Equestriabent

[enigmamystere]

It started out like any other night in the Veil. Then again, time didn’t really exist there.
Nepeta was standing by a strange machine, having snuck away from the other trolls to examine it. Or, more accurately, to play around with it. She giggled a bit, messing with the controls, amazed at the different places, and creatures, she could see on there since the planets in the game were destroyed.
She stopped messing with the console and leans forward, examining the strange, bright-colored race on the screen right now. She recognized the creatures as a form of hoofbeast, although they didn’t seem to be anywhere near as formidable as the ones she used to see on Alternia. Especially the yellowish one with the light pink mane.
Soon enough, she heard the distinct sound of a machine starting up. Surprised, she turned to the pad in the middle of the room, watching as something started to take shape…

[enigmamystere]

Elsewhere...

A violet unicorn was in the town library, looking over a book she had found, Unusual Spells, the Unabridged Version. She smiled, happy to have found such a rare book, especially one she had never read before.
As she was flipping through the pages, a certain spell caught her eye. Looking closely, she read the words out loud, though she was having a bit of difficulty with the faded print. “…’Teleportation Spell…for teleporting ponies and objects over long distances…without having to accompany them’…” She smiles a bit more, excited. “This sounds interesting! I should learn this!” She looks around, wondering what she should test it on.
A glimmer of light catches her attention, so she decides to look at it. She finds a fairly large, heart-shaped gem on the ground, partially hidden by a large pile of books. She nods, pointing her horn at it and concentrating. Soon, a purple glow surrounds her horn, and the same glow envelops the gem. The red stone starts to disappear, much to Twilight’s happiness.
At that moment, there is a large crash. Startled, she turns to look at the source of the noise. She sighs, seeing one of her favorite books on the ground, having fallen from the top of the stack. She glances at the ruby, confused as to why it was still there. She turns back to her book and gasps.
“I-it’s gone!”
Panicking, she rushes back to the large tome, trying to find out how to get it back. However, the return spell was far too faded to read. She gives a small groan of frustration, and decides to just hoof it. She concentrates, trying to focus on her book.
She sighs softly as a small flash of light signaled that she had, indeed, teleported something to her. She blinks in surprise, realizing that she had not retrieved her book. Instead, she had summoned a strange being in front of her…

[enigmamystere]

The stranger blinked, looking around, confused. He stared at the strange creature in front of him, a little confused. Weren’t hoofbeasts normally white, or something?
Twilight walked up to him, smiling brightly, extremely curious. This kind of freaked him out, and he took a step back to further the distance between them.
“Hello, my name is Twilight Sparkle. What’s yours?”
He blinked in shock, staring wide-eyed at it. He had never expected this...thing...to talk, especially not to him. He took a few more steps back, trying to understand what’s going on here.
She blinked in confusion, tilting her head a bit. She resumed smiling, holding a hoof up. “Don’t worry, I won’t hurt you.”
She moved closer, taking in the details of her unexpected visitor. She looked at his grey skin, black hair, the small, nubby horns on his head, and the symbol on his shirt.
Looking up at him, she pointed at it. “Cancer, right?”
He blinked, even more baffled. He looked down at his chest and up at her, his eyes showing her his confusion, though it also looked like he was glaring at her. She visibly shuddered a bit.
“Your cutie mark. It’s the symbol for cancer. You know, astrology?” she said to him, trying to be helpful.
He narrowed his eyes, definitely glaring at her now. “WHAT THE FUCK IS A CUTIE MARK? THIS IS MY SYMBOL, NOOKSUCKER.” He threw his hands up, gesturing around himself, quite angry. “WHERE THE FUCK AM I? HOW DID I GET HERE?”
She flinched at his choice of words, the rough tone of his voice scaring her a bit. “You’re in Equestria. And as for how you got here...” She started explaining the events that led to his arrival...

[enigmamystere]

Back in the Veil, on an unnamed asteroid...

