Chapter 35: Divide and Conquer

"...and so Blah decided to trust Charge and take his portal," Hailstorm finished. "And we had no choice but to follow."

"Interesting," Twilight commented. She looked out of the library window. "Sounds remarkably like he was just manipulating the truth, or in other words, lying by omission. I've seen that happen on many an occasion." She looked back at Hail. "But, you say that Seraphina read his mind and didn't find anything suspicious. Even if he wasn't lying, she'd be able to tell if he was leaving out an important detail."

"Like I said," Spike cut in restlessly, "Maybe he really was trying to help, everyone else got back safely, and you just haven't found any of them because you haven't been looking? Not everything is a big deal, you know."

"I shouldn't have to, though," Hail denied. "Charge said that you can't get into a dimension through Chargeworld without some instance of himself opening the door from said dimension. So, we should've all came out through that door... all I remember is waking up in the middle of Ponyville already..."

"...and from what I understand," Twilight continued, starting to pace the floor, "if you had fallen out of the sky, or even been there out-cold long enough, you would've caught somepony's attention for sure." She stopped. "Argh! I just can't make any sense out of it..."

"Look," Spike spoke up again, "it doesn't hurt to search. Who knows, they might just be hanging out at Blahtown right now, wondering what happened to you."

Hail sighed. "I guess you're right... I'll go to Blahtown real quick. Maybe someone there can tell me something at least." He headed for the door. "Just keep an eye out, ok? And if one of them stops by here looking for me, tell them to wait."

Twilight nodded. "Of course."

Hail practically burst through the door, despite how heavy it seemed, already getting his running start to take off in flight. In seconds, he was airborne and heading for the town where his adventure began. With any luck, Blah would be there waiting for him.

"...the least he could do was close the door behind him," grumbled Spike.

"Well, we can't really blame him," Twilight languished, closing the door in his stead. "I'd be in a hurry too if any of my friends were missing..."

Hailstorm landed in front of the oldest structure of Blahtown and hastily knocked on the door. There was no answer. "Hello, anyone home?" He peeked through the window. The wooden house was empty.

Frustrated, he went to the next house, the one Blah had built specifically for entering the game with. He heard voices from inside, some of which sounded vaguely familiar but were definitely not Blah or the other would-be SBURB players. He knocked, and the voices stopped abruptly. Some tumbles and crashes sounded from inside. A second or two of silence, and the door opened by a crack. Hail could see a pale face with a distinct reddish nose. "Wah, nobody's home! Scram!"

"Waluigi, this is important." Hail had no more than a fraction of his patience left. "Is Blah there?"

"No! Just me! Wah!"

"Who were those voices I was hearing just now?"

"Nopo- NOBODY. PLEASE GO."

Hail stared up at the Demolitionist quizzically. "Well, can I at least have Blah's laptop?"

"NO YOU CANT I AM USING IT. WAH."

"Whatever it is, it can wait," Hail asserted. "Out of my way." He kicked the door down, repelling Waluigi and knocking him to the floor. His eyes met with the laptop sitting on the table. On the screen was a frozen image of Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash, covered by a 'pause' icon in the center. "What in the..."

Waluigi stared at Hailstorm, unable to move. "Oh... it's just you... wah... wahaha..."

Hail walked carefully up to the computer and clicked the mouse. The icon disappeared; the images moved and the voices resumed. He paused the video again, directing his disconcerted glance at Waluigi.

"I found them on Blah's computer," Waluigi said defensively. "They're not bad."

"I might care if we weren't in a state of crisis," diverted Hail. "Do you have any idea where Blah is?"

"Wah, haven't seen him since he went down to the caves with you!" Waluigi stood up and dusted himself off.

"Hmph. Bring up that chat window thing or whatever," instructed Hail. "I need you to type for me."

"If I do, can I get back to waaatching?" The normally emphatic Waluigi was oddly docile in his question.

Hail rolled his eyes. "Yeah yeah."

Letting out a barely-suppressed cry of joy, Waluigi sat down at the computer, minimized the video, and brought up Pesterchum. Hail pointed to Astra's chumhandle, and Waluigi double-clicked it. Hailstorm began dictating.

