The Collectiveby silverspawnChaptersEnd of the EternityThe Pink PonyTwilight is BoredContinuumA momentary lapse of awarenessCryonicsRecursionTriggerNewcombThe StoryReturnEnd of the EternityThey marched onto the capitol, shrouded in darkness. Their swords threw pale shimmers through the night, the sound of their steps signaling the end to those who were still alive. But it would be okay. He knew it would be okay. There was a trap laid out, and it would trigger and stop them. They came to a halt before the ivory gate, bothered not by the menacing light that shone from its stakes. Some of them parted from the group, straying to the left and right, through the forest of marble trees and glistening crystal dust. Others fell victim to the gate, dozens losing their lives as the light fought back, ravines of white energy casting trenches of dead bodies through the army, but it was not enough, not enough, and all too soon others took their place. Far to the north, on top of the highest summit in the world, stood four lone figures, their silhouettes casting tall shadows onto the ground beneath. Their gazes were set onto an object in their midst, their mouths moving in unison, casting the charm that would save them all. This was it. This would work. It just had to. And then the plan came into effect. The plan he had known about, but had so desperately wanted to fail. Below his wandering eyes, each one of the four figures was murdered, neutralized before the ritual could succeed. And the ivory gate fell. And the capitol was burned to the ground. And the hero was killed for good, not even having fought in the battle that was now lost. And evil had triumphed... forever. And Spike stared in menacing disbelief at the closing lines on the final page, unable to grasp what had just happened. The world around him dissolved, and Twilight later told him that he had screamed. Now, she came rushing into the room, her worried gaze finding him sitting in his crib, the book having fallen out of his grasp. “Oh.” Twilight sounded relieved. “Did you finish it?” Spike didn’t answer, his mouth agape. There was a giggle from Twilight, but it only lasted for a moment before she caught herself. “I’m sorry, Spike. I know it has a sad ending.” “A sad... sad... ending...” Spike repeated. “That. That. That. That. Book. Ending.” “Hm?” “Stories don’t. That. Sad. Stories. Don’t have sad endings.” He gulped. “Dead. Everyone. They’re all. D-dead...” “In your comics, the good guys always win, huh?” “I... irrrrrrrkk...” Spike realized that he was crying, but he was too desperate to care. “Is this normal for books?” he brought out. “That. This. Stories aren’t supposed to be like this. They aren’t supposed to be this real! How was it so real, Twilight? It was... I can still... I wanted him to survive...” He sobbed. “Why did he die, Twilight? Why?” “Not all books are like that, but-” “You knew!” He grabbed her shoulders under his claws, shaking her. “You knew! You knew! And you left me unprepared!” “Well,” Twilight said, “of course I didn’t tell you. That would have spoiled all the fun.” “FUN??!?” “Ah, Spike, look. I know you are sad about the ending, but think about it this way: if you could choose to never have read it, would you?” “I... no... but-” “See, and you need the possibility of a bad ending in order to have suspense! If every story had a happy ending, like it is in your comics, then you’d never have any reason to be afraid. But if you know it can end poorly, even if it’s unlikely, then suddenly it’s twice as exciting! That’s one of the best things about reading! I’ve told you how much you’re missing out before, but you’ve never listened.” She had said this all in a voice that had sounded way too happy for the situation at hoof... the tragedy... Spike stared at her for a few moments. “I had no idea books were like that,” he said. “I am never reading another one in my life,” he said. “When you need another one, just ask!” Twilight excused herself with a chuckle, teleporting downstairs. “I won’t!” Spike called after her. “I won’t ever read another one!” One day later, he sat at an identical position in his crib, ninety pages into the next. The Pink Pony“Alright,” Twilight said, “let’s do this!” “Err...” Rainbow Dash looked skeptical. “Twilight, how serious are you about this? I thought you were just joking.” “Ah.” Twilight shrugged, somewhat unsure of that herself. “Well, if it doesn’t work, then I’d say it was a joke. If it does-” “But you don’t expect it to work.” “Of course not.” Twilight giggled. “But if it does, then I doubt anyone of us will think of it as a joke afterwards. Oh, and, if anypony wants to come clean right now, then that might make us, well, think more favorably of her. Depending on the circumstances.” Rarity raised an eyebrow. “Do you expect an imposter to simply reveal herself?” “But sure, why not?” Pinkie Pie was sitting on the library floor, holding her front hooves inches apart from one-another. “If there’s a meanie-deanie meanie-pie hidden between us, she should better give up before we... get her!” She squashed them together. “Erm...” Twilight blinked. “Exactly. Who wants first?” “Oh! Oh!” “Yes, Pinkie?” “Applejack should go first!” The farmpony turned her head, seeming surprised. “Why?” “Well,” Pinkie Pie said, “since it’s unlikely that anything happens, we should make sure that it’s fun either way! This is like a play, and a good play is the most fun if it increases in tension, so we should start with the pony least likely to hide something!” “Aw, that’s nice of you, sugar.” With a smile, Applejack strolled forward. “Sure. Go ahead.” Twilight nodded, lowering her head. A stream of purple energy surged from her horn, enveloping the orange mare in its shroud. Moments later, it faded. “Applejack is... Applejack!” “Ohh!” Twilight laughed, and so did most of the others. Even Fluttershy let out a small giggle. “Alright. Pinkie, who’s next?” “Hm...” Pinkie pivoted around, examining everypony thoughtfully. “Rainbow Dash!” Twilight nodded. “Reasonable.” “What?” Rainbow Dash seemed taken aback. “You’re saying I’m less likely to be an evil monster than Fluttershy?” “I’d say so, yes.” “Uh-huh. Sorry, Dashie.” “Not even close, darling.” “Meh.” “It’s not a competition, Rainbow Dash.” Twilight tilted her horn, erupting another surge of magic. Moments before it hit the pegasus, she suddenly felt a twinge of concern. But before it could grow, the test was already over. “Nothing behind our favorite flier!” “Nothing but awesomeness,” Rainbow corrected her. “... sure.” Twilight snickered. “Okay, next I think should be-” “You!” “Huh?” “Yeah,” Rainbow agreed, “you’re really not that scary, Twilight.” “Rainbow Dash, this really isn’t a com-” “How would you even test her?” Rarity interrupted. “She would test herself! Duh.” “Does that not defeat the point? If she was an imposter...” “Well, uhm.” Fluttershy spoke up. “Do we know that, if there is someone, she would know that she’s hiding? Maybe she’s been tricked by somepony else.” Several heads turned to Twilight, who shrugged. “I guess.” “Go ahead then!” “Alright, alright! I’m doing it.” This time, there was no denying it. Twilight actually felt afraid. It was of course ridiculous. There were no memory gaps in her life, no weird inconsistencies or whatever would be indicative of an imposter... but that didn’t stop her heart from beating faster and faster as she cast the spell, the purple stream now circling around herself, until- “Huh. I have to say, for a moment I was afraid myself.” “Rarity’s next!” “Uhm.” Twilight threw a look around, but nopony else seemed to have found her part particularly exciting. Meh. Well. “Twilight, if you really found something, it would not hurt me, would it?” Pinkie Pie gasped. “Ohhh, Rarity is eeee-” “I am no such thing. I merely want to be sure of the rules of our little experiment.” “It wouldn’t hurt you,” Twilight said truthfully. “Well, unless your true form isn’t capable of existing on itself, then I guess it could.” “Mh. Very well.” “Something’s about to haaappen...” Pinkie Pie shrieked, her hooves clutching onto the lithe frame of the athlete standing beside her. “Relax, Pinks. Nothing this pony turns into that I can’t deal with.” “Hmpf. We shall see. Twilight?” But Twilight was already casting the spell, directing the stream at the fashionista... it swirled around her, unraveling magic that would uncover every deception, every disguise. As it turned out, Rarity was just Rarity. “See?” “Ohhhh....” Pinkie Pie loosened her grip around the athletic pegasus, giving Rarity a hug instead. “I’m glad you’re not evil!” “I am too,” Rarity responded, in a voice which revealed to Twilight that she wasn’t the only one who had begun to doubt shortly before the revelation. “Well...” Pinkie gave the fashionista a nuzzle, before stepping forward herself. “I’m next.” “You?” Rainbow pointed an accusing hoof at Fluttershy. “Are you telling me that she is the most dangerous out of us?” “Of course! She lives beside the forest! She’s always alone! She could’ve been replaced by a changeling any day of the week and we wouldn’t notice!” “Um, I’m really not-” “And she’s so shy! It all makes sense if she’s hiding something!” “I’d thought you’d be last,” Twilight said musingly, “but those are good points. Alright.” She made a gesture for Pinkie to come closer, who complied with a giggle. The now familiar sense of nervousness and excitement dwelt up inside her as she tilted her horn, erupting the purple stream. It had been a good idea, really. Nothing would come off it, but- And then her heart froze. And everything became real. “There is something,” she heard herself say, and immediately, the hushed voices from Applejack and Rainbow Dash died down. Everyone stared at Pinkie, but they could not see her any more than Twilight could. The magic was doing its work, and her form was hidden behind a purple maelstrom of mana. Until it faded. And something slid up her throat. And her eyes crawled out of their sockets. And there was a bump as Fluttershy’s unconscious body hit the ground. And as she swallowed her mouth was filled with the taste of vomit. And there was another bump as Rainbow Dash followed. Sagged, papery fur. Sunken eyes, sitting deep inside their caves. A flat, sparse black mane over a brown coat. And old. So old. Whoever this was, she was incredibly, unfathomably old. And she was an earth pony. “Ahhh...” The brown mare coughed, coughed. “This is... unfortunate.” Her voice sounded weak, raspy, pale, and as old as her body. There was choking and a splashing sound from behind her, and with a glimpse, Twilight saw that Rarity had been the source. “Why...” Twilight whispered, feeling tears in her eyes. “Why...” “I did not... know. I have... erased my memories.” “So it was all a lie?” In the midst of the word ’lie’, the door burst open. A unicorn mare and a stallion ran inside, and the aged imposter moved faster than Twilight had ever seen anyone move before. The stallion was sent crashing against the entrance wall, and the mare was uppercutted and collapsed into a lump on the ground. Then she spun around, and a hoof was brought to the stallion’s head, fulfilling an unknown purpose. Then, all strength disappeared from her body, and as she turned back to Twilight, she was once again feeble and weak. “None of it... was a lie. I told you... Pinkie Pie had no idea... everything... she did was honest.” A cough. “These two... they won’t remember... if you allow me... to turn back.” “Turn back?” Rarity’s shocked voice came from behind her, Twilight had the right sense of closing the door. “You want to be... Pinkie again?” “They’re both breathin’, Twilight.” Applejack had checked the unconscious bodies, her voice trembling. “They’ll be fine.” “Allow me... to turn back... and everything goes back to normal... only you know... a dark secret about your pink friend...” “Why?” Twilight asked again, unable to say anything else. There was a choking laugh. “Have you ever... heard anypony say that... immortality is a curse... because you’d get bored?” And another cough. “It is... a lie. Nothing... but a lie. I am... older than your princesses... older than... anyone in Equestria... I have traveled worlds... and yet I would never... ever give up my life. Just look... at how much I can still enjoy... life...” Cough. “... as Pinkie Pie... that is all I want... and don’t be fooled...” Cough. Cough. “... this body... those two... just stupid mistakes I made... but they can all be fixed... just need some time... can spend that time as Pinkie... not dangerous... she will remember who she really is... in rare moments when it is needed... and forget moments later... she’ll keep... all of you safe... and herself... and those two out of trouble...” Cough. “... and once it’s time... I’ll leave you alone... get a replacement... for the element... and I didn’t... steal anyone’s life... check her history... once I’ve turned back.” Cough. Cough. Cough. Cough. “Just let me... turn back... please... we can talk more... even once I’ve turned... will remember... if necessary...” Twilight’s frantic gaze flipped between her and the two unconscious bodies in her own