[action / voice] backdated to the 16th

[selfhelp]

[Billy wakes up for the first time since the portal drama feeling nauseous, exhausted, and heartsick: sort of like waking from a long nightmare, only he can't recall dreaming at all. Instead of being at home in his own world and his own bed, he's still in Luceti, and what's worse is that he's alone. His magic doesn't seem to be working, either. Panic sets in, and... well...

After a bit of trouble-at-home, and a resolution that leaves him feeling even more weary, the reality of his (or rather, their) situation really sinks in: the portal didn't work. And while none of the people involved in the execution of said plan are in any great state of being today, he seems to be the only one who's up and talking and available to explain the situation to the general public (at least, to those who didn't witness what a spectacular disaster it was), and that leaves announcing it up to him.

Unfortunately.

He delays it as much as he feels that he can, perusing the journal in the desperate hope that someone else has done it for him, then wondering if it would be better to wait for someone more in-the-know to do it, until finally he steps up to the plate. Now or never.]

...Hey everyone. I'm sure a lot of you already heard, but for those that haven't, Tony and Jane's big escape portal didn't work. It kind of backfired yesterday, and...

[His voice trails off in the beginnings of a more distraught tone, so he pauses to compose himself.]

Nobody died? I mean, we've got that going for us. For what it's worth. But no one went home, either. The whole thing was a bust. No point in even keeping it a secret anymore.

One last thank you to everybody who gave up their mission points to get parts for it, though. I don't think it was a waste or anything - I mean, trying's better than sitting around and doing nothing, and something definitely happened, so we at least pushed a few of their buttons - but...

[Ugh, why did he think this was a good idea?]

...sorry it wasn't what we thought it would be. That's all.

[After that he really just wants to curl up in bed and pretend to be unconscious for the next several days, but that's not particularly responsible, so he'll have to settle for making it a few hours instead. It's the little things in life.]

Comments

[selfhelp]

[He accepts the hoof for a shake, if a bit awkwardly; he'd never done that before, at least.]

Nice to meet you, too. You're a friend of Rainbow Dash's, right? She's the one I met before.

[fourthgenerationprincess]

Yeah, she and Pinkie Pie and I are all living in the village. Applejack and some of the others used to be here as well. But now it's just us three.

So you can't use your magic at all anymore?

[selfhelp]

Yeah, not at all.

[His expression shifts to be more serious, lifting his hands a bit and tensing his fingers; the effort doesn't raise so much as a spark.]

I don't know if I've been affected by whatever hurt the others who were involved in the escape, or if I'm just tired and ran out of power. Without my magic, I can't tell what's affecting my magic, you know?

What's affecting Billy and will Twi be able to detect anything? (Message me if you like)

[fourthgenerationprincess]

I think so. [ Her horn glows a light magenta and she concentrates while she tries to run a basic magic diagnostic on him. ]

What sort of magic do you have, anyway? Not unicorn magic.

no worries, there's nothing there to detect! he's just tuckered out

[selfhelp]

Haha... definitely not unicorn magic.

[He has to resist the urge to back away from the sudden magic usage; he's not used to having spells in his direction, and definitely not when he's powerless against it. But hey, she's a talking pony. That's pretty harmless- at least, a My Little Pony one is. Presumably.]

It's kinda hard to explain, but the short version is... reality-altering? Or chaos magic, I guess.

[fourthgenerationprincess]

Reality-altering? [ The glow dies down. ] I can't find anything. Our magic might just not be compatible. Or you mean to affect different things than I do. Like...

[ She spots an orange halfway across the room, and sends a blast of magic at it. It's now an apple. ] I can do localized magic, but if you change reality, maybe you affect things on a bigger scale than me.

[selfhelp]

[Billy lifts a brow at the orange-to-apple thing, offering out a quiet golf clap and a smile.]

I don't know about bigger scale... I mean, I can do just little spells too. I guess you could say that it's like- instead of turning an orange into an apple, I just kind of convince the orange that it's always been an apple. And that would make it become an apple now.

[fourthgenerationprincess]

Oh! So it's like a different methodology. I don't need to worry about you altering the fundamental laws of physics, then?

[selfhelp]

...Um. Generally I try to avoid that, yeah. Except when I make myself fly, that probably counts.

[fourthgenerationprincess]

Well, you'd fit right in with all the Shifts going on around here.

[selfhelp]

Bet you haven't seen anything yet. How long have you been here?

[fourthgenerationprincess]

A couple of weeks. Which is already longer than I expected to be here. I've met some who are younger than they used to be.

[selfhelp]

I've got that problem, too. People from different universes, or different ages... it's so strange. I've been here for almost a year now and this place still manages to surprise me.