- desultoryMonarch [DM] began pestering spacefaringPioneer [SP] -

DM: astra this is hailstorm we just got back from the underground except we also went to another timeline and when we came back blah wasnt there
DM: no wait thats kind of confusing erase that
DM: what are you doing you dont type that stop
DM: stop typing this isnt funny just stop and let me start over
SP: Um...
DM: sorry sorry hang on
DM: defeating the wall of flesh thats the boss of hell by the way allowed epsuss (wah i dont know how its spelled) to use the last of his power to send us to a timeline where he didnt die
DM: then we went on an adventure with a time machine invented by future tails who survived the world exploding with the help of future blah
DM: and we met this human named charge who looked really suspicious but he opened a portal back to this timeline which we all took
DM: but i awoke in ponyville and blah and the others were all missing
DM: future blah said that you were some kind of time expert do you know whats going on
SP: I wouldn't consider myself an expert, but a lot of the basics are just common sense...
SP: Timelines are completely separate from one another, in fact, there is an entire medium between timelines that one must pass through to get from one to another...
SP: So when traveling between them, your direction might deviate a little, whether intentional or not, and land you in a different part of the timeline...
SP: In other words, a different moment in time...
DM: whoa so blah and the others might have ended up in the past or the future
DM: is there any way for us to find out where or wait i should say when they might be
SP: I acquired some equipment recently that can pick up trace amounts of temporal energy and follow it back to its source...
SP: I could follow your trail to the doomed timeline and, since your trail should be close to those of the others, hop to them and follow them forward again...
SP: I'll be able to pinpoint within a month of their time period...
DM: that sounds like it should be good enough i hope
DM: can we meet in ponyville
SP: I'll have to install SBURB on my phone so I can keep tabs on Bellia while we're out, but sure...
DM: great see you there ok waluigi you can stop typing now seriously go back to watching ponies youre done
DM: WAH!

- desultoryMonarch [DM] ceased pestering spacefaringPioneer [SP] -

Hailstorm once again landed in the middle of Ponyville. He had taken the return trip as quickly as possible, but he seemed to have gotten there early. Astra had not yet arrived. Instead of simply waiting, he made a beeline for the library.

"They weren't at Blahtown," Hail reported as he opened the library door. "But I did talk to Astra, who said that they might have... separated from the path... and wound up in the past or future or something, long story short she's coming to Ponyville to try and figure out exactly when they ended up."

"Oh," said Spike, who was busy sorting through some books. "Well, good luck with that."

Hail looked around the library. "Where's Twilight?"

"She went to a party," Spike shrugged. "Said she needed something to take the stress off. And I'm stuck here looking after the library for her again..." He groaned. "And I really wanted to go to this party, too."

"Where's the party?" asked Hail. "I want to make sure Twilight is the first to know when we find out what happened to Blah. That'd help her ease up a bit too, I think."

"It's at Sugarcube Corner, of course," Spike explained. "...do you even care what the occasion is?"

Hail sighed to himself. He didn't have much time for distractions, but he didn't want to look like a jerk. "Sure, what's going on?"

"Light Star finally got his cutie mark. Can you believe it?"

Hail's eyes widened. In all the chaos and adventure, he had completely forgotten about his close friend. He couldn't even remember the last time they talked. The news that Light had apparently found his talent during his absence came as a huge shock to the pegasus. What could it possibly be that took him this long to figure out?

"That's good to hear... I just wish I wasn't so busy." Hail cleared his throat, washing down the surprise for now and getting back to the task at hand. "I'll have to pay him my congrats later. Astra could be here any minute."

"But..." Spike waned with confusion. "Ok, if you say so..."

"Later," Hail departed, closing the door behind him this time.

Now that he had a chance to get a second look, he noticed the streets were emptier than usual. This party must have been huge. He took off in low flight, getting a pegasus-eye view of the town in case she was waiting in a different street. There was one carriage going around town, heading in the direction of the library. He followed it curiously, and sure enough, it stopped at the giant tree, and Astra climbed out of it struggling with a large backpack. Hail went in for a landing.