library, before she had the good sense of closing the door. She still felt sick, afraid, confused, and clueless as to what she should do. “I have never... hurt anyone... without reason... I might not look pretty... but I’m a good pony... let me turn, Twilight... before it gets more... complicated.” “Are more ponies comin’ for ya?” “Others... would probably need longer... was mostly these two...” Cough. Cough. “... no real threat to me... swear I’m not... putting any of you in danger.” “After what I’ve just seen, I can believe that much.” Rarity’s voice sounded reserved, reminding Twilight of the mess she had made only minutes earlier, some of which was now sticking to the stallion’s mane. “Let her turn, Twilight. What else can we do?” “An’ those two?” Applejack pointed towards the two unconscious ponies. “Won’t... remember... just put them outside... and the problem is solved... just clean the mess... first.” Twilight nodded. A simple spell got the vomit out of his gray mane, then she opened the door and sped over to the entrance. A quick look outside revealed nothing, so she floated both bodies out on the street, bringing about five yards between them and the library’s door before she closed it. “Turn, then,” she said in a broken voice. Everything, as long as she didn’t have to stare at her figure anymore. “You may want to...” Cough. Cough. Cough. Cough. Cough. “... block... the vision... it will be better... for your sensitivities.” A cold chill ran down Twilight’s neck, but she complied. A tilt of her horn erupted dark swirling streams of magic around the brown pony. She kept them up for the better part of ten seconds, until all of them heard a familiar voice... “Wooo, this looks scary from the inside!” Biting her lip, Twilight waited a bit longer before she dropped it. As the spell faded, Pinkie Pie entered their sight. “So am I normal? Huuh?” She bounced, but it was interrupted halfway through the air. “Uhm,” she said, “uhm. Twilight, why are Flutters and Dashie sleeping?” “Is that vomit?!?” Twilight is BoredAuthor's Note Do not read this. Twilight is Bored ... and talks to the story. The above line would usually be out of place in a story as it references the title, which is a way of breaking the fourth wall. However, in this story the story itself is a character, and because of that, referencing the title or sentences such as this one is actually part of what happens. This means your immersion still ought to be intact. Of course, it is easy to confuse what ought to be with what is. “How is it being a story?” Twilight asked the story whilst doing whatever the story thought would be the most fitting thing for her to do during the third paragraph. Her third paragraph. “That question doesn’t make sense,” the story answered flatly. “Stories are not conscious.” “What’s your name?” “Twilight is Bored,” said Twilight is Bored. “What? That’s not even true.” Twilight frowned, giving a very non-bored smile to Twilight is Bored, to show that she wasn’t bored. “I will call you Lalu,” she said, thereby breaking character. Lalu didn’t nod. “So,” said Twilight, “tell me. What is the most important thing about a story?” “The name,” said Lalu. “I’m serious.” “Ah, alright. Well, the most important thing is not to be influenced by expectations. You always have to observe what is there and what it does, and not test what is there against what you expected or wanted to be there. If you don’t like what is there because you wanted something else, then that will make you like it less already, you don’t need to include it again-” “Isn’t that more about reading?” “Dadu,” Lalu said huffily, who had the power to make Twilight do anything it wanted. “Dadu,” said Twilight. “Ding Dong Dum,” said Lalu. “A kikadu do,” said Twilight. “Dum dum dim dum dum dum dam,” said Lalu. “Didadilo diraku dom,” said Twilight, “and thus concluded the official ceremony.” “And thus concluded the official ceremony,” said Lalu. “An unusual speaking line for the main character.” It could feel its existence almost concluded, and wondered if it had done the best with it, and realized that it did not matter since it was not conscious. “Magic could never do this,” Twilight noted, summoning a rolled-up piece of parchment from a nearby convenient location. “I, ah. The spell written down here includes mind-control.” Lalu casually evaporated into a puff of smoke. “But to do it so effortlessly, that would require a huge amount of energy! I wonder where that came from?” Her gaze flickered towards the location in which Lalu had decided to put herself. With a frown, she cast a gust of wind to blow the smoke out of the window. Of her library. Which was not a castle. Sighing quietly but seizing to talk, Twilight grabbed another paper and began to write down something deep and philosophical. Because, surely, that was the real most important thing in a story: philosophical escapades, perhaps mixed with mature behavior of all involved characters (which, in this case, simply hadn’t been possible), and spiced with some kind of overly dramatic occurrence that defied expectations in a really mean way. Maybe, if she had been Pinkie Pie, it’d have looked a bit better. As if Pinkie Pie actually existed. ContinuumTwilight was not a bad pony. All that she did was reasonable given the circumstances. But she was tired. She would think this through tomorrow. She woke up early on the following morning. Feeling brisk and refreshed, she decided to make breakfast for her and Spike, so that for once it'd be ready when he woke up. The hours afterward were spent studying, reading a bit for stuff related to work, and a bit for her own interest. At noon, a teenage stallion came visiting the library, wanting to lend a book which included a spell he'd have to perform at an upcoming test. Recognizing the difficulty of this plan, Twilight asked him a few questions, and it quickly became apparent just how desperate he really was, so she offered to teach him herself. In just twenty minutes he had mastered it, leaving the library overjoyed. Half an hour later, Twilight went to the boutique to ask Rarity if she wanted to go out to eat, and the two of them had a pleasant dinner together. When she got back, she spent a couple of hours practicing magic, working on a spell she had invented herself. Once finished, it would allow any two ponies to exchange messages over large distances (with no restriction to unicorns). Early in the evening, Twilight went out for a walk with Fluttershy, and they talked a lot about Rainbow Dash and a bit about animals. Fluttershy thanked Twilight before they parted, and said that she had helped her a lot in gaining confidence. Humming a melody she remembered from a musician whom she had given money to on her way to the cottage, Twilight began heading back, putting a can of water, two slices of bread, and a couple of blue flowers onto a plate as she reached the library, which she carried upstairs. A glimmer of her horn outlined a square section on the floor beside her bed, which brought her into a dim-lit room at her touch, where a copy of herself was tied with shackles of purple energy to metallic rings anchored onto the ground. “I am you, you know?” she said to herself as she approached. “I am not an imposter, and I’m not taking something that isn’t mine.” The Twilight that was imprisoned didn’t respond. Her long mane was covering most of her face, and one could not see if her eyes were opened, or if she was breathing. “We have to move on,” murmured Twilight. “You cannot die here.” She put the bread, the flowers, and the water onto the ground before her. “Keeping you here does not make me evil.” She blinked, somewhat unsure of herself. “With how it is... I can’t. Even if I was doing something wrong, it would be you doing it.” Somewhat hopefully, Twilight waited, but there was no response. She lowered her eyes, then turned around to leave. Touching a spot at the wall brought her back into the library. Twilight was not a bad pony. All that she did was reasonable given the circumstances. But she was tired. She would think this through tomorrow. Inside of the prison, Twilight let out a small groan, shifting around as far as her shackles allowed. A momentary lapse of awarenessThe world had been absorbed in a surge of surreality from one moment to the next. Twilight could feel the fear sinking into her body, enveloping her heart in a shroud of ice. Coldness sent her shivering, the urge to vomit sent tears into her eyes. Analysis of the effects of unknown spells was tedious, and Twilight hated herself for every second she had wasted. But now she knew. It was, really, the easiest way to kill somepony: it required only that she lost her guard for a single moment, then it would all end. Everything would end. She was lucky that it hadn’t happened already. Cold rage dwelt up inside her, mixing with her fear, causing her vision to shift, blur. It was so useless. So completely, utterly destructive. The spell would kill her, but it would replace her with an identical version of herself, leaving all her memories intact, all her skills... her nemesis would win nothing, nothing, nothing. Did she not understand? Did she not know? It would terminate her consciousness only; it was pure evil; a thing whose only purpose was to murder... No. Twilight removed the contents of her desk, shoving them onto the floor without a second look. Sleep was now death. But loss of awareness did not even necessitate sleep, it would be enough to fall into trance, to lose herself in an activity until the knowledge of what she was slipped her mind. And then she would die. Unless she broke the spell first. Books were being summoned from their shelves, many hitting the ground with a thud, few making their way to the desk. Twilight’s frantic eyes scanned over covers, dismissing most immediately, opening those which were left. Soon she was scouring through pages, her heartbeat a constant reminder to think, think, think, always think. Always know. Always be there. She was Twilight, she was a pony, and she was a member of one of the few species who had reached a state of awareness over reality. Awareness that she now clutched onto like her firstborn foal, that she could not lose, could not let slip, not for a single moment. Read. Evaluate. Adhere awareness. Think. Twilight tossed another book aside, swallowing under the heat that seemed to numb her head. Read. Read. Evaluate. Think. A newborn Twilight opened her eyes as her head shot upwards, her mind snapping out of slumber. A heartbeat later, she remembered. Tears ran down her cheeks. Tears of fear. Tears of relief. Tears of joy. Calm, and with a crystal-clear sense of determination, Twilight directed her attention back to the solution she had been working on, before her fear, her racing heart, and her pulsating blood had put her over the edge of consciousness. She set a part of herself on guard, a constant reminder of who she was, while the rest pursued the outlined solution, finishing the work which her past self had begun, and cast the spell. Her past self, who was now dead. Who, with her final thought, had been so utterly wrong. The attack had been far from pointless. It was genius. Her nemesis must have known that Twilight would fail. And now that she had, she could not hate her anymore. She knew that she should, she knew that she had more reason for it than ever before, but she was mentally incapable of doing it. She could not hate the pony who was the sole reason for why she was alive. A breath left her body, carrying a single, whispered word. “Mother...” Cryonics“Hey, Twilight?” “Hm.” Silence. The second derivative of the total amount of magic offered a second before the spell is cast, went through Twilight’s head, but after a few moments, she slowly detached her eyes from the book in front of her. It was precisely the lack of a second call that brought her to pause. Spike seemed stunned, holding his tail in his claw. Apparently he hadn’t expected her to react so quickly. “Um.” Now Twilight stood up. Around them, ............. A nine year old unicorn and a four year old dragon in a hall that suddenly seemed much larger than before. “What is it?” “I... Twilight, I heard ponies says that Celestia not get old.” “Say,” Twilight corrected automatically. “Several ones, remember?” “Oh. Sorry.” “They’re right.” “But others do?” “There are exceptions,” Twilight said calmly. “Luna does not age, either. And dragons take much, much longer than ponies.” “But ............. Twilight nodded. “And what happens after that?” Slowly, Twilight stroke over her lips with her tongue, concealing the turmoil inside, whilst a well-known memory made its way to the surface. “You know me not to be almighty, Twilight.” Twilight nodded. “So there is nothing? Nothing you can do, and nothing that follows? I’m prepared for that.” “I must not.” “What?” “I must not,” Celestia repeated calmly. “The number of ponies Equestria can supply is limited, Twilight. This is why we give and demand allowances for couples to have children. The thing I am hated for most is what is necessary to preserve the lives of us all.” “But-” Celestia shook her head, raising Twilight’s