WELCOME TO EQUESTRIA

@UltraVaderMan
“Certainly, even without all your help you would have been my guests until you situate yourself. i doubt it will take long, your abilities as a scientist will certainly make themselves paid for you professor.”

Whistler: “i didn’t want to overstep by making the offer right away.”

“and your girls will certainly find themselves welcomed here. But that is for tomorrow, for now let’s get back to the others upstairs, i admit the large guest bedroom isn’t suited for privacy, but it often helped the new arrivals that came in groups to know where the others are.”

@Revan0123
Vigilante: “you already know, you just are afraid of what could happen when you admit it.”

@UltraVaderMan
Sweetie: “wow, you three are very different, didn’t think that when i saw you all together, you were acting like one.”

Applebloom: gets out of the binds.

“well howsabout we check on them now anyways, seeing as nothing else has shattered it should be fine.”

Vigil: "never underestimate what a good negotiator can accomplish, there's a reason you probably had lots of villains against you that weren't super strong."

@TheFinite
(Aren’t the bonds that you put on the CMC/PPG made from Textys saliva goo but hardened? Can you even break out of it without heating it up first?)

@UltraVaderMan
(don’t all PPG’s have laser eyes?)

@Cerebrate19
(They do but Applebloom got out of her binds without Blossom even using her laser eyes yet)

@UltraVaderMan
(well with the way she constantly helped them up that didn’t make much sense in the first place.)

@Cerebrate19
(Welp, egg on my face. Should’ve been consistent with what was said about the binds earlier)

@Cerebrate19
@UltraVaderMan
@TheFinite
Gerald: “Oh, speaking of upstairs, I wonder how the others are doing?”

Stranaii: “Your allies are mostly well…except for the newcomer”

Gerald: “The Inkling? What’s happening?”

Stranaii: “I sense something wrong…”

@Cerebrate19
Shelly: “N…no, I don’t-”

Bayou: “Hey, what’s wrong, Shelly?”

Shelly: “…I…I…”

Bayou: “You! You’re the Inkling who we fought in that match earlier today! What’s the matter? Can’t handle losing so you emotionally take it out on our friend!?”

@Cerebrate19
@Revan0123
@TheFinite
Bubbles: “Aaaah, thank you Princess Twilight! Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

Matias: I saw Bubbles zip over and hug the Princess

Bubbles: “You’re such a kind pony”

Matias: I chuckle “She can be so adorable, right Professor?”

Utonium: “Ohohohoh, you are indeed correct, Matias”

Matias: “Hey, Plant Man, have you ever seen something more adorable than this?”

Blossom: “You’re right” Laser eyes binds off herself and Sweetie Belle “I think its fair to say ‘Challenge Accomplished’. Right, Mr Texty?”

Buttercup: “Ugh, now you remind me of the time that we were struck with near-permanent makeup from a villain called Mask Scara” Rubs head with hoof “Bubbles really needs to learn that you DON’T HIT A PERSON WITH A HOSE TO REMOVE IT! …I’m still bitter about that”

@Revan0123
@UltraVaderMan
Whistler: “… then we may want to take a look in a bit of a hurry, no?”

Twilight: “definitely.”

@Revan0123
Vigilante: “beg pardon which one of us is she hiding from? your win was fair and square… 70:30 is not something to argue, no one in my team had good turf painting gear. frankly i’m surprised it was only that high. but i’m really not sure if shelly doesn’t deserve better friends than what you are being right now.”

“don’t suppose you’re any good at encouragement?”

(Waiting on you, Finite)

Plant Man smiled. “Well, there was this quite precious arrangement of Begonias I saw once… But yes, that is quite cute.”

“You did well.” Texty said. “Cooperation is key to life, remember that.”

@UltraVaderMan
@TheFinite
Gerald: “Hate to ruin the moment but it seems the Inkling’s in trouble. Matias, Bubbles, since you two know the room she’s in, mind leading us there?”

@Cerebrate19
Bayou: “Hey! That’s enough words out of you! Leave this bar now or it’ll get ugly, you hear me?!”

Astra: “What the flying fish is going on here!?”

Bayou: “Astra, stay back. I got this guy”

Astra: “I’m less worried about an Inkling and what’s coming out of the bay!”

Bayou: “What!?”

Shelly: “_{No…no, not again…}”

Bayou: “What do you mean again? Has this happened before?”

Shelly: “I…I-”

Astra: “HOLY FISH-STICKS!”

Astra: “COME ON, WE GOTTA GO!”

