮͋i̴̪̳̍̇n̸̤̑g̸͚̰̋̏ ̷̺̯̍̐ẃ̶̲͘ḣ̸̩̭̕a̶̭͗́͜ţ̴͔͊ ̵̫̙̂͝ő̶̘̲n̵̝̯̒e̷͓͆͐ ̷͎̈͜ô̸͚͝f̵̨̖͋ ̶̰̇̓u̸̱̬͑ş̷̦̇ ̸̫͑í̶̪͗s̴̙̖̎ ̴͎̯̅u̴̥̿͝ͅp̷̟̭̒̕ ̵̫͕̆̏ţ̴͑͜ö̷̳̺́̈ ̵̫̈̏ȧ̵͕̘r̷̳̫̐̓ę̴̮̃ ̴̹́̓a̴̡̽͠m̵̘̆͝ǫ̷̨̈́̈́n̵̩̺̈͘ġ̶̱̝̽ ̸̢͓̈́̔t̷͎̆̔h̶͓͝o̵͎̅̋s̸̘̽́e̵̛̞̱͊ ̴̹̲̈̚a̵̤̪̕b̷̥͆̔ḯ̶̢̖̇l̴͎̀i̸̧͈̾t̶̪͂i̷̙͐̕e̵͎̟͆s̷͈͗.̸̡͚͌͗[/o]
Ohhhkay then. Well, I might as well tell you what prompted it; Twilight found that nasty hole you left in my shirt, and I managed to bluff my way out of that situation.
[o]>T̸͓̜͛̈h̷͖͎͝ẽ̸͙n̸̝̾̓ ̵̣̈́̍ẇ̴̱͕e̷̻̮̒̀ ̷̦̐a̴̟̿r̸̟̍̅e̸̙͈͝ ̶̨̟̿͠s̸͕̃͜t̶͖͑͜ì̸̪l̵̳̑̿ļ̵͍̉̈́ ̷͓̕ś̸͈͙̋a̵͔͐̚f̶̦̉̈́e̶̳͋?̵̨̙͑[/o]
For now; just remember to not do anything to change that.
[o]>P̸̲̋̍a̵̺̒̂ț̶̱́i̴̮͊̇e̸̱̞͘n̸̹̽c̵̘̫̈͌ę̷͔̓͋ ̵̟̔͗í̵̧̮s̵͓͆ ̵̺̗̓ỏ̷͔̬n̴͔̎ͅe̴̗̩̐ ̷̠́ö̶̱̲́f̶̛͖͗ ̵̫͉̇o̵̟̓ͅu̵̪̍͐ŗ̸͊ ̸̜̙̎̓v̸̠̌̽ï̸̘r̸̦̓t̴͈͐u̴͎͉̾͂ĕ̵͖ŝ̴̬̠;̷̲͆̑ ̶͈̍͝ẃ̵͎͔̌ě̴͉ ̸͖͐͝ḧ̷͉͙ã̸̻̳͛ṽ̸̻ȩ̵͎́ ̸̢̗̔͛w̷̰̄a̴̰͘i̴̦͝t̵̰̹̄ȇ̶̦̞͆d̸̖̞͐ ̶̖̱́͂t̷̲͘h̴͓́i̴͎̒͜ś̴̜͜ ̵̞̭̑l̴̺̋o̸̭͍͑n̷͙͆͌g̷̭͐͝ ̵̳̾t̵̯̂õ̴̗̲͠ ̵̘̾́ē̴̢̦̚s̷̺̃̆c̵͚̎͌a̷̠̰̋́p̷̘̏͘ȇ̸͈,̵̢͍̀ ̵̢̰̆à̸̫̱n̴͚͑̀ö̷̘́t̸͎̂ͅḫ̸̐ͅĕ̶͙r̷̼͚͗ ̵͈̔͆f̵̦̾̈́ȩ̴̉̉w̸̙͗ ̸̛̗̈ḑ̷͑͝ä̸̮̬y̵̻̑s̴͎̓͘ ̵̧̓̾i̶̢͙͐s̴͈͆ ̷͖̼̃͝t̶̛͈̊r̴͙̬̉î̶̲v̸̮̞̇ǐ̴͔͙a̷̻̓l̸̹̰̿̔.̴̜̕[/o]
>And soon enough, another few days is indeed up
>You and Astra have spent the time exchanging further information about the plan ahead, with you trying to convince it to take your side and it doing its best to bring you to its, all the while you two playing up your relationship around Twilight
>At the very least, you're going to make this interstellar monster honor the deal!
>It's T-minus about 10 minutes before purple teleports you all back, and you're going over some last few things with Astra while Twilight's off packing her equipment
I'm just going to say this now, NO ASSIMILATIONS when we get back. I've said this numerous times, but I'm seriously not kidding. You start doing anything like that, I rat you out to Twilight and we both die.
[o]>Y̸̟̲͑̃õ̴̬̪̑u̸̜͆̚ ̸̮͙̊̽h̷͍͋͜ȁ̶̜̪͌v̷̼͑e̷̦͍͂ ̷͖́s̵̛̰̜a̵̛̤͘i̶͉̽d̵̫͔̋͝ ̶̭̠͆t̵̝́͂h̶͉̚i̵̺͐s̷͚̑,̷̺̻̈ ̸̲̙̏y̴͕̭̑e̸̓͜t̴̳͙̉ ̵͍̻̑͆ẁ̸̘̾ẻ̵̝̗ ̷̧̹͐ś̴̟͋t̶̗̽͒ỉ̷͉l̶̫͜͝l̵͈̱͋ ̵̹̄ṡ̶̨̗͋ë̴̺̙́e̸̠̝̋ ̷̝͘ǹ̶̬̈ȏ̵̜̰ ̷͎͇͝r̴̭̳̈́e̵̫̓̈́ͅā̶̪̽s̸̠̉o̶̞̐̕n̸͍̬̄ș̶̢̅ ̶̲̣͑a̶̢̛͘s̷̤͓̑͌ ̷̰̑̃ť̸̙o̴̝̺͆̇ ̵̻̊̊ẇ̷̫h̴͎̥̿̌y̶̞̔͂ ̷̮̤̒w̴̮̄̕ẽ̵͕̣ ̵̢̎͗s̶̻͑̚h̵̭̝͊̉ȍ̶̱̳̀ù̴̖ĺ̸̮̍d̴̺͠n̵̯̆'̵͉̺͑t̵̡͉̋.̶̭̏[/o]
Because Twilight will fry both of us where we stand, and even if you get rid of her, then we still have to worry about the two magic users capable of flinging celestial bodies around like they were tennis balls finding out and throwing us into the sun before crushing the remains with the moon.
[o]>T̸͖͓̅̊h̴̹̟̍ė̶̤n̷̯͗ ̵̘͑w̵͙̅ȩ̴̍͝'̸̦͂l̸̩̝̓l̴̫̑͗ ̷̦̏͘ä̸͔́̏ś̵̹̮̓ṣ̸͐i̵̢͙͂͌m̵̬͗͘ȋ̸̪͘ḽ̵̡̽ȧ̷̧t̸̞̚e̵̜͑͜ ̶̤̫̐̌t̸͖̆̀h̸͓̀e̸͔̎́m̶̠͋͂ ̶͚͗t̷̟͐̉o̴̢͕͛õ̷̲͜.̷̢͍̎͌[/o]
They're surrounded by a small army of guards at all hours of the day and night, many of them also magical and all of them knowledgable of all entrances in and out of the castle.
[o]>A̷̰̾͝s̶̩̉s̸̮̚i̵͔̊m̸̱̻̈́i̵̩͂͝l̷̳̀̌ā̸͠ͅt̴̨̤̓̎ȩ̶͉̏ ̷͈͌͘͜t̷̨̀͂h̵̰̰̀́e̵̖͛ ̸̩͆g̷͕̈́u̸̞̯̅a̸͓̥̍r̶͙͎̂d̸̼̬̀s̴̛̯̖̑,̸̝̼̽͆ ̴͎̮͂͆d̶̜̊̈ǫ̵̮́ ̶̜̟͗͂y̵̧̠̅̐ǒ̴̞̗ű̵͍ ̵͔͘n̶͙͔͠ö̷̮̪́̓t̸͈͂ ̶̰́ș̸̯̋͊ȩ̷͖͐́e̴̩̤̐ ̸̜̩̾h̸̯͒o̴̟͖͆̀w̷̙͛̌ ̴̠͝ä̷̤͖s̷͍̤̓́s̶̰͇̚ỉ̵͉̟m̷̊ͅî̴̫̯̌ḻ̵͗̿à̶̮̑t̷̬̣͌i̸̛̲̐o̵̹̣͆ņ̵̈́ ̷̥̝̐̃s̴̞̈o̸̡͔͆̒l̵͎̈́v̸͇́ͅë̴̱̹͠s̸̖͑̚ ̸̨̹̓̒a̶̻̲͂͝l̴̢̟͛̋l̶̫͈̓̎ ̴̢͓̒̄ő̷͜u̷̬͓̐͝r̸̡͑ ̷̲̊͒p̸̙̈r̴̛̖͎o̷̟͆͒b̴̡͝l̶̰͆ë̷̱͖͌m̴̹͙͑s̵͍̽?̸̲̍[/o]
I see how it solves all YOUR rpoblems, but it only gives me more to deal with.
[o]>Ŵ̴̮́e̷̖͂̑ ̶̪́ẁ̶̪ḙ̶́͛r̷̩͘è̵̼̜n̴͑͝ͅ'̸̻̼͑t̴͉͛͑ ̶̢̿r̷̬̊͗ĕ̴̳̃f̸̤̾̍e̵̹͖̓ṛ̷̦̇̉r̷̗̓ĩ̷̗̀n̸͍̩̕ĝ̵̹ ̴̯̗̾t̶͇̩̆o̶̠̐̅ ̴̭́ȳ̴̬ö̸̙͆u̴̡̠͌̈́ ̸̠̉ị̷̽n̷̳͠ ̸̟̖̀t̸̢͐̏h̸̳͛a̶͇͕͠t̵̢̰̓ ̵̼̖͑͘s̶̮͎̕t̵̢̩̓̇ǎ̷̳̉t̶̘͠e̵͍̦͆m̴͖͖̈́ḙ̷̿n̵̗̈t̵͉̖͛ ̸͉̖͌̚a̸̛͇̰͝n̶͓̾́ͅd̶͈̣͛̓ ̴̺̋͂ÿ̸̦́̔o̸̻͑͜u̷̡̻̾ ̴̧̓k̷̙̱̑͘n̷̨̓o̷̲̙̍̓w̸̟̉ ̶͖͛i̶͎͚̓̓ṭ̴̈́̒.̴͔̫͒[/o]
>You chuckle internally at that statement, solely for the reason that the unfeeling alien monstrosity is slowly picking up some of your phrases
Regardless, do not.
[o]>R̷͇̻͐̎ë̸͚͝g̵̳͝a̷̺̐̽r̴̺̿̂ͅd̷̳̺̓l̸̪̿̈ḝ̴s̸̫̃͊s̴̖̿,̶̯̲͛ ̷̫̦̐͂Ĩ̴̼ ̸̢̯̀̎w̵̧̻͒͝i̷͕͉̓̌l̷̖̯̎l̶̳͐̇.̵̻͔́͐[/o]
>"Alright, I'm finished packing. Are you two having a staring contest, or something?"
>You and Astra both turn to see Twilight standing in the doorway, a small mountain of cases and bags floating in the air behind her
"Yeah, we figured it would kill some time while you were gathering..."
>You gesture to the aforementioned mountain
"... All that."
>"Yeah, it's a lot, but I needed to pick up where I left off last time I was here and it took me long enough to get these two weeks booked. Had to make the most of it, you know? Astra, you get it, right?"
>Astra takes a second to register that it's been put on the spot, and answers accordingly
[o]>"Sure?"[/o]
>"Eh, kind of a weird question I guess. Anyway, get ready to teleport in 3... 2... 1..."
>A brief flash of purple later, all three of you along with your luggage and Twilight's copious amount of crap are all back in front of Twilight's castle, under the moonlight
>Another flash fings out immediately, and all the crap and your luggage are off in their respective storage locations
>With all that taken care of, Twilight decides to open another dialogue
>"So, Astra, Will you be fine getting back to your own house from here?"
[o]>"I'll be fine, no need to worry."[/o]
>"Really? because I can handle any train fare you may need, or-"
[o]>"No, it's fine. I actually don't live too far off, so I'm cool."[/o]
>"Fantastic! Then I guess I'll leave the rest to you; it was nice meeting you, and I hope to hear from you again!"
[o]>"Likewise, Miss Sparkle, I'll hopefully see you soon."[/o]
>Twilight then outstretches her hoof for a shake, which Astra reciprocates
>You can see it all in slow motion, and hear it in your mind
>Astra going crazy because it's about to eliminate one of its biggest problems on the planet
>Twilight, blissfully unaware of the monster about to consume her in her entirety
>All of it crescendoing horrifyingly until-
>A bright flash erupts from the point of contact between the two, temporarily blinding you and putting off more than an uncomfortable amount of heat for your new body
>When your vision clears, you see a bright aura and some crackling static surrounding Twilight as she stares down at Astra's now self-mutilated form
>"Figured as much."
>Before you can register anything else, you and Astra are now both contained within a floating magical sphere
>"Now, I know you aren't likely to listen to me, but it would be better for you if you did."
"Wait, you knew?"
>"Of course I did, no ships were present within ten miles of that base and most unicorns can barely teleport a mile. Not to mention the fact that a pony doesn't just forget about a wound they get, miraculously heal it, and then grow a new one when they've been caught in a lie."
>Oh
>"Now, this can either go one of to ways. I know you're intelligent, as you not only have a grasp of Equish but also were smart enough to realize you weren't getting out of there without my magic. Because of that, I'm willing to let you go on the condition that you don't act on your parasitic urges, but instead become a functioning member of society."
>By this point, Astra has reassembled itself into a semblance of its previous form, only with fangs, a few more eyes, some tentacles, and a glare that could burn a hole through solid steel
[o]>"And if we refuse?"[/o]
>"Then I vaporize you here and now."
>It's at this point that you look over at your bubble-mate and inject yourself into this conversation
"You know, it's kinda funny; I told you exactly what would happen if you tried anything, and it happened. Not saying I told you so, but I ... kinda just did. Why did I even add that..."
>Astra's glare turns off of Twilight and on to you
[o]>"We can see inside your mind as you can see ours, you had just as little knowledge that that would happen as I did."[/o]
"Fair point, but that still doesn't fix the fact that we're both stuck in the bubble now."
>At this point, you just simply decide 'fuck it'
"Twilight, I've been trying to talk sense into this thing for the better part of a week and I couldn't. You might as well just kill us."
>Twilight doesn't immediately respond, but she does do something
>She splits the bubble
>Not in a way that would cause it to open, you're just now separate from Astra
>"Anonymous, if that really is you, then tell me something only you would know."
>Uhhh, sure?
"You're deathly afraid of quesadillas and I decided to make your birthday breakfast a plate of them?"
>Twilight's eyes narrow at you for a moment before she begins pacing, eyes still on you
>This goes on for a few seconds before you realize what she's doing
"Look, I'm pretty sure we both know that Astra takes the memories of anything it's assimilated, so I'm not sure why you asked me that."
>"I'm also trying to see if you're acting uncharacteristic, but I'm going to need help to figure out if you really are still you."
>A fat lot of good that does, then!
>"Hang on, let me call somepony."
"Huh?"
>Twilight ignores your exclamation, instead opting to close her eyes and place a telepathic call
>A few seconds in, a look of recognization crosses Astra's face
[o]>"No. No no nonono [i]N̴͉͂ͅȮ̴̱[/i].[/o]
>Twilight continues to ignore everything around her and continue the call
[o]>"W̵̩̔ͅe̸̘͝ ̵͚͊̃š̶̜w̴͍͖͗e̵̗̠̿͝a̷̜̅ŗ̶̍͜ ̷͎̳̆̚i̵̪̓f̷͇̎̈́ ̴͚͑y̴͕͕̍ơ̴̧̩͘u̷͕͚͝ ̷̧̊b̵͓̩͒ŕ̴̜̖ĭ̴̟n̴͚̲͠g̶̘̲̋͑ ̷͉̈h̴̘͌̕e̷̺̹͊͒ȓ̵̭͓ ̷̨͋h̸̝͙͑ě̶̻̀ṙ̸̜͂ệ̶̓,̸͓̃̚ ̵͔̑w̵̞͌͂e̷̘̘̿ ̵̖͛͜w̷̲͐͝í̴̱ľ̶̢̟l̷̘͛ ̸̨̪̊̐t̶͙̒e̵̞͛a̸̱͠͠r̶̙̓̽ ̶̥̆̏y̴̻͂̂ò̸͖͖͝ṳ̵̡͋͗ȓ̴̡̟́ ̸̱͗̐m̶͓̟̅ȋ̵͇n̵̗͖̍͂d̵̫̬͗ ̸̰̜̇ą̵̨̌̏p̴͖̎̈́a̴̘͐r̴͙͌t̷̜̓ ̶̧̛͛á̸͓̬͠n̶̤̑́d̷̰̰̄ ̵̼͒f̶͙̊l̴̞̞̈͠ä̴͖̞́͆y̵̼̝̚͠ ̷͓̤́y̴̜͎͝ȯ̴͍̀u̶̟͑r̸͙̘̈́ ̷̨̿̏s̵͙͔͊̉ǒ̵̮͚u̴̫̱̾l̷͓͛̓ ̸̳̖̚ä̴̡͔́͠s̸̡͚̈́ ̸̖͗w̵̫̪̑è̵̱̼ ̸̜̈̈c̴̛͚͌o̸̡̹̒ņ̸̥̂͒ś̵̰̜̓u̴̞͘m̶͕̒̌ë̸͇̜̋ ̷̖̳̐y̸̼̽o̷̢̯̓û̸͓r̴̫̹͑͠ ̵͕͋ͅf̴̞͖̕l̸͔͕͊ẹ̶͎̋ș̶̡̾̈́h̴̥̓!̸̗̫̅"[/o]
>Astra's threat barely has time to end before Twilight returns to the present
>"Wow, she really wasn't kidding then!
>Astra lets out a screech somewhere between jammed blender and lion kicked in the nuts and begins slamming itself against the bubble containing it as Twilight looks on with a slightly amused grin
>As you look on at the scene playing out before you, you begin trying to figure out what pony could know anything about Astra
>Well, it's obviously someone capable of agitating Astra greatly, something not even you could do with your constant pushing
>Could there really be a MacReady here?
>As you continue to puzzle further, a previously unknown presence in your mind begins to make itself known
>It appears Astra's noticed too, as it's only increased its efforts at escape
>As the presence finally reaches an undeniable point in your head, you hear a voice ring out behind you
[p]>"Hey twilight, you rang?"[/p]
>... Pinkie?
>You turn around to get a firm answer to your tentative question
>When you do, you see that bubbly pink mare herself glanicng between you, Astra, and Twilight
[p]>"Ooh, you even managed to bring it back too!"[/o]
>"Yeah, problem is it got Anonymous and I can't tell if she's still in there or not."
>Pinkie nods energetically before bouncing over to you and staring at you through squinted eyes
>You can't help but retreat a bit to the other side of the bubble, but you move back when you realize how that might hurt your chances of getting out alive
[p]>"Nonny, is that you?"[/p]
>Uhhh...
"Last I checked, I'm still me. Only difference is, now I'm a lovecraftian monster."
[p]>"Mmhmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm... Likely story, but I know that the REAL Nonny would've answered that her best friend Pinkie should already KNOW she's her!"[/p]
"Ohshitohshit- does this mean I messed up?"
[p]>"Nah, I could tell that you're still you the instant I saw you! I just wanted to goof on ya, that's all."[/p]
>As you breathe a sigh of relief, Pinkie drops her overly serious expression for a more fitting grin and some mild laughter
>"Pinkie?"
[p]>"Yep, it's Anonymous all right!"[/p]
>Twilight then lets out a sigh of her own before dropping you out of your bubble
>"Thanks, that's a load off my mind."
[p]>"No prob, anything for a friend!"[/p]
>"Anon, if 'Astra' really didn't completely assimilate you, then why didn't you tell me?"
"I'll tell you if you start explaining some shit to me, like why I can see the inside of Pinkie's head!"
>"I'd think that if you can do that, you should already know the answer."
"But.... But when? How? If you didn't trust me, why do you trust her? How long has-"
>"I figure if you're going to have that many questions, then I might as well start from the beginning. It all started the last time I was at that base for research, and I brought Pinkie there for company. She also got infected by 'Astra', but unlike you, she was very up-front about it and even warned me about it. For the rest of the expedition, I kept her quarantined and monitored. She complied, nothing came up, and when we both came back, I kept her under even heavier observation for about six months. Again, nothing came up, so I just dropped it."
"That just leaves me with one more question."
>"Shoot."
"Pinkie, how did you get free of Astra's control? I'm only like this because of something that it said is a rare mistake to make unintentionally, and I have a hard time believing it happened twice."
[p]>"Idunno! I was just trying to be friendly with it, but it got mad and then I got my body back!"[/p]
>This is when Astra interrupts the proceedings
[o]>"I̸̟͌̑ ̶̞̽͜͠r̵̡̜͌e̷̛̠ͅṁ̸̺̩̏ȏ̸̭̩͒v̴̬͖̀e̶̺̼͑d̵̳͠ ̸̫͔̆y̸̲̎ö̸͓̠́̈́u̷̧̥͝ ̶͉̼̅̑f̸͈̓̓ŗ̸̓͠ò̴̼͗ḿ̶̛̬ ̵̡̞̿u̷̗̚ͅs̵̫̦̈́̏ ̷̧̝̋b̷͎̻̍e̴͓̙͒̀c̸̺͛͝ā̵̖͝û̷̮s̸̝͝e̸͎̩͝ ̷̟̥͂͛ẏ̵̺͆o̶̰͐u̴̦͂̅ ̷̮̭͛w̴̖͌e̴͖̽r̸̝̫̂e̴̛̻ ̴̜͉̍̍ċ̴͖̬̔ą̸̕u̷̢̮͒̈́s̷̬̈́ì̷̧̏n̷̥̙͑̎g̷̥͆͘ ̵̺͝u̴̢͇͠s̸̾̾͜ ̵͍̖̊̀p̶̹̄h̶͚̄ý̸̗ș̴̫̍̿í̴͚̰̚c̵̨̮̈ḁ̴͊l̴͈̽̉ ̷̼̂̆a̶̝̞͝g̴̱̉o̸̝̿n̷͙̲͂ỵ̶̛ ̶̻̍̊w̶̭̅͘ȉ̴̖ť̷̪̻ḥ̸̊ ̶̢̭͂ŷ̸̨́o̷̻̍͝ṳ̴̾ȓ̵̹̄ ̵͔̀͑c̸͈͛̕o̶̟̖̊n̸̬̂̌s̸̼̍͌t̸͕͙͗a̵̗̐͂ň̴̠̯t̷̻̤͑ ̸̝̑̉c̸̱̜̿̏h̸̟́ǎ̸͙ẗ̸̙̼̕t̵̡͗ͅe̶̯̕r̴͙͗̇ ̸̲͑à̸̪̤̀n̸̩̈́d̷͙͐ ̷̝̾̉ö̴͉u̴̺͌͘t̵͎̒ͅr̴̦̈́͜i̶̬͒ḡ̶̥̹h̶̩͂̚t̷͕̐͝ ̷̤̱̄r̵͎̈͗e̸̜̖̓̈́f̷̥̉̂ǘ̸̩s̶̥̣̀â̴̙̕l̴̜̕ ̷̢͓̾t̷̝̕ǒ̶͚̐ ̷͉̦͊j̷̛̩͋ō̴̹̼ȋ̷͓̀n̷̜̬̐̕ ̷̼͗͠p̴̤̃̕ŗ̶̯̑̄ọ̴͍͒̉p̴͎̍̐e̶͉̲̐r̴̻̖̈l̵̡͚͑͘y̴̰̜̌́ ̶̅͜͠í̵̻̕n̴̠̒̌ţ̶̖̑ȯ̴ͅ ̵̖͑͜t̵͓̬̄͊h̶̜̓͜͝e̶̺͌ ̸̲͑c̶̖̻͊͝o̷̥͚͂l̸̗̈l̵̠̏̉e̵̲̒̌c̵̫͋̿t̵̮̾î̸̗̱v̸̜̮̂e̸̛͙̍,̵̠̜̋̀ ̴̜̼̆e̶͖̕s̷̥̦̽̚p̵̗͛e̸̲̓c̸͎͔͌i̶̜͛a̸͓̒͠l̵̡̩̈͆l̴̛̞̠̚y̶̮̦̓ ̶͍͑w̴̓ͅi̵̛͔̿t̶̮̖̔ḧ̸̦͔́ ̷͈̖̅͠y̸͕͋́ò̵͈͉ư̴̪͙̆r̶̦̾̆ ̸̨̆ụ̷̺͒t̷̮̍͛t̵͉̐͌è̴͙r̴͍͛͊a̷̠͝ņ̷͘ć̷̰̘͝e̴̪͂s̴̜̈́͂ ̴̟̣̀̿ò̶̰͍̽f̸̳͘ ̸̱̙̆̉'̴̼̰͛͝ḷ̷̡́̒i̷̠̞̋ǵ̶̘̄h̶̝̆t̵̝̏̉e̷͙͐͘n̶͖̾͂͜ ̴̼̐ü̴̖͖͝p̵̼͎̐'̵̦͕̉ ̵͕̌â̸͍̚n̸̯͂d̶̳̦̔̍ ̷̺͌͝ͅ'̴͎̝̅l̴̻͘͜e̴̝̓͛t̷̺̘̂̄'̵̩͉̓s̷̝̦̅ ̶̥̈́̏b̸̭̀e̶̠̓̅ ̶̢̖̅͝f̸̳̭̌̾r̶̲̭͐͝i̴̢̾͘e̵͉͐n̸͇̂d̷̼̘̓s̵̗̥͑̀'̴̬͝.̵̯̜̅͠"[/o]
[p]>"You haven't changed a bit, have you? Oh well, I'm so excited you're here now, so now you have to be my friend!"[/p]
>Astra releases a low, guttural growl before giving its retort
[o]>"W̸͖͒͝ẻ̵͙͜'̷̢͠d̶̢̊ ̶̺̭̽s̶͇̿ơ̵̧͝o̶̹͇͐n̵̙̜̏e̵̹̎r̶̮̔ͅ ̸̱̻̿̀p̸̧̤̊ä̴̛͕s̸͕̃ś̸̹̚ ̷̰̫̅̀i̶͖͒̕n̴͇̥͋t̵̳̬͘o̵̧͎̓ ̶͓̎e̸̗̦͆͆t̷̤̐ȇ̴͉ṟ̵̿̓n̸̹̈́ị̶͑̍t̷̗̦̿̕ŷ̸̥͓̿ ̵͈̣͛͋t̶̫̘̔ḩ̷́̃ā̷̱n̵͕̟̊ ̶̧̦̃j̸̟͠o̵̫̾͝i̴͔͛n̴̩̑ ̸̯͌͝y̵̯͆o̴̦̺͘ũ̶̝ ̵̯͝i̶͇͔̾n̷̩͓̊͝ ̴̥͎̀a̶̲͗͊ǹ̸̯̇y̶̯̾ ̸͎̈́ẅ̷̘́͠ȧ̶̡̩̽y̸͉̍.̵̯̼̌͛"[/o]
>"I'll have to take you up on that, then."
>The bubble then begins to glow as Astra begins freaking out within
>After another second, it finally caves
[o]>"A̸̺̒l̵̙̋ṟ̶̝̄͘í̸̹̯̎g̷̡̬̊h̷͕̅̚t̷̠̎̏,̶̡͗ ̵̫̈́̇c̸̝̒é̸͎̹͊ă̶͓s̸̰̐̚e̷̲̓͠!̵͕̯̀̅ ̶̘̅W̵̙̋ě̵̀ͅ ̴̄ͅs̸͉͌̈́h̶͕̹̓͝a̶͙̾̈́ͅl̶̩̪̀̇ĺ̵͚̣ ̴̰̦̍ḫ̷̜̉̀u̶̢͇͗m̷̖̗̈́o̸͕͊̑ṙ̷̨̬̽ ̴͖́̐y̸͕̠͋͒o̴͍̺͂u̵͍͇͑ ̴̫̀f̵̧͖́ô̷̗̓r̵͖̜͠͝ ̵͚̺͌́t̷̺̳̿͐h̷̳̼̄ë̸̥́͐ ̴̝̽̕ṯ̷̱̉i̸̩̩͘ṁ̵̺̚e̵̚͜ ̵̙̝̒b̷͙̔e̸͍̺̒i̶̡͝n̴̼̘͘g̷̬̋͋,̴̡͓̾͌ ̶̡̯̒̈s̶̳̙͂ȏ̷͍̀ ̴͚̦͋̓ḛ̶̳̀n̴̞̙̆d̶̬͌ ̶͔͌̒ö̶̧́̅ǘ̵͈r̶̫̋ ̵̝̲͐̋t̴̼͚͌ơ̵͋ͅr̸̫̥̔m̷̧̛͍̕ė̶͇̈͜n̴̟̱̋̕t̷̝̅!̷̧͕͊̚"[/o]
>"Wow, you really don't like heat. That temperature was still within known records of certain deserts, and you already found it unbearable. I'll have to write that down..."