"I'm here, sorry," Hail called out as his hooves touched the cobblestone.

"Oh, there you are," Astra greeted. "Looks like I got here just in time."

"Yeah... definitely," Hail scratched his ear nervously. "Anyway, how do we use this... thing that you have?"

"I need to be taken to the place where the portal dumped you out," she explained. "The signal will be strongest there."

"Uh..." Hail bowed his head, trying to remember. His re-entry was such a blur. "I think it was... the corner of Cherry Road and Modern Street?"

"Last trip?" the driving stallion asked. He looked like he was eager to get to that party as well.

"Should be," Astra assured, handing him a few extra bits and climbing back into the car. "Thanks a lot for your help. This thing is hard for me to lug around on my own."

"Don't mention it," the driver grunted as he trotted off towards the intersection. Hail followed by air.

The carriage came to a halt at the edge of Cherry Road. Hailstorm landed and helped Astra out of the door. She immediately set her pack down near the sunflower with a loud clank. "Thanks again," Astra called to the pony as he drove off.

"So how does this work?" Hail prompted as Astra took the machine out of the pack - or more accurately, took the pack off of the machine. It was big and rectangular, looking a bit like a giant early 21st century cell phone.

"In order for a physical object to safely pass through the space between timelines, or as I like to call it, noise," Astra began, screwing an antenna to the top of it and flipping a lever, "it must be coated with a unique kind of energy to protect it from the anomalies of the noise. This machine simply partially re-opens the vortex and follows the energy back."

"Anomalies?" Hail repeated, watching Astra press a few buttons to calibrate the process.

"Physical objects aren't supposed to enter the noise, so anything that isn't protected well enough might react unpredictably to the noise," Astra explained. "It could be anything from instant vaporization to a simple change of color, depending on the weakness of the barrier."

Hail took a panicked moment to examine his body closely. To his relief, nothing seemed to be different. "Looks like I came through ok..." he breathed. "But that sounds like a sneaky way to kill one of us off without anyone knowing, or being able to stop it..."

"We'll find out soon." Astra finished setting up the machine, and a blue beam shot into the sky, creating a small hole partway through filled with the same purple mist as before. Readings and numbers popped up on the screen, fluctuating rapidly. A simulated map of noise appeared, or at least that's what Hail identified it as. The beam traveled backward through a transparent white cylinder on the screen, from one field of green to another. Three more cylinders came into view, each one stemming from the one occupied by the beam and going a slightly different direction.

"Those would be your friends' paths," Astra narrated as she pressed a few more buttons. The beam curved around to the closest cylinder and followed it the other way. It intersected with the green field again, accompanied by some more numbers. "Looks like one of them landed... about a month ago."

"Not bad, but a lot can happen in a month," Hail noted. "How about the others?"

Running it back again, Astra followed the next trail, which went the other direction. "2 years into the future, month of April."

"2 years... a long time to wait for someone... I'm almost afraid to ask about the last one."

Astra repeated the process with the leftmost trail. She flinched at the result. "21 years in the past..."

Hail grimaced. "Yikes. We might have to hope Tails gets back to us with that time machine..."

"Well, I wish I could help you further, but I'm running out of time myself..." She began to power down and pack up the machine. "...you wouldn't happen to know anything about DJ, would you? His absence is what's really getting me worried."

"We're still not sure exactly what happened to him, but Charge said that it may not be too late to help him," Hail recalled.

"I see..." She carefully slung the backpack around her shoulder. "Good luck with everything. I have a lot of work to do and I can't wait much longer." She produced a 10-inch wide, half-inch thin device from a side pocket. "I got you the biggest tablet computer I could find. You operate it by touching the screen. If you need to contact me for anything, I'll be all ears."

Hail settled the tablet on the ground in front of him and studied it. He tested the touch screen by tapping the Pesterchum icon with his hoof. The basic window appeared, showing the chumroll which was already populated with the screen names of all his acquaintances that had used Pesterchum so far. "Wow, how'd you find time to set all this up...?"

"I'm good at multitasking." She began to jog the other way. "See you in the medium."