The yellow pegasus slowly opened her eyes, dazedly looking around. She slowly recognized that she’s not at her house, starting to worry.
That is when she noticed the creature standing right next to her. With a small shriek of fright, she hid behind her pink mane, huddling in a ball on the ground.
Nepeta blinked, then broke into a wide grin. “:33 < if you are trying to play a game, you should purrobably introduce yourself furst!” She giggled, squating down next to her. “:33 < my name is nepeta!”
The frightened creature slowly stood up, still quite wary of this stranger. “...h-hello...” Her voice was extremely soft, almost impossible to hear.
Nepeta, of course, heard the single word, jumping up in excitement. “:OO < you call stalk!” She thought for a bit, seeing the pony’s confusion, then smiled, embarrassed. “:33 < i mean talk” She got closer to the pony’s face, curious and playful, batting at her pink mane. “:33 < *ac purrlitely asks what the hoofbeast’s name is!*”
Of course, this behavior completely baffled the pegasus, wondering about the stranger’s behavior for a bit before answering. “...I’m Flutter...” She trailed off, her voice getting so quiet that even Nepeta can’t hear it.
Nepeta frowned a bit, leaning in closer. “:33 < *ac asks if the yellow hoofbeast can please speak up*”
The pony tried once more, shrinking back behind her wings again. “...Flut...” Once more, her voice trailed off, this time into a squeak.
This time, however, Nepeta caught it - or, at least, she thought she did. She grinned and sat down in front of the pony. “:33 < *ac gr33ts the winged hoofbeast known as flutter, and pawnders whether or not they could be furiends!*”
At the mention of friends, the pegasus incorrectly called Flutter straightened up, her eyes wide in shock. “...oh no, my friends! I hope I’m not worrying them with my absence...” Even now, her voice was quite soft.
Nepeta smiled a bit more, leaning forward. “:33 < there are more of you?” She placed her chin on her hands, curious. “:33 < may i please hear more about them?”
'Flutter' shied away, nervous. “...I’m not sure I should...” She glanced at Nepeta and faltered, receiving an almost-irresistible pleading look from her. She sighed softly, her ears drooping slightly. “...okay...” She quietly began describing her friends...

[enigmamystere]

Nepeta nods, slowly absorbing all that the quiet mare said into her thinkpan. She stares at the pegasus, unsure of what to say. “:33 < your furiends sound nice, fluttershy, though the” She tilts her head, thinking. “:33 < you called them unicorns, i think?” Shrugging, she continued. “:33 < anyways, they s33m to be kind of boring”
Fluttershy shook her head, smiling softly. “Not at all. In fact, Rarity and I spend a day together at the spa every week. We're very good friends.”
Nepeta wondered to herself, wondering if the two hoofbeasts were moirails. She shrugged, dismissing the thought. She then leaned forward from where she was sitting, now mere inches away from Fluttershy's face, curious. “:33 < anyways, that one hoofbeast you mentioned, p-”
At that moment, the door opened, revealing a taller troll. He stepped in, placing his cracked sunglasses back on his face. “D --> Nepeta, have you seen-” He then noticed his moirail sitting on the ground, fairly close to a majestic winged-hoofbeast.
Needless to say, he was at a loss for words. “D --> Oh my” He stumbled back out of the room, muttering to himself. “D --> I need a towel”
Nepeta turned to Fluttershy, giggling a bit. “:33 < equius can be pawsitively silly sometimes!”
Fluttershy shrinked back a bit, worried. “...oh, my...more of them...” She glanced at Nepeta, a small glimmer of hope in her eyes. “...I don’t mean to be rude, but...is there a way for me to...um...get back? I don’t want to worry my friends...”
Nepeta thought about that, frowning slightly. “:33 < to be purrfectly honest, i don’t know!” She indicated the machine behind her, smiling. “:33 < howefur, this can bring more of your furiends ofur!” She giggled once again. “:33 < then we can all have fun together!!”
Fluttershy didn’t seem to like this idea. “...I just want to go home...I mean, if that’s alright with you...” She smiled weakly, hoping Nepeta wouldn’t get upset.
Nepeta, however, wouldn’t take no for an answer. “( < aw, why not?” She put her hands under her chin and put on a small pout.
Fluttershy sighed softly, seeing Nepeta’s pleading expression and not wanting to upset anyone. She started moving towards the screen, resigning herself to the young troll’s whim.
Nepeta, excited at the thought of someone new to roleplay with, quickly rushed over next to Fluttershy and messed with the controls. Eventually, she managed to focus on a happy-looking hoofbeast who was pushing some kind of a cannon along. She smiled, pressing the button to activate the machine and bring a new playmate over...