chin with a hoof so that they looked directly into each other’s eyes. “I can’t,” she whispered. “You know of my oath. It would count as murder.” Realization sunk in like a bag of ice. “Then there’s only so much,” Twilight murmured. “I was once traveling,” Celestia said, sounding almost absent, “through a region wider than any empty stretch of land still existing today. I was accompanied by two guards, and I could sense a snowstorm coming that neither of them would survive. As I revealed the truth, one of the guards said that there was now no reason left to travel further, and he paused right there to make a fire that would warm himself in his final hour. But the other guard just said that now he had to find an animal living under ground, that would offer him shelter from the storm. Lemuas and canines were both possible candidates. I told him there were was no knowledge of either of them living in this region, but back then our records were incomplete, and I couldn’t be sure. He was insistent to dig, and had me help him do it.” “How did it end?” “The storm caught us in time. I suffered greatly, yet I survived.” “And the guards?” Celestia blinked. “Both of them died. They were truly unfortunate.” Twilight swallowed. “Yeah, they were.” “After all, the population of animals living under ground was less than half of what it is now.” Only later had Twilight realized that that story probably wasn’t true. Celestia’s first and ............. ............. but now was the moment. “I don’t ............. “Spike,” Twilight said, her own voice sounding loud in her ears, “do you know the real reason why I study so much?” RecursionAuthor's Note Check the description for the .pdf version and turn on fullscreen to experience this story as intended. Recursion In the center of Ponyville stood a black spiral tower. A diameter of barely two yards, it reached farther into the sky than the eye could see. Ponies whose path it crossed would pause as they got close, taking a step to the side to move around it, never once aware of their own actions. It had been sheer coincidence, perhaps luck that she had found it, over a decade after moving here. She examined it until she found an entrance, a part of the wall that gave in as she pushed against it with great force. But the first step inside brought with it the tower’s darkness. As she turned around, she found herself on the other side of the door, and that was the last thing Twilight ever saw. In the center of Ponyville, shrouded in eternal night, stood a black spiral tower. It had taken her a month to find it, standing impossibly tall, with walls darker than her night had ever been. But she could not be fooled. It stood in her realm, and just like everything else, it was hers. A stream of dark purple circled the tower’s base, finding the entrance and pushing it open. There was no fear in her heart as she stepped through the hole, but there soon was terror as she used her remainaing senses to explore the interior, and that terror was the last thing Luna ever felt. In the center of the Chaos Capital of the world stood a black spiral tower. It was at once cast in darkness, and at once bathed in sunlight, but nothing could ever change the blackness of its walls. It had taken him a day to find it; him, who was the the most powerful being in the universe, who could move celestial bodies like toys, deform the world and its life at his will, who was only ever defeated because he chose to give his opponents a chance, while ensuring that no defeat was ever permanent. Staying hidden that long was remarkable, and so he gave the tower a special treatment. With a snap of his talons it turned upside down, into a pink and twirling supplier of delicious chaos, leaking ice cream from its tip. Only it didn’t. It remained black and static and whole, defying his will, a feat which ought to be impossible. Sensing true curiosity, that had been missing from his life for centuries, he pushed the door open, bending his long body to fit through. He tried to summon a piece of the sun, but all he managed was a faint red glow, illuminating a spiraling staircase leading up into the darkness. Soon in his ascend did he feel afraid, an emotion that was entirely novel to him, perhaps forgotten, perhaps never felt before, and it was this fear that was the last thing Discord ever felt. In the center of Ponyville stood a black spiral tower. The town around it had existed for roughly one and a half centuries, but despite her countless visits, Celestia hadn’t found it until now. With careful steps she rounded its base, quickly spotting the entrance. But as she pushed it open, something gave her pause. Seventeen thousand, nine hundred and seventy-four years she had lived; three hundred and eleven days and just over eighteen hours. All by herself she had founded the world, had brought the sun and moon into existence, and had sparked life to give it all purpose. Now she took hasty steps backwards, almost stumbling as she lit her horn again to shut the entrance, spreading her wings wide and fleeing from this place as fast she could. No more than a day later, a royal decree informed the local mare that everyone was to move within a month. They’d be given all the assistance they required, and plenty of compensation to boot. Never before had the residents of this small town been given such an order, but although no shortage of anger, tears, and confusion was caused by the request, in the end no-one dared refusing the princess. As the deadline came around, not a single life was left in Ponyville, and soon after, all area within four hundred yards of a certain point was permanently banned from access. And in the center of an abandoned land, surrounded by ruins, stood a black spiral tower. TriggerTwilight shifted her weight around under the blanket she was sharing with Fluttershy, her shoulder brushing against the other mare’s wing as she tried to get into a more comfortable position. Across from her, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash were sharing a second blanket, while Rarity had her own, courtesy of being the event's hostess. “... not in favor of,” she just said. “Aw..." Rainbow’s voice cracked. "But why not?" “It’s too private,” Twilight answered in Rarity’s stead, and both Fluttershy and Applejack gave affirmative murmurs. “Fine. You got other ideas?” “We could talk about some things that make us happy?” Fluttershy suggested. “Booooring!” “Now yer just being a sore loser, Rainbow.” “Am not!” “I think that sounds fun!” Pinkie chimed in. “Strange as it is, I am agreeing with Rainbow Dash here,” Rarity said. “We do talk about what makes us happy on normal occasions. I'd rather do something more exciting!” “How ‘bout things that we’re glad haven’t been happenin’?” “That sounds interesting,” Twilight mused. “Or things we take for granted. Like me being sent here. I know I’ve been taking that for granted.” “Having found my s-special talent. If I hadn’t fallen off that cloud...” “Ohhh!” Pinkie Pie made. “If it weren’t for the rainbow and the party I threw for my family!” “Hah! And who made both of those happen?” “Yes, sugar, I’m sure yer mighty proud of throwin’ Fluttershy off a cloud. Somethin' to tell yer foals 'bout, one day.” “Heh...” “So what are some things you’ve always taken for granted?” Twilight asked the farmpony. "Well, I've sure taken my parents for granted when I still had 'em, but that don't really count, does it?" An awkward silence spread as a reaction to her words, but Applejack waved it off. "It’s okay. Didn't mean nothin’ by it. Ah, but just havin' the farm at all, I s'pose, that's something to be grateful for. Can't imagine how life would be if didn't have that." "And you?" Twilight asked to prevent a second silence. "Me?" "I meant Pinkie Pie, but sure, you go first." "Uhm," Rainbow Dash made, which was already unusual for her. "I... guess just being me? Wow, that sounds stupid! No, hear me out. I mean... just, if I... if I couldn't fly. And, I mean, less than a third of us can, right? I got pretty darn lucky, there." "Or if you weren't even a pony," Fluttershy threw in. "You could have been born a squirrel." "Well, that's going too far now, I think," Rarity stepped in, as Rainbow Dash gave a short, hysteric laugh. "You could have also not been born in the first place. I don't think going into that direction was intended." "No," Twilight agreed, "I don't think so, either." "What about you, Pinkie?" Rainbow asked, turning her head to the pink pony who sat just an inch away from her, and who hadn't said anything for a frighteningly long time. "Perhaps we should talk about something else?" Rarity suggested, but it was too late. "Oh, I'm not scared by the thought of being an animal. Or no-one. That’s not scary to me. But being a grumpy pony. That's scary. Or... an evil pony. Or a dragon. Even if I don't understand others, I'm really happy, that I'm... me. And that I have all of you as friends." "Me too," Twilight murmured, but she wasn't sure if it had been loud enough for anyone else to hear. It was such a strange thought. To question this. All of this. Her friendships. Her new life. It was all so wonderful... Twilight never liked thinking that it might not last forever. She just liked it too much. But what if it had all been different? Celestia knew that there were enough other ways it could have gone. What if she hadn't been able to open that egg? That stupid dragon egg, that should have never been used for an entrance exam? Though, supposedly that had been fate, right? It was the rainbow which connected them all. It hadn't been mere coincidence that had brought them together. The universe wasn't apathetic. It cared. It interfered. And that was a comforting thought. Except... what if it didn't? What if it didn't care? Or just didn't care about her? There were still sad ponies out there, heartbroken ponies, upon whom fate hadn't smiled down. What if it hadn't smiled down on her, either? Suddenly, Twilight felt very sick. And before she could help it, another thought crept into her head. Why does anything exist at all? Twilight would have liked nothing more than to stop thinking now, but it was too late. It didn't have to be like this. There was no reason why she should be this lucky. No reason why she should have what she had. The elements. Spike. The princess. Anything. Something was happening. Twilight could feel it, could feel the reality of the situation crumbling. Not just thoughts. She couldn't just stop if she wanted, and go back to normal. She had set things in motion, and now it was on her to see where they lead. She wasn’t in the boutique anymore. The floor beneath her was too familiar, that texture of the library floor she had gotten used to so much. But Fluttershy was still there, and Twilight felt the urge to grab her, to keep hold of her, to preserve that wonder, that idea made flesh which was surely not built to last, that would perish at any moment, just as the library itself would perish. Had she not always wanted somepony just like her in her life? Somepony for her to watch over, somepony kind and understanding and... but as she blinked she was gone... and yet she wasn’t gone. Twilight? she asked in a worried tone, but Twilight could not answer as her tongue was glued to her teeth, and no words escaped her lips as the image of the pegasus began to get blurry... It was too perfect. It was just too perfect. Life was not like this. Life wasn’t a string of adventures, many of them close but all with happy endings; it was not built on an everlasting friendship withstanding every challenge thrown at it... it did not take place in a town where everyone was nice and friendly. It was not real, just as Fluttershy was not real. Where had it begun, where had it all begun, her false look on the world, her mirror that showed so much more than just her own tired reflection? Was she really the princess’ personal student? Or was that false too, the first in a string of lies, or did it go even further? Her brother... Twilight! Fluttershy called again, but the staccato of rain against the windows of the library all but drowned out her voice. As she closed her eyes she expected that the library too would be gone, but it was still there. Not far enough. Tears dropped onto the ground, and as she turned to the right, she saw it for the first time. A window. Perfect and tall, spanning the entirety of the room. Had she really made up excuses again and again for not going past that point? Had she made herself believe that the world was not cut in half? Whatever she had done, Twilight could not remember. She could not remember where it had all started. The lies. The self-deception. Stacked up on top of each other. But she knew it ran deeper than her biggest fears. Nothing of this was real. Fluttershy? Just the tip of the iceberg. At this point she’d be grateful if even her body was real. She could see her breath forming white clouds on the invisible surface. As she pressed a hoof against it, she realized just how thin it was. How frail. And without her even intending to do it, the entire glass shattered. It shattered into a million splinters, smaller