"See you then," Hail said, putting the tablet away. He supposed that his next stop would have to be the party, so he could tell Twilight about Astra's findings. And then, perhaps he'd stick around a bit for Light Star's sake. The two of them had a lot of catching up to do.

He thought about his old, and still very relevant life as he galloped to Sugarcube Corner. His boss might not be too happy with him being absent from work for months, but with his son getting his cutie mark, he could be in good enough spirits to overlook things... the winter season was approaching, the one season of the year that Hail actually loved to work.

As he saw the combination bakery and social hotspot, he heard some upbeat music leaking out of every crack; even Vinyl Scratch made it to this one. He wondered if he could slip in unnoticed, pretend as if he had been there the whole time.

Silently, he pushed open the door and ducked under a nearby table, letting the door gravitate shut behind him. The place was stuffed with ponies, more than he had ever seen at a party before... not that he'd been to many. The majority of them were up dancing in the center, or chatting casually off to the side.

It was hard to see from under the table, so Hail stealthily emerged close behind a passing trio of giggling mares, thankfully too wrapped up in their conversation to notice. He leaned on a counter, getting a head above the crowd and looking for purple and pink in particular.

"Heeey, Hailstorm," greeted a spunky female voice from behind. "Long time no see."

Hail turned his head to see a multicolored pegasus holding a small glass of punch. "Oh, hi Rainbow Dash, it has been a while," he answered, returning to his scouting.

"You know, pulling a double shift at the weather center every day gets kind of tiring after a while, even for me," she joked. "You better be saving the world out there, guy!" She kicked him in the shoulder playfully.

"Heh, you know it," he responded, less-than-enthusiastically.

"Looking for somepony?" Dash picked up on him quite quickly. "Light's in the middle. I've never seen him this confident before, it's like he's a whole new pony!"

Hail's eyes followed Rainbow's hoof and met with the colt of the hour. Light was just as Hail had remembered, with the addition of an uncharacteristic grin. He couldn't quite see the cutie mark from there, just a bit of white. Light Star was surrounded by ponies, dancing with them, not looking the least bit uncomfortable.

Hail smiled. "Yeah, it's good to see that he finally got his mark. Doesn't look like I'll get a word in edgewise right now, though." He laughed, Rainbow joining him. It definitely couldn't hurt to loosen up, just for a bit.

Just as Hailstorm contemplated joining them on the dance floor, the song ended with a flourish. Pinkie bounced on-stage. "Give it up for Vinyl Scratch, everypony!" There was much cheering and stamping of hooves as Vinyl bowed. "And now, for a pony who needs no introduction, because otherwise I'd just be talking FOREVER and this party isn't for me, it's for him! Light Star, get up here!"

Pinkie cleared the stage as the warm-colored mane made its way to the front. Light stepped onto the stage, giving everyone a good view of his newly-acquired image: six white, curved lines stemming from the center, in the shape of a galaxy. The crowd cheered again as he waved pompously. "Thank you... you're all too kind," he expressed as the cheering died down to listen.

"Welp, here we are," he began, showing off his flank and staring at it admiringly. "I never thought it'd happen, heck, WE never thought it'd happen, but here it is, my very own cutie mark! It all goes to show that if you want to find your purpose, all you have to do is keep trying, never give up, and eventually, all your hard work will pay off!"

Applause followed, which Hailstorm gladly joined. Such inspirational words from one who was so late at finding his own inspiration.

"Alrighty, I bet you'd like to hear about how I got it..." He inhaled deeply, and exhaled, an air of focus about him. The crowd grew anxious, as none of them had seen exactly what made his dream come to reality just yet. "So, magic, right? Before today, if anyone told you that an earth pony could cast spells, you'd laugh and laugh at them. But recently, I've been told that myself, and I believed it. You know how? One word. Blahsadfeguie."

Hail perked up. This was suddenly infinitely more interesting. The rest of the crowd did as well, recognizing the name of the mysterious human that saved the entire town from corruption that one day a few months ago.