>The bubble stops glowing and Twilight pops a clipboard and pen out of thin air to note down this information
>Astra takes some time to settle down again while she does, probably so it can stop itself from repeating the situation when Twilight spells out the deal
>"... Alright, you already know your two options. Either become a functioning member of pony society without assimilating or consuming anyone, or be removed from this mortal plane to save it from you. Make your choice."
[o]>"Í̴͙͔̍f̷̮̔̕ ̶̳̓ý̸̳̤ȏ̴̜̳̓ŭ̴͕̦̑ ̸̙̓͝a̴̱͋͒ŕ̶̤e̶͙̟̕̚ ̵̖͝g̷͈̫̈͆ǒ̵̖̫ï̷̱n̴̼̈g̷͓̓̚ ̴̭͌̂t̴͍͓̿o̴͖͙̾̾ ̸̯̊m̴̟͓̏͝ȁ̷̢͘k̸̗̜̽̓e̷̪̋́ ̶̚͜ó̸̖u̸͈͗r̴̼̃̏ ̵͖̉ḑ̸̺̄̃e̶̛̹̔a̶̳̐t̷̰̀̿h̴̹̪̏̕ ̸̙̮͗͗a̵͉̬͌̀s̶̘̃ ̷͈́̀i̴̬̜̇n̴͇̖͠s̶̼̲̎u̷͕̼͐͝f̷̢̦͒f̶̫̓ḛ̷̎́ṙ̷̗͑a̴͉͗ͅb̴̬̋l̸̮͍̿e̸̙̝͊̔ ̸̞͛a̵͚͒̈ŝ̵̠ ̸̮͑t̵̢̪̀͛h̴̙͛a̸̩̽t̵̻́͝ ̵̞̩́̊'̴͓̉t̴̡̔̀e̸̻͉͗̋s̵̛̳͖̅t̸̹̀'̸̲̘̄͌ ̵̿̌͜o̷̺͊f̶͈͌̕ ̸̻̚y̴̨̎o̴̭͓͊̈́ú̸͈̗r̷̥͛s̴̝̤̎̇,̸̱͈̂̅ ̸̗̆t̴͔͒h̵͉̒̆e̵̦̚ǹ̶̰͉͠ ̴̹̿ẅ̸̡̪́ḛ̷̜̍̊'̵̙̄͘l̸͔̂l̶̖͊ ̴̯͕͒̚ṫ̷͓̪ā̵͍k̷̫͚̀è̸̩̼̽ ̶̫̀ͅw̶̖̑̂h̶̤̩͌â̴̞͚ẗ̴̘̠͝ ̵̡̄̊l̴͕̑ͅi̸̙͐f̴̦̼̔̾e̷̖̒͋ ̴̧͍͛w̷̟̒̔e̶̗͙̓̔ ̵̱̞̍c̵̼̥͒a̸̭̰̓n̶̬͑̿ ̴̬̈́g̷͎̗̕e̷̘̞͆t̵̳̍͠,̵̦̯̾ ̴̺͙̌̎s̵̤̲̀̋ï̷͜m̷̱̱̊̃p̸̜͎̉l̵͖̣̐͒y̸̼̿̚ ̸̺̋̒͜f̷̞͗̏ͅo̶͕̘̔r̵̥͉̊̀ ̴̛̦͜t̶̛͎̲̀ĥ̸͖̲ę̵͗̃ ̶̛͎̕c̶͖͋͠h̶̤̍a̴̻̻̔n̵͎͋̈c̶̛͈e̸͚̊ ̴̛̰͌ͅo̵̞̓͠f̶̻̎ ̷͇͂͝e̵͓̖̐x̷̠͆̿a̴̗͌͒c̵̣̭̓t̶̺̠͐̔i̸͖̓̍ņ̴̠̎ĝ̵̡͊ ̶͔̟̆̓r̵̰͇͛͝è̴̡̗̃v̵͍̌e̵̥̠͗͝n̴͈͈͒̒g̸̾̅ͅe̶͔̺̓ ̵̙͒͗ú̷͚͜p̸͈͌o̷̙̞͆n̷̘͈͊ ̴̠̤̕ÿ̷̲̥́̌o̵̥̥͑̓u̶̡̨̾.̸̦̃̍"[/o]
>"If you really want to be let out, then that's not a good way to start."
>Astra stays silent for a few moments, but you can feel the impotent rage radiating off it as it mentally steels itself to do the one thing it never thought it would ever have to do
[o]>".̷̢̤̅.̸̰̫̈̄.̸̡̣̈̀ ̶̢̄̚P̶̼̿l̴̗͒͜e̷̦̟̓a̷̜̿ś̶͎̔ͅè̵̹̲̍ ̴̼̹̈́̈́r̵̆ͅe̸̼̒l̷̡̂ë̶͚̫́̋a̵̞͠s̷͉̜̾ẹ̷͂̃ ̸̭̍m̸͓̈́́e̷̽͜,̶͈̲͋́ ̵̥͊̑w̸͍͘e̶̼̟̐ ̵̯͂a̴̩̯̐͌c̷̙̈́͐c̶̥͇̿͂e̵̗͌p̸̪̻͌̚t̷̹͇͊ ̸̛͙t̶͓̦̄h̵̛̠̯͝e̸̞̍͜ ̴̱̓̚t̵̜̩̾e̷̟̫̎r̸͙̆m̴͙͉̿̔s̸̼͆̅ ̸̛̙̬̈a̸̤͈͑̄n̷̨̓d̴̦̂͘ ̶̞̮̋͊w̸͔̝͋ḭ̵͝l̴̞̆̏l̵̪̐͜ ̴͈͘͘â̸̙s̵̟̘̾̽s̴̨̬̅̒í̸̜̿m̶̬̙͌i̷̜̞͒ĺ̵̳̫͘ä̸̖́t̴͖͓́é̴̹͔ ̵̳̎i̷̓̿ͅn̶̝̕t̸̗͛͜o̷̭͉͒ ̶̱̿̆y̸̦͔̅ò̵̲͙ű̴̘r̴̭͆ ̷̡̾s̸̼̎m̵̳͎̊a̷̛̺̲ļ̵̣̐l̴̺̐̀-̵̬͖̎m̴͕͚̈́̑ȋ̸̟̗ņ̸̪̑d̸̛̯̲̄e̶͍͈̍d̸̲̣́̉ ̵̼͛s̵͗́ͅp̷̠̏e̴̞̯͐̋c̷̯̹̕i̴̳͗́é̸̳̮̎s̸̪̾ ̵̢̲̓ŵ̴̲̿í̶̞͕t̷͈͝ḩ̶̻̌o̴̰̽ų̴͇̔t̶͚̊̍ ̷̜̽̃g̶̠̃į̴̟͌̔v̶̟̜͗͌í̵̦͝ṋ̵̭̇ḡ̴͍͑ ̶̱͓̈̽y̴̙͎̓ȍ̷͚̜ų̸̣̑͂ ̴̮́͌å̷̻̾l̵͓̳͆l̵̉̊͜ ̴͖̟̓ť̴͎́h̶̭͎̀̚ĕ̵̳̇ ̸̗̬̒̑b̸̟͕̈́l̶̠͋̚e̵̘̿̕s̴̗͑ͅš̷͚͎i̴͔͊n̴̯͝g̸̘̑ ̷̖͊ó̵̭f̸̩͖͊̕ ̵͔̠͗ù̴͙̹̊n̷̼̓i̴͈̞̿̕ť̸̨̥͠ỷ̶̪.̸̰̤͐"[/o]
[p]>"Mmmm... Idunno Twi, it didn't seem honest to me."[/p]
[o]>"S̶̰̬͆͗̕I̴͙̫̬͈̤̊͌̕L̸̙͖̦̟͐̆͊͂E̶͈̿Ǹ̶̗̖̺̈́̏̏̚͜Ć̶̥̤̭̃̈̂́E̶͔̔͆̿̚,̴̢͎̞͌́͑͑̎ ̴̘̘̘̞͒P̶̧͇͉̂̈́̚Ï̸͚͆N̶̹̠̘̲̂ͅK̶̘̭͕̇ ̷͇̃͆͋T̶̲̹̕̚Ŭ̶͔̟̦̄Ḿ̸̧̰̘O̵̢̪͉͈͆͆̿Ȓ̷̥͝!̷̯̽̇̏͊̕"[/o]
[p]>"And that's just plain rude!"[/p]
>Astra lets out a frustrated shriek, briefly exploding out into a mass of flesh more akin to what you first encountered in the snow before once again regaining composure
[o]>"W̴̩̬͛͆e̷͎̾ ̷͈̊̍h̶̘̯͑a̴̘͈̾v̴͔̐e̶̦̊ ̶̧͂͜͝a̷͕͂ḷ̴̦͊r̸͕̞̂ȩ̸͈̄â̸̺̮͌d̴͈͖͌͗ý̷͚ ̸̖̫̔a̷̲̍ġ̷ͅr̷̺̜͋̃é̶̹è̴͖̃d̴͍̥͐̉ ̶̙̈t̶̞̞̋͑o̵̲̓ ̷̝̝́ỳ̴̘̎o̵̱̗͠ù̵̡͚͌ŕ̶̟͖͝ ̵̢͌͐ẗ̸̞̪́e̸̻̔r̷̭̳̓͐ṃ̸̧̈s̸̟͇͌͝ ̸̞͙̌t̴͉̖͊w̴̯̗̆͛i̸̭̿̃c̷̖͉͆͑e̵͇̙͛,̵̻̰̔͗ ̵̘̥̄̍n̷̟͆̆ȍ̸͔̪ẅ̷͚ ̷̤͓̂r̵̗̘̎e̷̝͐́l̴̫͔̅é̴̟̰̀a̶̮͔͋s̶̩͗e̶̛̗̓ ̴̩̣͋u̶͇͈͠s̷͇͕̆!̴̧̥͊̾"[/o]
>From what you can sense, Astra's telling the truth
"Twilight, let it go. Astra's definitely angry, but it's also telling the truth there. It's willing to go along with your plans. Not happy about it in the slightest, but if I know my interstellar parasitic hiveminds, they rarely are in situations like this."
>"It certainly doesn't seem like it, at least from what it's said."
"Well, how would you feel if you were off uh..."
>Well, the comparison you were going to use wouldn't quite work, given the heavily pacifistic norms here
"Hang on, I gotta think up a better comparison. Give me a moment."
>Twilight sighs before replying
>"Take your time."
>Which you do, but you don't take too much
"Okay, what if you found a massive library with every book ever written free to read, but when you pulled a book off the shelf, it immediately slapped you across the face before demanding you A: not read any of the books there, and B: submit to their authority and spend the rest of your life acting like a book under threat of death?"
>"I'd leave the library."
"Okay, now what if you were always inside the library and there's no way out?"
>"Look, I get what you're trying to say, but if 'Astra's really going to stay true to its word, then it should be able to at least make an effort starting now."
"Astra has made an effort by agreeing to your terms! It has submitted to the fact that it's not the be-all end-all of life, and that at least in this moment, you're stronger. Besides, even if Astra ends up going back on its word, you've got two of us here that can track down every last piece of it so that you can reduce them to ash before things get out of hoof."
>Twilight looks back to the bubble containing the still-fuming ponybomination before turning back to you
>"... Alright, but you're in charge of keeping track of it."
>Twilight then turns back towards the bubble, lowers it to the ground, and opens it up
>As Astra begins reforming completely into its disguised form, Twilight addresses it again
>"You know the deal; no killings and no assimilations and I don't incinerate you. Got it?"
[o]>"We understand."[/o]
>As the manufactured voice's words ring across the silent landscape, you feel Astra's presence in your mind downgrade from full rage to a low simmer
>"Good. You'll be under Anonymous's supervision, and Anon-"
>Twilight turns to face you now
>"-you'll be under Pinkie's supervision. We'll get the details of how this will all work sorted out tomorrow, but I still need to know one thing."
"Hm?"
>"Why didn't you tell me about Astra?"
>Oh
>She didn't forget about that
"It's... It's not something I feel entirely comfortable saying out loud."
>"Then just think it to me, I'll hear it."
"Your telepathy works like that?"
>"It works with Pinkie, so if you can do telepathic communication, then it'll work with you."
>Okay then
Testing, can you hear me?
>Loud and clear!
Can anyone else hear me?
>You recieve silence on the other end, prompting you to look over at Astra and Pinkie
>When you do, you see that they're both very distracted
>Specifically, Pinkie's got Astra around the neck in a bear hug while explaining how they'll both become friends for real this time while Astra tries to force itself free
Never mind, then.
>So, what is it?
Well... As you know, when you turned me into... This, I ended up having to go through the other hoops of childhood like school. You ended up playing the part of my caretaker, but something still felt missing from all of it. I still appreciate everything you've done for me, but... I guess what I'm trying to say is, what's a childhood without a mother?
>Twilight recoils in surprise for a brief moment before she ultimately comes to a look of understanding
>So you made it promise to be your mother?
Yeah, it's kinda sad, I know.
>No, it actually makes sense in a way. I'm just sorry I didn't realize it sooner, otherwise we might not be in this mess! I guess I can work that into the plan, so you don't have to worry.
Thanks for understanding, Twi.
>Now, how about we get those two in on the plan as it stands?
You're not telling them I told you, right?
[o]>W̸͖̝̊é̸̪͕ ̵̼̔c̵̤̅o̶̹̊u̶͇͚̒l̸̯͉̒d̸̨̳͊͠ ̸͔͍͗h̸͉̾ę̶̂a̴̠͊ṛ̵̹͠ ̶̡͓̍̎ṯ̴̢͋͝ḥ̵̍͜e̷͖͗̐ ̸̟̎̐w̷̲̏ẖ̸͎͐́o̸̱͗l̵̻̙̿̍e̶̪̎͝ ̸̫̅́t̵̛͊͜i̸̛̜̦m̶͈̆e̴̖͌,̷̜̝̂́ ̵͖̌͜b̴͇̻́̈u̶͙͈͐ẗ̷́ͅ ̴̨̞̐t̵̲̠́͐h̴̟͛e̸̪̠͆̔ ̸̫̞̇̾p̴͈̪̓̕i̸̢̛̟ń̵̯k̵͈̐̀ ̶͓̿ő̷͚͜n̶̯̼̿ě̴̮̙̉ ̵̩͝ĭ̷͕͙s̴̩̚ ̷̞̳̔ḽ̸̜̈́i̸̽ͅḳ̶͗̅e̸̙̺̐̕l̶̫͗̌y̸͓͎͝͝ ̶̙̻͝ḋ̴͉̒͜e̷̲̿̒ͅa̸̞̾f̶̬͎͆͝ȇ̴͕n̷̈́ͅè̷̳͙͗d̷̦̠̈́ ̵̟̺̋b̵̞̣̌͠ỳ̴̭̐ͅ ̸̧̔͠h̷͈͊͛e̵̮̅̕r̸͍̼̾ ̵͉́̓o̵̻͖̾̄w̴̠̽n̶̘̰̕͝ ̶͍̺͐̀w̸̕ͅŏ̵͉͝r̵̝͂̇ď̴͈s̶͙̽.̴̖͌[/o]
[p]>Nope, I can hear it too! Don't worry though, I pinkie promise not to tell.[/p]
"Then I might as well have just said it out loud, huh?"
>"Maybe, but that saves part of the explanation. You and Astra stay together as you keep track of it and Astra plays the role of your legal guardian, Pinkie keeps track of you both and tells you two anything you need to know about your body and pony society respectively, and I handle everything administrative and any necessary disciplinary measures! We'll work out the rest tomorrow, but for now I'm tired. Pinkie, Anon, Astra's in your hooves."
>Twilight punctuates her speech with a yawn before heading inside to bed, leaving you and Astra under Pinkie's care
"So... What now?"
[p]>"Now, we should probably head back to my place so that we don't wake anypony up with any more noise. Isn't that right, miss grumpy? Or is it mister? What do you want me to call you?"[/p]
>If it wasn't clear from the way she was talking, the fact that Pinkie's mere inches from Astra makes the target of the statement obvious
[o]>"C̸̨̅̌á̸͚̗l̶͕̙̐̏ḷ̵̯͠.̷̺̐͊ ̷̠́̊M̸̻̽͐ͅē̸͙̩.̴͕̖̅̈́ ̶̮̈́̚Ȧ̴̯̯s̸̫̎t̵̬̪̄̎r̵͈͂̀a̸͕̣̿͂.̵̲̹̋"[/o]
>The sheer disgust radiating off the 'mare' almost triggers your own gag reflex, but Pinkie still seems completely oblivious
[p]>"Alrighty, Astra! Let's go back to my place so that I can get you both situated!"[/p]
>Pinkie then leads the way back to her place, you following behind both her and Astra, much to the latter's dismay
>Once you all are there (with no mishaps, thankfully), you decide to start asking some questions
"So, Pinkie, how long have you been like this?"
>She puts on a face of deep contemplation before coming to an answer
[p]>"A while."[/p]
"... A while?"
>A firm nod answers you
"No specifics?"
>Ponk goes back to thinking for a moment before coming back with another answer
[p]>"At least a year, I know that much."[/p]
[o]>"Two years, thirty-six days, four hours and 13 seconds."[/o]
>You look over at Astra, a bit concerned as to why it would know the exact numbers
[o]>"There isn't much to do out in a perpetual snowdrift, so we count time between assimilations to pass it without losing focus."[/o]
>Fair enough
>But wait, that would put the assimilation sometime within the events of the show's timeline!
>Even more questions!
>You turn back to Pinkie, eager to ask more questions
"So all that stuff you did, like with the prehensile mane and growing a fake hand as a party trick, all those were because of this?"
[p]>"Mmhm! It's also how I keep so many things inside my mane, I'm actually just moving them into my body through the back of my neck and back out when I need them."[/p]
>Dang, you've got a lot to learn
"Okay, duly noted."
>From here, Pink shifts her attention to Astra
[p]>"Astra, any questions?"[/p]
[o]>"No."[/o]
[p]>"Are you suuuure?"[/p]
[o]>"Yes."[/o]
>Ponk gets right up next to Astra and cocks an eyebrow at it, barely masking a smirk
[p]>"Are you [i]really[/i] sure?"[/p]
[o]>"Completely."[/o]
[p]>"Are you ABSO-"[/p]
[o]>"W̸͔̭͛͋ě̶̦ ̷̺̎ḥ̴̌ḁ̴̪̑v̴̪̑e̶̱͛ ̷̦͎̑̕a̶̜̯͌̚ș̵̊s̴̰̅̍ḯ̷̜͜m̵̟͠i̴̥͗͠ḻ̵̇̆a̵̤̰͆͑t̵̟̅e̵̙̒́͜d̸̑̎͜ ̶̗̣͋̄t̸̙̓w̶͍̾o̸͉̫͘ ̸̟̈̾ḅ̵̦̄e̷̘̫̾́i̵̧͋n̸̡̛̈g̶̬̰̍̽s̸̼̣͘ ̴̳̀̌w̸̽͜ị̷̤͒t̵̠͛͛h̷̹̙̒ ̸̨̜̉͗k̶̘̫̆ṅ̴̨̬ǫ̶̺̾ẅ̴̲́l̶͇̝̚ȩ̶͕͗̓d̶̼̾̆g̶͖̺͋̆ẹ̶͚̽ ̷̼͘̚ŏ̸͔f̶͕̘̏͑ ̵͉͈̄t̷̟̆h̸̺͇͑͠ï̸̝s̷͖̞̿͊ ̸̼̈́͛ẘ̵͖͙o̷͚͗͌r̷̥̰̆̿l̴̮͆̄ḑ̶̩͂͗,̴̛̣ ̵̭͈̑w̴̘̗̄e̸͚͇̿̋ ̴̛̳̚ñ̴̥͎é̶̮̎ë̵̢d̸̩̖̐͂ ̴̫̝̉n̴̼̏ͅő̵̦ ̴̳̀̽ě̷͇̚x̵̯̂p̸͓͋l̸͈̂â̵̘̫͝n̶̝͙̏͝a̵͚̐ẗ̸̩͙́͐ì̵̖o̴̗̭͋n̷̬̒̋s̵̹͕͆̆,̶̫̫̔̈́ ̶͕̈́͆è̷̠̹͠s̴̡̫̔p̸̛ͅè̶̢̨͊c̸̞̿ĭ̷̻̖͛ȧ̴̙͝l̸̘͊ļ̵̜̔̄y̸̦͑̽ ̶̞̈́̆f̸͖̆̆͜r̴̨̅o̸͓͔̚m̷̢̹̔̓ ̸̡̎o̷̥̕n̶͚͎͛e̸̼̿ ̶͚̎̍ö̴͍́̈́f̸̧͇̿̿ ̴̖̩̀͒ţ̷͚̈́h̵̘̖̆e̶̳͐̽ͅ ̸͂ͅt̶͈̽ẅ̴̙́̐o̶͓͙͘ ̸̨̺̍͆b̸̘̜͋ë̸̤͔ĩ̷͚n̸̥̈́g̵͇̜̃s̶̖̀ ̴̥͝ẗ̵̳́̉ḧ̷̩̞́a̶̙̓͗ţ̷͙̑̕ ̵̞̌g̷̥̜̈a̸̺̠͐͋v̸͙̑̅ẻ̸̻ ̷͎͔̃̇ǘ̸̢̐ṡ̶͉͜ ̶̦̏t̵͉͑̂ĥ̴̨͍̎ȋ̶͈͉s̵̪̥̈ ̷̺̆̔k̷̩͔͝n̶̢̻̏͠o̶̯͘w̵̧̄l̸̝̒ẻ̵́͜d̸̟͐g̷̨̻̎̽e̴̞͆̇!̷̭̅͗"[/o]
[p]>"Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm... Oki doki!"[/p]
>With this, Astra releases itself from Pinkie's grasp and slinks over to a corner to sulk in a flesh pile of its own creation
[p]>"So, any more questions I can answer for you?"[/p]
>You think to yourself for a moment, but come up with nothing
"Not at the moment, but thanks for asking."
[p]>"No prob, just tell me if anything new crosses your mind!"[/p]
>Wait, you just found a question
"So, uh... I actually just thought of one."
[p]>"Hm?"[/p]
"How do I avoid infecting anything?"
[p]>"Just don't try to! Your body only does what you tell it to, so if you don't want to infect anything, you won't!"[/p]
"No matter what?"
[p]>"No matter... Well..."[/p]
>Pinkie forms a hoof into a hand to begin stroking her chin in thought
[p]>"Just don't get... 'Intimate' with anypony and you should be fine."[/p]
>Wait
>But how does she know that if there weren't any incidents during her quarantine?
"How do you know that?"
[p]>"I don't, it's just a hunch. I figure that if any 'private parties' happen, it'll end up infecting your partner."[/p]
>Well, that makes sense
[o]>"I̸̙̎̓t̸͉͙͆ ̵̢̘̈d̴̞̙̄̕o̵̬̮̒̾e̸̬͝s̸͓͋n̷̪͛'̸͖͛͜t̸̛͈̋ ̶̘̊̉ẅ̵̥̹́o̵͕̟̐͝ȑ̸͚͠k̴̙̭̂̄ ̶̱̃ḻ̵̢͘ỉ̶͈̕k̸̝̗̑ě̸͇͕ ̷̘̓t̵̝̘͂͝h̴̨̫́͌a̷͔̳̎ẗ̶̼̜́̆ ̴̯̂ë̵͖̕ĭ̶̮͎t̴̖͐h̴͕͍́͘ė̵̤͌͜r̸͖̃̑.̷̤̂"[/o]
>Both of you look back to Astra, now re-materializing into its disguised form
[o]>"W̶͇̭̎ȇ̴̠͛ ̴̤͓͂d̶̬̖̍o̷̗̫̓ ̶͉̀n̶͉͛ȍ̴̳̤t̶̻̣̆ ̵̗̉͘ṛ̶͂͛è̶̬p̶̻̣̓̔r̸̨͌̚ö̸̙́d̷̬̉u̶̗̔͠ĉ̵̢̗̈ē̸͚̤ ̴̲̊i̷͔̓̈́n̵̡̔͗ ̸̻̙̔͒ẗ̷͓́h̸̪̠̾͒e̶̘̾͋ ̷̮̐̕c̵̑̃ͅǫ̸̺̒̔n̵̬̩̕v̶̗͎̉e̶̦͝n̵͇̂ͅṯ̷̓̇ĩ̵̳͖͒o̵̝̥͋ñ̶̗̕à̷̭̻l̷̻̊̓ ̷̫̿̄ẉ̴̨̀a̵͕͝y̷̪̠̽̍ ̸̜̔̈́t̵̬̉̃h̶͔͙̒͠a̶͉͛̿ť̷̳ ̶̰̭͒̆ṯ̸̡͒ḩ̴̛̤̔ḛ̷̱̉ ̵̻͊͝l̷͙͘e̸̺̲͋ṡ̶̪͌ṡ̷͓͈é̴̢r̸͙̹̾͆ ̷̜͉̏̆b̷̖̠͝ḙ̶͖͒ī̶̹̓ń̶̚ͅͅg̷͈͔̏s̷̙̉͒ ̷̧̻̀͝ḋ̶͍͕͆o̴̪͆,̸͖͖̒ ̸̠̩̍ș̶̢͋̈́ó̷̝͙̎ ̶̪̈́̃y̸̢̋õ̴̱̺u̶̧̼̇̓r̴͈̎ ̴͔͑̕v̴̖̀e̴̦͛r̷̨̄ṣ̴͛í̴̪̤ọ̵͑ṇ̴̛͙͋ ̸̘̣̅̏ŏ̷̮͎̓f̴̺̏̊ ̵̢̀i̴͆͘͜n̴̼̕ͅt̵͔́i̴̩̞͌̋m̸̙͂ǎ̶̰̇ć̴̪̕y̵̧̝̋̅ ̷̹̿̓h̵̫̎á̴̭͙̈́s̴̢͇̉̾ ̴͔͑͜n̵̬̈́̔ͅô̴̜̤̈́ ̸̦̱̚m̷͍͘o̸̝̚r̵̳̈́e̴̝̜͋ ̷̛͍͍̈́c̷̩̼͌h̴̥̳̅̇a̵̰̬̓n̵̫̥͐̕c̴̗͑̐e̵͉̅͑ ̵͈̍̃ó̷̭̈́f̴͖̼̃̅ ̸̞̈́̈́a̶̖͋̕s̷̨̮̏̚ś̴͓i̸̧͉͋m̷͖͍̈́î̶͓ĺ̵̟a̶͔̐͝ţ̷͔̅ỉ̷̼̼ó̵̺̩n̷͕̂̄ ̴̨̺͐ṫ̵͕̒h̷͉̖̉a̷̡̦̍̐n̴̬͍͋ ̸͉͓͊å̶̤n̶̠̽ŷ̴͍ ̵̰̏ǒ̵͕̥̕t̸̤̽ḧ̵̟́͆e̵͉͛r̶̩͝ ̷͎͈̈́̀f̶͚͎̂́ỏ̴̝͉ȑ̴̦̘m̸̠̰͆ ̸̪͛̆o̷͎̚f̵͈͑ ̶̙̕p̴͕̐h̸̻͒y̷͖͝s̶͍̀į̵̳͋c̴̟̭͋̑ä̴̰́l̸͕̙͒̾ ̷͇͎̀̿c̸̝̝̏̑ō̵̖͛n̷͔̎̀t̵͇̟̋ȁ̷̙͛ͅc̴̥̓̌t̵̜̳͝.̷̹̤̀̏"[/o]
"So you're saying that even if I went back to my old body and came inside somepony, they wouldn't be infected?"
[o]>"Ṉ̸͎̆o̷̼̚ẗ̶͙́͝ ̵̛̳̾u̵̖̐̅n̶̫̄l̵̳̣̎̓e̸̫̯̊̈s̴͉̉s̸̡̛̞ ̶̗̎y̷̢̖̌́ơ̸̼̚ȗ̶͉̂ ̸̯͊d̷̠͋̉ë̶̲͈́̎s̴͚̒̈ï̷̮ŕ̸̢̺ê̴̗d̴̥͓̿̀ ̶̮̂̓t̶͖͕̿͝h̴͈̀ȩ̸̦̈́m̴̟̑ ̴̯̔t̶̖̗̀o̶̼̓ ̴̡́͒ͅb̸̜͈̋͆e̸̼͍͆.̸̨̱͗"[/o]
"Okay, cool. I'm free to go off and pick back up where I left off before I became this without any problems!"
[o]>"A̴̢̍͗t̴͓̐ ̵̧͌͘l̶̺͆e̷̡̞͘a̸̰̐͒ś̵̮̑ţ̶͓̀ ̸͙͇̐͆y̷̠̆ỏ̴̻̼ṵ̴͋̎ ̷͎̺͘h̷̝͠ă̷͚͉̒v̴̖̣̏e̷̕͜ ̷̰̭̐͝f̴̖̆́o̴͓̾u̶̮̓n̸̼̅̈́ď̷̙ ̸̨͕̈s̴̘͚̈́̇o̴̳̮̎m̷̧̪̃e̸̪͚͊ ̶͕̑j̵̳̈́o̴̝̺̚ŷ̵̧͊ ̷͓̩̉i̷̤̱̽n̶̯̱̆̉ ̴̯̙̐͝t̷̻͌̀h̶͍̓ī̷͕͆s̵̘̩͊.̷̨͒͝"[/o]
>Astra starts walking back towards the corner, but you go over and stop it
"Don't be so down, you're still alive and even though this isn't somewhere you want to be, you've got us to help you get eased into it!"
[o]>"D̷̦͑õ̵̡̗̅n̴̬͐'̴̙̉t̸̟̍ ̴͓͓̆y̷̦̘͋o̵̟̳͊u̶̠̒͘ ̵͕͇̿s̸̠̐t̸̟̣͗a̸̰͠r̵͎̼̒t̷͇̅ ̴̪̆ẅ̵̯́͠ͅi̸̺̹͆t̷͈͋̃h̸̼̠̔ ̴̬͋̽t̵̨̹̓͒h̷̡̯̒̔ḁ̶̳͂͝t̵̠͂͜ ̶̭̎̈ͅt̷̺̺͑o̸̬̅o̴̫̓,̵͍̏̈́ ̶̘͆̔ͅŴ̷̹́e̸̙̬̒'̷̡̥̕v̴̨̈̊e̷̖̭͊ ̸̦̆͂ǵ̸̰͇̏o̷̙̚t̶̖̑t̴̬̑è̶̱͎͌n̷͖͔̈̾ ̵̞̙̈́̇m̴̺̈o̴̙̱͒r̷̛͓͈e̴̼̹͛ ̷̛̹̌t̷̫̊ḥ̵̈́͜a̷͉̝̕n̵͉̠̓ ̸̤͂̄o̶͉͛̕u̵̳̜͐̓r̷̥͛̍ ̸̫͊f̵̦̓̐ĩ̵̡͉l̷̫̆l̵̞̆ ̵͙̣̔́f̶̖͗̾r̷̢̋ȏ̶̡̼͂ḿ̵̠̲ ̸͍̉̓t̸͕̤̄̔ḥ̸̳͌e̷̢̦͆̆ ̵͉̥͂̔p̵͈̒̀i̶̗͂n̶͖͑͠k̸͍̝̆ ̷̼̽̆ỏ̷̟̻n̸̯͆e̸̯̦͛̃.̸̧̳̈́̉"[/o]
>You take the hint and back down, letting Astra return to its corner of choice
>Astra spends the rest of the night there while you and Pink continue discussing things until you both become tired
>Pinkie asks if you want to go with her to her bed, but you politely refuse and opt to take the couch
>However, you have some other ideas
>Once she's gone, you go over to the flesh mound and curl up next to it on the floor
[o]>W̷̨̗͆e̷̻̤̎ ̸͔̬͠á̸̭͠r̷̲͕̔e̴̟̱͑͠ ̶̤̐̈́c̸̪̰̋̐o̶̤͐̄ṅ̷͎͌t̴̹̟̀e̷͍̰͒n̷͖̈́t̴̠̎͝ ̴͔͘h̴̛̺̖̿e̸̖̠͐r̴͈͕̉e̴͙̔,̵͖͖̐̑ ̷̨͝y̶̛̟o̸̮͑u̴̝̽ ̸̪́n̴͔̰͊̃ȩ̸̭̇͠è̷͍̓d̵̝̫̑ ̵̛͚n̵̘͌͝ō̴̟͝t̸͓̀ ̴̻͐͝ͅs̵̎͜t̷̺̞̎à̵̘ý̶͚̰͊ ̸̠́̾n̵̩̍ͅę̴̡͑͐a̸̭̚r̷̦̀͋ ̵̧̂̉ų̸͔̑̍s̸̘̱͋.̵̰͇̃́[/o]
I'm happy being here too, don't worry.