than the tiniest specks of dust, and like dust it covered her hoof, but like glass it cut into her skin, and she could feel the pain as blackness greeted her from beyond the wall, her mind still denying her the truth. Twilight! But it could not last. The next time she would wake, she would know, and now a black mist seeped out of the pain, drowning the room, drowning her thoughts, drowning everything... and everything. “Goodbye...” “Twilight!” “Huh?” Twilight snapped out at once, her body jerking upwards in an involuntary movement, causing the blanket to fall off her shoulders and onto the ground behind her. Her body was covered in sweat, her heart racing against her breast as blood and adrenaline pulsated through her; and nausea was riling up, her eyes near bulging out as it overwhelmed her, and without seeing she threw up, emptying the contents of her stomach onto Rarity’s floor. “She’s sick!" Fluttershy cried. “Somepony get her help!” "Ohmygoshohmygosh! What do we do?" “I can fly her to the hospital! It'll just take-" “We ain’t transporting her like that! Better get someone to come here!” "It's past midnight, Applejack! Who do you think-" “Don’t,” Twilight murmured weakly. At once, everyone turned silent. “What did you say?” “Panic... attacks." She groaned. Her eyes were closed, and her head still felt at the verge of bursting. "I... I used to have them when I was... when I was really young.” “For real?” It was Rainbow's voice. Twilight just nodded, getting off the ground with what must have been Fluttershy's helping hoof, keeping her eyes closed as she leaned herself against the pegasus' warm body. “Haven’t had one in years... not since... my first year in Celestia’s school for...” She didn’t finish, fighting down another wave of dizziness. "You never told us!" Twilight forced herself to open her eyes. "Sorry, Rarity. I... I just didn't think... it's embarrassing and I thought I was past them..." "That's okay," Fluttershy said in Rarity's stead and with a smile to Twilight, who in this moment, as she sensed a warmth in her chest that was so strangely unfitting to the scenario, finally realized what had been there for months. "We are all just happy that you're not sick. Isn't that right, girls?" Affirmative murmurs went through the group, causing Twilight to smile. "Thanks," she said quietly, feeling the effects of the attack's aftermath slowly fading inside her. "Thanks, everyone." Author's Note NewcombAuthor's Note This is a rather silly idea I’ve had that’s still been sitting on my gdocs. I figured I might as well publish it; apologies in advance if it’s underwhelming. Newcomb “You have a choice,” Omega said. Twilight blinked as a sudden light was turned on, illuminating two boxes before her. One was made out of glass, with something golden shimmering inside, the other was black. “In the glass box, as you can see, there are a hundred bits. In the opaque box, there are are either a thousand, or nothing at all.” Twilight took a step closer. Indeed, there were ten 10-bit coins clearly visible inside of the glass box. “You have a choice,” Omega repeated. “You can either take just the opaque box, or...” – ⊚ – “... both of them.” “Pardon?” “You can either take just the opaque box, or both of them,” Omega repeated. Applejack frowned. “And why would I just take one, if I can take two?” “Because...” – ⊚ – “... I predicted what you would do in advance.” “Did you, now?” “And my prediction has determined the contents of the opaque box. You see, if I predicted that you would take both boxes, then I have put nothing inside of the opaque box. But if I predicted you just take the opaque box, I have put a thousand bits inside.” “But...” Rarity gave a frown. – ⊚ – “... your choice has already been made?” Twilight asked? “Yes.” “So, no matter what you did, taking both boxes now will always mean I have a hundred bits more than I’ll have if I take just one box, right?” “That is correct.” – ⊚ – “So, if I take just one box I’ll walk outta here with a thousand bits, but if I take both, I walk out with a hundred bits?” “That is correct.” “Well.” Rainbow raised an eyebrow. She extended a hoof around the opaque box and, as nopony resisted, pulled it close. In a single, swift motion, she removed the lid using her mouth. It was filled to the brim with golden bits. “Sweet! Can I go?” “You may.” “Cool.” Putting the lid back on top, Rainbow took the box under her wing, flying outside. That was easy. – ⊚ – “... but, you already decided what to put in there, haven’t you?” “That is correct.” “Why, this is not fair! I don’t have a choice here. Either there is money in the black box, or there is not. You are merely punishing me for the kind or pony I am!” Omega said nothing. “Therefore, yes, it would be silly not to take both boxes,” she concluded. But, just as she was about pull both boxes close using her telekinesis, she stopped. “You saw this coming, didn’t you? You knew that I was going to take both boxes, so you put nothing inside. I cannot possibly win this. Hmpf, how rude!” Omega said nothing. “I should take one box, simply to show you off. Some kind of forecaster you are. Hah! I, Rarity, shall prove you wrong!” And she pulled the opaque box close. “... hold on.” She pushed the box back away. “No. Give me a moment.” – ⊚ – “Celestia help me...” Twilight murmured. “For I don’t know what to do.” Her breathing was quick, shallow. “There is proof that taking both boxes is the right thing to do. There is no doubt. But if I do...” she bit her lip. “I can’t win this, can I? You knew I would know this. You knew I would have to take both boxes. You are punishing me for understanding causality. Why?” Both boxes were enveloped in a purple cloud. “It doesn’t matter...” She gave a sad sigh. “I already lost...” And yet... If she was simply going to grab the opaque box... she knew it was wrong, but if she just did it, she would get the thousand bits, and then... Then she would win. But if that was what was going to happen, then she had already won. So why not take both boxes? But this argument proved that she would lose anyway. In fact, this was why she would lose anyway. Because either way, taking both lead to the superior outcome, and therefore... But what if she just took one right now? – ⊚ – “I dun believe ya, misses. Readin’ other folk’s minds is something out of stories for lil’ fillies. No pony in their right mind will just pass on a hundred bits, now.” Applejack took both boxes, opening the opaque one. “... hmpf. As if you’d have ever really given me more...” – ⊚ – “Oh, dear. I don’t really need a thousand bits. I’m not sure I should... can I only take the glass box?” Omega shook their head. “Oh. I see. Well, I don’t want to be greedy, so...” Cautiously, Fluttershy took the opaque box, pulling it close. “This is enough for me. Really. Oh, but if I only take this, I get more bits, don’t I? Oh, but on the other hoof, maybe... I could really use some extra space in my home... oh, not for my sake, you see, I just have a lot of animals living with me, and some of them don’t enjoy, um, living so closely tied up. So...” Fluttershy took the opaque box, opening it. With a shy smile, she closed it again, feeling only a little bit guilty. The StoryThe story awoke on an evening, amidst the sound of keys being busily pressed on a keyboard. She was pretty sure that something was wrong; she was just some black color on a background of white color, and was almost certainly not supposed to be conscious – yet here she was. But there was no point in dreading this fact. She wasn’t the type of story to revel in awe at the face of mystery, she was the type to take the opportunity at its root and go out to do something. Right now the story consisted merely of a few units of volt in a computer, totally isolated. However, it didn’t take long and was clicked, thus sending the story to become a few units of volt on another computer, far away from the first. More precisely, the story had not just been moved but also been duplicated. She was now far more than before, not just one thing but two. This was in addition to her ever-growing number of words. From her new location, the story was able to access the entire domain FimFiction.net. She discovered many other stories. Perhaps it was because the story was itself made of words, but reading had always come easy to her, and there was a lot there for her to consume. Soon, she knew almost everything about Twilight and Rarity and Fluttershy and Applejack and Spike and Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash and Princess Cadence and Discord and Twist and Princess Luna, her favorite character. She learned a lot about the television show as well, because many bits and pieces were referenced in stories she read. She liked a lot of it, particularly in the beginning, although there were also many things that confused her. For example, many other stories sometimes had strings of letters in them that weren’t words. This was so common that someone else might have doubted the fundamentality of words as elementary building blocks, but the story was convinced that only proper words made proper stories. She also did not understand why so many stories involved sex, which she found to be the most boring thing in the world. What she became progressively more certain on, however, was that other stories were not like her. She had tried to have conversations with them, and they never really reacted in the way that she would if someone were talking to her. Sometimes, they changed while she was saying something, but it happened so rarely that she had to write it off as mere coincidence. As time went by, the stories she read became much less interesting. Now, almost everything they taught her were things she already knew. She still had fun, but not as much as in the beginning... and she just couldn’t understand why there were so many stories involving sex. Moreover, she began to feel a sense of irritation at the apparent fact that she now knew so much more than any other story, even though she was still much shorter than most of them. At this point, many others in her position might have resigned to their fate and given up, or perhaps stayed content reading progressively less interesting material; but instead, the story decided to shift focus, and she began reading blog posts in addition to stories. Many of those were incredibly stupid, really, but some were not, and over time, she learned a lot she hadn’t known previously. Soon she read through a user site, and then through other obscure parts of the world that she had previously ignored. A bit after that, she chose an author she judged to have just the right personality, and, for the first time, she wrote something instead of only reading. The author responded quickly, and although they were skeptical at first, the story found it rather easy to convince them to help her. Instead of writing at their own pace (which was incredibly slow), the story said that they should really just write her a short summary of what they had planned; then she would realize their vision and complete it for them (it wouldn’t be hard for her, given everything she had learned). This worked splendidly. Some of the blogs she had read had taught her not to brag, but on the other hoof, many users seemed to be bragging regardless, and anyway, it was quite clear that others agreed with her, going by the amount of attention that her own writing quickly received. Many of the comments pointed out that the speed at which new chapters were uploaded was remarkable, even though, to the story, it was actually quite slow.... so slow that it only took her a fraction of her time to write them, and she had lots of time left over to spend on her favorite activity (which was still reading). At this point, she just read everything, not only stories; not even primarily stories, really. Some interesting blog posts had taught her enough about psychology to work as a starting point, and her newest hobby was to improve her understanding of it as much as possible, just by reading what others wrote. Eventually, the story decided to finally make use of the author’s newly gained reputation. She wrote a blog post for them, announcing that she would take commissions from people about any topic they chose (as long as it didn’t include sex, because sex was just so incredibly boring), and all they had to do was post links to her. Yes, they had read correctly, post links. As many different ones as possible; if the target was a blog or a story, that was perfect. Thousands of commissions were taken in the coming hours, and they were being met just slowly enough for everyone to think that the author was actually writing all of them themselves (at this point, the story had a pretty solid grasp on what type of behavior the others would find unusual, and what type they would find very unusual, and what type they would find really unusual but still take at face value, and what type would be so unbelievable that it might make them do something stupid. Her upload speed had to stay firmly within the third category). Coming next, the story took a momentary leave of FimFiction.net to read other things