Bayou: “BUT SHELLY-”

Astra: “ITS COMING FOR US, JUST RUN!”

Shelly: “N-…NO, THIS CAN’T BE HAPPENING!”

Shelly: “Why is this happening? Why is this happening? WHY IS THIS HAPPENING!?”

@Cerebrate19
@UltraVaderMan
Shelly’s ponified body began to emit a dark aura from itself

@Revan0123
@TheFinite
@Cerebrate19
Matias: I look to Princess Twilight before looking back “Uhhh, we can just teleport to the room if its an emergency, right?”

Bubbles: “I’ll go on ahead, see you up there!” Zip

Matias: “…well that’s one less person for teleporting, I guess?”

@Cerebrate19
@TheFinite
Blossom: Smiles before turning to CMC “Sorry for the long wait, Scootaloo, but now that we’re done with the challenge, it’s time to-”

Bubbles: “BLOSSOOOOOOM!” Zip

Blossom: “Bubbles, what’s wrong? Where’s Buttercup?”

Bubbles: Breathes in and speaks fast “We went to investigate the noise earlier but then we found it was just Twilight & Vigil helping a passed out squid pony named Shelly, who’s really a creature known as an Inkling, so I went with Twilight to the lab to meet up with the Professor and the others, leaving Buttercup & Vigil with Shelly, but then when we got to the lab, we got told there was an entity inside Gerald’s mind, who’s really some emperor of a star kingdom, so anyway this entity told Gerald who then told us that the Inkling left up with Vigil & Buttercup is in some kind of trouble so I zoomed off to tell you girls an-”

Blossom: “BUBBLES!”

Bubbles: “…oh, sorry” Blushes

Blossom: Facehoofs “Fortunately, I got the general idea of what you just said: Big Trouble!”

@Cerebrate19
@Revan0123
Buttercup: “Why are you asking thi-” Observes dark aura “…oh…that’s not good”

@UltraVaderMan
“we are not that far underground but sure. gather around.”

@Revan0123
Vigilante: “you’re not gonna like hearing it… but if you had run… if you hadn’t frozen up…”

“it’s aiming for the city, which is bad… but see the helicopters… they’re stopping it. problem is… that’s a lot of green gloop and that doesn’t just disappear.”

“i think it’s too late for regretting that now, wouldn’t you agree?”

Vigil: “magic users have a little problem, they all have a dark side to themselves, when their positivity just doesn’t come through, imagine yourself except nothing that makes you good is there.”

@Cerebrate19
As the gloopy blob was getting closer, Shelly balled herself up and put her one hand and one hoof to her head

Shelly: “STOP IT! STOP IT! STOP IIIIIIIIIT!”

Shelly: “Wha…did I-?”

Shelly: “But…how did that-”

Bruce: “Shelly, there you are!”

Bruce: “Are you ok?”

Shelly: “OK!? YOU CALL THIS OK!?”

Shelly: “How’d you even find me anyway?”

Bruce: “Bayou told me. Said that Astra forced him to run off with her. Once this crisis is over, we’re giving her some words for leaving you behind”

Shelly: “Those words…again…”

Bruce: “What? Shelly, what do you-”

Shelly: “Why can’t I…can’t I just have…I just want…”

Shelly: “This isn’t real…is it?”

Bruce: “Shelly, don’t speak like that! You’re letting your emotions drowning you, everything’s got a reason to exist”

Shelly: “Oh, everything here’s got a reason, alright…”

Shelly: “EVERYTHING HERE IS TO REMIND ME HOW LOST AND ALONE I AM! I’M MAKING THIS WHOLE THING UP BECAUSE I DON’T WANT TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE WORLD I’M CURRENTLY IN!”

Bruce: “What world? This is your world, Shelly! This is Inkopolis, remember?”

Shelly: “YOU’RE ONLY SAYING THAT CAUSE I MADE YOU SAY THAT!”

Shelly: “YOU’RE MY COPING MECHANISM, BRUCE! I MADE YOU LIKE THIS CAUSE I DIDN’T WANT TO BE IN MY CURRENT SITUATION! I WANTED TO BE BACK IN INKOPOLIS, HAVING FUN LIKE ALL THE OTHER INKLINGS!”

Shelly: “Instead…I end up in a world of quadrupeds…_{with no way home}…this is my reward for being spared from a gloopy ink filled death…AND IT’S NOT FAIR!”

Shelly: “It’s not fair…it-…_{it’s not fair}!”