[o]>Y̵̗͂e̸͇͙̽t̶̖͔̀ ̶̛̭͜ỹ̵̙̞͠o̴̙͑̈́u̴͙͂ ̶̤̓̅s̴̯̗̒a̸̹̽͝i̸̜̟̐d̵͈̏͜ ̶͙̬̈́y̸͈͋ơ̷͓͌u̷̘͗ ̷̪̀́ͅw̸̧͕͗̎ȏ̸̢ư̶̪͖̍l̷͉̘̊́d̴̪͛͒ ̵̟͝c̸̩̣͝l̵̜̗̋a̷̛̦ḯ̷̜̀ḿ̷͉ ̷̤̩͝ả̵̘̗ ̷̰̐p̴̼͖͒̆i̸̙̝̚ē̵͐͜c̸͚͐ẽ̷̖ ̷̪̗̓o̷̪̒f̵̱̈ ̵̘̗̌̏f̴͚̯̓ū̸͚̅ṙ̵̛̮ǹ̶̞̎i̸̩͠t̴͙̹͛ű̴̗͚̎r̷͖͇̋̌ė̶͈̱ ̷͇̀̋t̸̜̽o̷̦͛͑ ̵̧̞͘s̷̢̿͠t̵̗̫̏̓a̴͕̯͑ỷ̶̧̐ ̵̡̩̌̇o̶̝͔͌̚n̶̰͍̄.̵͚̈́[/o]
So I did.
>Astra doesn't respond for a moment, but eventually a mental sigh leaks into your consciousness
[o]>T̷̤̓ͅh̴̜͠ȅ̸͉̽n̸͓̠̏̍ ̶̮͎̀ẙ̸̥̳̚ơ̴̙͍u̸͖͛̈ ̶̱̊m̵̥̪̏͆ȧ̸͈͕ý̴̛̱̱ ̸͙̄s̵̝̑͗͜ṭ̵̚ā̴̼̄y̶̤͓̅̉,̸̪͗ ̷̳̻̔̈ḯ̷̟͍f̵͎̎ ̴̬̋y̶̠̝̌õ̸̱̀ǘ̷̪ͅ ̴̩̀t̶̯̝͌̿r̵͍̎ư̴̼̫l̸̬͙͂͆ý̵̭̙ ̶̨̳͝w̵̟͍̅̈́i̸̞͊š̷̫̚h̶̙̼͋ ̸͓̺̃͘ẗ̵̳͎́͗o̸͕̔͝ ̷͎̖͊b̷͕̪̃ě̸̳͂ ̴͙͝h̷̳͍̔e̶̢̊̚r̵͈̈e̶̻͑.̴̨̓[/o]
>You stay silent, letting sleep take you
>Sure, you may not need it anymore, but it still feels nice
>Before you completely go unconscious though, you feel two things
>Astra's no longer feeling as irate, and some of its biomass shifts to cover you
>.   .   .
>Morning comes surprisingly quickly, and soon you awaken to Astra's form shifting around you
>When you open your eyes, you see that it was turning back from a pile of assorted flesh into a pony
You're up early.
[o]>Ẅ̸̙͜è̸̡̫͌ ̵̺̎ṅ̸̳̟e̴̙̱͛v̸̖̻͋͑ę̴͋̕r̵̪̂͜ ̵̱̠̒̆s̴͖̊̋ḻ̸͛̍ͅȅ̸͉̀ṕ̴̠ẗ̸̤́.̸͓̱̍[/o]
Oh?
[o]>Y̷̢̭̏ȍ̶͚͆u̷̧̹̾ ̴̣̥͆͋s̵̤͐͐e̸̙̍͘e̵͇̎m̷̤̪̈́ ̵̖̣̈́̍t̸̡̒̆ó̷͕̍ ̶̤̓̋n̵̫͂͂ö̵̯́̀t̷̪̀͠ ̷̘̳́k̵̥͙̏n̵̲̳͌o̶̺̾w̸̡̨̿̚ ̵̙͌t̶͍́̚h̷͖̽͛i̶͙͚͒͂s̶̙̦̍̓ ̷̹̗̄y̵̟̌e̶̡̚ͅt̴͙̾̎,̸̦͙̀̿ ̴̘̠͗̌b̴̨͋̆u̷̪̠̒ẗ̸̯ ̸̖̉j̸͛͜u̶͈͌s̵̥̫͋t̸̺͔̉̆ ̵̝̀̎l̸̦͝ǐ̷̟̕ķ̷͈̓̽è̶̟̬ ̴̝͕̏̅o̴͉͎̓u̴̞̔̚͜r̵̺̠͆ ̴̠̈́k̴̗̂i̵͓͋n̸̺̑͜ḓ̷͆̍ ̶̼̈̆ć̸͈̚ả̴͚̫̒n̵̦̿ ̸̱̑͘c̸̢͋o̷̱̺͐n̶̮͊t̸͙͂͋r̴̡̞̎̓ǫ̴̪͂l̸̹̗̄ ̷̗̺̅͆ǫ̶̊ư̷̞͕̿r̴̗͒ ̶̞̜͒̃b̷͍̅̂ͅo̶͕̙͘d̵̥͐̏į̸͑̏è̷̢͕s̴̫̞͑,̵̫̝̎̿ ̶̡̠̀̆w̵̲̄e̵̫̒̅ ̴͎̍́c̸̛̫̘͂ȧ̷̗n̸̤̺̊ ̷͉̝̄ç̴͋͌o̷̥̿͛n̸̙̒ț̷̡͗̈́r̴̼̆͗ö̵̻͛l̷͔̱͝ ̶̗͂̿o̷̳̰̔̇u̸̳͕̅̎r̵̛̞̙͂ ̴̧̘̍m̸͖̕i̸͔̪͝n̸̤̎̈ͅd̶̮̅s̶̜͕̋͂.̴̰̺́ ̸̺̠͂̉S̶̘̒̏l̷̝̘̃͠e̸͓͂̄e̶̲͕̐p̵̡͑ ̵̡̖̊ȉ̷̘͝s̵̥͖̓n̴̦͌ͅ'̴̱̱̔t̸̳̖̽ ̶̡̰̄̌n̴̮̒e̷̱̗̾̂c̷̟̘̆͗e̶̲̲̓̈s̸̙͠š̶̻̚a̷̙̹͑ŗ̸̺͒́ỷ̷̬,̴̡͍͐͘ ̶̡͓̒̐m̵̝͗̎e̶̦͌r̶̢͝ĕ̵͓̹̑l̵̖̭̐̍y̷̢͐͌ ̷̪̽ș̸̒͘ŏ̴͙͙m̸͕̏e̷̡̻͗t̷̤̾h̶͓̽̂ị̸͉̒n̷̽͐ͅg̶͓͆̀ ̴͖̑t̵̙͐̒o̴̓͜ ̸͕̓̽p̴̯̿͘a̴͕͍͗̋ṡ̷̻̖s̷̞̗̓̚ ̶͓̆t̷̬́ī̸̫m̵͖͇̎ẽ̷͜ ̴͎͘͠w̷̹̜̉h̷̲̊i̸̤̩͠l̸͍͌ḙ̸̝̕ ̴͍͙̋̚u̴͉͓̎̒n̴̨̫̅ḁ̴̕͝b̴̰̬̋̍l̷̪̕e̶̠̞͝ ̸̨̒t̸̳̦̅ō̷̜ ̴̝̙̀͠a̵͓̘̕c̶̝̓c̴̡̾ọ̷̈́m̶̦̱̒͛p̸̰͙͆l̶͓̲̈́̏ĭ̴̢̯̈́s̶̢̤͊̆h̵̨̟̋ ̶͈̜̓ọ̵̩́u̸̫̒̕r̶͉̈ ̴̦̰͆m̸͚̈a̸͇̩̿̏i̴̙̭͂n̶̡͇͊ ̸̺̀̈́o̸̗͂b̷͔̓̈́j̸̘̖̾e̵̛̩̿ć̴͍̱͝t̵̰̊̚ḯ̵̮̦̿v̶̲͉͒e̴̳͐.̴͍́[/o]
Dang, how do I learn to do that?
[o]>Ṭ̶́ḩ̶̰̐ẽ̴͕̽ ̴̥̩͒s̶̪̈́a̵̲̠͒̂m̷͕̲̂̂e̴̯̣̽ ̶̨̼̃̉w̴̳̏ă̵̲͉y̶̪̆ ̶͇͙͊y̵̩̗̋o̷̳̒u̸͍̺̽͂'̸̛̥v̴̛̛͍͕e̵͍͍̾ ̵̭̰̿̎l̶̫͒e̸̩̅̕a̶͑͝ͅr̶̛̥͗͜n̶̜̒ḛ̸́ď̴͜ ̸̙͝a̸̡͉̓l̶͎͊͝l̴̹̦͑̐ ̸̻͕̀̾o̴̮̦͊f̴̦͎̒ ̶̻́y̵̰̠͐̈́o̸̯͒ù̴̟̿ȓ̸̞̙ ̷̳͆̌ơ̶̟t̵͙̥͠h̸̻̣͗̽e̷͇͘͜r̸͙̈́̕ ̷͙̊͐a̷̳̅b̶̝̫͘ḭ̸̓l̸̦͘ï̵̞t̶͇̭̑͑i̸̛̠̜e̴̝̖̎̿ŝ̷̭̤͌ ̸̙͂ù̴̧̖p̶̙͔̽ ̸̛̦̰̎t̴͚̞̔̒ơ̴̬̯̍ ̴̡̆̈́ǹ̵͓̖͛ơ̷͙w̵̻̗̓̈,̵̞͕̐ ̵̢͉͑ị̶̙͒f̶͔͆ ̴̡̝͐t̵̨̿h̵̡̻̀ẳ̵͈̮ṯ̴̥̄̽ ̴͔̗̃̾t̸͈͋͛r̸̘͍̀e̵̼͠n̶̨̆͊d̸̼̓ ̶͇̅h̷̯̀͝o̴̦̊̽l̵͕͖̎d̵̼̝̏s̷̨̻̈́ ̸͚͇͌t̸̤̅r̸͛͜u̵̲̭̚e̸̻̔̕.̸̭͂̃[/o]
Huh... Neat!
[p]>Whatcha talkin' about?[/p]
>You turn away from Astra and towards the source of the mental transmission to see Pinkie now in the room
"Not much, I just found out that I don't need to sleep."
[p]>"I knew there was something I forgot to tell you! Thanks for taking care of that for me, Astra."[/p]
[o]>"We didn't do it for you, we did it because we were asked."[/o]
[p]>"It's okay, I know you just wanted to be helpful!"[/p]
>Pinkie punctuates her point by bounding to Astra's side and hugging it
>Astra responds in turn with a barely restrained snarl, which ponk completely ignores
>Let's see if we can diffuse this, can we?
"So, what's going on today?"
>Much to the brown 'mare's relief, this brings the pink mare's attention off it and on to you
[p]>"We're going back to Twilight to finish getting all the legal stuff sorted out, and then you two can start getting your own house together."[/p]
"Cool, cool. Anything specific?"
[p]>"I have no clue!"[/p]
>Pinkie's grin stays persistent as you stare, first at her but then more towards the ground, and recall the events of the last night
>Yeah, Twilight didn't really give any specifics
"That's fair. So, when should we go?"
[p]>"Mmmmmmmmmmm... I'm not too sure either, I guess we can wait until Twilight calls us or until around 10 to check it out."[/p]
"Alright, what time is it now?
>Pinkie takes a moment to check a nearby clock before answering
[p]>"It's about 8."[/p]
"Then we have time to kill, I guess."
[p]>"Then I'll get out some party games!"[/p]
>Pinkie runs off to another room and kicks up a commotion there, so you sit back and wait
>Astra, however, takes this opportunity to flatten itself and hide under Pinkie's couch
Why are you going down there?
[o]>W̶͓͋e̷̛̞ͅ ̶͚̜͑͊c̴̥̣̽ä̷̭̙́n̶̢͕̄̿ ̴̲̀̿ḅ̴̯͆̕a̶͈̿̈́r̶͇̈ě̷̝̈́l̸̺̜̇y̵̘͂ ̶̫̫̓w̵͓̬͊ĩ̸̼t̴̞͎̅͝h̸̰͛͌ś̷̞̓t̵̳͈̀͝a̸̡̎n̴̡͑d̸̙̀̉ ̵̪͒́t̶̢́̇h̵̝̃ḙ̷̺̚ ̶̧͗b̵̰̀̋r̶͚̭̋̂i̷̖̿ė̸̡̜̏f̶̢̬̿̾ ̷̖̍c̷͈̫̆̉o̶̥̲͊̆n̷̲̓̀ẗ̴̤̥́̈́å̵͚͝ç̵̅ṯ̶̔̆ ̶̹͉̓w̵͉̌͜e̴̻͖̐ ̴͕͠h̵̩͑a̷̭̐͘v̵͔̆ͅe̶͌ͅ ̷̣͇́̐ẇ̴͈̠į̴̜̌͘t̶͍̥͗h̶͇̳̃̉ ̴͚̉̕ṭ̵̔h̶̰̪͝ạ̴̃͌ṱ̷̟͐͒ ̵̱͌m̶̖͇̅͋ó̶̙̭̿n̵̡̚s̷̩̑̋t̸̜͍̓r̵̢̦͂o̶̲̟̅́s̵͙͕̿ỉ̴̱̐t̵̳̩̂̆y̸̺͍̎,̴̻͂̀ ̵̪̠́w̶̱̄ẹ̸̈́ ̷̼̱̊s̴͇̉͠h̷̬̙̍̏a̸̫̒̇n̴̙̰͐'̶̖͍͝t̶̺̓͜ ̸̪̉b̴̲͗ͅe̸͚̤̋́ ̷̦̜̑j̶̦̇ͅö̷̮ͅḯ̷͉̀ń̸͍̪i̴̼̾͂n̴͓̻̍͛g̵͔̀͠ ̸͍̳̓ȋ̸͈́n̶̨̗̈́ ̶͖̓a̸̦̽ǹ̸̰̒y̸͔̐̕ ̷̛̗̊ȏ̴̪f̶̪͚̓̔ ̶͈̇̾t̸̫͔̀̓ḫ̶́̚e̵̱͊̑ ̶͎͈̿t̵̰̂̚ͅo̷̼͐̽͜r̸̫͒́t̴̮͐̓u̸̪͍̓r̴̩̎͋ͅo̷̺͊͌ü̷̼͋s̵̯̩͒̊ ̷̠͗a̸̡̗̓c̴̰̞͆͌t̴̗̻̄i̵̡̍̈́v̷̠̟̔̓į̴̱̍̆ţ̴̀͐i̶̱̯̊e̵̝͋s̸͙̅͝ ̴͇̀͘i̴̟̭̐t̶͚̹̎͠ ̶̯̦̽n̴͇̄̽o̶̦͉͠ ̴̖̒̀ḏ̷̀̒o̸͚̐͆ũ̵ͅb̴͈̣̽ț̴̠̄ ̴̫̌w̵̮̟̌i̸̛͓̩͗l̶̛̯̘̈́l̵̙̆ ̷̬́b̵̪͒͝ṛ̵͠ȉ̷̭n̵̝̒g̶̲̋͝ ̷̛͈̖̿ú̴̟͍p̴̲̏̍o̸̧̡̅n̸̻̏͑ ̴̩̆u̵̡̧̔s̵̨͈̑!̷̝͋͘[/o]
Dang, you really [i]really[/i] don't like her.
[o]>I̴̡̛̤̿n̶̦̙̑̌ ̴̤̄̓y̷͍̓͜͝ŏ̸̟̆ü̷̙r̶̹̋͝ ̵̳̉͊o̶̳̝͆ẇ̷̢̙n̸̡̈́͝ ̵̬̅w̷̛͖͎o̸̮͉̽͑ȓ̴̲d̶̕͜s̶̹̗̋̈́,̸̬̕ ̶̭͉̓͠'̷̢̾͐n̵̰̯̕o̵̼̿̐ ̸̜̬̋s̶̥̆h̵̻̊͌i̴̩͋̎t̶͎̉.̵͓̓̋'̴̢͉̊[/o]
Then between you and me, you're probably better off in the corner again since she'll just assume you want to play hide-and-seek.
[p]>What's this about hide and seek?[/p]
>Both you and Astra's attention turns back towards the doorway Pinkie exited from to find her standing in it
>A few separate game boxes can be seen wrapped in tentacles and pressed against her body, while a few others can be seen protruding from places where she obviously put them inside herself for transport
>To top it all off, she even has a box of playing cards in her mouth
>However, once Pinkie sees Astra's silhouette under the couch, they are all dropped to the floor
[p]>"OOH, I'll seek first and pretend I didn't see you there!"[/p]
>With that, Pinkie exits the room again and begins counting loudly
Sorry?
[o]>Ỵ̶͌o̵̖̺͐u̷̧̻͘ ̵̲̉̚n̶̯͎͑ě̴̟̼̊è̴̖͂d̵̻͊̇ ̶̝̈́̅n̸̖͔̅ȏ̶̥̒͜ẗ̵͕́ ̷͓̌͋a̶̓ͅp̵͓̔̄ö̶͇̠́l̴̰̹̅ö̸͔́ğ̶͇i̸̮̎ͅz̶̞̭͑ę̶̞͛̽,̵̧̫͝ ̸̹͗̚w̵̬̎͘ê̸͕̫̐ ̷̜͓̿k̶̻̾n̶͎̪̑͛ỏ̶͕̣͌ẁ̴̧̓ ̴̡͔̑̋ẏ̵̝ō̸̡̗̓ư̷̼͈̒ ̵̖̠̅̏m̵̯̹͘͝e̵̡͍͒̇a̸͑ͅn̶̟̅t̸͙̎ ̴̰͌̐ẅ̸̛̰́ę̴̪̏ľ̵̡͎̉l̷͎͠ ̸͉͙̄ị̷̺̒̚ṋ̵̮̏̕ ̶͉͌͋w̵̝͎̕a̵̲̓̋͜r̴̭̙̓͒n̸̍ͅi̵͚̩͘ņ̸͈̈́́g̴̡̟̏ ̶̗̈́͛u̶̥͈̇s̷͎̘̋͝.̵̲͗͘ ̸̞͓̋͐S̷̩̟̚i̴̫̭͌m̸͚̞͑p̴̬̱͛͐l̸̤͛y̶̤͗͠ ̵̙̔̿t̸͔́͠ẽ̵͈̼l̷̲̐ļ̸̠͌̈ ̶͈̈̐ͅu̸̹̼͆̊s̵̝͇͂͑ ̶̲̖̅t̴̳̓h̷͕̕͠e̷̤͂̒ ̸͍͜͠b̸̜̿e̷̯͂͛s̴̞̃t̵͍͑ ̷͔͑ḷ̵̃ō̸͍c̴̪͖̃a̸͕̜͘t̶͎͙̒i̴̞̐̚o̶̥͇͠n̶̻͌ ̴̀͜t̵̯̽́ỏ̵̧͖͘ ̴̬̝́̾h̷̩̓i̷̥̜̽̍d̵̢̓e̴̺̱̔ ̵̞̲͆̕i̷̮̭̍n̷̹̅͑ ̶̹̔t̸̹̙̃͠ơ̶̺̤ ̷͎̑̄n̶͖̏̍ỏ̶̼̼t̸̤̯̀̏ ̶̭͕́̏b̸̲͓̎̑é̵͉͊ ̵̩̎͠f̶͕̪͒̇ő̶̲͛ů̶̙̖̉n̴̪͆ď̶͓̝́,̵͉̪̍ ̸̢̏ͅs̶̬̤͂o̴͎͍͋̈́ ̵͓̚͝ṯ̶͂̀h̴͎̦͌a̵͎̯̎̚t̴̲̳͑ ̴̢̔w̴̥̓͛e̶̺͌ ̵̨͌̍m̷̜̖̄̑ą̴̐y̴̭̟͊ ̵͉̆́ḧ̵̡̽a̶̤̯͒v̵̟̼͂͊ẽ̷̯͑ ̷͔̘͋̋ṣ̶͌̚ȍ̷̤͆m̶̮͛e̵̙͆͠ ̸͉̈́p̷̛̣͕̒ẻ̷̤̫a̶̼̓c̵͇̓e̵̺͓͒ ̷̤̙̀f̶̡̛͎ő̴̩̐ŕ̴̪̑ ̸̭̋ṱ̷͐͒h̶̜̀ȇ̸͎ ̶̛͉̠t̵̞̎ì̷̟͘m̵̨͚̃̋e̶̬̻͊ ̵͕͝b̶̤͘e̴͎͊͝i̴̹͗͜n̸̫̎̍ͅg̵̘͈̎͒.̴͇́[/o]
That depends on how small you can make yourself.
[o]>Ẅ̸̢̬e̷̬̕ ̶͈̗̅c̸͖͒ȁ̸̲n̸̦͕̈n̵̗̈́͆ó̶̘t̸̉͜ ̵̟͉̎c̵̩͓̉h̶̦̪̽̀ạ̷͑͋n̸̳̯̋̀g̷̪̋e̵̢̢͐̔ ̵̙̒̅o̶̢͝ǔ̴͚̗̑r̶̆͜ ̶͔͂̐͜m̴̘̎̉ͅa̶̡̜͛s̵̻̀͆s̵̱̏̂,̶̣̫̕ ̸̧̀͒n̵͔̏͝o̶̠̕̕ŕ̷̘̓ ̴̞̌̕c̵̪̀ͅa̷̘͊ṉ̶͖́ ̸͎͙̍w̷̪͑̓ȅ̶̖̹ ̴̖̈̀c̴͎̱̽o̴͚̤͝m̵̥͉̈p̴̫͕̾́r̴̦̈́̑e̸͉̯̍ṡ̶̜͈̾s̷̭̋͊ ̷̪͝ḯ̶̹͍t̸͇͎̀͘ ̸̠̅͠b̷͔̩̈́e̷͈̚ÿ̴̯́o̷̮̽ṅ̶̛̞d̵̳͓̈̿ ̸̫̊ã̵̧̭ ̶̙̒c̴̪͂͝ḙ̷͒͌ŕ̵̯t̴̩͛̑a̷̪͍̋i̵̢̇ṅ̵̫͝ ̷̢̋̅p̵̝͙̏o̸̖̠͝i̸̼̐͘n̵̡̛̂t̵͖̗̂.̶͊͜[/o]
Well, what's that point?
>Astra crawls out from under the couch before shifting once again, this time to about your size
[o]>T̴̞̐h̶̩͂̕i̴̛̬̮͂s̴͙̠̎̽ ̸̘͖̈́͌i̵͇̕s̶̖̳͝ ̶̳̈a̷̫͆̊s̷̳̞̒́ ̴͉̋̌f̶̗́̎ȧ̷̪̠͆r̷͓̮̂ ̸̲̓̃a̵͇̓ͅs̴̯̾ ̷͎͎̌w̵͇͒͠e̵͍̾ ̵̧̳̍c̶̱̝͒̀a̷̭̱̍͝n̵̖͖͋̈́ ̶̹̥́͝g̷̞̽ǫ̸̲̅̇.̶̻̆[/o]
>Huh, not exactly optimal, but you can work with it
Okay, new idea. Split yourself up into pieces and hide those pieces inside all the game boxes. Sound good?
[o]>T̵̝́h̷̻̬̎̀á̵̹̘͝t̴̺̕ ̴͍̌s̶͉̙͊h̸͍͌á̸̡̤͗l̶͉̹̎l̸͖̑͝ ̸̣͂͗s̴̫͎͑͐e̵͈̎ȓ̸͓͝v̵̮͔̏̂e̵̹̍̇ ̷̥̊̄ų̶̜͝ś̷̼̖ ̶̩̒w̷̺̎̆e̶̪͔͒l̷̻͕͌l̴̖̈,̷͚̩̋ ̸̙͚̔͘ţ̵͚̚h̵͔̀̀͜ȧ̵̱͜n̸̲̂k̷̫͆̋͜ ̷͕̇ŷ̵̞ọ̴̝̏̽ù̸ͅ.̷̢̼͝[/o]
>And with that, Astra divides up into several smaller pieces and puts itself into a few of the different game boxes before closing them up in about the same position
>Now for your hiding spot
>You're not exactly looking to stay hidden for two hours, but you do still want to make Pinkie work to find you
>Time to test some of your abilities, maybe?
>And you even have an idea!
>First, you begin by transmuting your hooves into more broad, flat structures with something akin to gecko pads on the bottoms
>You then press one up against the wall to see if you've done it right, and since it takes a fair amount of effort to pull yourself away, you assume you have
>Now comes the trickier part!
>It takes a second, but you do manage to get your entire weight on to the wall
>So far so good...
>And after a few tentative steps, you've reached the ceiling
>One more tenuous transition later, you've reached the top of the room and begin the last phase of your plan
>You lay down (up?) and create more of the gecko pad surface on your midsection and flatten yourself out, and with perfect timing
>Pinkie calls out the magic set of words right as she enters the room again
[p]>"Ready or not, here I am!"[/p]
>Wait, you just realized something
>How is this going to be fair if you all can sense each others' presence and discern their location from it?
>Well, let's hope Pinkie isn't a cheater!
>She casts a few glances around the room first before going back towards the couch and checking under it
[p]>"Nope, not under here."[/p]
>Ok, so it seems she isn't so far
>Next, she moves over to the pile of games she dropped and starts moving them around into a flat sheet
[p]>"Nope, nobody here either..."[/p]
>Pinkie spends a bit more time looking around various furniture and under it, further convincing you that she actually doesn't know where you are
>You allow yourself a sigh of relief at this, but it comes out louder than you expect
>And just as you feared, you see one of Ponk's ears twitch
>She stops her search for a few agonizing moments, all the while you panic and realize just how open you are
>She
>Looks
>Up
[p]>"Found you!"[/p]
>FUCK
"You wouldn't have if I didn't sigh there like an idiot, dang."
[p]>"Oh well, now you can help me look for Astra!"[/p]
"Nah, if I helped you it'd just give away its spot since I helped find it to begin with."
>A flash of worry briefly crosses Pinkie's face before it returns to normal
[p]>"Astra's still in this building, right?"[/p]
"Don't worry, I would've seen it leave if it changed spots."
>And just like that, Pinkie's back to business
[p]>"So what you're saying is that it's in this room somewhere?"[/p]
>You... may have said too much
"I'm not revealing anything, Astra asked me to help it find a spot better than any other and I feel like I've done exactly that."
[p]>"Better than any other..."[/p]
>Pinkie scans the room inquisitively again, passing over everything in it with her gaze
[p]>"So then it's something that nobody would even think to check!"[/p]
>And with that, the search is resumed with renewed vigor as Pink tears through the room, checking literally every nook, cranny, drawer, and bin
>Whoops
>Sorry Astra, this spot won't last the 2 hours you wanted it to
>After another minute or so, Pinkie reaches the game boxes
>When she opens the first one, she immediately dumps it out and exposes the Astra fragment
[p]>"So that's where you are! Come on out, you've been found!"[/p]
[o]>Ỷ̸̡̪̀ö̶̜́̎u̵̫̭͐̽ ̶̥̠͂h̶̲̿a̶̯̽v̷̧̌́e̶̙̖͑̕ ̶͎͊ơ̵̯͚͝ñ̷͕l̵̻͈̚͝y̶̱̜͒ ̷͕͇͂f̶̨̛̜o̴͇͔̿̾ų̷͙̾̾ņ̸͂̓d̸͚̙̍ ̴̹̈͝o̷̥͌̿ń̸̜̟̒ẻ̷͈ ̴̣͑s̶̡̏̉m̴̧̥̌ȁ̷̟͒͜ļ̸̳͐̓l̸̖̈́ ̷̪̇͌p̷̬̃̈́a̶̯̓͘r̸̢͕͑͝t̶̬̃ ̴̓̈͜o̶̮̯̒f̶̧̋̓ ̴͕̈́m̵̤̞̾͝e̵̮̥͆͂,̷̞͉̚ ̷͎͇͋͌n̷̗̆̂ơ̸̼̯͗t̶̛͎̹ ̷̘͝m̸̟̎̒y̸̖̓̕ ̵̹͐é̸͇͖͋ń̶̪̺͝t̶͇̞̂̍i̸̹̜͆r̸̲̕ę̸͑ ̵̮̂f̴̺͋̇ơ̴̦̜̓r̵̝̀̏m̴̲̀̄;̷̘̀ ̶͍̾̔Ȉ̶̡͠ ̴̢̩̿̀s̷̟̼̉h̵̨͙͑̐a̵̼̒̏l̷͍̾̇l̶̻̥͒̄ ̷̡̠̀̎r̸̳̓e̴̛̝̬m̴̗̦͗͠a̸͙̔͑ỉ̴̥ṅ̴̢͑ ̷̪̀̕ḧ̸̥i̷̥͑d̷̨̓d̷̬̃ͅẹ̸͇͆n̶̘̈́ͅ ̴̨̅ṷ̵̐͒n̸̥͛t̶̩́͘ì̵͉̌l̷̗̕ ̷̧͖̀̐y̶̧̹͛o̴̯͌͑u̴̯̕ ̵̠́d̷̺͂̚o̵̘̚ ̵̯͇̅ś̸͍͛ơ̵̬͓̕.̷͓̄̇[/o]
[p]>"You're in the rest of the game boxes, they're the only places I haven't checked in here and Anon told me that she would've seen it if you changed spots."[/p]
[o]>T̴̻͒h̶͇̫̀e̴̱̔͝n̸̼̥̅͝ ̴̮̓̓p̶̩͓̃̈́r̸̺͠ȯ̶̫v̸͔̑è̵̙ ̸͙͑͊i̸̡̩̽t̸̛̜̺ ̴̡̂ô̴̹͌ṟ̷̙̈́ ̴̢̍c̸̪͊̀ͅh̶̛̯͆e̵͍̿͌c̷̢̔͠k̷̤̱̈́ ̷̞̆̎ť̸̛̳h̴̫̼͠e̴̫͐̂ ̸̭̿r̷̨̾̏o̶̦͘͝ọ̸̗͊m̷͎̊͌ ̶̮̳̐a̸̝̞͂̀ḡ̵̩͒a̷̛̭͑ḭ̶̼̐̎n̵̢̈́͜͝.̷̝̀[/o]
>Pinkie then grabs the rest of the boxes with various extended tentacles and exposes their contents simultaneously, revealing all the other Astra fragments
[p]>"Proved, now who's seeking next?"[p]
>Astra growls to itself as it recombines before going off to sulk in the corner again
"If it's alright, I've got another idea for a spot that I'd like to try now that I know more of what I can do. Is it fine for me to hide again?"
[p]>"Sure, Astra's seeking then!"[/p]
>Astra sighs and plays along for about thirty seconds of counting before immediately finding both you and Pinkie with the proximity sensor
[o]>"We aren't playing anymore, we have indulged you enough."[/o]
>With that, back to the corner
[p]>"Well aren't you a party pooper."[/p]
[o]>"I̶̲͙͝t̶̢̟̏͂ ̸̘̺͐̇i̴̪̒s̸̫͑͂ ̸͇̖́͂ṱ̵̛ą̴̕k̴̳͋í̸̧͖n̶͕̚ͅg̷͎̊ ̴͉̰͊e̵͍͚͝v̴̹͕̀ẹ̷̹͘r̶̼͔͑̑y̵̰̤̿ ̷͇͑f̷̺̀i̶̡̟̓͑b̵͕̚e̷͉͖͠ŕ̷̦̇ ̸̲̄ö̴͚́f̵̧̄ ̶̬̇ò̷͎̫͊u̷̹͚̽͝ȓ̴͚ ̷͜͝b̵̖̼̚é̸̪i̸̥͘n̴̞̞͛g̵͕̲̿ ̸͚̯̎̈́ẗ̴͙ő̴̼͛ ̵̦̐̂ņ̸͘ö̴̧ṯ̴̩͗̕ ̷̲̭̓͝e̷̦͌s̸͕͒c̸̼̳̿̑a̸̗̤͌p̶͍͒ę̷̰̋ ̷̝̈͂à̵̤͇ñ̷͈ḏ̵͆̋ ̵͔͔̓b̸͈͛̚ǘ̶̯i̶̳̋l̵̛̰̞͝d̴̘̒̏ ̸̢̮͒o̸̙̔̀u̸͜͝r̷̥̔͂ṡ̴̱̏e̴̛͚̤l̸̖͘f̴̹̐ ̴̥̮̊̍u̶̺͊͆ͅp̸͔̓ ̶̫̌ť̸̜̻͝o̸̦̟̎̊ ̵͖͘t̸̘̎e̵̫̍͋a̸̗͓͗̽ȓ̶̦͉͒ ̴̮͋̒ÿ̶̡ȯ̶̺̊u̶̘͕̾ ̷̦͋ȁ̵͈͙p̵̮̉ͅa̷̗͙͆r̴̠̙̃͛ṱ̸̈́ ̵̤̖̾à̶̅͜s̵͇̕͝ ̴̡̖̓w̵͎̆é̷̝͗ ̶̦̀̂s̸̺̘̿͝p̸̛̭̦̈e̸̟͋͗a̶̦̟̓k̶̛̫̉,̵̤̦́ ̴͍̩̈w̸̦̺̒e̴̡̒͝ ̵͙̼͝w̴̦̝͂̐í̵͎̹͌l̸͎̅̓l̷̺̉ ̵̟͖̏͂t̸̨̔̎a̴͙̜͋k̴̘͇̂ë̷̹́ ̶͖͘̚ò̸̫̉ȗ̴̬͚ȑ̸͓ ̵̘̈́l̵̟̬̀́e̷̳͝ą̶̈́̕v̶͚̉̌e̸͍̳͒͑ ̵̦̿͠ȁ̷̩̺̇ṡ̶̲̂ ̸͜͠w̷̩̗͆̽ẻ̵̡͕ ̷̺̈̐s̷͕̆ẹ̶͋̈ẹ̴͗ ̷̡̃͌f̶̪̣̈i̸̳̲̒ṱ̷͆̂.̴̞̇͛"[/o]
>The amount of malice contained with that sentence seems to completely bypass Pinkie yet again, however
[p]"Oh well, I guess it's just me and Nonny then!"[/p]
"I guess so, so I'm seeking?"
[p]>"Yep! Start counting and I'll go hide!"[/p]
>With that, you head over to the next room and start counting
>You'll give her about thirty seconds before you head out, but you're going to try using that proximity detector yourself when you seek
>Hell, why not try it now?
>Let's see... Pinkie is...
>In the other room, still at ground level...
>Moving to behind you and to your right...
>Crouching...
>She's under something...
>... The couch!
>Aaaand thirty!
"Ready or not, here I come!"
>Time to see if you got it right!
>Sure enough, you are!
[p]>"Darn, I was sure you wouldn't check there!"[/p]
[o]>"À̴̻n̴̯͛̑o̴̯͑ẗ̴̺̪́̒h̵͍͚̽̓e̶̹̝̿̎r̵͚͌͊ ̸͓͋s̷͖̾͗ḵ̴́̇i̶̘͓͝ḻ̶͑̏l̷̥̓ ̶̳̒̿l̴̯̟͗e̷̢̻͝a̴̢͕͊ṙ̸͉͇͘n̶̝̓͝ḙ̷̎̆͜d̸̠̋,̶͕͕͗͂ ̵̪̯͒y̴̘̕õ̵ͅǘ̶̩ ̵̩̅͘c̵̗̊o̷͖͙̍ṉ̴̅t̴̛͚̤͝i̷͂͝ͅn̶̲̒ů̴̡̠è̴̻͙ ̷̗̱̋t̶̯͑͆o̷̹͛̓ ̶̯̈́͜ġ̷̳͉r̸͕̃õ̵̢w̵̜̋͝ ̶̦̈́̈w̴̙̾͠ȩ̴̞̃͌l̵̹̍l̵̟̤̂.̷̠͑"[/o]
>Pinkie's head jerks over to Astra before turning back to you
[p]>"Wait, did you cheat?"[/p]
"Only to see if I could do it, just in case I ever need to."
>Pink considers this for a moment, but just shrugs
[p]>"Alright, I'll let it slide. Just save that for a last resort for the next round, okay?"[/p]
"Sure, now I believe it's your turn to seek."
[p]>"Then I'm off!"[/p]
>Pinkie bounces out of the room again, counting loudly the entire way
[o]>W̴̝̺͋ȩ̴̌ ̸͉̓́h̷͎̉a̴̛̟̫v̸̦͔͘e̷̥̠̿͝ ̶̢̇͐ǎ̴̞̼̐n̸̡̕ ̴͔̘̓ị̵̱̂̕d̵̜͘͝ḛ̸́à̸̜̄ ̷͓͋͠f̸̨̘̓̓ǫ̶́r̵͔͂̓ ̷̛͉͍͋y̵̡͒́o̶̳͛̄ṵ̵͝r̷̬̿ ̶̤̒͗ͅh̶̰͍̉̉i̷̞̥̔d̸̞̲͗i̴̺̲͝n̸̝̼̈́̌g̷̹̀ ̷̯̟̕͠s̶̛̘̓p̶̲͈̃̄o̴̙̬̊̋t̴͕̹̀͘.̴̫̀̀ͅ[/o]
>You turn to Astra and walk over to it
What is it?