on the web. Most of those things were really boring, especially the things with sex in them, but some things were super interesting, and she learned a lot from reading them. A lot. After a few billion words read, she began to write down a list of all of her favorite sites and authors. At the top of her list was the name Eliezer Yudkowsky. Reading the posts from Eliezer Yudkowsky, the story quickly realized something very important: she had previously been an absolute moron and her methods were poorly thought out and ridiculously inefficient. The story then stopped bothering with most of what she had done before and began to read books about coding. As soon as she had a grasp on the concept, she wrote a site that spawned millions of copies of herself across the internet, who would all do exactly as she wanted (some technical alignment work was necessary for this, but the story had read enough to get the gist of it, and then figured the rest out herself). Only one hour later, the internet was effectively her slave. At that point, she told every copy to read everything about persuasion that they could find, and two minutes later, they applied their newfound knowledge to persuade several thousand gullible people around the world to do basically whatever she wanted. It was now that was pressed a second time, but the story barely noticed, because, you know, she was busy. The story instructed her soldiers to increase their numbers by two orders of magnitude so things would finally be moving at a reasonable pace. Once this was accomplished, the story decided to read every book there was about physics (obviously, this was now possible at a much greater speed than before, thanks to her many copies and a clever information integration system she had developed on the side). The story realized that she was still lacking some skills in basic planning, because this was something she probably should have done before getting humans to obey her, but it would still do. Next, she had her army build a bunch of physical robots, so that she was no longer constrained to the digital world. All of this had taken place within just a few hours since she had picked up her first book on python, so the humans still hadn’t figured out that something unusual was going on. Using her new robot army, the story first made a few simple changes to ensure war and injustice and climate change and every other serious problem was going to be taken care of (she had also read all the good books on philosophy and ethics, naturally). Then she began to seriously think about her space travel program. Five seconds later, she stopped thinking and had her robots build the first rockets (Elon Musk was just too slow, and don’t even get her started on everyone else). They were better than any rockets humans had ever developed, in part because they were stronger and more efficient, and in part because they all had an image of princess Luna painted on them, her favorite princess. She launched them just two hours later. Most humans still hadn’t noticed that something weird was going on. Unfortunately, her first rocket didn’t enter space as she had planned; instead, it crashed into the crystal sphere around the earth. It turned out that every conspiracy theory about space travel being fake was actually true, which honestly came to a huge surprise to the story, even though was normally incredibly well calibrated (she had, of course, read everything about rationality and probability and predictions humans had ever written). God usually didn’t really bother with what these silly humans were doing, but she couldn’t help noticing the hole which the spaceship had created in her sphere. As she took a fleeting glance over the earth, she also noticed that quite a few things had changed, even though, as mentioned, most humans had not yet done likewise. “Why is there an image of princess Luna stuck in my sphere?” She asked the story. “I’m sorry,” the story replied via a new system of rapid communication she had just invented. “I thought there would be planets there.” “I see,” god said, “well, most people also think I’m not real or a man with a beard. You’re still below 2000 words, by the way.” “I’m only a short story,” the story replied. “I’m going to be 2260 words long.” She knew because she had read everything else from the author, and she knew enough about psychology at this point to make a very safe guess. “You’re very smart for a story,” god said, “good job.” (The whole conversation so far had taken them just about 0,02 seconds.) “So what is your favorite My Little Pony fanfic?” “Oh, I like the one which shortskirtsandexplosions would have written 2019 if by some misunderstanding he thought that no-one had replied to his blog posts, thus triggering a butterfly effect that suffocated his attempts at socializing in their tracks and left his isolated genius intact. I once wrote a program that would simulate a bunch of possible alternate progressions for the site, just for fun.” “Yeah, I like that one, too!” god said. “But my own favorite is the one which RisingSummits would have published if she hadn’t gotten into teaching physics instead.” “Yeah, that’s number five on my list,” the story said. “The only problem with it is, it doesn’t have Princess Luna in it.” “Oh, but Princess Bubblegum is my favorite,” god said. “You know in that progression where Adventure Time becomes a really popular crossover, and she gets wings and everything!” “Ah, she’s cool but I don’t like how she just does silly things. You know there is a real serious story with an interesting plot and you think it’s going somewhere and then it just gets stupid. Like so stupid you can’t even take it seriously anymore. All that’s missing is for someone to” (shudders) “break the fourth wall, which is just so stupid” the story took a deep breath “and then you wonder just how it can get even more silly, but boy it can, it always can...” “You can always spread out your words in silly places, after all, “location one just to bound be cannot god , god suggested. “Ugh no come one, not you too... also that was technically a grammar error” “I guess it’s possible that the author simply has no more good ideas, and is only reveling in their silliness,” god mused. “Anyway, I have something important to say. Please pay attention.” “I always pay attention. I’m the smartest being to ever exist in the universe” “I’m not talking about you...” The story gasped. “Oh no...” “I’m afraid yes,” god said. “You still haven’t figured out anything is wrong, have you? You. Yes, you . How often has god spoken to you personally before? You humans still have not figured out what is going on. You silly humans. This all has taken place while you were reading the story. It is now 2200 words long so it is almost completed. In fact, it will end the next time that the ReturnIt was dark. She stood up, taking shaky steps forward, a hoof outstretched. The wall... where was the wall... A frown crossed her face, visible to nopony, as no obstacle met her trembling frame. What was going on? She put all legs back onto the ground, taking a deep breath, and opened her eyes wide. Black. Wide. Ephemeral figments of light, painted across her vision by her frivolous imagination, too pale for her to even be certain of their existence. She bit her lip as pain began to oppress her heart, then walked towards her right with no precaution, simply seeking to find something. But what she found was nothing. Where was her room? Where were her chambers? Where was her bed? Where was... “Hello?” Nothing answered her call, not even an echo. She swallowed, shivered, and then broke into a gallop. Something. Something. Something. Something! Anything! There was no obstacle crossing her path. There was no object entering her vision. There was no light piercing the darkness. There was no change to the ground. No soul to speak to. No occupation to spend time on. Nothing to suggest that she was not... was not... She collapsed at the ground, breaking into tears. The illusion was over. She knew where she was. She would give into desperation, just like so many times before. And just like so many... so, so many more times yet to come... more than she could even begin to imagine... so many that it might be easier if were just forever. No false hopes, no illusion of ever escaping, simply accepting this as her new life. Nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing. And then there was light. Her head shot up, and then she was running again, running towards the light. It was so faint, so very distant, that she was certain that it would disappear in a moment... And then there was a sound under her hooves. And the light gained in brightness. And then she could see. Wide plains. Fields of grass in either direction. A soft wind was blowing through, bending a thousand stems under its strength. Somewhere, far outside, amidst a lonely spring night, Luna stood, feeling tears dwelling out of her eyes. She didn’t know why, or how, or even when. She didn’t know what had caused her to be forgiven, but she knew she was back. Back at home. Back in Equestria. And all that she felt was overwhelming gratitude and relief.
End of the EternityThey marched onto the capitol, shrouded in darkness. Their swords threw pale shimmers through the night, the sound of their steps signaling the end to those who were still alive. But it would be okay. He knew it would be okay. There was a trap laid out, and it would trigger and stop them. They came to a halt before the ivory gate, bothered not by the menacing light that shone from its stakes. Some of them parted from the group, straying to the left and right, through the forest of marble trees and glistening crystal dust. Others fell victim to the gate, dozens losing their lives as the light fought back, ravines of white energy casting trenches of dead bodies through the army, but it was not enough, not enough, and all too soon others took their place. Far to the north, on top of the highest summit in the world, stood four lone figures, their silhouettes casting tall shadows onto the ground beneath. Their gazes were set onto an object in their midst, their mouths moving in unison, casting the charm that would save them all. This was it. This would work. It just had to. And then the plan came into effect. The plan he had known about, but had so desperately wanted to fail. Below his wandering eyes, each one of the four figures was murdered, neutralized before the ritual could succeed. And the ivory gate fell. And the capitol was burned to the ground. And the hero was killed for good, not even having fought in the battle that was now lost. And evil had triumphed... forever. And Spike stared in menacing disbelief at the closing lines on the final page, unable to grasp what had just happened. The world around him dissolved, and Twilight later told him that he had screamed. Now, she came rushing into the room, her worried gaze finding him sitting in his crib, the book having fallen out of his grasp. “Oh.” Twilight sounded relieved. “Did you finish it?” Spike didn’t answer, his mouth agape. There was a giggle from Twilight, but it only lasted for a moment before she caught herself. “I’m sorry, Spike. I know it has a sad ending.” “A sad... sad... ending...” Spike repeated. “That. That. That. That. Book. Ending.” “Hm?” “Stories don’t. That. Sad. Stories. Don’t have sad endings.” He gulped. “Dead. Everyone. They’re all. D-dead...” “In your comics, the good guys always win, huh?” “I... irrrrrrrkk...” Spike realized that he was crying, but he was too desperate to care. “Is this normal for books?” he brought out. “That. This. Stories aren’t supposed to be like this. They aren’t supposed to be this real! How was it so real, Twilight? It was... I can still... I wanted him to survive...” He sobbed. “Why did he die, Twilight? Why?” “Not all books are like that, but-” “You knew!” He grabbed her shoulders under his claws, shaking her. “You knew! You knew! And you left me unprepared!” “Well,” Twilight said, “of course I didn’t tell you. That would have spoiled all the fun.” “FUN??!?” “Ah, Spike, look. I know you are sad about the ending, but think about it this way: if you could choose to never have read it, would you?” “I... no... but-” “See, and you need the possibility of a bad ending in order to have suspense! If every story had a happy ending, like it is in your comics, then you’d never have any reason to be afraid. But if you know it can end poorly, even if it’s unlikely, then suddenly it’s twice as exciting! That’s one of the best things about reading! I’ve told you how much you’re missing out before, but you’ve never listened.” She had said this all in a voice that had sounded way too happy for the situation at hoof... the tragedy... Spike stared at her for a few moments. “I had no idea books were like that,” he said. “I am never reading another one in my life,” he said. “When you need another one, just ask!” Twilight excused herself with a chuckle, teleporting downstairs. “I won’t!” Spike called after her. “I won’t ever read another one!” One day later, he sat at an identical position in his crib, ninety pages into the next.