"Blah isn't a unicorn, and yet he has demonstrated such bizarre and wonderful magic. Remember those party crashers that we thought were Marshmallow Buttercup and Petunia Glitterbottom?" There was an unsettling silence as nearly every pony at the party remembered awkwardly how they had been fooled up to that point. "Those two were masters of their art. The art called Hajike. When they were revealed, I just had to know how they were able to fool everyone for so long... I couldn't find either of them, but I heard that they saw a lot of potential in Blah, so despite my every instinct acting against me, I followed him into the Everfree Forest."

"You went into the Everfree Forest?!" roared a gruff, male voice from somewhere in the crowd. Hail recognized it as the unmistakable voice of his boss and Light's father, though he couldn't quite spot him among all the ponies.

"Yes, I did, Dad," chuckled Light. "We can talk about it later. I have a story to tell. You know, about how I finally got the thing you've been pushing me to get for upwards of a decade?"

His defeated dad grumbled, clearly conflicted. Light cleared his throat. "Rest assured, I remained safely hidden just off the path that Blah carved through it, fighting his way through slimes and timberwolves. Eventually, he stumbled across a clearing, occupied by a huge, angry dragon!" He paused for dramatic effect. The crowd was thoroughly gripped. "There, I witnessed Blah's Hajike first-hoof. Zooming forward like a rocket, he slammed his hammer into the dragon's underbelly, launching it upwards with impossible force!" He suddenly raised his foreleg as if pointing at the dragon from his memory, soaring into the sky and out of sight on the horizon. "When I saw that maneuver, something sparked inside of me. In that moment, I knew that this was the thing I had been missing all my life. I resolved to learn and perfect this art for myself so that I too could feel this power."

Light took a breath. "It took some effort, but I finally worked up the courage to go with Hail back to Blahtown. He and Blah left, suggesting I stay there and train. He didn't know I was interested in Hajike, but he didn't need to. Turns out none other than Marshma- I mean, Bo-bobo himself showed up to help me out! I was prepared to spend months, maybe even years mustering up the focus needed to conjure such miracles. But you know what he taught me?"

For no more than a second, his front leg stretched all the way to a table in the back, grabbing an entire tray of brownies and bringing it back to him. He flipped the tray, scattering the dozen or so brownies in all different directions. Without breaking a sweat, he caught each one in his mouth by leaning to them in turn at impossible angles and speeds. For the last one, he dove into the crowd, kicking off of the falling tray and snatching it like a dog would a ball. The tray landed on its side, and Light landed on top of it, balancing perfectly. "...manipulating space takes no thought at all!" There was a collective gasp, followed by a cheer as Light rolled the tray up the steps and back to his spot on the stage.

Hail blinked. He'd never thought about it that way, but there was one other pony he had known for a long time that could 'manipulate space' in a similar fashion. Had that been this Hajike all along?

"And that's when I earned my mark. It felt amazing to finally have that image on my flank that proves I'm worth something." His frame had taken on a much more solid, proud shape. "But I'm nowhere near a master of Hajike yet. My journey is just beginning. The next step, according to Bo-bobo, is to find a partner - someone on my level who I could spend a long time with, perhaps forever, where we can grow constantly stronger together with each other's support. When he said this, I knew exactly who that pony was going to be." He took a deep breath, preparing himself for the inevitable. "Pinkie Pie."

Pinkie's heart nearly leaped out of her throat at the mention of her name, as well as the fact that Light had somehow ended up in front of her, holding her hoof. The crowd backed away, giving them some space as Light gazed into her eyes. "Ever since we first met... do you remember that day?" She nodded silently, gazing back with bewildered, and yet curious eyes. "The one day that I decided to get out of the house for once, and run some errands for my parents. You were shooting the breeze with Applejack at her market stall. Our eyes met, just like this, and for a moment I thought I felt... a connection."

There was a soft, excited munching noise next to Hail. He glanced over and saw Don Patch eating some popcorn and listening intently. "This is my favorite part," he whispered to the pegasus.

"Ever since then, I just couldn't get you out of my mind," continued Light. "But, I couldn't say anything, because I was too embarrassed of my blank flank. How could a girl like you ever take a guy like me seriously? So I watched you foolishly from afar, never showing myself... and then one day, I barely worked up the courage to knock on your door... but after you answered, I faltered and ended up asking for something else instead..."