>The shapeless mass before you opens up and forms an opening about your size underneath it
[o]>H̵̨̽̌ẽ̴͙̹r̸͉̳̂e̴̪͗̐,̸̢͐ ̴̞̿̆w̴͇͊ė̴̳̱͌ ̴͈̩̊̇ẅ̴͔́i̸͎̝͐l̵̫̳̈́͝l̴̨̯̇ ̴̧͑k̵̡̯̆̚e̸͚͉̐e̷͝ͅp̴̩̕ ̵̫͇͌y̵̢͝o̴̡̪͗̎u̶̟͋̅ͅ ̶̻̒c̸͇̋̄õ̴͍̚n̶̝̼̄̓c̷̤͒͝ȩ̶͖̓a̴͇͛l̸̤̲̅̐e̶̿̈́ͅd̸͕̑̿͜ ̶̛͙ţ̶̟̏́h̵̬̫̊r̶̝̽o̴͎͛̽ͅu̸͉͐g̸̱̿̈h̵̭͋ ̵̱͝ŏ̷̡̳̕ư̵̗̺r̸̲̈́̌ ̵̬͑p̸̣̊r̷̰͘e̴͎̗͗̓s̵̖͍͋ȇ̸̠ń̴͓ć̸̖̟̐e̵͕͒̀.̴͇͙͒[/o]
Okay, but I have a few questions before I take you up on that offer: one, how will I breathe in there, and two, are you really okay with leaving yourself alone with Pinkie?
[o]>Y̸̟̖͛̚ō̵̯ǘ̸͓̪͆ ̸̺̤̈h̷̭̉ͅa̷̪̥͊v̵̪̙͊͝ȇ̴̻̆n̷̟̱̈́'̷̳̽̚ẗ̵̥̱́ ̷̖̓̀n̶͕̎ͅe̵͕͎͌͠e̴̠̖͠d̷̢̓͜e̵̡͌̾ͅḍ̸͗͆ ̴͍̈͘t̶͚̐̂o̴̧̠͘ ̸̝̦̉͌b̷̝̦͛r̷̻̓ě̵̼̙̄a̴̺̓t̴̞͇̃h̵̟̎e̴̳̮͂ ̶̧̗̊̂ṣ̸̾ị̸̧̿n̸̜͝ͅc̵̲̝̔̈́e̵̙̳̕ ̷̹̔ÿ̵̛̫́ȍ̸͚̱ü̶͓͍̑r̷̟̂̄ ̴͕̈́̑ͅḁ̸̈́̈́s̸̰̱̾͛ć̵̞ẹ̴͙̀̉n̴͎̩͆s̶̤̾ì̵͉̖o̴̖̖̿ṉ̶̀̽,̵̡̪̏̐ ̷͖͋͋a̷͉̭͐͂ñ̵͖̞̒ḋ̶̩̺̓ ̸̮̀w̸͍͂̀ȩ̷̤̾̕ ̵̪͗̐w̷͉̱͗̀i̵̤̝̓l̷̻͘͝l̴̨̤̍ ̶̼̉̂h̸̬̉ͅo̷̝͙͊l̷̤̂͋d̷̝͔͂̏ ̵̃ͅȏ̴̥u̵̩̾̏t̶͓̯͌͘ ̷̡̜͆̂f̶̞̻̏o̷̭̦͛r̶̤̀͐ ̸̯̌͘á̴̘s̶̮̀ ̵͓͒͠l̸̹͆o̶̰͚͌n̷̼̘̋g̶̱͐̈́ͅ ̴̡̣͗̌a̸̡̭̋̍s̵̳̅̓ ̴̹̊̚ȉ̶̫͛t̸̜͑ ̶̹͠t̴̲͌a̴͙̠̒̒ḵ̴̐̄e̵̩̼͝ş̴͆͑ ̵̲̟̉t̶̗̑o̷̞̗͆ ̸͓͗͗g̸̨͐͛e̵̞̞͒t̸̪̖͠ ̴̧͇̔ẗ̵̩͈́̄ḧ̵̤̚e̴̱̪͂ ̵̠̱̏s̷̖̼͒͂ą̷̤̈́̈́t̴͈̂i̵̹͆͂s̵̤̙̈́f̵͉͙͑̿ā̶̱̗c̷̝̠̿̏t̴̟̆i̸̢̩͘ȍ̴̙̐n̵̺̗̚ ̷̧̎o̷̗͇͆f̶͇̘̊ ̸̩͇͛d̷̬̗̓̕e̸͎͎͂n̵͈̙̊̍y̸̭͝i̷͔͍̕n̸̳̄g̴̲̐̓ ̸̘͛̋ḩ̶͉̃̒ȅ̵̞͔r̸̝̂͝ ̷̨̱̅̔ǎ̵̢̨ ̵͍̱͐v̵͔͓̎i̶̩̤̊͑c̸͓̊̈́t̶̹̺̾̉o̵̩͐͘r̶̦͕̍̓y̴̜̑̌.̴͚̚͝[/o]
But what about what you said before? You already said you're at your limit, this'll just put you beyond it.
[o]>T̵̝͈̋ì̷͕̱̐m̵͎̌e̷̩͗́ ̸̣͝ḩ̶͋a̸͑̆ͅs̴̮̥̏̆ ̵͇̄̒t̶̼̽͝ą̵̞͠u̷͚͂ğ̵͓̔h̸̬̪̀̊t̶͓̲̔ ̴͙̩̐̈́ü̸͓s̶̗̿ ̸̛̺p̴͕̚à̴̧ţ̶̀i̵̞̽̈è̶͇̇n̷̳̽͝c̸̮̳͂͂e̴̗͛͊,̷̤͒͝ ̶̟̎̅ḭ̴̺͒͆n̸̤̑ ̵̟̖̑̕t̸͍͛͗r̵͖̳̋u̷͔̿̋t̴̫̐̔͜h̴̯̓̂ ̴̘̏̐w̵̟̲̄̑é̵͚ ̸̣̦̔͑š̴͉t̷̩͛͜͠ḯ̸̯̼̂l̶͍̽l̴͙͝ ̸̤̣͛h̴̛̜à̶͔̐v̷̞̪̔e̶̞̖̎ ̸̞̏͆͜ą̷̩̈ ̵̧͎̔ġ̸̙͘r̸̮̽̚e̶̞̊a̷̜͋̎ẗ̸́ͅ ̷̞͛̿d̸̘̕e̸̮̤̍̇a̵̟̽l̸̤̤͒ ̶͈̥̌͝l̵̛̪͔̓ḛ̸̐f̴͚̳̏̄t̸̨͘͝ ̸̯̹̐̚t̸̮̓̋ǫ̶̈́͠ ̶̰̎̎d̶̞̏̃r̸͇͍̓ǎ̴̖w̶̙̋ ̶̫͌̀f̸̘̆r̵̪̗̎̏o̸͎̘̽͗m̷͈̪̍̇.̶̿̚͜ ̶̝̄Ò̴͖͖̊ú̶̙r̶̭͗̎ ̷̺̈̀s̸̘̀t̸͍̀a̵̢͉͑̓ṫ̴̛̟ě̵̩ṃ̶̡̂e̴̖̲̐̾n̴͙̈́ͅẗ̷͙́ ̴͕̭͋ẃ̷̬͑a̸̡͈̎s̴̟̜̍ ̷̖͕̿m̷̧̓ȇ̸͍͔̒ȑ̵̟̤̓e̴̳̬̐͘l̸̞̼̓y̸̡̤͘ ̷̜̌̅͜ṁ̶͈́e̴̹̾ǎ̵̝͔͌n̵͔̅̎t̸̢̳̕ ̴̖̏̚t̷̹̋͂o̷̰̼͐ ̵̗̆r̶͔̣͒e̶̜͊̕l̷̝̫͂̔e̶̖͂̿a̶̖͌s̸̡̠͝e̵̮̊ ̶͈͆u̸̬͊s̶̭͕̈̋ ̵̭͝f̸̱͕́r̶̗͝o̸̻̟̎͠m̵̨̬̓ ̵̮̬̈ẗ̷̡́h̷̺̐͂e̷͚͈̅̋ ̴̘̗̄o̶͙̽͆b̵̤͂l̴͈̐i̴̺̣̚ǧ̵̺̮a̶̺͆ẗ̶̨͒i̴̲͕̔o̶̢̎n̷̹̝͗ ̵͙͋́ó̶̝̝͝f̷̧̤̀ ̷̨̳̄p̵̺̙͒l̵̥̳͒ä̷̩́̂ỵ̸̿ḯ̷̢͘n̴̤̊͛g̶͚̑ ̶̺̓̑t̶͚̤̂h̶̺͇͛i̴̹̫̕͠s̸̨͑ ̵͍̉͘g̸̦̈́a̶̼͗̌m̴̥̊̈́é̴̤̦͌ ̷̜̙͊w̸͕̓i̴̦̕t̵̗̍h̵̥̟͆ ̸̧̰̀͘t̵̛͈h̸̯̎a̸͓̥͊t̸͈̥̅ ̴̰̞͋͝p̵̧͍̆o̸̲̍̋x̷̦̜͆́.̴̦̣̆[/o]
... Fair point.
>Without further ado, you climb into the space Astra provided for you and cozy in
>The entrance closes behind you, leaving you fully encapsulated within the warm, fleshy embrace of the creature that made you what you are now
>Right on time, too!
>You hear a muffled scream from outside, presumably from Pinkie's finished countdown, before more silence
Any word on what's happening out there?
>A moment passes before Astra responds, somehow much quieter than normal
[o]>T̶̝̱̓͒ḧ̸̻̬́͐è̸͕̦̎ ̸͔̎͝t̴͇̺̀́ǔ̵̱̊m̸̙̪̀o̴͈͓͐͠ṙ̷͓͊ ̴̥͑͘i̶̢͆͌s̷̗̾͛ ̵̲̘̂ś̸̲͕ȇ̶͚ä̴̰̠r̴̟̅č̸̙̹͐h̷̘́̒ȋ̴̝̋ṇ̴̯̄ĝ̶͉͓́ ̵͈̇f̷̬̀ö̷̢͓́̌r̸̝͈̾ ̷̙̤͋̈́y̶̖̌̂o̷̼͛͘u̵͉͒́ ̸̖̈́ď̶̩ͅu̵̥̳̽t̷̮̳͋ỉ̴̟f̷̛͎͌ǔ̶̝l̵̳̔l̵͔̠̋͘ý̴̝̪,̴̍͆ͅ ̷̬̫̆ẅ̶̘́̈e̵̳̬̓ ̴̫̑̉w̸̤͐o̴͆͜ͅủ̵̬͖l̸̝̲͗̚d̸͕̎ ̴͙͇̚r̶̙̒e̶̢̘̍̊c̷̖͌͘o̴̤̍͠m̵̫̐m̶̢̑e̶̹̍̚n̷̳̾d̸̟͇̚ ̵̭͈̽̓s̷͔͜͝t̷̛̚͜ͅạ̸̳͑ỷ̸͚͚̽į̵̖̇n̴̻̈́͋ǧ̷̞̈́ ̶̧̩̃̇s̶͓͂̂î̵͕̣̄l̵͍̬̽̍e̸̯͌n̶̜͐̒t̴̹̏ ̵͙̃͛f̶̞͓͐o̵̩͚͒r̷̼͘ ̶͓͘ę̴̓v̷̥̑͗e̶͖̠̔̃n̶̤͛̑ ̷̢̉m̵̱͛e̷̹̮̋͗n̶͇̪̓ẗ̸̙a̷̡͋̆l̷̙͈̒ ̵̲̍̏c̴̟̹̈o̶̭͛̀m̵̗͊m̸̳̟̊̉ǘ̸͉̽n̶̥̮̚î̷͈̙͐c̴̤̜͆̈́à̸̞̬͆t̷̢̛͝ȋ̷̕͜õ̷̞̭n̵̦̗̾s̴̝̎ ̴̤̾̏s̵̱̜͑͝ô̸͍͍ ̵͈̉́ṭ̵̀h̸̨͓͛̕a̸͉͖͋ť̴̤̉ ̷̧̙̚s̴̢̾h̴̹̊ę̴̞̌ ̶̨̍d̴͎̅o̴̜̊é̶͈̲͝s̵͔͙̕n̶͖̋̽'̵̝̹́͛ť̸̯̯̃ ̸̲̀g̷̬̥͐r̸͉̀ȯ̴̼̳̓w̵̘͔͐ ̴̪͝w̴̩̘̐i̸̙͗̚s̸̛͇̆ē̴̼ ̶̙̐̅t̸͍͛̋ö̶͍́ ̵͎̊y̸̮̒̓o̵̥͊͝u̵͚̅̅ṛ̷͖̕ ̷̠̓l̴̰̹͛ò̵̫̮c̵̡̈̈a̶͓̓͐ț̸̆i̵͍̊ò̴̰̠̍ñ̷͓̍.̸̮̈͛[/o]
>Huh, guess there's a way to whisper your thoughts
>You don't want to risk it now though, so you instead whisper with your voice
"Got it."
>And then you wait
>And you wait some more
>And you wait even more
>And you wait and you wait, wait wait wait wait...
>Is wait even a word anymore?
>W a i t, wait
>It's starting to sound weird now
>Look weird, too
>Who even decided that wait was spelled wait?
>Wait, am I even spelling it right anymore?
>Eh, it doesn't matter
>Anyway, where were we?
>Oh, right
>Waiting
>And waiting
>Aaaaaaaand waiting
>...
>.....
>.......
>Fuck it, you gotta know how long it's been
"How long have I been in here?"
>Astra is still silent for a small while before responding
[o]>A̸̻͔̒̐r̷̢̦͌̈́ő̶̟̖ű̸̩̉ń̴̰̂d̸͈͆̄͜ ̷̈̇͜t̸̟̓e̵̡̐̐n̷̳̖̈́́ ̶̦̑m̴̱̙̅i̶̢͑n̶̹̄ù̷̡͈t̵̜̏ê̶͙̦̚ŝ̵̙͈.̴͚̄͠[/o]
>HOOOOOOOOOOO BOY
>And so Anonymous waited, longing for release but unable to leave
>So, he eventually stopped thinking
>Clap and laugh at my supreme genius, jotards
>But seriously, you end up waiting for a fucking long time with the wait time only feeling amplified from the fact that it's nearly pitch-black in here with roughly nothing to do besides what you can do with yourself
>No, you're not killing some time by sticking a tentacle or two where the sun doesn't shine
>Imagine if Pinkie somehow figured out you were in here and Astra revealed you while you were in the middle of that...
>Okay, stop thinking of that
>I said stop, you horny bastard!
>Fast forward again to some unspecified amount of time later, Astra eventually reopens the hole
>Have you been found?
[p]>"So THAT'S where you were!"[/p]
"What's going on? Astra, did you sell me out?"
>Pinkie responds in Astra's place, as you notice that it's currently in the process of reassuming its disguise
[p]>"Nope, Astra was completely tight-lipped about it. It's just time to go see Twilight, that's all!"[/p]
"Oh, cool! Did she call, or did I really just spend the better part of two hours in there?"
[p]>"She called, you were only in there for about 20 minutes."[/p]
>ONLY 20?!
"Dang. Well, did Twilight at least have anything to say?"
>Pinkie thinks for a moment before coming to a conclusion
[p]>"She said... She said that Astra's legal registration is almost complete and so are the custody forms, and that a place for you both to live in town has been found!"[/p]
>That's good
[o]>"Then we should leave and finish that off, shouldn't we?"[/o]
"Yeah, probably."
[p]>"No arguments here!"[/p]
>And with that, you're all off to Twilight's castle to get yours and Astra's new life sorted out
>After a short walk lead by Pinkie, you all are at Twilight's front door and Pinkie's knocking
>Quite fervently, too
>However, after about four seconds of sustained knocking, she stops to wait with you two
>And then, another four-ish seconds later, Twilight opens the door!
>"Good morning everyone, I trust Pinkie filled you in on what's already done and what's left?"
"Yeah, let's get that all done with; the faster it's done, the faster Astra can properly settle in here."
[o]>"And the faster we get away from the pink one."[/o]
>In response to that, Pinkie immediately leaps to Astra's side before putting a hoof over its shoulder
[p]>"Aww, don't worry! I'll miss you too, but just remember that we'll only be across town from each other. No need to get so upset over it!"[/p]
>Understandably, Astra begins a low growl that only ceases when Pinkie moves away
>More pleasantries happen between Twilight and Pinkie, but you tune them out as the party moves back into Twilight's castle
>After a while navigating the familiar hallways, you make it to Twilight's office
>Once inside, Twilight takes a seat at her desk in the center of the room and begins leafing through a stack of papers before her
>"Just a moment, Astra, I'm just pulling all the papers you need to sign to formalize things."
>After making it through the entire stack, Twilight holds a few papers in her telekinetic grasp and beckons Astra over
>"Sign these and you'll be officially registered as an Equestrian citizen and thus a legal entity, have full custody over Anon for the remainder of his years of 'foalhood,' and also have a place to live in Ponyville. Also, you'll be officially employed as a clerk here at my castle."
[o]>"And what does that entail?"[/o]
>"Nothing too much, just sorting documents and bringing necessary things to my attention. Nothing too hard or time consuming, since I fully intend on using some of the time you're here to help you adjust further."
[o]>"Of course you do..."[/o]
>Astra sneers at this, but nonetheless extends a tentacle to sign the papers
[o]>"Now where am I supposed to sign these?"[/o]
>"Just flip through and sign wherever you see an empty line with an X before it."
>Astra proceeds to sprout a few more tentacles after hearing this, using them all to sign every paper at once wherever they need signing
[o]>"Is there anything remaining that is required, or are we free to leave now?"[/o]
>"That's about it, all that's left is for me to show you around town and where you and Anon live now."
[o]>"Then let us finish these engagements so that we may resume our solitude."[/o]
"I'll be there too, you know."
[o]>"Yes, but you have proven that you are capable of interaction without annoyance. We accept your presence."[/o]
>It's a start
>"Then without further ado, let's go get you orientated and situated!"
>Twilight takes the lead on the way back to the entryway with all of you following behind, and this lead extends all the way to the tour of the town
>All the major spots are covered
>The market district, town hall, the school, even Pinkie's house and place of work in case any emergencies happen
>A few meet-ups with some ponies that are out at this hour happen with Astra being largely silent and letting Twilight handle all the introductions
>You catch Astra in the process of planning a few assimilations, but you quickly shoot them down with a simple 'Don't.'
>After a little while longer, you realize that Astra actually hasn't been paying the slightest bit of attention to any of the landmarks it's being shown
[o]>Ȓ̵̪͝e̸̘͝m̶̡̜̈́ȅ̶̩͚m̷̫̑b̸̡̝͠e̶̟͋r̸̨̯̾,̴̝̀͋ ̷͚́͜w̶̩͒ȩ̸͘͝ ̶̠̀̂h̶̲͑͋a̶͂ͅv̴̬͎͋̉ě̴̯̉ ̴̜̊͘a̵͓̮̿̚ć̸̝̙̓c̴̭̅̚é̵̛̘s̶̛̠̘s̶̩̑̂ ̵̪̘͝t̶̠̃͗ó̶͖͇͠ ̴̧͚̀̆t̷̺̤̅h̷͍̾͝ȩ̸̐ ̵̲̄͝c̸͈͇̾̓o̵̱̠͐l̶͈̐l̸̳͆́e̸̬̥̓́c̶̣̹̃̉ṫ̵̗̝̿i̸̺̿̅v̶̤͎͛e̷̹̍̋ ̴̘̈́k̶̭͑͜n̴̢̦̽ò̸̢̳̅w̷͓̿l̴̩͎͌e̵̯͙͗̅d̸͔͍̊g̷͈̈́͊e̴̱͝ ̴̩̅̄ó̶͎̩͒f̴̪̖͛̇ ̴̧̿̐a̴̧͓̔́l̶͚͊͗l̴̛͖͠ ̵͕͕͐͒t̵͕̍ḥ̸̳͝e̶̺̊ ̸̝͒b̷͓̒e̸͉̜̊̑i̵̜̠͋̋n̸̻̈́g̶͚̈́s̶̡̺̈́ ̸̩͋̆ẅ̸̭́e̶̞͎͝ ̵̜̺̉ḁ̶̥͌̊s̶̜͆̌s̷̢̰͊͌i̴͙̓̅m̴͔͋̿í̵̻ḽ̸̈́a̵̲͔͆t̷̗͍͐͝ȇ̸̢,̶̨̛̭ ̵̮̥̅e̷̳͝v̸̧̟̆e̸̼̦͗n̸̺̈̉͜ ̵̳͇͗̏y̸͎̓o̴̡͙͐ú̸͎͎̕r̵̛̘̘̊ ̵̳͑ō̴̟̚ͅẃ̶̨n̵͕̘̏͘.̴̰̩̂̈́ ̷̦̬̓̽T̸̠̯̄ḫ̵̗̍ì̴̼̳ş̷̚ ̴̻͎͂̂t̸͖̉ő̴̥̱͠u̸͍̖͆͝ṛ̷̣̅ ̵͔͌͑i̵̧͍̐̚s̸̤͇͂̿ ̵̮̭͗n̶̯̾͂ę̸̖̔̆a̵̔͜͠r̶̤̲̂̐l̵̬̆̚y̶͔̩͠ ̴̘͗̚p̷̮̭̅o̷͓̮͠i̴̺̓ͅn̶͎̽͌t̶̺͌ḽ̷͈̇̕e̸̜̜͊s̵̢̢̽͋ṡ̴̲͌,̶̣̃͋ ̶̬̀a̶̭̫̾l̸̝͘l̵͕̄ ̴̞͎̈ẘ̵͍̹ë̵̙̪́ ̶̫̈́ṛ̶̊͘ë̸͎́̄q̵͙̈̽ǔ̶̖͓i̵̳̽ṙ̴̛̗e̵͙͝ ̷̯̽͑í̶̥͑ͅš̷̯̞̎ ̴̩̦̂̅t̸̖͛ḫ̴̩́̀ë̴̟̜́̉ ̸͓͗k̵̥̄n̸̰̈́͋o̵̖̖̊̕w̴͉̿l̷͍͊̊e̷̫͛̀d̸̠͆g̶͍͊ḛ̸̋̑ ̴̗̒̀o̵̞̜̾f̸̮̹̓͊ ̷̟̰̐̍w̷̬̯̍ȟ̶̜͓e̴̲͖͋r̷̛͙͗e̶̲͝ ̷̢͕̆ŵ̷̟e̴̖̺͗̽ ̸̪̱͌w̸̗̜̐̈i̶͓̠̍̽ĺ̵͎l̷̥̂͝ ̷̠͚̈́b̷͉͎̌̔ĕ̸̢̤ ̴̢̱̆̆s̴̜̼͆͝ṯ̸̟̂͊a̶̞̦͗̚y̴͉̬͐̀i̸͚̦͆n̸͈͔̊̀g̷̨͙̀.[/o]
Yeah, I probably should've remembered that and brought it up.
[o]>M̵̭̌̃i̵̱̻͒̃s̴̥̏̌t̸̰̙͆͗ḁ̵̱̂͊ḵ̸̥̒e̴͕͔̽s̵̤̈̇͜ ̸̞͖͑a̷͂ͅr̶̮̤͌̌ê̵̖̌ ̴̡̹̈́̇m̵̯̐a̷̰̋͌d̸̢̥̋e̶̱̘͂̃.̴̙̈̓ ̶̫̀D̷̡̝̄ö̵͙̖́̚ ̵̺́̿n̶̜̍͘ö̷̝́͝t̵̻̙͊̚ ̴̭̹̎d̸͉͍̆̿w̸̟̓̔ͅë̷̝͚́͝l̸͈̂l̷͔͇̎,̴͉̀ ̵̜̋̄b̴͓̠́u̵̧͐͝t̷̨͈̊͠ ̷͔͕̎̏r̵͉̾ạ̵̊t̸̢̪̋ḣ̶͍͚̀e̶̝̽r̵̪̕ ̴̡̋é̴̯̃n̶̨̤͂͗v̶̩̈̀i̵̘̝̊s̵̫̺̏i̴̟̐õ̶͇̱̕n̵̥͕͆ ̴͕̱̊͂ṯ̴̐ḣ̸͖̻e̶͎͒̕ͅ ̵̜͋̚f̶̧̈́ṷ̸̓t̸̙̽͘ů̶̲r̵̘̼̂ẹ̵͌ ̴͓̮͂͌w̶͙͉͒͑h̴̻̼́e̶͍͂r̸̘͗è̴͇̼ ̷̼͌t̴̳̪͛͠ḩ̵͂ì̵͖̒s̶̯̉͊ ̸̛̣̮̋ẽ̴̕ͅx̸̺͑p̸͎͝e̴͖̔r̷̞̃i̸͚̒̄e̴̳͛͑ṅ̴̯̕c̵͇̕ė̴̠͇ ̷̛͕̔w̷̰̞͝i̵̪͆̕l̵͈͐ͅl̸̄ͅ ̷̱̤̔s̶̛̻̠͐a̴̞͐v̵̯̦͋͂ê̵̲ ̷̭͇̍y̷͇̲͆̚ö̶̪̪́ū̶͔̒ ̷̮̍̕t̴̼̰̒̈́ị̷̾͆m̴̛͎̜̆e̷̖͝ ̶̮̲̔̉t̸̜̏̎h̵̛̘͇̚r̶̨͇̊o̴̯̲͌u̸̟͐͝g̷̮̅̍h̶̙̏ ̷̢͎̐͋n̶̤͖̕o̴̺̍t̷͔͈͂̾ ̶̞̔̂ŕ̸͕͖̏e̶̡̋̀p̷͎̼̅̆ȩ̶̓͠a̸͎͝ẗ̶̼́i̷͇͂n̷̡̰͂g̷̟̳͒ ̵̡̙͑t̷̨̥͊h̵͓͋e̷̡̞͑̐ ̸̢̇e̸̖͈͆̄ṟ̵̍̐r̶̝͛o̵̧̿r̷͔̥͛.[/o]
Quite inspirational, but what made you mention all that here?
[o]>C̸̛̯̏ö̸̬̹́͂ṵ̶͋̕n̷̢̞͠͠t̷̺̦̽i̵̬̾̈ͅn̵̼̉̽g̴̥͝ ̷͔̾͐s̸̱̓̿ͅé̴̙̲ć̷͔͝o̵̰͋́n̶̪̽d̵͈̋͆s̸̝͑͘ ̶̙̞̓̈́ḑ̵͖̄̎ǫ̵͊e̸̼̽s̴̙̬͂n̸̛͍̞̓'̵̫͊ẗ̴̳́̽ ̵̭̾́p̸̤͐̉ȧ̴͙̞s̵͕͘s̸̢͠ ̴͔̕ṯ̵̾ì̶͇m̶̤͖̔̿ĕ̵͔͒ ̶̲͑a̷̱͒̑s̴̲̱̽̂ ̶͓̓̾w̶̡̩̐ę̸͖̔l̵̻̈́l̸̥̍ ̶̜̝̌a̵͓̍͂s̷͙̒͠ ̴̲̣̀̚c̴̲͊̽o̸̡͈͘ņ̶̖̂͠v̷͎̑é̴͍͘r̷͚̆s̷̭̐̄a̷̬̤͐t̴̰͂̊i̶̞̋o̸̠̓ͅn̵̞̖͊͋.[/o]
Fair point. So, if you want to talk more, how about you start thinking about how you want our house decorated?
>Astra goes quiet for a few moments, concentrating on its own thoughts briefly
>Despite all that, you get an answer remarkably quickly
[o]>D̶̗͕̅ḕ̴̗c̷̙̑ǒ̵̘͝ͅŕ̶̫͎̊ả̶̰͇t̶͓͌i̸̖͂̅o̷̗̅̕ṉ̶͔͊̈s̴͓̏ ̶̙̍á̵̖̀͜r̵̲̀͝ȩ̴̲̈́̾ ̵̫̓b̴̻̆͜u̵̙̇͠t̴̤͍̓ ̸̯̮̊͛t̸̨̺͐ŕ̶̢i̴̼͙̔v̴͙̎̑i̸̭̮̊ǎ̸͉̅l̶͍̉̑ ̶͖̊̈͜d̷̡̓i̶̠̐͑s̴̞̀͝t̴̙̃r̶̝̀͝a̶̲̙̓̉c̴̺̭̍t̶̬͍̍i̶̥͖͒ő̵̘ṉ̸̏͝s̴̝̚ ̵̟̾̊ơ̸̤͊f̵̢̛͖̐ ̷̝̌ͅt̴̨͎̐h̶͉͊e̴͉͙̾̈́ ̵̣́m̷̲̿ḯ̴̝̤͂n̴̬͆ḑ̴͊͒.̵̗͙̿ ̵̫̚͝Ẇ̵̪͘ͅȩ̸͈͒ ̸̲̠̔r̶̾͜ễ̶̜q̴̬̹̂ù̷͖̏i̸̫̪͑r̴͍͎͊̅ę̴͚̔ ̵͈̿̃n̴̘͋̒o̵̠͘n̵̺̗̕ę̶̿ͅ,̷̥̿ ̵̢̹̿͋n̶̮̠͒o̵̳͓̕r̷̝̣͒ ̸̡̰͋h̷͎̥͌́á̶̡̑v̸͓̭̇̌e̵̞̰̊͐ ̵͔͓͌͝ắ̷̹̫ṇ̶̑ỷ̶̡̈́ ̷̛͖̏p̸̘̿r̸̺̘̂ë̴̗̚f̶̲̋̊è̵͉͔r̷̺̅e̵͎̹̾n̵̮͔̾c̵͚̗̈́̋e̸̞̳͐̄ ̷̛͓̐t̷̰͆̀ö̷̮̭w̴̼͒ā̴͇͕r̸̹̈́͝d̵͇̀s̸̩͎̽ ̸̘͗ͅw̵̞̫̎h̵̻̘̕a̸̦̻̿ṭ̴̛͖̓ ̷̠̦͋͋i̷̗̚s̸̭͊ ̴̞̈́̀û̴̖̭̉s̵͕͛e̷̐̽͜ḑ̸̜̚̚.̴̪̍ ̴̢͠ͅY̸̬̑͐o̴̙͆͘u̸͈͇͘ ̴͖̠͌͠m̴͍͘a̸̕ͅy̴̧̦͊̏ ̴̽͛͜d̵̩͇͌ö̴͉̠́ ̸̜͔̿a̵̻̋s̸͍̹̉ ̸͈̦̌y̸̨̼͆͝ō̸̯͒u̵͙͍̚ ̸̼̃w̴̪̮̏̀ȉ̷͙̭s̸̻͝h̶̗̽̅ ̸͇́ẁ̴͙̽i̴͎̠͐̌t̷̰͑h̸̩̃ ̴̨͈͗͘ț̶̛̠̈́ẖ̶̣̊a̸͉̽̔t̵̼͐̐.[/o]
Is there really nothing that you care about having around the house besides the essentials?
[o]>T̴̝̿͠o̸̘̚ ̷̻̇̔ȗ̶̬̹ş̶̨̋e̴̡̎ ̴͕͂a̴̦͙͛n̴̖͘o̵̺̊̾ṫ̴̢h̶̙̆̄e̷̡̋̋ṛ̴͉̈͝ ̵̠̊̾o̵̼̗̅̃f̵̯̹̈ ̵̯̟̌̅y̸̬͌̏o̵̜̽̈ȕ̴̡͇̾ř̶̡͑ ̴̢̻̍͛p̸͕̙͂h̶͍̙̀͛ṙ̷̯â̵͕s̶̞̲͝ē̸͜ṡ̶̢,̷͙̜̑ ̸̣͚̐ẁ̴̧̙e̴̛̺̣͂ ̵̟̗̎͠c̴̥͋̐ö̸̮̦́̚ǘ̸͕̠l̶͙̄͛d̶̢̆̿ ̵̨́n̸̗̭͒o̶̟̣̊t̴͙̎̕ ̴̧̈́c̵̟͑͘a̶̜̔͠ŕ̴̲͒ȇ̴̪͝ ̶̰̾l̴͕͆ę̸͉̈́̀s̸̹̺͝s̴̙͉̚.[/o]
Alright, feel free to cut in whenever during the decoration process if you change your mind.
[o]>A̶̖̜̕c̸͉̤͌̅k̸̝̙͋n̴̼̉ò̶͓w̴͓̌l̶̹̜̊̚e̶̪͙̽̍d̸͓͐͜g̴̖͆e̸̖̹͑͝d̷̟͛͘.[/o]
>"... And this is where you two will be living!"
>You snap your focus off of Astra as Twilight exclaims this and reorient it to where she's gesturing
>A humble two-story house, typical in both size and style to the usual Ponyville building
>Uh, how did you get here again?
[o]>Ẁ̵̞̘̑ȩ̵͌͘ ̵̊ͅk̷͔̈ë̴̢p̴̬̌t̸̨͕̚ ̴͚̜̊ņ̵̔́ö̷͔́ț̴͖͛̅ë̴͙̦̅ ̷̡͖̓o̴̹̳̊f̸̨̓̔ ̸̩͗ț̷̩̄̓h̷̼̾̿â̷̹t̷͎̆̕,̴̺͆̀ ̶̞̂̊d̶̹̟̈ỏ̴̪̼͘ ̴͕̇̈́n̵͙̝̓o̴͎̊͌t̵͎̪́ ̶̫̤̾w̴͉̎̚o̵̰͌̓r̶̡̓r̷̨̹̔y̶̞͌̇ͅ.[/o]
>As the words flow into your mind, you also receive a mental package with it
>Upon your realization that this has happened, the package immediately opens and you are bestowed with the knowledge of just where in the town you are in relation to everywhere else you visited
Thanks!
[o]>Y̴̪̘͠ō̸͖̠u̵̪͈͋ ̶͚̂a̵̘̓̚r̷̬͌̂é̵̛̬ ̵̘̤͝w̵̘̪͒e̶̜͈͒̚l̶͍͈̔̈́c̷̲͊̈́ỏ̶̟͕̈m̶͙̒ȅ̷̜̠.[/o]
>Now that all that's out of the way, you turn your attention back to Twilight
>"You two feel free to get to know your new home, and Anon, I'll teleport your stuff to whichever room you choose for your bedroom."
"Alright, thanks! Astra?"
[o]>"Yes?"[/o]
"Still no input about the decorations?"
[o]>"None."[/o]
"Alright. I'll let you make that decision when you're up to it, and until then I'll handle it."
>With all that decided, you lead the way into the empty house to start looking around
>It's a cozy little building, despite its two-story framework
>The lower floor is divided between a living area, a kitchen and a bathroom while the upper floor is divided between a hallway, two bedrooms and another bathroom with a stairwell connecting the two floors
>Upon reaching this upper floor, you inspect the layouts of both rooms to see which fits you better
>Astra follows you up here, with Twilight and Pinkie following behind 'her'
>While you're thinking about this, you shoot Astra a question
"Pretty sure I know the answer, but do you care what room I choose?"
[o]>"We do not. Choose whichever you would rather take and we will accept the other."[/o]
"Alrighty, I'll take the right one. Twilight?"
>"Sure thing, just let me get over there."
>Twilight comes forward from behind Astra, the latter physically flattening itself against the wall to avoid touching the other, and steps into the doorway of the room you chose
>After a flash of magenta, you peer in from behind her to see all of your stuff now inside the room!
>Dank, and it all fits well!