Bruce: “Shelly…”

Shelly: “Go on, Vigilante…TELL HIM!”

Bruce: “What?”

@UltraVaderMan
@TheFinite
@Cerebrate19
After they had been teleported, Gerald looked to see Buttercup, Vigil and the unconscious Shelly lying on the bed

Gerald: “Oh, hello there, sorry for the sudden reveal but we heard she’s in trouble right now!”

Stranaii: “I can feel it…it’s getting worse. If something is not done, the darkness will soon overtake her”

Gerald: “We’ve got to do something”

@Revan0123
@Cerebrate19
@TheFinite
Bubbles: Zip “We’re here!”

Blossom: Zip “Where’s the trouble?”

Buttercup: Looks to dark aura “There’s your trouble!”

Blossom: “What is this aura surrounding them?”

Buttercup: “Vigil here says its due to their ‘dark side’ within them overwhelming their positive self or something along those lines. Other Gerald, or whatever the heck that was, confirmed this is serious trouble”

Matias: “Well how exactly are we supposed to do to help her, Gerald? It’s not like we can just jump into her head and tell her to calm down, wake up or something silly like that!”

@Revan0123
Vigilante doesn’t say a word instead he trots over passing through bruce like he’s nothing and just hugs Shelly.

“You’re NOT alone though Shelly, and you’re not trapped. you just had to go further than usual to respawn. do you remember the cave and the pool? equestria’s water is a bit different than the sea here.”

“A lot of people care, and they want to help you too.”

@Cerebrate19
Bruce: “I…I…”

Shelly: “I…I don’t understand. My…my mind based your identity on Vigil…the one who told me the horrible truth?”

Shelly: “How can I not be trapped in the world I’m currently in!? …I have no place to call for my own. No life, no fun and games…and no friends to share that life with”

Shelly: “How can anyone live their life after being thrown out of the one they know? How can my species ever survive in an environment that’s not suited for us? How can I ever recover from being told that the life I once knew can never be given back again?”

Shelly: “I see now that my life has no meaning without Inkopolis…”

@UltraVaderMan
@Cerebrate19
@TheFinite
Stranaii: “Her condition is darkening”

Gerald: “Hello, Shelly. I…know this is going to sound a bit weird since we’ve only just met but…”

“I don’t want you to fall into despair”

Shelly: “Huh?! “Who…who said that?”

Gerald: “Come on, folks. Lets all give her a reason to care about living”

@Revan0123
@Cerebrate19
@TheFinite
Matias: I nodded and came over to Gerald’s side, putting a hoof on his shoulder “Shelly, this is Matias Andersson. I’m the pony who, along with Princess Twilight, was observing you while you were speaking with Silent Vigil earlier.
If you can hear me, I want you to know that we’re all here for you. Gerald’s partner, Stranaii, told us about you falling into despair. He couldn’t give us more details but…I assume Vigil told you something that broke your heart…as it broke another travelers heart: Jonis. He was in our company for a while before being told the cold hard truth from Wind Whistler…”

Bubbles: “…about what?”

Blossom: Puts hoof on Bubbles mouth “Quiet, Bubbles, she needs help!”

Matias: “He also struggled to accept the truth, like you’re going through right now…he cried…he also fell into despair…he was also contemplating whether to continue or not? But…on the advice of a local Equestrian pony known as Pinkie Pie, he decided to visit another displaced individual called Zap Apple. He helped him soothe his troubles, empathized with the struggle he had. While I can’t say what’s happened to him since then, I do know that he at least left on a brighter note” I motion my head to the Powerpuffs and Utonium to come over “If he could get better, Shelly, you can as well. Think about it. You’re not the only one who’s been displaced here too, many others with me have also been dragged to these new lands” I feel Blossom touching my shoulder before I looked over to see that Buttercup has Blossoms shoulder, Bubbles with Buttercup’s shoulder and Utonium with Bubble’s shoulder

Blossom: “Shelly, my name’s Blossom”

Bubbles: “I’m Bubbles”

Buttercup: “I’m Buttercup”

Utonium: “And I’m Utonium”

Blossom: “We know what you’re going through cause we had a similar experience too when we were first created, during the early days”

Bubbles: “It was horrible”

Buttercup: “We felt like our lives as we knew it were gone too”

Blossom: “But, through those trying times, we learned to be better. To not give in to our struggles or be manipulated as we did so in past”

Buttercup: “It took a few attempts-” Shoulder gets bumped by Blossom who gives glare “But we managed to crawl our way out of the pit known as despair”

Bubbles: “We learned that one should never give up the fight or give in to their scary mean demons”

Utonium: “Just because someone stumbles and loses their path, it doesn’t mean they’re lost forever. Sometimes, we need a little help”

Matias: I couldn’t help but tear up at that line “As frightening as it can be, Shelly, you are not alone in this world.” I motion for Plant Man to come over

“You have friends that can help you and support you. And I know how it feels to not trust yourself, but it gets better.” Plant Man said.