[enigmamystere]

Back in Equestria...

Karkat stared at Twilight, a little annoyed. No, make that very annoyed. “SO YOU ARE TELLING ME THAT YOU FUCKING APPEARIFIED ME HERE?” He paces around the purple unicorn, growling loudly. “I HAVE TO GET BACK. THE OTHERS COULD BE IN TROUBLE, AS FAR AS I KNOW. JACK COULD VERY FUCKING WELL HAVE FOUND THEM BY NOW!” He kicks the door in his ire. “GOG DAMN IT!”
Twilight flinches once more, worried. “I’m sorry. I wish I could send you back, but I have no idea where you came from!”
Karkat quickly turned to face, and, most likely, yell, at her. Before he could say a single word, though, a white unicorn walked in.
She yawned slightly, looking right at Twilight. “Twilight, just what is this dreadful din about? I could hear it from my boutique, and you know I need my beauty-” She stopped as she noticed Karkat - and what he’s wearing. “Oh, my! You simply can’t dress like that, darling! It’s just so...unfashionable!”
He stared at her, not even trying to hide his ire. “OH, AND WHAT DO YOU RECOMMEND I WEAR? A PAIR OF PANTS THAT GO UP TO MY FUCKING CHITINOUS WINDHOLE?”
She frowns, turning to Twilight, trying to keep her composure. “Twilight, who is this...uncouth ruffian?”
Karkat, confused by what she called him, but taking it as an insult, walked over to her, his teeth bared in a menacing smile. “MY NAME IS KARKAT, NOOKSUCKER. NOW TAKE BACK WHATEVER THE FUCK YOU JUST SAID BEFORE I MESS YOU UP AS BAD AS THAT SQUEAKBEAST’S NEST ON YOUR DAMN NUGBONE!” He pointed at her mane as he said this, sneering.
She glared daggers at him, burning with anger. “Oh, it. Is. ON!” She stomped forward, about to do something the rude creature wouldn’t soon forget.
Thankfully, Twilight stepped between them, stopping any potential strife. She turned to the other unicorn, worried. “Rarity, please calm down. He’s most likely scared since he’s in an unfamiliar place.”
She then faced Karkat, a stern look on her face. “And you, Karkat...” She shook her head, sighing a bit. “You need to be a bit more...considerate.”
Karkat blinked, recoiling backwards from the two, shivering and turning away. “SURE. WHATEVER YOU FUCKING SAY.” He was honestly panicking a bit. “OH, GOG, I ALMOST GOT INTO THE ASHEN QUADRANT WITH TWO FUCKING HOOFBEASTS. WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME?” He gripped his head, closing his eyes tightly. “THIS HAS TO BE SOME KIND OF NIGHTMARE. I MUST HAVE FALLEN ASLEEP. YEAH, THAT EXPLAINS THIS. THIS IS THE RESULT OF LISTENING TO EQUIUS TALK TOO MUCH ABOUT HIS GOG DAMN ‘FINE ART’!”
Rarity, curious, walked up next to him. “Darling, what could you possibly mean by ‘the ashen quadrant’?”
Karkat stared at her for a moment before coming to a conclusion. “YOU DON’T KNOW ABOUT THE QUADRANTS. OF COURSE. THAT MAKES PERFECT FUCKING SENSE.” He groaned softly, then, with a reluctant sigh, began his attempt at explaining troll romance...