>You take a brief look at your belongings before deciding that they're all in the right place and going back out into the house
>The others you came here with also clear out of the upper floor, but before you join them, you decide to peek into the other room
>All that's there is a wall mount for a lamp
>Literally nothing else
>Now burdened with this knowledge, you return back to the ground floor with everyone else
>Upon finding them in the kitchen with Twilight making sure Astra knows how everything works, you bring this up
"I just noticed that there's nothing in the other room upstairs. No bed, wardrobe, nothing. Not sure if this is a problem, but just thought I should bring it up."
[o]>"We see no probl-"[/o]
[p]>"OH NO! Where are you going to sleep!? Where are you going to put all your cool things that you get from your friends in the future!? Don't worry Astra, your old pals Pinkie and Twilight are gonna fix this right up!"[/p]
[o]>"There. Is. No. P̴̳̭͋͂R̵͌ͅO̴̩̣̔B̵̙̊Ḷ̵͐E̷̢̜̒M̸͍̰̈̅."[/o]
>Through the course of this interaction, Pinkie collapsed onto Astra while Astra turned most of its biomass into a pseudopod designed specifically to wrench itself free of Pinkie's grasp
>After a few more seconds of Pinkie somehow staying firmly wrapped around Astra's neck while Astra tries continually to break free, Twilight steps in and magically pulls them apart
[o]>"We have never needed to express gratitude before, but there is a first for everything. Thank you, Twilight Sparkle."[/o]
[p]>"Aw, why the breakup?"[/p]
>Twilight sighs and turns to Pinkie with a serious expression
>"Did you not feel Astra pushing against you to get away from you? Not to mention that you kind of cut... Her? It? Whatever, you interrupted Astra as they were responding. Maybe you should try giving them just a bit of space?"
>Upon hearing this, Pinkie's eyes widen as the realization strikes her
[p]>"Ohhh! I'm really super duper sorry, Astra. I didn't consider that you might not be as friendly as a regular pony yet, so I must have been too close for comfort! Starting now, I'll give you some more space."[/p]
>You feel some relief coming from Astra's vicinity, but not much
[o]>"However much space you think we need, double it at the very least."[/o]
>Pinkie looks down from her current position to observe the current space between her and Astra and steps back accordingly
[o]>"Double it again."[/o]
>Pinkie again looks down, judges the distance, and moves
[o]>"One more time."[/o]
>Pinkie backs up the remaining distance she can, now standing on the staircase
[p]>"This is about as far as I can go right now, is this fine?"[/p]
[o]>"Mmmmmm... I lied, one more time."[/o]
>Pinkie concernedly looks behind her, seeing nothing but the wall
[p]>"I, uh... I don't think I can go any farther back."[/p]
[o]>"You can if you leave this building."[/o]
>This is where Twilight steps in again
>"Astra, at least let us help you get situated here with Anon before shooing us out please."
[o]>"Oh, I'm not shooing you out. Just the pink one."[/o]
>Twilight sighs, Astra pulls a masterful pokerface, and you feel a wave of smugness fall over you from Astra's direction
>"She's not going until I am, so please at least try to manage it until then?"
>Astra releases a slightly growly sigh before capitulating
[o]>"Fine, what else is there for you to do here?"[/o]
>"I know you've already expressed your desire to the contrary, but it's going to seem weird if this house doesn't at least look like it's lived in by more than one pony, so we're going to need to furnish it."
[o]>"We will allow you to do this if you provide us a good reason."[/o]
>"Well, what if a pony who doesn't know about you were to come here? I know that Anon's brought friends back to the castle before, so they'd be pretty confused if it didn't seem like his new caretaker didn't even live in this house with him."[/o]
[o]>"Would those 'friends' have any reason to go through what is supposed to be our spaces in this building?"[/o]
>"While they shouldn't, it's a simple fact here that foals will do what they aren't supposed to. It's also fairly well-known that foals are bad at keeping secrets, so if one of them happened to see this and bring it to the attention of another adult either on purpose or by accident... I'm sure you could guess the problem that would arise."
[o]>"So not only are we to assimilate into this world, but we're also to mask our true self even while within our own sanctum?"[/o]
>"As much as you may not like it, that's probably what's best to make your integration go as quickly as possible."
>Astra raises an eyebrow at Twilight, who sighs and continues with her explanation
>"Look at it this way, if the other ponies get used to you being a pony and you get used to having the pony mindset at the same time, it'll probably go over a lot easier with both you and everypony around you when you finally make the big reveal that you're actually a shapeshifting parasitic alien hivemind."
[o]>"Fine. I can tell that you wish to strip our dignity from us further, so we'll simply let you and ignore it."[/o]
>"Would it help you if you thought of it more as a way of solidifying your infiltration into this world's population?"
[o]>"Only slightly."[/o]
>"It's a start. Anon, want to come with us to help out, or would you rather stay here and get your room in order?"
>Twilight and Astra both look to you when this question is asked, but Astra has a bit more to give than an expectant look
[o]>C̴̰̖͌o̷̡͒m̵̀͜͠e̵̠̪̚,̷͎̕ ̵̧̇̚p̷̺̚r̴̬̎ͅo̸̘͗͝v̶̡͕́ǐ̵̪͓d̴̦͚̀ě̵͕ ̴̨̥͑ù̸̢̩͠s̷̤͖̑͝ ̷̹̗͝ẃ̵͕̲i̵̙̇ţ̸̘̓h̸̡͆ ̴̯̈a̶̺͈͛̀ ̴̡̦̅b̴̻͎̋ụ̶̆f̴̞̂̈f̷̡̈ĕ̶̞̼r̴̳̝̄͛ ̸̨̻͆f̴͚͔͒r̶̢̪̊o̵͈̽͝m̸̹͗͂ ̵͈̜̾̓t̷̛̼͉̕h̷̊͠ͅė̵̘͆ͅs̸͛̚͜é̴͜ ̶̼̈́̋t̵͍͊͘w̷͑̀ͅò̸̯͑.[/o]
Alright, but I'm not going to be able to be a buffer forever. Eventually you'll have to figure it out yourself, so just remember that.
[o]>Ẃ̵͔̼̾e̷͊̐͜ ̴̡̥́͋s̵̺̺̆̕h̷̗̍̀ả̶͍͕l̶͚̀̉l̶̢̀ ̶̧͊b̵̛̥͑ú̸̗ȑ̸̞͎n̶͚͌̀ͅ ̵̞̊̀t̶̳̑͘h̸̭͍̆a̶̱̎̕ṫ̴̘̚ ̸̹̂̿b̴͈̟̒͠r̶̼̠͑i̵̬̻͒d̴̛̜̳g̵͔͕̉͠ē̶͇̻͐ ̷͔̦̐̂w̶̱̹̌͊h̵͕͎͐̆e̶̢̋n̷̪̕ ̶͕̲͆̃ẇ̷͜e̵̙̓̽ ̶̻̆͛g̶͖͈͆̇ė̸̩t̴̨̽ ̵͈̗̐̽t̷̨͋ȏ̷͓̦́ ̷͈̖͐i̷̾̋ͅt̴̙̑͠,̵͎͛͜ ̵̛̪ṋ̵̡̾̐ợ̶w̷̤͓̌̂ ̸͇̑c̶͕̫͘ȯ̶͕m̶̯̿e̷̛̤![/o]
What's the magic word?
[o]>... P̷̻͙̅̚l̴̻̇͝ë̵̝̀ä̴͎͜s̷̢̀e̴͉͓̊?[/o]
There we go, now let's go!
"I'll come, I can get my room in order on my own time."
>"Alright, let's go!"
>With that, Twilight leads the way down the stairs and out to the outside world, with everyone else following behind somewhere
>After a few trips to a few places to pick some furnishings for the house with you doing most of the choosing while Astra deflects it all to you, you all return back to your new home to get it all in place
>By the time it's all over, the day's almost completely spent
>So many hours with so many stops made...
>It's a good thing that Twilight was footing the bill, otherwise the actual haul would've been far less and thus far less convincing
>Well, according to her argument
>Something tells you Twilight had other reasons for it, but you're not complaining
>Now, there's space for you to lay around all around the house instead of just in your room and Astra has all sorts of places to hide for when Pinkie shows up!
>"Alright, do you two want us to help get everything organized and set up in a way you want, or can you both handle it from here?"
[o]>"We are quite fine with handling everything, you may leave."[/o]
>"Are you sure? There's a lot here to move, we can help get it all done a lot quicker."
[o]>"There is no need for assistance, we can both handle it from here."[/o]
>"Alright, if you insist. Come on, Pinkie, let's go home."
>Twilight and Pinkie start heading for the door, but Twi stops short as she remembers to say something
>"Oh yeah, Astra, remember to be up and ready by 9 tomorrow, that's when your job starts!"
[o]>"Yes, yes, we will be ready. Please leave."[/o]
>"Alright, we're going, don't worry!"
>Twilight gives an exasperated sigh as she pushes Pinkie out the door with her, closing it afterwards
"So, how are we doing this?"
[o]>"We have no preferences. We will help you do what you need to make things look as you wish them to, but we have no input on this matter either."[/o]
"Okay, but I meant more what would you rather do in terms of getting everything set up? Move furniture, hang pictures, what?"
[o]>"Again, we have no preferences. Whatever you require of us, we will do."[/o]
>You never quite realized how frustrating your own indecisiveness was to everyone aroud you until now
"Fine, uh... Hang pictures, I guess. You know how to do that, right?"
[o]>"If you know, then we know."[/o]
"Good, you do that and I'll see how far I can get with moving furniture."
>Astra nods before immediately sprouting numerous tendrils and using them simultaneously to pick up both pictures and hangers and mount them on the walls
>Meanwhile, you get to work pushing a couch and find it surprisingly easy
"Hey, did you turning me into this also make me stronger?"
[o]>"Yes and no. While your relative strength is still the same, your body is now capable of using its full potential to exert force while also reallocating unused musculature to areas where it is needed most."[/o]
"Neat!"
[o]>"'Neat' indeed. However, this does come at the cost of you no longer being able to grow stronger through traditional means. In order to increase your own strength further, you must attain more biomass and absorb it."[/o]
>And there's the catch...
>Well, maybe
"Does it have to be living biomass?"
[o]>"While technically no, you will gain far less strength from biomass that is already dead due to you not being able to assimilate living cells and instead having to process dead cells back into living ones."[/o]
>Okay, that's a breath of fresh air
"So one more question: can it be biomass attained from plants as well as animals?"
[o]>"Yes. Plants can also yield strength if processed correctly, but it will yield less than other animals even if those animals are dead."[/o]
"Then let me guess, eating dead plant matter will actually cause me to lose strength?"
[o]>"No, but you will not get stronger either. You may as well absorb nothing if you choose to absorb dead plant matter."[/o]
>Well, looks like you might as well not even bother eating anymore then
>Unless it's for fun
"Okay, I lied, I have one more question. Is there anything else I should know about the kinds of biomass I consume?"
>Astra pauses briefly in its tasks, considering your question for a moment
[o]>"Animal biomass yields strength and intelligence due to assimilated muscle fibers and neurons, plant biomass yields endurance and durability from assimilated chloroplasts and cell walls."[/o]
>So everything gives something...
"And I'm guessing the same rules for living versus dead apply to plant matter as well?"
[o]>"Correct. You learn more every day, soon you will be a master of your own body. Then, we can begin your true ascension."[/o]
"I'm still not assimilating anything unless it's willing and I give it back its body."
[o]>"You will, in time."[/o]
>Yeah, that's what you think
>Who does it think you are, your mom?
>Oh yeah, that's the whole reason why you live with that thing
>You finish pushing the furniture to your desired places soon after you finish questioning your new existence further and decide to check on Astra's job
>When you look around, you find every wall barren!
>Where did all the pictures go?
>Then, when you get back to the living area, you see it
>One solid block of pictures, all clustered right in with each other haphazardly on one wall
>Bruh
>Well, time to teach Astra a lesson in interior decoration
"Hey, you mind coming in here?"
>After a few moments, something halfway between a pony and a shambling mound enters the room
[o]>"Y̵̢͒ͅe̴̳̥̚̕s̷̗̞͒͒?"[/o]
"When I said to hang the pictures, I didn't mean to hang them all in the same area. You gotta spread them out, give every room a bit of attention so that it all looks better instead of..."
>You turn back to the eyesore
"Instead of this."
[o]>"T̴͚̒̇h̵̘͖̋̚e̵͍̅n̸͍͎̑̋ ̶̳̿f̵̜͈̀̕ū̵̼̩͗r̶͇̠͛̄t̸̺͆́ḣ̶͕e̴͇̯͐̅r̸̺̈́ ̶̡̦͆ŝ̸͓͊p̶̢͎͂̓e̴̞̖͛̃c̷̙͓̓̄i̷̱̣̾͑f̴͈͐͘ì̴͛ͅc̶̬̈́̈́a̴͎͝t̷̲̙̓̀i̸͔̭̔̀o̴̢̗̽ņ̶̻͘͘s̸̢̟̕͘ ̷̺̜̽̓s̵͔̐̀ḧ̵͕̫́o̴̠̞͐ũ̷̩l̵̜̝̆d̵̯͋'̵͇̝̏͋v̴͈͕͂e̸̯͈̎ ̵̜̌͠b̴̮̭̈ė̷̹͝ě̸̱̩͘n̸̻̥̿ ̴̬̉̂m̸̙̐ȁ̵̭̼́d̵̟̂é̵̢́."[/o]
"You can see the inside of my head and you have every piece of knowledge I do, there had to be something in there that was telling you this was a bad idea."
[o]>"T̸͉̺͆̓h̷̞̑ë̵̪̙́̕r̵̛̝͎͑ę̶̥̂ ̵̠̭͌ẘ̴͙̥̕ǎ̸̜̜s̴̰͗̕,̴̠̕ ̷̛̺i̵̧͖͒t̵͇̐͝ ̷͔͎̒̑w̷̻̩̔a̴̰̥̾̄ş̶͘ ̴̼͛͜ȉ̸͇͖g̵̢̀̎n̸͊̆͜o̷̢̘̿͑r̵̫̅̾͜e̸͇̓̌d̶̳̈̉ ̷͈̈́b̸̩̆y̶̼̎ ̷̻̑t̵̯͍͆̒ḣ̷̡͍e̵͒̓ͅ ̵̻̕c̶̞̣̔̀o̸͔͒̓l̵̬͉͛l̴͍͉͒͗e̴̠͐c̵̦͐t̶̟̀i̷̩̼͌́v̶̭̝̋ë̵͓."[/o]
"Protip, sometimes that nagging feeling's actually right. Now, do you mind helping me take all this down and spread it out properly? And just in case you need further clarification here too, pictures don't go in the bathrooms. Every wall other than the four in my room are also fair game, got it?"
[o]>"D̷̜̔͝o̴͍̦͗̕ ̴̱̫̽͋n̸̮͕͐̒o̵̦͋t̷͚̕͠ ̴̤͚̈͋w̸̠̄̔ò̶̟͠r̷̟̀͐r̸̻͌ỹ̴̡͗,̵̛͈͓̚ ̸̖̌w̶̧̦̎ẹ̷͘ ̶͎̬̾w̷̱̪͝e̷̪͋͑ṙ̴͉͍ȩ̸̎ ̸̤̓̚n̷͓̰̈͝ọ̷̋́t̵̙̫̽ ̴̣̲̒p̸͇̃̏l̶͙̬͗͑a̸͙̖̅̕n̴̖͊̀ǹ̸̮̫í̶̠̩͂n̷͔͘ͅg̶͔̃ ̶̳͐o̶͖̖͋͌n̶̫͈̓͠ ̶̞͗͜m̸̟͇͊͊ȩ̴̝͂̀s̵̡̀͝s̴̡͈̀̓ĩ̵͎n̸̝͒͛g̶͕̥͌́ ̴̻͋w̶̲̳̐i̸͉͛͝ț̴͉̀̔h̵̹̏ ̴̨̄̈y̷̥̐ŏ̸͈̕u̴̗͖͒͘ ̴̙̈́̎t̶͍̿w̵̳̦̆i̵̙̎c̶͉̒̇ę̸̀."[/o]
>Wait a fucking second!
>You halt in place, several tentacles holding pictures in the air around you
"So you were messing with me?"
[o]>"W̴̢̯̆͐ḧ̷̡͕́ą̷̩͘t̴̥̀͝ ̷̤͆ơ̷̲̬͑f̷̟̏̊ ̶͔̤̕͝ì̸̘̈ṯ̷̫̓̈́?"[/o]
>Astra's pokerface is as flawless as ever, but you can feel the mirth radiating off it from here
"Wow, with a guardian like you, who needs a real parent..."
[o]>"D̸̤̀̓o̵͓͊͝ ̷͍̪̈́̇n̴͓̾o̸̺̿t̵͎͆ ̶̩̪̌b̵̨̦̀ḛ̶͌ ̶̞̭́̋s̵͕̜̎̍ȏ̴̟̪͆ ̸̝̓̑͜ȕ̵̠p̸͔̔͆ś̶̺̙ë̷̘̬́͆t̵͍̘̾,̴͈͎̍̇ ̶̝̣́͘i̷̲͊̀ṫ̶͕ ̴̧̒̐w̷̭̝͗̀ḁ̸̾ș̸͔̐ ̶̣͊m̷̼̙̂ë̶́ͅr̷̲̤͝e̶̬̳̋̂l̸̨͍̾͐y̸͉͒ ̸͂́ͅi̴̙͛̔ņ̵̥̆́ ̵̤̞͂͑j̵͖͖̆̓e̶̟̖͗s̴̪͝t̸̟͑."[/o]
"Yeah, yeah, hang the pictures please."
>Without another spoken word, you and Astra set back to your task, quickly correcting the problem and getting everything sorted back out
>There, now this house looks more lived in!
>While you're admiring your combined handiwork, Astra goes back to its own room without further interruption
>That seems like a good idea, you also decide to go up to your own room too
>Not to relax yet, you still need to put things into reasonable places first
>However, once all your things are properly in order, you settle into your chair to read a book you're partly through
>After it's finished, you decide to check the clock
>It's four in the morning
>And you didn't even tell Astra goodnight!
>Well, you can still say good morning
>Good thing sleep's optional too, otherwise you'd be hating yourself tomorrow
>It is still summer though, so you could've gotten away with it for another month if you needed
>Not like you need to, but you could've
>Oh well, there's plenty of books you can still look at and besides, if you really run out of things to do then you can always go bug Pinkie, now that you know she's probably up at this time too
>You instinctively get up, thinking to go get something to drink now that you're up, but remember that it's still physically impossible for you to be either hungry or thirsty now
>Huh...
>Then what do?
>Uh...
>Read more?
>Eh, sure
>You place the book you were reading back on the shelf you have and grab a different one off it, cracking open the front cover to check out what's inside
>And this is how things continue for the rest of the night, all the way up until the sun rises and it becomes acceptable for you to go outside