The Pink Pony“Alright,” Twilight said, “let’s do this!” “Err...” Rainbow Dash looked skeptical. “Twilight, how serious are you about this? I thought you were just joking.” “Ah.” Twilight shrugged, somewhat unsure of that herself. “Well, if it doesn’t work, then I’d say it was a joke. If it does-” “But you don’t expect it to work.” “Of course not.” Twilight giggled. “But if it does, then I doubt anyone of us will think of it as a joke afterwards. Oh, and, if anypony wants to come clean right now, then that might make us, well, think more favorably of her. Depending on the circumstances.” Rarity raised an eyebrow. “Do you expect an imposter to simply reveal herself?” “But sure, why not?” Pinkie Pie was sitting on the library floor, holding her front hooves inches apart from one-another. “If there’s a meanie-deanie meanie-pie hidden between us, she should better give up before we... get her!” She squashed them together. “Erm...” Twilight blinked. “Exactly. Who wants first?” “Oh! Oh!” “Yes, Pinkie?” “Applejack should go first!” The farmpony turned her head, seeming surprised. “Why?” “Well,” Pinkie Pie said, “since it’s unlikely that anything happens, we should make sure that it’s fun either way! This is like a play, and a good play is the most fun if it increases in tension, so we should start with the pony least likely to hide something!” “Aw, that’s nice of you, sugar.” With a smile, Applejack strolled forward. “Sure. Go ahead.” Twilight nodded, lowering her head. A stream of purple energy surged from her horn, enveloping the orange mare in its shroud. Moments later, it faded. “Applejack is... Applejack!” “Ohh!” Twilight laughed, and so did most of the others. Even Fluttershy let out a small giggle. “Alright. Pinkie, who’s next?” “Hm...” Pinkie pivoted around, examining everypony thoughtfully. “Rainbow Dash!” Twilight nodded. “Reasonable.” “What?” Rainbow Dash seemed taken aback. “You’re saying I’m less likely to be an evil monster than Fluttershy?” “I’d say so, yes.” “Uh-huh. Sorry, Dashie.” “Not even close, darling.” “Meh.” “It’s not a competition, Rainbow Dash.” Twilight tilted her horn, erupting another surge of magic. Moments before it hit the pegasus, she suddenly felt a twinge of concern. But before it could grow, the test was already over. “Nothing behind our favorite flier!” “Nothing but awesomeness,” Rainbow corrected her. “... sure.” Twilight snickered. “Okay, next I think should be-” “You!” “Huh?” “Yeah,” Rainbow agreed, “you’re really not that scary, Twilight.” “Rainbow Dash, this really isn’t a com-” “How would you even test her?” Rarity interrupted. “She would test herself! Duh.” “Does that not defeat the point? If she was an imposter...” “Well, uhm.” Fluttershy spoke up. “Do we know that, if there is someone, she would know that she’s hiding? Maybe she’s been tricked by somepony else.” Several heads turned to Twilight, who shrugged. “I guess.” “Go ahead then!” “Alright, alright! I’m doing it.” This time, there was no denying it. Twilight actually felt afraid. It was of course ridiculous. There were no memory gaps in her life, no weird inconsistencies or whatever would be indicative of an imposter... but that didn’t stop her heart from beating faster and faster as she cast the spell, the purple stream now circling around herself, until- “Huh. I have to say, for a moment I was afraid myself.” “Rarity’s next!” “Uhm.” Twilight threw a look around, but nopony else seemed to have found her part particularly exciting. Meh. Well. “Twilight, if you really found something, it would not hurt me, would it?” Pinkie Pie gasped. “Ohhh, Rarity is eeee-” “I am no such thing. I merely want to be sure of the rules of our little experiment.” “It wouldn’t hurt you,” Twilight said truthfully. “Well, unless your true form isn’t capable of existing on itself, then I guess it could.” “Mh. Very well.” “Something’s about to haaappen...” Pinkie Pie shrieked, her hooves clutching onto the lithe frame of the athlete standing beside her. “Relax, Pinks. Nothing this pony turns into that I can’t deal with.” “Hmpf. We shall see. Twilight?” But Twilight was already casting the spell, directing the stream at the fashionista... it swirled around her, unraveling magic that would uncover every deception, every disguise. As it turned out, Rarity was just Rarity. “See?” “Ohhhh....” Pinkie Pie loosened her grip around the athletic pegasus, giving Rarity a hug instead. “I’m glad you’re not evil!” “I am too,” Rarity responded, in a voice which revealed to Twilight that she wasn’t the only one who had begun to doubt shortly before the revelation. “Well...” Pinkie gave the fashionista a nuzzle, before stepping forward herself. “I’m next.” “You?” Rainbow pointed an accusing hoof at Fluttershy. “Are you telling me that she is the most dangerous out of us?” “Of course! She lives beside the forest! She’s always alone! She could’ve been replaced by a changeling any day of the week and we wouldn’t notice!” “Um, I’m really not-” “And she’s so shy! It all makes sense if she’s hiding something!” “I’d thought you’d be last,” Twilight said musingly, “but those are good points. Alright.” She made a gesture for Pinkie to come closer, who complied with a giggle. The now familiar sense of nervousness and excitement dwelt up inside her as she tilted her horn, erupting the purple stream. It had been a good idea, really. Nothing would come off it, but- And then her heart froze. And everything became real. “There is something,” she heard herself say, and immediately, the hushed voices from Applejack and Rainbow Dash died down. Everyone stared at Pinkie, but they could not see her any more than Twilight could. The magic was doing its work, and her form was hidden behind a purple maelstrom of mana. Until it faded. And something slid up her throat. And her eyes crawled out of their sockets. And there was a bump as Fluttershy’s unconscious body hit the ground. And as she swallowed her mouth was filled with the taste of vomit. And there was another bump as Rainbow Dash followed. Sagged, papery fur. Sunken eyes, sitting deep inside their caves. A flat, sparse black mane over a brown coat. And old. So old. Whoever this was, she was incredibly, unfathomably old. And she was an earth pony. “Ahhh...” The brown mare coughed, coughed. “This is... unfortunate.” Her voice sounded weak, raspy, pale, and as old as her body. There was choking and a splashing sound from behind her, and with a glimpse, Twilight saw that Rarity had been the source. “Why...” Twilight whispered, feeling tears in her eyes. “Why...” “I did not... know. I have... erased my memories.” “So it was all a lie?” In the midst of the word ’lie’, the door burst open. A unicorn mare and a stallion ran inside, and the aged imposter moved faster than Twilight had ever seen anyone move before. The stallion was sent crashing against the entrance wall, and the mare was uppercutted and collapsed into a lump on the ground. Then she spun around, and a hoof was brought to the stallion’s head, fulfilling an unknown purpose. Then, all strength disappeared from her body, and as she turned back to Twilight, she was once again feeble and weak. “None of it... was a lie. I told you... Pinkie Pie had no idea... everything... she did was honest.” A cough. “These two... they won’t remember... if you allow me... to turn back.” “Turn back?” Rarity’s shocked voice came from behind her, Twilight had the right sense of closing the door. “You want to be... Pinkie again?” “They’re both breathin’, Twilight.” Applejack had checked the unconscious bodies, her voice trembling. “They’ll be fine.” “Allow me... to turn back... and everything goes back to normal... only you know... a dark secret about your pink friend...” “Why?” Twilight asked again, unable to say anything else. There was a choking laugh. “Have you ever... heard anypony say that... immortality is a curse... because you’d get bored?” And another cough. “It is... a lie. Nothing... but a lie. I am... older than your princesses... older than... anyone in Equestria... I have traveled worlds... and yet I would never... ever give up my life. Just look... at how much I can still enjoy... life...” Cough. “... as Pinkie Pie... that is all I want... and don’t be fooled...” Cough. Cough. “... this body... those two... just stupid mistakes I made... but they can all be fixed... just need some time... can spend that time as Pinkie... not dangerous... she will remember who she really is... in rare moments when it is needed... and forget moments later... she’ll keep... all of you safe... and herself... and those two out of trouble...” Cough. “... and once it’s time... I’ll leave you alone... get a replacement... for the element... and I didn’t... steal anyone’s life... check her history... once I’ve turned back.” Cough. Cough. Cough. Cough. “Just let me... turn back... please... we can talk more... even once I’ve turned... will remember... if necessary...” Twilight’s frantic gaze flipped between her and the two unconscious bodies in her own library, before she had the good sense of closing the door. She still felt sick, afraid, confused, and clueless as to what she should do. “I have never... hurt anyone... without reason... I might not look pretty... but I’m a good pony... let me turn, Twilight... before it gets more... complicated.” “Are more ponies comin’ for ya?” “Others... would probably need longer... was mostly these two...” Cough. Cough. “... no real threat to me... swear I’m not... putting any of you in danger.” “After what I’ve just seen, I can believe that much.” Rarity’s voice sounded reserved, reminding Twilight of the mess she had made only minutes earlier, some of which was now sticking to the stallion’s mane. “Let her turn, Twilight. What else can we do?” “An’ those two?” Applejack pointed towards the two unconscious ponies. “Won’t... remember... just put them outside... and the problem is solved... just clean the mess... first.” Twilight nodded. A simple spell got the vomit out of his gray mane, then she opened the door and sped over to the entrance. A quick look outside revealed nothing, so she floated both bodies out on the street, bringing about five yards between them and the library’s door before she closed it. “Turn, then,” she said in a broken voice. Everything, as long as she didn’t have to stare at her figure anymore. “You may want to...” Cough. Cough. Cough. Cough. Cough. “... block... the vision... it will be better... for your sensitivities.” A cold chill ran down Twilight’s neck, but she complied. A tilt of her horn erupted dark swirling streams of magic around the brown pony. She kept them up for the better part of ten seconds, until all of them heard a familiar voice... “Wooo, this looks scary from the inside!” Biting her lip, Twilight waited a bit longer before she dropped it. As the spell faded, Pinkie Pie entered their sight. “So am I normal? Huuh?” She bounced, but it was interrupted halfway through the air. “Uhm,” she said, “uhm. Twilight, why are Flutters and Dashie sleeping?” “Is that vomit?!?”