He presented a shining brass trumpet, recently polished and hardly used. "Of all things, a trumpet... one that I kept, wondering if you'd show up at my house one day and ask for it back, and give me another chance to tell you how I really felt... but no, you're far too sweet and patient for that." For once, Pinkie was completely speechless. "And you're much more than that, too. You're kind, amicable, not to mention a blast to be around, and you always look out for your friends. But we can be more than friends, Pinkie... together, we can pursue a life full of fun, magic, and adventure. And I know that you are the only one I can spend this life with. What do you say?"

Tears formed in Pinkie's eyes. Friendship was one thing, but to take it a step further... this was a completely new concept to her, and yet one that had always fascinated her. "Oh, Light Star..." She grinned. "There's not a lot that happens around me that I don't notice! Don't pretend I didn't see you all those times, standing off in some alley or hiding behind a haystack... but the truth is..." Pinkie leaned in closer. "I always hoped you'd come over to me!"

Light's eyes widened, and his mouth formed a nervous smile. "So does that mean..."

"Come here, silly!" Pinkie wrapped both forelegs around him and brought him closer, their lips touching, and Light followed through enthusiastically, embracing her back. Their eyes closed as the kiss exploded with previously hidden passion, so wrapped up with each other that they barely heard the crowd expressing their sentiments.

Hailstorm couldn't believe his eyes. One moment, Light was a shy, self-conscious loner, and the next, he had his hooves around one of the Elements of Harmony, in front of one of the biggest crowds Ponyville could get together. Don Patch sniffled. "I cry everytime..."

Pinkie and Light finally withdrew each other, the both of them satisfied in knowing that this wouldn't be their last close encounter. "All right DJ," roared Pinkie to Vinyl Scratch, "play us something HOT!"

Vinyl changed the records and, in an instant, a vigorous jam kicked on. Pinkie danced a wild dance, her spirits higher than ever, and it didn't take long for Light and most of the rest of the crowd to join in. Hail was still too busy mulling over what just happened to consider hopping in, but even Rainbow Dash and Don Patch had no problem stepping it up.

Hail absentmindedly glanced at the only other corner of the room without movement, and to his surprise, he saw a face staring back. He chuckled to himself, inaudibly thanks to the music. It was the pony he had come here to fetch in the first place.

Twilight smiled and carefully trotted across the room towards him. "Well, that sure was unexpected, huh?" Her voice was just loud enough to make out.

"No kidding," Hail replied loudly. "Wanna step out so we can talk?"

"Sure," she said simply, and the two shuffled out of the building.

"...so long story short," Hailstorm finished as he and Twilight reached the library, "my friends are not dead, just scattered across time."

"Well..." Twilight pondered as she opened the library door, "Surely the ones in the past, assuming both of them have survived this long, will find a way to contact us soon... but unless we get that time machine, we have quite a bit of waiting on our hands for the last one..."

"Hang on," Hail urged on their way in, "Don't you have a time travel spell or something that you used once?"

"It's not that easy," Twilight explained. "I doubt I could gather enough energy to travel more than a week at a time, and bringing a non-user of magic along is another matter entirely..."

"Gah." Hail shook his head. "I guess we'll just have to keep thinking..."

"Spike!" called Twilight. "You can go to the party now. It's just getting started, in fact." There was no answer. "Spike? How strange, I thought he'd come running at the sound of that..."

"He would if he were here," Hail stopped Twilight just as she was about to check upstairs. There was a note on the desk. Twilight hastily snatched it up with her horn and incredulously began to read.

"Dear pestiferous ponies, I noticed that adorable dragon pet of yours was feeling a little claustrophobic, so I took him out to play. In an even smaller cage, that is! If you want him back, come and find us... if you dare! P.S. Feel free to bring as many of your technicolor friends as you want. You know what they say, the more the merrier!"

Hail knew exactly who left the note. "Eggman..." He slammed his head on the desk. "What do these villains have against ponies...?"