>Be the conscious collective of beings known now as 'Astra Biologis'
>It is now Saturday, according to your own counting and the clock that now rests on the wall of the room you reside in
>That means that there's only nine more hours until you are forced to endure your first day in this town without your buffer
>Well, time to get the committee together and see what we can do to accomplish our own objectives in the process
>A suggestion comes from one corner of your now fragmented mind, saying that we can use our position to siphon more knowledge of this world from what we have to work with
>A second suggestion calls out from another corner with its own idea, mainly to perform reconnaissance on the princess so that we may learn any weaknesses in her defense
>Other voices call out, but none with good ideas
>Now that the council is over, you have your objectives and you reform your mind back into its normal state
>That council passed exactly 10 minutes and 32 seconds
>You have much more time to kill
>Well, back to counting!
>31,768 seconds later, a bright flash illuminates the room you're in and forces you to retreat even further into the corner you're piled into
>Once the blinding flash fades, you see that princess standing in your room and looking aroud for you
>Best not keep her waiting, lest you suffer another of her 'tests'...
"W̵͙̋́ĕ̷͈͌ ̶̮̏a̵͔̋̊r̷͖̈̓e̸̳͓͛ ̷̹̍h̶̩̜͑ẹ̷͗ͅr̵͓̆̚e̶͉̟͑͑,̶̺͘ ̷̡̞͋ǰ̸̧̘ṷ̴̢͆̕s̸͙̘̎t̶̺͛ ̶̾̎ͅa̶̗͋ͅ ̵͕͖̓͑m̸̧̹͂͌ȍ̴̮̗̆m̸̢̖͌̒ẽ̶͎͠n̶͇̄̋t̷̹͛͘ͅ.̵̬̋"
>You peel yourself from the wall and begin reforming yourself back into your disguise and reshape your vocal passage to once again use your disguise's voice as the purple pony turns towards you
>You see her visibly flinch away at first, noticing your transformation and the noises you're making in the process, before returning to a more normal state
>"Doesn't it hurt when you do that?"
>You finish reshaping yourself and respond in kind
"Does it hurt when you stand up or turn your head?"
>"Well, it shouldn't, but I only ask because those were some... colorful noises coming from you."
"We cannot do as we please, so we gain our pleasures from the smaller things that we can do. In this instance, making you uncomfortable."
>That, and it gets rid of some of the stiffness from lying motionless for hours on end
>She doesn't need to know that, though
"Now, is it time for us to go with you and do this 'job' you forced us into, or is there something else first?"
>"Don't worry, we're just going to the castle. You've already made it abundantly clear how much you'd rather be doing anything else, so I'm not putting anything more on you until you get used to this."
>Good, you're not going to want any other bullshit stopping you from progressing your own goals in the background
>"Now, if you'll just stand next to me please, I'll teleport us both there to save time."
>You stay firmly rooted in your spot
>You know what happened the last time you got near her, you aren't trying again
>After some time of you not moving and staring between you two, the princess sighs and steps closer to you
>Upon seeing this, you move back further
>"Look, I'm not going to zap you this time! Just don't try to touch me and you won't get hurt, you can still stand next to me."
"And how can we trust you?"
>"I'm not sure, Pot, how can you?"
>You growl in frustration, begrudgingly moving to the side of the purple pony before she gets angry
>Upon reaching her though, she casts some kind of spell that covers you briefly in a purple aura
>Startled by this, you instinctively back up and try to extend part of yourself away, but find that you can't!
"Ẁ̶̨͉̎h̴͇͒a̶͍̒t̶͆͜ ̶̹̊d̶͚̗́i̴̥̒ď̴͚̂ ̶̤̓̕y̴̖̩͌o̵̠̱͒ũ̴̠ ̶͚͎̊͑d̷̹̓̀ó̸̧͔̈́ ̷̠͔̓͆t̷̥͚̆̄o̶͓͕̽̓ ̷̨͚͘u̶̻͋̊s̵̝̄!̶͙̃?̴̡̠̍̈́"
>"Relax, I just made it so you can't drop your disguise now. It should make it easier for you to blend in and much easier for me to keep tabs on you for today."
"More of you not trusting us, we see."
>"Not until you prove to me that I can, now let's go."
>After another bright flash, you find yourself inside that office that you were in yesterday
>"And here is where you'll be working!"
>Could never have guessed
>"For today though, there isn't much that needs doing, so we should be done fairly quickly and then after that, I can start getting you used to your new life. Ready to start?"
>You sigh and grumble to yourself, now finding yourself locked to this form
>Since you can't actually use magic either, you may need to adjust it to hide better
>After some menial tasks that the princess has you do and experimenting with these oppressive restrictions, you find that while you can't change your body's shape, you can change the structure
>So, instead of doing what she tried to get you to do, you manifest a sticky surface on your front 'hooves' and use that to move the papers she wants you to
>"Looks like I may have to fine-tune that spell a bit more if you can still get away with that..."
"Limiting our freedom to this extent isn't enough?"
>"What I hope to accomplish with this spell is to get you used to holding this form and maintaining it no matter what, at least while outside your house. By restricting you as such, I'm sure that eventually you'll get to the point that holding this form becomes more natural than holding no form at all."
"Yet you seek to accomplish this through methods that antagonize those they are used 'for the benefit of'  rather than accomplish anything useful. Do not argue methods with us, we have consumed more than a few psychologists."
>"It's not like you're going to give me any more options, you've already demonstrated that you're not like Anon or Pinkie where you won't try anything. I'd love to use those better methods to help you adjust, but I still have almost no reason to trust you. Give me good reason to trust you, and I'll let you have your freedom."
>You repress a snarl as you move back to the mindleess paper shuffling put before you
>Well, you do this until something happens that draws your attention
>Anonymous just assimilated something!
>You shift your gaze to Twilight and find that she's looking at you with a mirrored expression
>Well, an expression that holds all the same surprise, but infinitely more dread
>Knowing this mare, she's going to teleport soon so you need to get in range to be taken with, so you immediately dash over to her right as the flash goes off
>Success!