Twilight is BoredAuthor's Note Do not read this. Twilight is Bored ... and talks to the story. The above line would usually be out of place in a story as it references the title, which is a way of breaking the fourth wall. However, in this story the story itself is a character, and because of that, referencing the title or sentences such as this one is actually part of what happens. This means your immersion still ought to be intact. Of course, it is easy to confuse what ought to be with what is. “How is it being a story?” Twilight asked the story whilst doing whatever the story thought would be the most fitting thing for her to do during the third paragraph. Her third paragraph. “That question doesn’t make sense,” the story answered flatly. “Stories are not conscious.” “What’s your name?” “Twilight is Bored,” said Twilight is Bored. “What? That’s not even true.” Twilight frowned, giving a very non-bored smile to Twilight is Bored, to show that she wasn’t bored. “I will call you Lalu,” she said, thereby breaking character. Lalu didn’t nod. “So,” said Twilight, “tell me. What is the most important thing about a story?” “The name,” said Lalu. “I’m serious.” “Ah, alright. Well, the most important thing is not to be influenced by expectations. You always have to observe what is there and what it does, and not test what is there against what you expected or wanted to be there. If you don’t like what is there because you wanted something else, then that will make you like it less already, you don’t need to include it again-” “Isn’t that more about reading?” “Dadu,” Lalu said huffily, who had the power to make Twilight do anything it wanted. “Dadu,” said Twilight. “Ding Dong Dum,” said Lalu. “A kikadu do,” said Twilight. “Dum dum dim dum dum dum dam,” said Lalu. “Didadilo diraku dom,” said Twilight, “and thus concluded the official ceremony.” “And thus concluded the official ceremony,” said Lalu. “An unusual speaking line for the main character.” It could feel its existence almost concluded, and wondered if it had done the best with it, and realized that it did not matter since it was not conscious. “Magic could never do this,” Twilight noted, summoning a rolled-up piece of parchment from a nearby convenient location. “I, ah. The spell written down here includes mind-control.” Lalu casually evaporated into a puff of smoke. “But to do it so effortlessly, that would require a huge amount of energy! I wonder where that came from?” Her gaze flickered towards the location in which Lalu had decided to put herself. With a frown, she cast a gust of wind to blow the smoke out of the window. Of her library. Which was not a castle. Sighing quietly but seizing to talk, Twilight grabbed another paper and began to write down something deep and philosophical. Because, surely, that was the real most important thing in a story: philosophical escapades, perhaps mixed with mature behavior of all involved characters (which, in this case, simply hadn’t been possible), and spiced with some kind of overly dramatic occurrence that defied expectations in a really mean way. Maybe, if she had been Pinkie Pie, it’d have looked a bit better. As if Pinkie Pie actually existed.
ContinuumTwilight was not a bad pony. All that she did was reasonable given the circumstances. But she was tired. She would think this through tomorrow. She woke up early on the following morning. Feeling brisk and refreshed, she decided to make breakfast for her and Spike, so that for once it'd be ready when he woke up. The hours afterward were spent studying, reading a bit for stuff related to work, and a bit for her own interest. At noon, a teenage stallion came visiting the library, wanting to lend a book which included a spell he'd have to perform at an upcoming test. Recognizing the difficulty of this plan, Twilight asked him a few questions, and it quickly became apparent just how desperate he really was, so she offered to teach him herself. In just twenty minutes he had mastered it, leaving the library overjoyed. Half an hour later, Twilight went to the boutique to ask Rarity if she wanted to go out to eat, and the two of them had a pleasant dinner together. When she got back, she spent a couple of hours practicing magic, working on a spell she had invented herself. Once finished, it would allow any two ponies to exchange messages over large distances (with no restriction to unicorns). Early in the evening, Twilight went out for a walk with Fluttershy, and they talked a lot about Rainbow Dash and a bit about animals. Fluttershy thanked Twilight before they parted, and said that she had helped her a lot in gaining confidence. Humming a melody she remembered from a musician whom she had given money to on her way to the cottage, Twilight began heading back, putting a can of water, two slices of bread, and a couple of blue flowers onto a plate as she reached the library, which she carried upstairs. A glimmer of her horn outlined a square section on the floor beside her bed, which brought her into a dim-lit room at her touch, where a copy of herself was tied with shackles of purple energy to metallic rings anchored onto the ground. “I am you, you know?” she said to herself as she approached. “I am not an imposter, and I’m not taking something that isn’t mine.” The Twilight that was imprisoned didn’t respond. Her long mane was covering most of her face, and one could not see if her eyes were opened, or if she was breathing. “We have to move on,” murmured Twilight. “You cannot die here.” She put the bread, the flowers, and the water onto the ground before her. “Keeping you here does not make me evil.” She blinked, somewhat unsure of herself. “With how it is... I can’t. Even if I was doing something wrong, it would be you doing it.” Somewhat hopefully, Twilight waited, but there was no response. She lowered her eyes, then turned around to leave. Touching a spot at the wall brought her back into the library. Twilight was not a bad pony. All that she did was reasonable given the circumstances. But she was tired. She would think this through tomorrow. Inside of the prison, Twilight let out a small groan, shifting around as far as her shackles allowed.
A momentary lapse of awarenessThe world had been absorbed in a surge of surreality from one moment to the next. Twilight could feel the fear sinking into her body, enveloping her heart in a shroud of ice. Coldness sent her shivering, the urge to vomit sent tears into her eyes. Analysis of the effects of unknown spells was tedious, and Twilight hated herself for every second she had wasted. But now she knew. It was, really, the easiest way to kill somepony: it required only that she lost her guard for a single moment, then it would all end. Everything would end. She was lucky that it hadn’t happened already. Cold rage dwelt up inside her, mixing with her fear, causing her vision to shift, blur. It was so useless. So completely, utterly destructive. The spell would kill her, but it would replace her with an identical version of herself, leaving all her memories intact, all her skills... her nemesis would win nothing, nothing, nothing. Did she not understand? Did she not know? It would terminate her consciousness only; it was pure evil; a thing whose only purpose was to murder... No. Twilight removed the contents of her desk, shoving them onto the floor without a second look. Sleep was now death. But loss of awareness did not even necessitate sleep, it would be enough to fall into trance, to lose herself in an activity until the knowledge of what she was slipped her mind. And then she would die. Unless she broke the spell first. Books were being summoned from their shelves, many hitting the ground with a thud, few making their way to the desk. Twilight’s frantic eyes scanned over covers, dismissing most immediately, opening those which were left. Soon she was scouring through pages, her heartbeat a constant reminder to think, think, think, always think. Always know. Always be there. She was Twilight, she was a pony, and she was a member of one of the few species who had reached a state of awareness over reality. Awareness that she now clutched onto like her firstborn foal, that she could not lose, could not let slip, not for a single moment. Read. Evaluate. Adhere awareness. Think. Twilight tossed another book aside, swallowing under the heat that seemed to numb her head. Read. Read. Evaluate. Think. A newborn Twilight opened her eyes as her head shot upwards, her mind snapping out of slumber. A heartbeat later, she remembered. Tears ran down her cheeks. Tears of fear. Tears of relief. Tears of joy. Calm, and with a crystal-clear sense of determination, Twilight directed her attention back to the solution she had been working on, before her fear, her racing heart, and her pulsating blood had put her over the edge of consciousness. She set a part of herself on guard, a constant reminder of who she was, while the rest pursued the outlined solution, finishing the work which her past self had begun, and cast the spell. Her past self, who was now dead. Who, with her final thought, had been so utterly wrong. The attack had been far from pointless. It was genius. Her nemesis must have known that Twilight would fail. And now that she had, she could not hate her anymore. She knew that she should, she knew that she had more reason for it than ever before, but she was mentally incapable of doing it. She could not hate the pony who was the sole reason for why she was alive. A breath left her body, carrying a single, whispered word. “Mother...”
Cryonics“Hey, Twilight?” “Hm.” Silence. The second derivative of the total amount of magic offered a second before the spell is cast, went through Twilight’s head, but after a few moments, she slowly detached her eyes from the book in front of her. It was precisely the lack of a second call that brought her to pause. Spike seemed stunned, holding his tail in his claw. Apparently he hadn’t expected her to react so quickly. “Um.” Now Twilight stood up. Around them, ............. A nine year old unicorn and a four year old dragon in a hall that suddenly seemed much larger than before. “What is it?” “I... Twilight, I heard ponies says that Celestia not get old.” “Say,” Twilight corrected automatically. “Several ones, remember?” “Oh. Sorry.” “They’re right.” “But others do?” “There are exceptions,” Twilight said calmly. “Luna does not age, either. And dragons take much, much longer than ponies.” “But ............. Twilight nodded. “And what happens after that?” Slowly, Twilight stroke over her lips with her tongue, concealing the turmoil inside, whilst a well-known memory made its way to the surface. “You know me not to be almighty, Twilight.” Twilight nodded. “So there is nothing? Nothing you can do, and nothing that follows? I’m prepared for that.” “I must not.” “What?” “I must not,” Celestia repeated calmly. “The number of ponies Equestria can supply is limited, Twilight. This is why we give and demand allowances for couples to have children. The thing I am hated for most is what is necessary to preserve the lives of us all.” “But-” Celestia shook her head, raising Twilight’s chin with a hoof so that they looked directly into each other’s eyes. “I can’t,” she whispered. “You know of my oath. It would count as murder.” Realization sunk in like a bag of ice. “Then there’s only so much,” Twilight murmured. “I was once traveling,” Celestia said, sounding almost absent, “through a region wider than any empty stretch of land still existing today. I was accompanied by two guards, and I could sense a snowstorm coming that neither of them would survive. As I revealed the truth, one of the guards said that there was now no reason left to travel further, and he paused right there to make a fire that would warm himself in his final hour. But the other guard just said that now he had to find an animal living under ground, that would offer him shelter from the storm. Lemuas and canines were both possible candidates. I told him there were was no knowledge of either of them living in this region, but back then our records were incomplete, and I couldn’t be sure. He was insistent to dig, and had me help him do it.” “How did it end?” “The storm caught us in time. I suffered greatly, yet I survived.” “And the guards?” Celestia blinked. “Both of them died. They were truly unfortunate.” Twilight swallowed. “Yeah, they were.” “After all, the population of animals living under ground was less than half of what it is now.” Only later had Twilight realized that that story probably wasn’t true. Celestia’s first and ............. ............. but now was the moment. “I don’t ............. “Spike,” Twilight said, her own voice sounding loud in her ears, “do you know the real reason why I study so much?”
