13. [Audio]

[brodakota]

[North's voice comes over the network, sounding rather panicked. Surprisingly so, especially to people who know him for his quiet, patient demeanor.]

Is anyone else in Ponyville right now? 

If you are, have you seen Theta? 

It's really important that I find him, and I think it's getting dark.

[That's new...and all the more worrisome.]

Comments

[statisticallyterrible]

[Chell never liked Theta, purely on principle. However, she hadn't been aware that he separated from North in this world. It made things interesting--it opened up questions. It was her curiosity as much as her concern for North that inspired her to show up for the search.

She hadn't ever visited the forest much, simply because she didn't bother with Ponyville much in general. Elements of Harmony seemed largely something she couldn't help with, after all. It wasn't as if the looming, dark forest was hard to locate, though.

The orange pegasus arrived, looked over the search group that had gathered, then immediately took off to scout from above, her bat by her side. Any other winged ponies could take the chance to join her, but there was little point wasting time chatting about it.]

[brokentrust]

[If she's looking down, Chell might see a baby dragon hanging around in the treetops.

A curious thing, since Theta is not one to climb trees, much less jump from branch to branch.]

[statisticallyterrible]

[All she's known him to do is act sheepish and nervous, so this looks fairly conspicuous.

She swoops down in front of him, snorting at him. Kid, if you're hopping around having fun while North's worried sick, there's going to be a problem here.]

[brokentrust]

[The dragon seems oblivious to Chell, and is more focused on a pinecone.]

[statisticallyterrible]

[Oh, sure, that's great, whatever. She rolls her eyes and snorts again, going up to nudge at him. She will knock you out of that tree if she has to.]

[brokentrust]

[If she nudges him, she might notice that he's not quite as solid as he should be. However, he's going to jump to another branch first.]

[statisticallyterrible]

[ Well, he's a hologram, isn't he...? Even if it smells fishy, it's not like she's got other leads. Chell swings around in front to try and block him from further escape. ]

[brokentrust]

[These seems like a fun game! Try and catch him. He'll jump back a few branches.]

[statisticallyterrible]

[AI and their games. Oh yes, she'll come after you all right. Better move quickly, kid, she won't hesitate to knock the branch out from right under you. ]

[brokentrust]

[The chase is on. The shadow seems to have pretty good balance, whereas the real Theta would have wobbled. And probably not have been up this high. Knocking out a branch might be a good plan.]

[statisticallyterrible]

[Even with her limited exposure to Theta and her inherent distrust of his meek behavior, these actions seemed to the opposite end of the spectrum. Whether this was Theta or an impostor, she was determined to get him down and put an end to it. The bucking started--not at the branch he was on, but with others he might have been hoping to jump to.]

[brokentrust]

[Well, that's going to make jumping harder. The Shadow loses its balance and grabs onto the branch at the last second.]

[statisticallyterrible]

[She flies right up underneath him. Come on, giving you a chance here. Just drop down and she'll give you a lift.]

[brokentrust]

[But that mean's the game's over! We can't have that, so he's gonna try and climb onto the branch again.]

[statisticallyterrible]

[From above, a squeaking noise, as Chell's Komory bat descended over the branch. It had gotten caught up looking elsewhere, and now it had missed out on a game? Could it still play?]

[brokentrust]

[Of course it could. It's time to play ALL the games!]

[statisticallyterrible]

[Chell glowered up and bucked her head. No, now was definitely not the time, if you asked her. The bat squeaked, disappointed, before swooping down below Theta, chirping its own offer for a ride. Let's see if grumpyfeathers here can keep up!

Theta wasn't the only one who had bumbled into the Shadowsneeze flowers, it turned out.]

[brokentrust]

[Shadow friends and the best friends! Not!Theta jumps on eagerly!]

[statisticallyterrible]

[And they're off! Quickly, too, because you can practically hear the steam shooting from Chell's ears as she takes off after. You kids are in so much trouble.]