A small tap, a quick blare, all that could be seen was pure darkness. Even the slightest speck of sunlight was nonexistent in this blank slate of a world. There was no wind, there was no heat, it was simply a blank hell of a limbo. A sudden noise rang out, similar to the tapping of a hoof on a microphone. It seemed to resonate all around, yet came from nowhere. Following closely came a bored, young female voice. "Is this thing on? Oh, why even ask, it's not like you're going to answer me. Nopony ever does. You'd best hope it's on so you can be hearing this." A bit more tapping rings out. "Blasted microphone... Hello everypony, this is your vedder Dimdaisy speaking. I would like to invite everyone to the very first meta... metaver... merter..." A moment's pause is given before a low, distinctly male voice pips in, "Metaversal Hard Drive Beta." Another silence follows with the mare's return. "Your writing is beyond awful, Altoid. Right, first ever Beta System. Using this new piece of technology invented by the very LifeLight engineer himself, we can align each and every one of your brain waves with each other and send you on your way in a multi-sentient virtual reality trip! Keep in mind that beta is beta, so you may not see things others do or you might find little cracks in there. If you do find them could you please just leave them alone? We don't want to end up breaking the system before it's even done." The void begins to fill with warmth, followed by a distinct smell and taste of air. Last of the senses to appear is a large office within a twenty story building with windows peeking out onto the towns below. A few cups of coffee line a round table in the center of the room. A peach and butter mare sits on the opposite end of the table, sipping out of a steaming cup with an unsmiling face. "Hello, everypony. You're all in correctly, right? Why don't you introduce yourselves so I can check nothing's wrong."
Atalanta looked around at her surroundings, then to the two mares,"Atalanta... Also, is there any possible way you can change this place to something more 'nature-y'?", she asked hopefully
Lola stands up quickly. "I'd prefer we stay here, darling. Call me Lola, Lola Puppet." The red swirl on her horn lights up slightly and her eyes sparkle. A metal necklace she was wearing slides off and changes into a small robot spider on her back. She turned to Atlanta and her visible eye looked her over.
Dimdaisy rose an eyebrow at Atlanta a moment before punching her wristband a few times. "We got a treehugger then? Mmm..." Not soon after, wind begins to blow through the room. The scent of coffee and cleaner was replaced with earthy tones and moist leaves. The tables and walls begun to distort and melt into new forms until a clear forest was seen. The trees were huge and lumbering, going so high that any hope of sunlight is extinguished. Dimdaisy didn't even have to move, as she sat on a root sticking out of the muddy ground. She ran a hoof along the tree and stared at the rest of the group. "Any other requests?"
Atalanta gazed around happily at the new surroundings,"thank you, this is much better, & no that's all..."
"Heh, no pony ever listens to the girl with the robot pet..." She just turned around and returned to what had been her seat. "Nature is impossible to manipulate. It will always be nature, no matter how you TWIST IT!" She stepped hard on the ground and the dirt crushed beneath her hoof.
Light Showers watched the exchanges of the ponies around him from where he was sitting, "Well, nature can be quite useful you know." He suddenly pipped up, "Plenty of things that can be used to help with all sorts of things, from simply brushing your death to help cure some nasty diseases. But I would still prefer it if I had an actual place to live and work. Maybe a small town or something, with each house being relevant to each of our interests, like mine being medicine, or her's.." he said pointing Atalanta, "Nature." he then got up and held up a hoof, "I'm Doctor Light Showers. Pleasure to make all of yours acquaintance."
"'Tis a pleasure to meet you too", Atalanta said looking at light shower, then told the mares drinking coffee,"all I really want is at least a small forest..."
"Deal with what I give you. If you want anything specific, you have your own damn communicator." She took a deep swig of coffee and dropped the mug on the ground, where the porcelain shattered upon another exposed root. Dimdaisy glared at the ponies who had yet to speak. "Are you okay over there? Did Altoid screw up your upload?"
Brisk glared at Dimdaisy with scarlett eyes. "I apologize, but having two ponies in one head is weird. Give me a moment to figure it out, if you please, darling." Abruptly, Brisk covered her mouth, and her eyes turned back to a light blue. "I am so sorry. That was.. I'm sorry. If it wouldn't be a bother, could I have a few seconds?" she asked softly..
Afterburner glanced to the left and right before slowly examining the area. His eyes shimmering as if a moonlight glare caught upon them as he done so. His voice was much different from what was expected to arrive from such a feminine appearance. It was deep, rough, and overly not pleasant. "Hm...I much prefer that of the industrial area. This nature is too...Soft and smooth." He stomped at the ground harshly as he snapped his attention to it, doing so until marks were left in the dirt. He stopped looking at the dirt to look at the smashed mug and then slowly raised his vision to the mare who dropped the mug, glaring. His glare was as if he stared into the pit of her soul, the eye's sharp and shining effect added to the effect.
"This guy gets it! You, I like you." Lola laughed and pointed at Afterburner, before sitting down. "I can already tell who is going to be standing at the end of this adventure, and who will be lying in the mud begging for mercy." The spider-bot crawls down her arm and crawls to the ground, taking a sample of the dirt, and a shard of the broken mug, before returning to Lola and standing on her head. "But where are my manners, I keep interrupting and we still have ponies seemingly lost in thought."
Brisk's horn shone with a scarlet light. Hastily, she brought her hooves up to cover it. "No, No, No!" she mumbled. The light died down.
"Are you alright? You seem as if something's off...", Atalanta stated, looking at brisk, cocking her head, & expecting to here an answer, then removed the broken mug
A voice came out of her throat, but it was not her own. It was harsher, and lower. "No, dearie, nothing's wrong. I'm just soo bored."
Lola stared at the multi-voiced pony. "Th-that's creepy. How are you doing that?" The robot spider vanished from sight yet again, appearing on Brisk's back, where it pulled out a hair from her mane, then proceeded to leap back towards Lola. "No, bad spider... Um... oops." She grabbed the robot and held onto it tightly, whispering something to it.
A sound of frustration echoed through Brisk's throat, and she put her head in her hooves. "Stop it! Flitter, I mean it!"
Light Shower's looked to Brisk, "Case of Schzefrineia?" He asked, almost rhetorically, "Interesting. Been quite some time since I've had an chance to practice psych medication." he muttered before shaking his head, "Eh...I'll get around to that later, I think we should get to know each other."
Her horn flared up with that scarlet again, and this time, it consumed her. She grew about a foot, and her coat turned a blood red, with her mane brown. Her eyes were fire, with reds and oranges. The new pony lounged. "Schzefrineia.. You are quite mistaken."
Dimdaisy moaned in frustration. "Schizophrenia? Are you freaking KIDDING me!? Altoid sure knows how to pick them..." She picks up a stick and tosses it halfheartedly. "You know what, I'm not even mad. Have fun in this multiverse, you ponies. If you need anything, just hit the little blue button on your bands." With that, she raised up her hoof and slammed it against the tree. The button activated caused her to phase a moment before disappearing entirely.