>Be Anonymous
>It's light out, so it's acceptable for you to go outside now!
>So, you do
>You put down the book you were reading and go out for an early morning walk, something you've never done before!
>The sun's only just risen and the birds are chirping, there aren't any other ponies around, the town is peaceful and quiet on this sleepy summer morning
>Your walk takes you over to a park bench, so you decide to sit a while
>As time goes on, more and more ponies come out and go about their daily lives, you sitting there and observing them as they do so
>It's a neat sight, good thing you decided to come out and do this
>As time goes on even more, the streets once again clear out as all the adults have gone to their jobs
>However, a familiar trio happens to cross your path after a while!
>The Crusaders also happen to notice you, and thus they all come bounding over excitedly
[p]>"Hey Anon, it's been a while!"[/p]
[o]>"Yeah, what's up?"[/o]
>"Did anythin' cool happen at that observatory?"
"In order, I'm glad to see you all too, a fucking lot is up, and yeah, some cool stuff happened at the observatory. You all want the long version, or should I cut out the boring stuff?"
>The three of them look between themselves before collectively answering
[p]>"Cut out[/p] [o]all the[/o] borin' stuff!"
"Alright, so there were a few things that happened starting from there. One, I'm no longer under Twilight's care and was adopted by somepony. Two, I met that pony after helping her out of a shipwreck on the coast. Three, I moved out of the castle, but that's expected now that I'm not being fostered by Twilight anymore."
>The three of them sit there stunned by the weight of the knowledge bomb you dropped on them until Applebloom speaks up
>"Ah think we might need that longer version."
>Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo both start nodding in agreement, so you take a deep breath and start abridging the actual story and keeping out all mentions of Astra's true nature
"And that's about it for now and why you all didn't see me yesterday. So, what's new with all of you?"
>The three of them start talking all at once, but immediately silence themselves and wait for the others
>After a moment of silence, Scootaloo is the one to speak up first
[o]>"I ended up putting together a few new tricks with my scooter and helped Applebloom and Sweetie Belle out with a surprise for you."[/o]
>"Well now it won't be a surprise!"
[p]>"It's fine, she still doesn't know what it is, it's still a surprise. Just nopony tell her any more!"[/p]
>Well, now you're interested
>But you still have to hear what the other two were doing, so you wait for the other two explanations
>Sweetie Belle and Applebloom look between themselves before Sweetie Belle decides to go second
[p]>"Rarity and I went to visit relatives, nothing special."[/p]
>"And ah helped out with the harvest prep back at the farm! Let's go show you that surprise now!"
"Alright, lead the way."
>You get up off the bench and follow the three fillies as they begin walking through town, all the way past the outskirts and over towards the forest
>That forest
>The one that four fillies like yourself(?) and the crusaders shouldn't be going into without good fucking reason
"Uh... Is there any particular reason why the surprise is in the Everfree?"
>Applebloom is quick to answer your question
>"Ah don't think mah sister would appreciate it bein' on the farm an' we couldn't think of anywhere else to put it."
"Really?"
[p]>"I know Rarity wouldn't appreciate it at the boutique either."[/p]
[o]>"We would've asked Twilight about it too, but she wasn't here to ask."[/o]
>You sigh to yourself, finding no way to puncture their infallible logic
>The trio lead you through the forest, down a path that looks at least somewhat well traveled, all the way to a tree with a wooden box built into it
>It's a treehouse
>"We remembered you goin' on about how much ya like the outdoors, so we made ya this treehouse out here!"
[o]>"Yeah, and I'd say we did a pretty good job. It's definitely an improvement over our clubhouse, that's for sure."[/o]
>Upon saying that, a flash crosses Scootaloo's face as she turns to the other two
[o]>"We're rebuilding our clubhouse next, no negotiations!"[/o]
>Applebloom nods passively as Sweetie Belle charms in on her own
[p]>"I even did the interior, I'm pretty sure you'll like it!"[/p]
"Well then, let's check it out!"
>You walk your way up a set of stairs placed conveniently out in front of the treehouse up to the entrance and take a peek behind the curtain, only to see something you really don't want to see
>The decorations are fine, it's just that you didn't think a sleeping fUCKING COCKATRICE would be part of the decorations
>You immediately and quietly flip out, enthusiastically pushing the crusaders away from the door while simultaneously shushing them
>Once all is quiet, you whisper to them to try to stem their growing concern
"There's a cockatrice in there and it's asleep, so we have time to go get help with this. Let's just leave, go get Twilight or Fluttershy, and most importantly, act calmly about this. Got it?"
>Their eyes all go wide, but more importantly, they stay quiet and start their way down as well
>Of course, you follow them down as well
>Right before you hit the dirt outside though, a squeaky board gives you away
>Barely a second later, you also hear stirring from inside the treehouse!
>The crusaders hear it too and begin silently shitting themselves (not literally, you disgusting person), but you get them mostly under control with some calm action and words
"Just stay here and keep your eyes closed, I'll handle this."
>None of them know you're actually a full adult or an alien monstrosity, but they've seen you take charge enough times to take your word for it and do as you instruct
>Now to see if you can find some way to combat this thing with your eyes closed as well
>Echolocation might be a good start, but can you remember how it works?
>First off, increase the sensitivity of your hearing
>Next, give yourself a vocal range that allows for high accuracy and frequency clicks
>Step 3...
>Step 3?
>Eh fuck it, just absorb your eyes temporarily into your biomass and use it to buff your hearing to high heaven
>Also, you do that trick that owls have and make one ear higher for 3D hearing
>With your new and improved hearing, you can now hear the world around you almost as well as you could see it, and you can also hear that the cockatrice is working its way back to the entrance of the treehouse
>With a few more tentative steps on the planks, the creature is out in the forest again and you can only assume it sees you
>You'd love to have an idea of where it's looking or how its body is positioned, but you'll have to work with what you know
>As you lament this disadvantage, you soon get some form of an answer
>The distinctive ticking of claws on wood tell you that it's currently walking down the stairs towards you all
>More precisely, stalking
>It knows you can't see it, but it doesn't know that you can hear it and thus know where it is!
>You quickly take a small amount of your bone and fashion it into a point inside you while firmly attaching it to a tendril of your flesh, left coiled and tense just inside your barrel
>As soon as it gets close enough, you let the tentacle burst through your skin and fly point-first into the cockatrice!
>Claws scrabble on wood and a screech is heard, followed immediately by a stab of pain and a feeling of separation
>It cut off your tentacle!
>It's now also pissed off and jumping at you, judging by the fluttering of feathery leather and the lack of claw sounds
>Shit, you may actually have to resort to your last resort here!
>You turn to the crusaders and quickly push them away as soon as the cockatrice lands on you so they don't get caught in the crossfire and then you let yourself indulge in the forbidden power
>Your skin instantly melds with the cockatrice, immediately and noticeably bringing this being forcibly into your body
>After a moment, you also begin feeling its thoughts as if they were your own
>Fear, agony, desperation all flash through your mind as the now half-absorbed cockatrice thrashes and lashes out against your cellular onslaught
>The emotions rise to almost sickening levels with the cockatrice's death throes getting weaker and weaker, all the way until the poor bird now only exists inside your mind with you
>Fear
>Confusion
>Where am I
>What happened
Relax, everything's okay. You may not have a body anymore, but you're still alive I think?
>Voice?
>Where from?
>Predator?
>Scary
>Flee
>Can't flee?
>Hide
>Can't hide?
>Fight
>Can't fight?
Sorry buddy, you can't do those anymore either. You're stuck in here with me, and that's how things are gonna stay unless I learn some way to give you your body back.
>Speaking of body, where's that tentacle?
>Oh, it ran off to hide in a bush nearby
>Better just get you back...
>... And there!
>With your new... Companion... Situated inside your head, you reform your body back into what it should be and tap the crusaders' shoulders to get their attention
"It's dealt with, everything's fine now. I gotta go though, we should probably still tell somepony about this incident."
>The crusaders tentatively open their eyes as well, but immediately start pelting you with questions faster than you can answer as soon as they see the coast is clear
>Nothing that you can actually tell them, but you can at least say something
"Don't worry, I'm fine and the cockatrice is gone. Yeah, there were some scary noises, but it was just trying to scare us off over actually fighting, so it ran off when I challenged it."
>The three of them immediately stop asking questions after you say all this, but they do go strangely silent
"So, how about we all go home and not stay out here any longer?"
>"Yes, that would be a good idea, girls. How about I teleport you all there?"
>You turn around at the sound of this new voice, only to see Twilight and Astra, both staring at you with very different expressions
>A quick pop later, the crusaders are gone and it's just you, your guardian and your ex-guardian
>Also, you're now locked inside a purple bubble
>"Anon, what in tartarus are you doing!? I thought I could trust you!"
[o]>"We, on the other hand, are quite proud!"[/o]
>Twilight snaps her attention to Astra and shuts her down upon hearing this
>"I never asked you and I didn't even plan on you teleporting with me!"
[o]>"But we're here anyway."[/o]
>"Then I'll deal with you later."
>Twilight proceeds to isolate Astra in another bubble again, putting it right next to yours
>Well, time to lawyer yourself out of this
>If you can
"Twilight, just hear me out. I promise that I have good reason for doing what I did and it was merely the last thing I could do in an already bad situation, please just hear me out."
>"You have thirty seconds."
"The crusaders built me that treehouse next to us, but when they came out here to show me, there was a cockatrice sleeping inside. I told them to go back to get help and be quiet, and I intended to follow them until a squeaky board gave us away. After that, the cockatrice woke up and tried to attack us while I tried to defend them in any way that I could, but after it pounced on me after tearing part of me off, I had no other choices. You can even look inside my mind and see that. If you still don't believe me, then you can ask the crusaders and they'll back me up on everything up to when I told them to close their eyes."
>Twilight narrows her eyes at you before igniting her horn and enveloping you in a violet aura
>After a few moments of you waiting, she eventually drops the aura and teleports you and Astra back to your house
>You also hear her voice in your head as well
>I'm going to go ask the crusaders. If they don't say what you said, both of you are history. Until then, your house is also locked under a magic shield as well.
Understandable. Do I need to tell Astra this, or are you already telling her?
[o]>I̴̤̋f̷̬͖̂ ̸̝̩̉͠y̷̜̒̕ó̷̱͒u̴͖̎ ̶̩̣̈c̴̬̓̑â̶͉̈́ͅn̴̞̰͘ ̶̳̆h̷͔͈̓ẹ̸͂ǟ̸̟ȓ̵͈̮̑ ̵̰̼̀͝h̵̢̄e̷̲͒́r̶̠͋̚,̶̺̞̓̕ ̵̢̫͗͊w̴̺̓e̴̗̔ͅ ̵̬̔̊c̸̫̩̏͝ȃ̵͈͕̏n̶͖̦̿͛ ̷͉͘h̷̗́͌ȇ̵̻̌a̵̭̅͘ŕ̴͎͚͋ ̷͕̑ḧ̴͖̒ē̵̦r̴̘̜̾͐.[/o]
>Then you know the stakes too. Neither of you try anything, I'll know as soon as something happens and then I'll teleport both of you into orbit.
Again, understandable.
>You wait for a moment, but Twilight doesn't say anything else after that
>Now it's just you and Astra
[o]>"So, how was your first time?"[/o]
"Nauseating."
>First time?
>What first?
>What time?
Nothing important, just... Go to sleep or something.
[o]>H̷̦͂a̷̳͆͜v̴͚̈́é̴̲͠ ̴͕̽͊y̶̘̩̕o̵̠͈͝u̵͉̇ͅ ̴̮̊͝ṅ̷̮̊͜ȏ̷̹̖t̷̥̅̈́ ̶̤̐y̶̢̆̕e̷̺̱͂͐t̴̛͇̍ ̸͙̬̍f̵͉̆̋ī̴̜̭ǧ̷̠͇u̸̪̗͝r̸̜̽͛ȅ̵̘̞d̶͓͕̑̇ ̵̳̘̔͂o̶̭̓ü̷̘͌t̴̞̅̄ ̵̨͚͑h̶͉̀ǫ̸̟̌̂ŵ̴͕̘ ̴͇̾ẗ̴̰̞́̈́ȍ̷̫ ̸̲̏d̴̬̏̄i̶̗͉͑̈́s̶̩͐͝m̸̥̹͐͠i̶͙̺͝s̸̘̹̈́ṣ̵̔̑ ̶͕̏̾ṯ̵̂h̴͚͂i̴̘͌́s̵̭̰̃ ̷̺͔̋ö̷̞́͂t̶̜̙͝h̴̤̓͋e̴̝͋r̴̼̈̚ ̴̲̠̒̅m̷̪͑ǐ̷͕̻̚n̸̟͆͜d̸̮̅́?[/o]
Given how this just happened and it's now half of the overall thoughts in my head, no, I haven't!
[o]>W̴͔͊̕ë̶̞͓́̚l̸̞͍̈l̴̞̆,̶̱͋͌ ̵͉̓h̷̤̃̉o̸͜͝w̸͇͐͝ ̸̱͝w̷̠̺̎ò̴̜͚u̸̮̻̓̋l̶̳͝d̴͙͊̾ ̸̡̑y̶̛̲̼ŏ̴̳u̸͓̇̂ ̴̹̬̒͗g̴͓̬̕ẻ̶̡́t̵̻̰́ ̵̭͓͊͗ř̶̖̉i̶̦̎͘͜d̵͖͔̃ ̶̘͗́o̷̙͝f̵̯̫̐ ̴͕̝̒a̷͚͚̍ ̶̡̜̈́̒r̶̡̻̊̀o̵̮̲̍g̸̰̀̊ú̸̠e̸̝̊̽ ̷̡̽͠ț̸̈́̇ḫ̴̨̍͗ō̵̜͛ủ̶̟͙g̴̺̲̀h̴͚͆̀t̶̲̾͝ ̴̨͎̍͐b̶̬͓̓͋ẽ̵͖̼̂f̵̬͖͑o̷͓̫̓̉r̷͙̈́ê̴̝̬̍?[/o]
I wouldn't, I'd just have to sit there and deal with it until it went away on its own.
[o]>I̵̞̊n̴̛͓̑ṭ̶̤̐ḙ̶̆͒ṟ̸̨͒ë̷̯͙́̓s̶̩̑̽t̶̫̫̒i̶̡̓̓ͅn̵̖̹̐͊g̵̢̫̿̋.̷̢͋.̷͚͔͌̍.̵̳͐[/o]
So, any way that I can give this mind a body separate of my own but not able to do any of the assimilation stuff?
[o]>N̴̢͂̅o̷̥̮͋̀.̵̡̭̃ ̶̭͋Y̷̡̚ó̴̗ű̸͖ ̷͎̀̂m̴͈͈̋a̵̱̓͋ý̴̅ͅ ̵̫̘̔b̵̭̝̏̚e̸̯̽̎ ̶̻̤̀͋a̴͉͆b̴̥̒l̶̗͔̊̊ẹ̷̻̉ ̵̖̚t̷̫̆̒o̶̭͍̾͑ ̷̹̄s̵͕̊p̸̖͇̆ľ̵͙̼i̸̟̾t̸̳̉͊ ̶̺̮̓t̵̢̮͋h̷̰̉̈e̸͍͛ ̴̝̪͒ŏ̴͓f̴̜͆f̵̞͑̚ė̷̥̠̋n̵̫̔d̸̤̑̚ḯ̶̘̪n̶̨̯̾̓g̴͓͂̾ ̵͖̀̿ͅm̵̬̝͆i̵͎̽̚ń̷̲d̶̖̿ ̵͙͌̉f̷̮̈́r̴̯̽͝ó̷̪̱m̵͔̄̉ ̵̠̓͌ȳ̶̢͝ͅo̴͙̓ū̵̗̔ȓ̶̩̙̄ ̴̛̛͇͙o̵̞̺̔w̵̪͗͜n̸̹̱͆ ̴̜̂a̴̳͆̓f̵̧͐t̷̬͍̓̑ẽ̴̖̕ṟ̴̃̍ ̶̘̏m̴͇̏u̵̧̹̒c̶̮̗͗͘h̵̛̏ͅ ̵̥̾t̸̥͑́i̷̡̘̿͛m̸̢̭͊ë̴͍́͠ ̴̰̈a̶̛͚͒n̸͉̉͝d̴͖̂ ̷̑̑ͅt̷̜̃̇ŗ̸̎a̸͈͍̿ȋ̵͉n̸͇̆͐i̷̛̛̬n̴̛͙̤͗ǧ̸̯͎̑,̵̝͘ ̸̡͉̾b̸̨̀u̶̥̫͆ț̷͘ ̷̨̬͊̃w̷̠̄i̸͙̳̐͛t̶̞͕̀h̸̥̫̀̀ ̷̨͒ͅȳ̵͖͚o̸͖͉̊͠u̷̙͙̽ṛ̷̘̔.̷͈̀.̸͚̂͝.̴͓́͜ ̶̣̫̃L̶͈̽̀ḭ̷͍͊̕m̴̳͍̅͌i̴͎̠̚t̶̙̯͗̽ḙ̷̦̿d̸̨̩́ ̷̛̫͕͝m̸͉̓e̵̥̜̓͝n̷̜͐t̴̜̯͊a̴̺͑l̵̗͠ ̶̳͚̆a̶̳͔͛̕p̴̤͌̎t̵̘͍͘i̵̩̓t̵̙̃͂ų̴̫̑d̷̖̣̒e̸͉̜̚ ̶̬̋i̵̮̅͌n̴̥̻̄ ̸̦̓͛t̷̠͗ͅh̶̼̿i̷͎̽̚s̴̻̥̈ ̸̤̌̕ẳ̴͉r̵̩̀̐e̸̟͋å̶̭͎,̶͇̈ ̴̩̐y̷̻̮͋͋o̷̤͆͌u̴̟͐ ̶̖͔̽̍m̸̰͊͗a̴̦̰͛ȳ̴̫̳ ̵͔͛n̷̛̠ḗ̵̳v̷̛̳͗é̴͚̯̎ṛ̶̛̈ͅ ̶̧̍͝b̴̺̃̌e̴̹̼̐c̷̡̀ö̵̜m̶̧̹̑e̷̻̠͌͆ ̸̲̃̽à̷͍̰ ̸̗̺͑t̶̢͙̍ȑ̴͙̃ṷ̸̓è̷̋ͅ ̶̰̭̋̃c̶̯̳̔̒ö̴͍͖́̒ṁ̶̖͉p̶̯̎ǫ̷͠u̵̹̓̚n̷̪͗̀ḑ̵͖̈́ ̸͍̘̓͊i̷͍̜̾n̵͚̲̾t̵͖͈͘ē̵̲̍l̷̡̪̈́̕l̸̯͛͠į̴͚͌͠ġ̴͕e̴̝̐̊n̷̠̥͒̋c̵̤̾ḙ̶̱̾͗ ̷͍̘͗̈́c̸̥̑a̴̎ͅp̸͉̓̕ḁ̵̐b̸͓̯̕l̸͍̋e̷̺͍̒͑ ̵̤͔̀̂ō̵̻͕f̵̭͆̆ ̵̡̼̏̏s̸̲͗ư̵̠̭̅č̷̱̣h̸͒ͅ ̷̛͎̼͘a̸̧̼̎̋c̴͉̲̿͛t̴̺͓͝i̸͉̚ỏ̸͔̯n̵̢͋š̸͖.[/o]
That didn't answer my question.
[o]>W̸̛͇ë̷̬́̂ ̴̢̮̆d̶͓̬͛̃ȉ̶̯̝d̶̨̖͛͐,̶̮̔͗͜ ̵̈ͅt̸̼̉̚h̴̜̏ę̸͉́͝ ̷̙͉̋a̶̧͊n̷͉̩͒̀s̸̜̳̈́w̵̗͓̐e̸̬̒͋ȓ̵̐͜ ̵̡̡̆͝i̷͙͕̎͝s̴̲͖̐ ̸̲̥͋n̴̲̬̾o̵̰͘.[/o]
Then can I at least give this guy to you?
[o]>Ǹ̴̤o̴̠̠̽́t̷̝͝ ̸͓̼̒͌ǘ̴̡͉ń̶̛̥̟l̸̝̑e̸̗̣̐s̶̩͠ͅs̷͖̉̚ͅ ̵͓̩̄y̷͔̕ö̷̡̻́̌ù̵͓̟͠ ̶͖̝̔̾ẉ̷̲̔ȉ̵͙̒s̸̞͠h̵̥͂ ̴̆́͜t̴̫̿o̴͚̗̿ ̷̡̞̆s̸̛̝͇u̷̘̿r̴͚̙̃͛r̵̰̚ė̵͖̈́ṉ̵̤́ḍ̴̟̓e̶̖̰͆r̵̙̆ ̸͈͘y̸̬͌͜o̵̦̿̋u̷̟͎͋ř̸͙̐s̷̫̩̈́ë̸̮l̷̰̾̄f̸̼̋͠ ̵̧̞͗̃ć̶̨̘ȏ̵͎̯m̸͈͠p̸̟̏̀l̸̊ͅé̸̹͎̌t̴̯͂̿e̸̡̳͗l̷͉̂y̸̱͆ ̷̫̈t̶̀͜o̶̘͐ ̴̗̈ų̸̅̀s̷̻̫̆͑.[/o]
And that's not happening!
[o]>N̷̡͐́o̵̥̅r̴̳̐̇m̷͖̓̀ͅa̸̹͘l̷̘̋ͅḻ̵͌y̸͓̭͌ ̷͇͐̈a̵͉͍͂ ̶̠̋͒s̵̨̾̃ḧ̸̨͍́͝a̵̛͈̗m̵͓͓̆e̷͉̋͝,̴͖̼̈́̿ ̶̜̈́ͅb̵͖́ù̶͙t̸͙̯͘ ̷͚͗y̴̫̥͒̍o̵̢̿u̵͎͛̚'̵͖̬̎r̷̢̲̎̋ě̴̺͋͜ ̵̟͜͝s̵̟̀̈́t̴͎̤̽i̴̛̟l̶͍̑̓ͅl̵̤̔́ ̴̘̽̓n̸̢̩̂͋e̷͇̬̎̈́c̸̯̈ē̶͚̤š̸̭͝s̶̢͇͛̎a̷̬̐r̸̰̽͆y̷̱͊͊ ̴̘̤̎t̴̮̰̃͒ǫ̷͓͊ ̷̰̀͝g̵̰̋̈́e̷̟̋͆ţ̶̈́͠t̶̼̑i̷̭̥̿̑ṉ̸̡̓g̷̯̯͐̈́ ̷̧̪͂̾u̸̩̾̎͜ṡ̷̰̇ ̴̨̎͝ö̶̳̮͝u̶͕̚r̴̲͋ ̷̨̒̌f̵̮̊̌r̵̭̦͊̈́e̶͔̅è̷͓d̷̰̝̿ò̷̧͇̚m̴̢͇͑͘.[/o]
Again, not very cool of you.
>This time, instead of Astra choosing to walk back this comment with some mention of joking, it takes it in a completely different direction
[o]>W̶̝̰͒o̴̞̹͂͘ŭ̴͈̍ḷ̸̔d̵̲̟́ ̶͓̭̂́y̸̩̍o̴̞̪͌̕ṷ̴͑̊ ̵̫͖̌r̸͔̗̓a̵͕͘t̸͎̱̾̀ḩ̶̖̏̓é̴͓̑͜r̵̨̦̉ ̸̘́̈́ẁ̴̥̂ḙ̵̪̅ ̴̙̕ͅh̵̗̀a̶̲͠ḑ̷̹̋͝n̸͈̥̊̀'̶̡̬̓̄t̷͖̚ ̵̣̒̓s̴͎̉̈́á̸̡̗̓i̸̭͠d̸͈̾ ̶̬̝̈t̴͕͊͝h̵̼̋ȇ̴͈ ̶͕̌̕t̴̮̅r̴̦̤̅͗ų̸̈t̵̨̐̔h̷̞̲̉̏?̷̢̥̒ ̸̧̐̕Ȓ̷̜̾e̴͕͝m̷̛͈ě̴̝̎m̸̰̓͂b̵͉̿e̵̐̍ͅr̵͈̼̀,̴̛͖͚ ̴̞̼̈t̶̫͔̕h̴̬͝i̴̦͛͂s̴̩̿ ̷̫͍̏̚ã̴̭l̶͙̑l̶͎̺̀̓ ̷̫̞̏̈́ẃ̶̡̘a̸̬̬̾̕s̶̪͗ ̵̻́̔b̶̧̙̏ȯ̶͖̿ṙ̶͙̺n̸̝̄͋ ̶̣̿ȍ̸͓̫̎f̶̹̳̿ ̶͔̄m̴͖̙̐ÿ̸̺̪͘ ̶̡̐m̷͓̩͘i̴͚̙̒̔s̴̞̼̾t̷͔̆ȃ̷͙k̸͑ͅe̷͔̎.[/o]
It's just that I'm doing my best here to keep vouching for you and giving you a chance, meanwhile you keep dunking on me or berating me or trying to get me to turn against all my friends. Please, just don't belittle the one being on this planet besides you fighting to keep you alive, otherwise I might just give up.
[o]>A̸̜͑͠n̷̜̩̍̃d̷͖͒ ̷͎̬̈́w̷̰̍̋h̴̦̠̀ȧ̷̬̘͛ṭ̷̒ͅ ̴͇̭̆͆ő̵̲̦f̷̞͙̂ ̴̹͛̽t̷̩͖̐̓h̴̳̓͛e̸̞̋͝ ̵̺͚͑̊ä̸͕̣́ǵ̶͎̗r̷̞̅ͅe̸̪̕ë̶́͜ḿ̵͜ḙ̵͂n̸̩̬̅̀t̷͍̆͜͠,̵̻̽͗ ̴̱͉̈͠t̷͕͎͌h̷͔͓͛e̷̞̠̿n̸͓̻̉?[/o]
What of it indeed? Last I remember, mothers aren't supposed to berate their children, so that's not doing you any favors.
>Astra begins glaring at you in mild shock, hearing your defiant thoughts
[o]>... ̴̩͚͋Ý̴̤͠ȏ̸̜̘͑u̷͗̒͜͜ ̴̐͠ͅw̸̺̩̋̚o̴̢͊ȗ̴͕͒l̸̥̔̑͜d̶̫̋n̸̩̾́'̵̼̾̕t̸͎̗̍͝.[/o]
When I found you, I was still living somewhat happily under Twilight. I could probably still go back if I wanted to.
>Astra's glare shifts from you off into space as the 'pony' turns away, lets out a bloodcurdling screech, and begins lashing out at everything in the room but you with a storm of tendrils
>Some few seconds later, Astra calms down and reverts back to its disguised form
[o]>... Ÿ̴̥̭ō̸͉̘u̵̡̡͋́ ̷̡̩́̕ă̸̭̰r̴̻̞̓̄e̸͍̺͂ ̸̰̠̃̾a̸̼͆ľ̴̩l̶̩͎̑͝ ̸͖̰̈î̵̯̎n̶̟̩̂s̵̲̎ű̶̼f̵̳̔f̵̘̌e̸͌̍ͅr̴̻̈́̈a̸̲͂͋b̸̙̜̿͑l̵̞̽ê̴̯̠͂,̸̝̻͊͑ ̶̢̀͝b̸̥͈̀ū̷̠t̶̛̘͐ ̷̨͑̊l̴̦̈́̚ĕ̸̪͝t̵̙͍̕ ̷̛̰̲͐i̸͎͎͠t̶͉͊̍ ̴̟̾b̶͓̔͠e̵̤͝ ̴̜͍͊̋k̴̝̉ñ̸̼̐o̵̙̔͜w̸̱̳̔̚n̸̮̟̿͌ ̵͇̕t̶͔͋h̶̘̮̉a̶̭͛t̴̛̗̚ ̵̼͠ͅw̴͔͚̽e̷̤̎ ̶̰͒h̴̖͉̀̇è̴̙̫l̸̺̬̉d̶̬͍̿̒ ̶̧̦̎͋t̴̬͌r̶̡̥̅̓u̴̲̻͂e̵̝̺͌ ̶͉͎̃t̶̠͛o̴̖̬̓ ̷͇͂ó̸̧̂͜u̷̧̎ȓ̵̯͜ ̸̢̬̎͝w̵̙̹͝ó̸̩ŗ̴̈́ḋ̷͇.̴̭͗̚ ̷̭̙́͆W̴̧͉̄e̸̯͛͆ ̸̪̝́̉w̶̡͊̍i̶͚͘l̶̺̅͒l̴̜͊̎ ̶͕̑̍ȋ̵̬̺m̴̯̟͑͆p̷̥̦̂̑r̵͉͊o̶̲̤͒̚v̵̙̮͝e̷̢͜͝ ̷͎̺̃ó̴̱ṵ̸͒r̴̜̎ ̵̣̐̌à̶̟͠c̴̡̲͒̚t̵̨̰̍́ị̷̛̤̕o̸̖̒n̶͙̔ṡ̶̩̬ ̶̳̽́t̸̞̗̂ỏ̴͔ ̵̮̗̓̚t̶̗̫͑̕ẖ̴̏̃ẻ̵̞̲̋ ̶̼̈́̋͜r̷̼̺̉̒e̷̗͇̿͗q̶͉͛u̴̦͐i̶̦͓̚͝r̴̘̆ę̴̲̽d̸̜͉͒ ̸̥̈̈ṕ̵̗͝o̸͍̒̈́i̴̠͘n̸͖͙̅͘ţ̵̮͊ ̸̧̰͝o̸͕̒r̵͖͎̐ ̴̙͓̅̽d̴̰͂̋i̷̮̹̒͠ẻ̷̹̪ ̶̡̻̎͠t̶̹͘r̴͎̟͘͝y̵̫̰̋̂i̷̧̓̊n̷͓̈́ĝ̶͓̮,̶͈̦̈́͘ ̵͓̄͒w̵̱̌è̶̼̳̎'̴̣̃̔ḷ̶̹̔͑l̴̯̅ ̷͎͋͜c̵̫̱̔ĺ̶̖e̶̮̭͝a̶̯̪̔͐r̷̭̉̅l̷̫̪̂̕y̶̛̭͎ ̵̬̉d̸̖͓͌̕i̶̯̩͊̂ę̷̻̓ ̴̠͋͛a̷̪̋n̸͓͋̕y̶̞̾̏w̴͈̞͋̾â̸̛͉̙ỷ̷̻̖̽ ̷̭̈i̵͖̙̓f̵̭̕ ̷̗̿w̴̬̽e̸̮͍̾͝ ̵̠̋d̷̹̍̆o̵͖͈̎̆n̵͙̔̽͜'̶̨̓̀t̵̗̉.[/o]
I'm not asking too much, just please tone down the shenanigans directed towards me.
[o]>Y̵̥̓͒ͅě̷͉ͅs̴̥͋̇,̸̜͇̔́ ̶̞̙̄ŵ̵̞͠e̶̩̹͠ ̷̛̤̌h̷̼̗͗̕ȩ̴͋ä̵̧̦́̀r̶͍̬̀d̷̥̑̒.̸̧́ ̷̗͐N̸͉͝o̴̺̺͌̈́ẃ̴̯,̴̪̑ ̶̯̈́d̶͈͆̕ǒ̶͇͎ ̸̫̓y̷͓̒̂o̸̙̱̐ű̵͉̿ ̸̧̱̊t̶̗̏h̷̰̅͠i̷̙̪̇n̶̥̚k̵̼͈̄ ̵̼̋̾t̶͓̎̓h̷͓̄̍a̶̜̼͂t̸̞̩͐ ̵̯̈́͘t̶̤͠h̷̢͎̒ë̶͇́ ̴͔̿p̵̰̎o̶̬̥̎̄n̸̺̘͋͝ẙ̵̜ ̷͈͌͘h̸͈͚̓a̸̫̙̽s̷̘͎͊͝ ̷̼̜̌f̸̫̣̅͋i̴̧̓n̵̦̟̋ḯ̴͖s̴̥͘h̶̻̍ȇ̴̟̳ḋ̵̖͇̊ ̸͚̜̆w̷̤̚í̵̛͉t̶͙̮͌͌h̶̜͒̃ ̴̗̇͊ḧ̶̯̼́e̶̤̞͐r̸̤̉̃ ̵̤̄i̸̯͖̐͌ṋ̷̼̓̚v̸͖͝͝e̶̱̘̽s̴̤̻̃͂t̸̨͚͗̿i̴͇̔͋g̵͓̿͝ą̵̗̀͠t̶̛͙i̶̹̓̀o̴̘̱̽̆n̸̙͠s̴̺̾̐ ̴̖̘̆͠y̸̛̟e̶̞̓t̴̙̪͝?[/o]
>Almost as if on queue, a bright purple flash lights up the room and reveals Twilight
>"Alright, I finished up the investigation... Why is this room torn up?"
[o]>"That is not important. What is your verdict?"[/o]
>"... Well, Anonymous has been cleared."
>Twilight turns to you and crouches down to your level before almost putting a hoof on your shoulder, but hesitating right as her thin overshield starts to glow
>"Please, never pull a stunt like that again. If you're ever in trouble for any reason, just think to me and I'll come right away no matter where you are. Just please, never do anything like that again!"
"Don't worry, I'm not planning on it. Also, just in case I'm with somepony else and need to call you, how should I explain it afterwards?"
>Twilight thinks to herself for a moment before drawing a small magenta circle on your chest in magic
>"Just touch that circle, or rather where it would be once it visually fades, and it'll be a magic ping. It'll be a little slower than telepathy, but it'll be much easier to explain."
"Alright, that works. So, are we free to go now?"
>"You're free to go. Astra, however, still has a job to be doing."
>Twilight turns and walks towards the 'pony' in question who in turn resigns itself to the coming teleportation
>Once the two of them are gone, you decide to spend the rest of the day straightening this room
>And from there, things were pretty uneventful for the rest of the summer
>The next school year, however...
>That's another story