@TheFinite
Whistler Steps up as well.

“the truth is not a punishment, and not a privilege, it is a right, a need. that is what i taught my son, and this truth especially, painful as it is, is what you NEED not what you want, not even what you deserve… My name is Johann, i aided a genius, i was happy creating things, then i woke up here, in the forest… i was among the first. you are NOT alone, many roads lead here, you may just be the first among your kind too, and they may need someone better than myself to show them around.”

Vigilante: “a part of you agrees… the part that fashioned me after the colt that wants nothing more than to welcome you. You gave him a voice, and he has something to add too.”

“му иαмє ωαѕ є∂∂ιє, ωнєи ι gσт нєяє ι нα∂ σиℓу тнαт… тнιѕ ρℓαςє ςαи gινє уσυ ѕσ мυςн gσσ∂, αи∂ уσυ ςσυℓ∂ нєℓρ єνєяуσиє тнαт ςσмєѕ αfтєя. вυт мσяє тнαи тнαт, ωє тнιик ωє киσω ωнαт ∂σєѕ тнιѕ… αи∂ тнαт мєαиѕ тнє σиє ωαу ѕтяєєт, мαу ѕσσи gσ тωσ ωαуѕ αfтєя αℓℓ.”

@UltraVaderMan
@TheFinite
@Cerebrate19
Shelly: “I…I don’t-”

???: “Oh, I do think you understand now…”

Shelly: “R…Reesi?”

Reesi: “Come on Shelly, we now know that I’m just a figment of your imagination”

Shelly: “But…you looked eyeless…horrifying last time I-”

Reesi: “Because you were scared Shelly. Most of your mind was in denial after what Vigil told you, its why you imagined you were back in Inkopolis again. I represent the part of you that accepted that truth, the part of you that learned to move on”

Shelly: “I’m…I’m scared…”

Reesi: “I know you’re afraid, Shelly…but being afraid is natural. Fear is like a companion. A constant companion, always there”

Reesi: “But that’s okay, if you ask me. Because fear can bring us together, like it’s doing right now in the real world”

Shelly: “But how could I hear them if I’m dreaming?”

Reesi: “Because a part of you didn’t want to accept this imaginary world you lived in…my part. I essentially left a window crack open to let you hear their words…because that’s you need right now, Shelly: Encouragement”

Reesi: “Encouragement to live your life to the fullest. Encouragement to never give yourself in or to give up the fight. Encouragement to crawl yourself out of the pit known as despair”

Shelly: “…”

Reesi: “You are not alone in this world, Shelly, you never have been. You only chose to think so because you didn’t want to accept the truth”

Reesi: “Right now, a whole group of individuals up there want to help you, to better understand you. They want you to understand that Truth is not a punishment, that its not a privilege…its a need. But just because its a hard one to swallow doesn’t mean it can’t be accepted in the end”

Reesi: “I think your other figments can agree on that”

Astra: “We know you can do it Shelly”

Bayou: “We know that you can be strong in the face of darkness”

Bruce: “We know that there’s nothing to be in denial about anymore”

Reesi: “You know there’s nothing to that can limit you to what you can do when you put your mind to it”

Shelly: “You’re…you’re right”

Shelly: “There’s nothing that can put me down for long”

Shelly: “I shouldn’t be so afraid of change that I can never accept reality again”

Reesi: “You see now, Shelly? I think its fair to say that you overreacted to some silly little words”

Shelly: “You’re absolutely right”

Shelly: “Let me guess, I’m about to wake up now, aren’t I?”

Shelly: “Thank you. Thank you for making me realize now”

Shelly: “Thank you for being the voice that I should’ve listened too long ago”

@Cerebrate19
@TheFinite
@UltraVaderMan
The dark aura surrounding Shelly slowly faded out of view

Gerald: “Did…did it work? Were we too late?”

Shelly: “He…hello”

Gerald: “YOU’RE OKAY!”

Shelly: “I don’t understand a word you’re saying…but I can assume you’re happy for me”

OOC: Not doing the greek words for Shelly now since Finite had trouble reading them