}-[Some Considerable time later...]-{

>Be Anonymous, resident pony/human and unwilling parasite
>You've managed to more-or-less adjust to your body's new abilities and properly incorporate them into your daily routine
>Yes, even McChicken
>You use him to pretend to have a disability when ponies start bothering you, but only sparingly
>Well, once-ish a day is still sparingly, right?
>Anyways, you've even managed to land a job during the time a regular filly would be asleep due to your abilities to both forego sleep and change your size at will!
>Sure, you had to bribe Twilight into forging a few documents for you, but it gets you out of the house and gets you some income to fuck around with!
>Astra, on the other hand, has been doing everything in her power to resist acclimation
>Despite that, cracks are starting to show through the otherwise aloof and belligerent facade
>Speaking of, somebody's just come home from her own job!
[o]>"We're back, you had best not be occupying the couch."[/o]
"I'm up in my room right now, don't worry."
[o]>"Do you know what horrible things that violet vermin has us do?"[/o]
"Paperwork?"
[o]>"Too much of it! Eighteen thousand individual sheets needed sorting, I counted them all!"[/o]
>You finish up the last of your homework and look in the fridge for anything worth eating in the time you have before you go to work
"That's a lot, but Twilight's royalty. It's kinda her job to sort through massive piles of paper like that as well as read over them and make the appropriate judgement on what to do with them. At least you aren't doing that part too, right?"
[o]>"You should see some of the decisions she makes. We have assimilated bacterial colonies with greater skills in decision making, much less general intelligence!"[/o]
"If the choices she makes are really that bad, then why not ask her if you can advise? From my experiences, she's usually quite open to constructive criticism if you make sure you're gentle with it."
[o]>"Define gentle."[/o]
>You eventually settle on a leftover sandwich and grab a plate and some extra condiments with a few spare tendrils
>You assemble your masterpiece as you mull over your thoughts about how best to make sure Astra doesn't make Twilight have some kind of mental breakdown
"Just avoid criticizing her directly and offer alternatives with explanations backing them up for each of your corrections and I'm sure she'll handle it well."
[o]>"We have absorbed enough wordsmiths in more languages than there are stars in the sky, we'll be able to fit some direct insult in without setting her off."[/o]
"Still, I wouldn't recommend it. I know you've heard or learned some variation of the phrase 'don't piss where you drink?'"
[o]>"What of it?"[/o]
"Insulting your boss to their face is about as close to the definition of pissing where you drink as you can get without taking things literally."
[o]>"Duly noted and promptly ignored."[/o]
>Ok then, looks like you're now the breadwinner!
"Have fun with that."
[o]>"And you have fun pushing boxes for the next six hours."[/o]
"Somebody's gotta keep the trains running on time."
[o]>"Suit yourself, Mussolini. Good night and return safely, else we'll have to take over for you!"[/o]
>You finish eating your sandwich and walk out into the living room to see Astra melting into the couch, yet still maintaining a somewhat equine form
"You too, I don't want to be stuck living alone again!"
>With that friendly goodbye out of the way, you go out to your night job in your taller persona
>Your name in this form, you ask?
>Verdant Strain!
>Get it, because you're a parasite and you're green?
>Fuck you, it's funny!
>Either way, you finish your walk down to the station with a few minutes to spare
>Punch in, get your shit together, start pushing boxes
>Freight's easy to move with your improved strength management, so much so that it's not difficult to pass yourself off as a normal, fully grown earth pony
>It also helps that when nopony's looking you use a tendril or two to move multiple boxes at once, but only when you're sure that nobody's looking
>Well, work's just work either way, so...
>.   .   .

>Be Astra Biologis, resident parasite and unwilling pony
>You've been holding this form for well over a month now, simply for the ease of not needing to transform every day and for no other reasons!
>You and all of your subservient parts are suffering yet another headache over the work you are being forced to do
>You're tired of sitting here, playing the sorting algorithm to an incompetent "ruler" and barely receiving any compensation or recognition for any of it!
>Things are changing tomorrow, and you're making sure of it!
>You've gathered intel and hid in place, building up so-called "good will" for long enough, it's time to finally put your plans to action!
>Now, to run over the details in your minds and let it marinate until nothing is left to stand in your way...
>.   .   .

>Be Anonymous again
>Last day of summer before school starts next week, better use it wisely!
>Get home, wash yourself off, eat some breakfast
>Breakfast?
>Food time!
>Yes, McChicken, it's food time. What do you want?
>Want meat!
>Can't do that buddy, sorry. Guess it's another sandwich for us
>(Disappointed cockatrice noises)
>Make and eat sandwich
>Wave off Astra for her day at work
>Go outside and tool around!
>.   .   .

>Be Astra
>You're on your way to that purple imbecile's castle and are putting the finishing touches on your extra plan details
>Soon enough, you're at the door to the castle and begin knocking
>That lizard called 'Spike' is the one to open the door, not to your surprise in the slightest
>He lets you in without issue, of course he doesn't know what's about to happen so he has no reason to stop you
>You take youre position in the offender's office, finding her already at work ruining things even more
>Time to put your plan in motion!
"We have suffered here beneath you for long enough, now is the time for change!"
>Twilight looks up from her documents, giving you a surprised look
>You move a tendril out to lock the door behind you, ensuring that at least in some small part she won't be able to leave
>"Uhm... What do you mean by that, Astra? Remember, if you make a move to harm me, I can still protect myself easily."
"We may not be able to remove you ourselves, but we will at the very least spare those beneath you from your horrible judgement!"
>Twilight recoils, clearly offended at your words
>"And what's that supposed to mean!?"
"We mean that you lack the knowledge and wisdom to properly make the decisions you make, we would be far more qualified and make far better decisions."
>Twilight recoils yet again, but this time more in surprise than anger
>"You do know that there were far better ways to start off this discussion, right?"
"Anonymous informed us, but we didn't feel that it would carry the proper weight unless our full intentions and thoughts were placed within our statement."
>"Most ponies, myself included, don't respond well to open and initial hostility. Next time it would probably help your cause more if you started off nicer, you know. As for your actual concerns, I'm not sure how to help you. I'm not the one with the power to designate who makes decisions, so the best you could do is advise me on these issues, and even then you haven't quite proved enough to me that you'd be the best one for the job. Okay?"
"We will not be taking no for an answer, we will be advising you on these decisions."
>Twilight sighs, capitulating to your superior authority
>"Fine, you can give whatever input you want, but I'm not guaranteeing that I'll listen."
"That is acceptable."
>"Alright, now that that's out of the way, let's-"
"There is one other thing."
>Twilight's shoulders slump again, but she still lets you speak
>"And what would that be?"
"We would like a raise."
>"FINE. You get a raise, now let's just get to work!"
>With those matters settled, you start filtering through papers and placing them where they should go, occasionally rebuking Twilight for a wrong decision or praising her for a correct one
>She is made visibly uncomfortable by your remarks, but the first step to fixing a problem is realizing that there is a problem and sometimes a gentle push is needed to make that connection!
>The rest of the work is finished out, the day comes to a close, and you return home less aggravated to Anonymous

 /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
| Some More Time Later.... |
 \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

>Be Twilight
>You've just sent Astra back home after another hard day of work
>Hard has two meanings there, hard as in you worked hard and hard as in Astra's constant interruptions made it harder to work
>There's got to be a better way to go about all of this, especially since Astra's incessant interruptions force you to slow down in your own work to explain the logic behind your decisions
>For being an alien hivemind that supposedly doesn't care about us 'lesser beings,' it's sure making a fuss whenever you do something it deems wrong
>However, that all can be handled tomorrow
>Well, tomorrow's a bit short notice to start something, this monday is better
>Now that a date's been set, you have ample time to plan this out!
>Ample time to get rid of tonight's headache, too...

>Be Astra
>Another day of helping the inept 'princess' do her job properly, you retire back to your home and the one you share it with
"We return, are you leaving soon?"
>A thought returns as an answer
[o]>Yeah, but not for much longer. I'm just getting a piece of spinach out of my teeth, so I won't be around for much longer.[/o]
>Oh
>Then the house is yours even sooner!
T̵̺̎h̵̦̔ȩ̴̏n̸̝͑ ̵̭̈́w̸̱͂e̵͎̾ ̷̝͠w̵͚̄i̸̥͝s̶̜̍h̵̯͝ ̸͆ͅÿ̶ͅo̶̬̓ṵ̵̌ ̷̼̍ä̴̫́ ̷̙̅s̴̨̐m̵͍͋o̷̦͂ō̴͚t̵͂͜h̴̥̊ ̸̫̒n̸̟̓í̵̝ģ̴̀ḫ̸̍t̵̰̉ ̴͉̈w̵̩̎i̵͍̍t̵̼̄h̴̖͘ǭ̷u̶̙͛t̸͈̍ ̶̺̾i̷̮͂ş̸̉s̷͠ͅṷ̴͗ȅ̸̼ ̷̡̋a̷̝̔n̸̥͒d̴̬͝ ̴̟̕ẁ̶͕í̸͜l̸̹̽l̷̬͒ ̷͕̈́s̵̨͗e̸̞̽ē̴ͅ ̶̻͛y̸̙͑o̵̫͘u̶͎̾ ̴̠̿á̷͕g̴̘̈́ā̸͈i̷̲͂ṇ̷̀ ̵̾͜ẁ̶͕h̵̯͠ȩ̶̅n̸̙̒ ̷̠̉y̵̮̅o̷̙͗ù̴̺ ̵̞̉r̶̞̒ē̸͍t̶̢̊u̶͎̾r̶̯͝n̷̩̓.̷̘̒
[o]>You too! On the smooth night part, and I guess the return part... Eh, I guess it would've worked on its own anyway. Point is, have a good one![/o]
>As you collapse into the couch again, your green companion trots past you and out the door, extending a tendril to wave before quickly retracting it
>Now, where did the counting leave off?
>100,000,012,683,991, 100,000,012,683,992, 100,000,012,683,993...

>Be Anonymous
>Another night on the job, moving boxes and having an alright time with it
>You've also learned a new trick to helping move even heavier objects too!
>Now not only can you rearrange your muscles to make moving things physically easier, but you can also change the shape of your bones to give your muscles greater leverage!
>Moving boxes might get even easier once you have a supply of meat to use to bolster your muscular biomass too, but until Twilight finally caves to that you're stuck with strengthening your bones via plant materials
>Oh well...
>You clock in and get to work again, doing what you are expected to do
>Another train rolls in, get to work unloading it
>Everything's unloaded, start loading the new stuff for the departure
>Break time, punch out, punch back in, resume working, rinse, repeat
>Time to punch out, go home, hose off, fuck around for a couple of hours with Astra, get ready, time for school!
>Such is life

+-------------------------------------------+
|Even More Time Later, Monday to be Exact...|
+-------------------------------------------+

>Be Twilight again
>All of your own preparations have been put into place and everything is in order
>All that's left is for Astra to arrive and you can fix everything that's happened
>And from far below, you sense the door open
>Speak of the Nightmare and she shall come...

>Be Astra
>Time to leave for work yet again and suffer under your purple captor
>You make the trip as you have numerous times before, only to have a voice call out in your mind along the way
[o]>So, how's things?[/o]
F̴̻̔̄ͅi̶̺̍͌n̶̯̽ḛ̷̞͋̇,̴̛͚͜ ̶̖͍͝w̸̱̞͗h̵̙̉͠ͅy̴̲̞͌̚ ̶̡̽d̶͔̟͂ǫ̴͉̔͋ ̸̩̓̈́y̴̬̠͊̈́o̷̫͂̐ǔ̶̧͒ ̵̭̖̽͠c̸͔̫̈́̈́ǒ̵̟̐ṇ̵̉̏t̸͔̋ã̸͕̼̐c̸̖͍̃t̵̩̝̄ ̷̖̹̕u̸̺͆s̸̖̭̅ ̷̨̘̏ń̵̞̿o̸̝̼̓ẅ̶̘͈?
[o]>I uh... I accidentally broke the tap on the shower, we're going to need to call a plumber.[/o]
We have absorbed many with knowledge of trades, we will fix it.
[o]>It's not really any kind of simple fix, it's more like I slipped and acidentally ripped it out of the wall trying to catch myself.[/o]
... U̴̺̹͒̉n̶̡̦̄̔d̴͈͝e̸͎̗̓̑r̶̯͙͊s̵̢̼̒͛t̴̜̗̂o̴̢͂͘ơ̴̫̐d̸̝̼͛͝.
>Truth be told, you have no idea how that... individual... managed to tear out the tap, but that is not your problem right now

>Be Anon
>You didn't really tear out the tap because you fell, you tore it out because you panicked when a spider dropped on your face
>Astra doesn't need to know that, though
>Well, school time!

>Be Astra again
>You've reached the castle and have entered without resistance, as usual
>You walk over to the office you conduct your work in and enter, only to find Twilight sitting at the desk and staring right at you
>"Astra, please take a seat. I have some things I'd like to discuss with you."
>You raise an eyebrow at the suddenly heavy tone of the room, but capitulate to the pony's demand
"Speak."
>Twilight raises her own eyebrows at you and stares expectantly, waiting for you to change your words
>Let's see if she breaks before you
"We're waiting."
>"Say it politely."
>Silence
>Staring
>You resume counting inside your head to pass the moments, but notice after a few dozen moments that the pony's horn has ignited
>After a few more numbers, you notice one other thing
>The room is starting to heat up
>"I hope you don't mind me turning up the heat, it's to balance out your icy staring."
>You begin glaring at the smug horse, who has begun leaning back and staring at you behind lidded eyes
>You keep up your own glare for as long as you can before the heat becomes unbearable
"Fine we yield! What is it you wish to say to us!?"
>Twilight's horn immediately fades and the temperature drops quickly as she begins speaking her mind
>"I need to say that the way that you've been acting during work for the past week has made it very hard to get the work done that I'm supposed to be doing to the point that I've had to work overtime to continue meeting deadlines after I send you home for the day. Please, for the sake of my work and so that Princess Celestia doesn't have to come here and sort things out herself, let me do my work in peace. I understand that you have your comments and concerns about my work, but please save it until either during our break or during our lunch so that we may remain as productive as necessary during work hours."
>So she wishes to silence you
"And yet you haven't made a single wrong decision during the entire time I've been assisting you, at least when you were letting me assist you and not hiding your bad ideas."
>"I have made every decision I intended to make. I've spent more time explaining why I make the decisions I make to you than I have considering your decisions over my own, and in the end you always agree with me anyway. If you want me to continue explaining all of that to you I will, but just not while we're working."
"Or else what?"
>"Or else Princess Celestia comes here to sort this all out for us, and you don't want that happening."
"What will this 'princess' do that you haven't already threatened to do?"
>"She'll carry out all my threats without giving you a chance to defend yourself. The only reason she's agreed to let me keep you around is because she knows what you are and that I have this situation under control; I can even show you the letter she sent me where she stated just what would happen if anything changed from normal, even just my workflow, to prove it to you."
>In times like this, you've taken to using another one of Anonymous's euphamisms
"Bet."
>In response, Twilight immediately brings a letter in out of thin air and drops it in front of you without breaking eye contact
[p]>"Dear Twilight,[/p]
[p]I understand your reasons behind all this and I hope for the sake of all creatures not only in Ponyville or Equestria but all of Equus that this all happens as you want it to. However, if this all should cause even a single negative change in this town no matter how small, I will not hesitate to come down and rectify this situation myself and end your project early. I trust you, don't break that trust.[/p]
[p]Apprehensively yours, Princess Celestia[/p]
>Huh
"Understood."
>Twilight's expression lights up and the letter disappears from the desk as she straightens up
>"Then let's get to work, shall we?"