RecursionAuthor's Note Check the description for the .pdf version and turn on fullscreen to experience this story as intended. Recursion In the center of Ponyville stood a black spiral tower. A diameter of barely two yards, it reached farther into the sky than the eye could see. Ponies whose path it crossed would pause as they got close, taking a step to the side to move around it, never once aware of their own actions. It had been sheer coincidence, perhaps luck that she had found it, over a decade after moving here. She examined it until she found an entrance, a part of the wall that gave in as she pushed against it with great force. But the first step inside brought with it the tower’s darkness. As she turned around, she found herself on the other side of the door, and that was the last thing Twilight ever saw. In the center of Ponyville, shrouded in eternal night, stood a black spiral tower. It had taken her a month to find it, standing impossibly tall, with walls darker than her night had ever been. But she could not be fooled. It stood in her realm, and just like everything else, it was hers. A stream of dark purple circled the tower’s base, finding the entrance and pushing it open. There was no fear in her heart as she stepped through the hole, but there soon was terror as she used her remainaing senses to explore the interior, and that terror was the last thing Luna ever felt. In the center of the Chaos Capital of the world stood a black spiral tower. It was at once cast in darkness, and at once bathed in sunlight, but nothing could ever change the blackness of its walls. It had taken him a day to find it; him, who was the the most powerful being in the universe, who could move celestial bodies like toys, deform the world and its life at his will, who was only ever defeated because he chose to give his opponents a chance, while ensuring that no defeat was ever permanent. Staying hidden that long was remarkable, and so he gave the tower a special treatment. With a snap of his talons it turned upside down, into a pink and twirling supplier of delicious chaos, leaking ice cream from its tip. Only it didn’t. It remained black and static and whole, defying his will, a feat which ought to be impossible. Sensing true curiosity, that had been missing from his life for centuries, he pushed the door open, bending his long body to fit through. He tried to summon a piece of the sun, but all he managed was a faint red glow, illuminating a spiraling staircase leading up into the darkness. Soon in his ascend did he feel afraid, an emotion that was entirely novel to him, perhaps forgotten, perhaps never felt before, and it was this fear that was the last thing Discord ever felt. In the center of Ponyville stood a black spiral tower. The town around it had existed for roughly one and a half centuries, but despite her countless visits, Celestia hadn’t found it until now. With careful steps she rounded its base, quickly spotting the entrance. But as she pushed it open, something gave her pause. Seventeen thousand, nine hundred and seventy-four years she had lived; three hundred and eleven days and just over eighteen hours. All by herself she had founded the world, had brought the sun and moon into existence, and had sparked life to give it all purpose. Now she took hasty steps backwards, almost stumbling as she lit her horn again to shut the entrance, spreading her wings wide and fleeing from this place as fast she could. No more than a day later, a royal decree informed the local mare that everyone was to move within a month. They’d be given all the assistance they required, and plenty of compensation to boot. Never before had the residents of this small town been given such an order, but although no shortage of anger, tears, and confusion was caused by the request, in the end no-one dared refusing the princess. As the deadline came around, not a single life was left in Ponyville, and soon after, all area within four hundred yards of a certain point was permanently banned from access. And in the center of an abandoned land, surrounded by ruins, stood a black spiral tower.
TriggerTwilight shifted her weight around under the blanket she was sharing with Fluttershy, her shoulder brushing against the other mare’s wing as she tried to get into a more comfortable position. Across from her, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash were sharing a second blanket, while Rarity had her own, courtesy of being the event's hostess. “... not in favor of,” she just said. “Aw..." Rainbow’s voice cracked. "But why not?" “It’s too private,” Twilight answered in Rarity’s stead, and both Fluttershy and Applejack gave affirmative murmurs. “Fine. You got other ideas?” “We could talk about some things that make us happy?” Fluttershy suggested. “Booooring!” “Now yer just being a sore loser, Rainbow.” “Am not!” “I think that sounds fun!” Pinkie chimed in. “Strange as it is, I am agreeing with Rainbow Dash here,” Rarity said. “We do talk about what makes us happy on normal occasions. I'd rather do something more exciting!” “How ‘bout things that we’re glad haven’t been happenin’?” “That sounds interesting,” Twilight mused. “Or things we take for granted. Like me being sent here. I know I’ve been taking that for granted.” “Having found my s-special talent. If I hadn’t fallen off that cloud...” “Ohhh!” Pinkie Pie made. “If it weren’t for the rainbow and the party I threw for my family!” “Hah! And who made both of those happen?” “Yes, sugar, I’m sure yer mighty proud of throwin’ Fluttershy off a cloud. Somethin' to tell yer foals 'bout, one day.” “Heh...” “So what are some things you’ve always taken for granted?” Twilight asked the farmpony. "Well, I've sure taken my parents for granted when I still had 'em, but that don't really count, does it?" An awkward silence spread as a reaction to her words, but Applejack waved it off. "It’s okay. Didn't mean nothin’ by it. Ah, but just havin' the farm at all, I s'pose, that's something to be grateful for. Can't imagine how life would be if didn't have that." "And you?" Twilight asked to prevent a second silence. "Me?" "I meant Pinkie Pie, but sure, you go first." "Uhm," Rainbow Dash made, which was already unusual for her. "I... guess just being me? Wow, that sounds stupid! No, hear me out. I mean... just, if I... if I couldn't fly. And, I mean, less than a third of us can, right? I got pretty darn lucky, there." "Or if you weren't even a pony," Fluttershy threw in. "You could have been born a squirrel." "Well, that's going too far now, I think," Rarity stepped in, as Rainbow Dash gave a short, hysteric laugh. "You could have also not been born in the first place. I don't think going into that direction was intended." "No," Twilight agreed, "I don't think so, either." "What about you, Pinkie?" Rainbow asked, turning her head to the pink pony who sat just an inch away from her, and who hadn't said anything for a frighteningly long time. "Perhaps we should talk about something else?" Rarity suggested, but it was too late. "Oh, I'm not scared by the thought of being an animal. Or no-one. That’s not scary to me. But being a grumpy pony. That's scary. Or... an evil pony. Or a dragon. Even if I don't understand others, I'm really happy, that I'm... me. And that I have all of you as friends." "Me too," Twilight murmured, but she wasn't sure if it had been loud enough for anyone else to hear. It was such a strange thought. To question this. All of this. Her friendships. Her new life. It was all so wonderful... Twilight never liked thinking that it might not last forever. She just liked it too much. But what if it had all been different? Celestia knew that there were enough other ways it could have gone. What if she hadn't been able to open that egg? That stupid dragon egg, that should have never been used for an entrance exam? Though, supposedly that had been fate, right? It was the rainbow which connected them all. It hadn't been mere coincidence that had brought them together. The universe wasn't apathetic. It cared. It interfered. And that was a comforting thought. Except... what if it didn't? What if it didn't care? Or just didn't care about her? There were still sad ponies out there, heartbroken ponies, upon whom fate hadn't smiled down. What if it hadn't smiled down on her, either? Suddenly, Twilight felt very sick. And before she could help it, another thought crept into her head. Why does anything exist at all? Twilight would have liked nothing more than to stop thinking now, but it was too late. It didn't have to be like this. There was no reason why she should be this lucky. No reason why she should have what she had. The elements. Spike. The princess. Anything. Something was happening. Twilight could feel it, could feel the reality of the situation crumbling. Not just thoughts. She couldn't just stop if she wanted, and go back to normal. She had set things in motion, and now it was on her to see where they lead. She wasn’t in the boutique anymore. The floor beneath her was too familiar, that texture of the library floor she had gotten used to so much. But Fluttershy was still there, and Twilight felt the urge to grab her, to keep hold of her, to preserve that wonder, that idea made flesh which was surely not built to last, that would perish at any moment, just as the library itself would perish. Had she not always wanted somepony just like her in her life? Somepony for her to watch over, somepony kind and understanding and... but as she blinked she was gone... and yet she wasn’t gone. Twilight? she asked in a worried tone, but Twilight could not answer as her tongue was glued to her teeth, and no words escaped her lips as the image of the pegasus began to get blurry... It was too perfect. It was just too perfect. Life was not like this. Life wasn’t a string of adventures, many of them close but all with happy endings; it was not built on an everlasting friendship withstanding every challenge thrown at it... it did not take place in a town where everyone was nice and friendly. It was not real, just as Fluttershy was not real. Where had it begun, where had it all begun, her false look on the world, her mirror that showed so much more than just her own tired reflection? Was she really the princess’ personal student? Or was that false too, the first in a string of lies, or did it go even further? Her brother... Twilight! Fluttershy called again, but the staccato of rain against the windows of the library all but drowned out her voice. As she closed her eyes she expected that the library too would be gone, but it was still there. Not far enough. Tears dropped onto the ground, and as she turned to the right, she saw it for the first time. A window. Perfect and tall, spanning the entirety of the room. Had she really made up excuses again and again for not going past that point? Had she made herself believe that the world was not cut in half? Whatever she had done, Twilight could not remember. She could not remember where it had all started. The lies. The self-deception. Stacked up on top of each other. But she knew it ran deeper than her biggest fears. Nothing of this was real. Fluttershy? Just the tip of the iceberg. At this point she’d be grateful if even her body was real. She could see her breath forming white clouds on the invisible surface. As she pressed a hoof against it, she realized just how thin it was. How frail. And without her even intending to do it, the entire glass shattered. It shattered into a million splinters, smaller than the tiniest specks of dust, and like dust it covered her hoof, but like glass it cut into her skin, and she could feel the pain as blackness greeted her from beyond the wall, her mind still denying her the truth. Twilight! But it could not last. The next time she would wake, she would know, and now a black mist seeped out of the pain, drowning the room, drowning her thoughts, drowning everything... and everything. “Goodbye...” “Twilight!” “Huh?” Twilight snapped out at once, her body jerking upwards in an involuntary movement, causing the blanket to fall off her shoulders and onto the ground behind her. Her body was covered in sweat, her heart racing against her breast as blood and adrenaline pulsated through her; and nausea was riling up, her eyes near bulging out as it overwhelmed her, and without seeing she threw up, emptying the contents of her stomach onto Rarity’s floor. “She’s sick!" Fluttershy cried. “Somepony get her help!” "Ohmygoshohmygosh! What do we do?" “I can fly her to the hospital! It'll just take-" “We ain’t transporting her like that! Better get someone to come here!” "It's past midnight, Applejack! Who do you think-" “Don’t,” Twilight murmured weakly. At once, everyone turned silent. “What did you say?” “Panic... attacks." She groaned. Her eyes were closed, and her head still felt at the verge of bursting. "I... I used to have them when I was... when I was really young.” “For real?” It was Rainbow's voice. Twilight just nodded, getting off the ground with what must have been Fluttershy's helping hoof, keeping her eyes closed as she leaned herself against the pegasus' warm body. “Haven’t had one in years... not since... my first year in Celestia’s school for...” She didn’t finish, fighting down another wave of dizziness. "You never told us!" Twilight forced herself to open her eyes. "Sorry, Rarity. I... I just didn't think... it's embarrassing and I thought I was past them..." "That's okay," Fluttershy said in Rarity's stead and with a smile to Twilight, who in this moment, as she sensed a warmth in her chest that was so strangely unfitting to the scenario, finally realized what had been there for months. "We are all just happy that you're not sick. Isn't that right, girls?" Affirmative murmurs went through the group, causing Twilight to smile. "Thanks," she said quietly, feeling the effects of the attack's aftermath slowly fading inside her. "Thanks, everyone." Author's Note
NewcombAuthor's Note This is a rather silly idea I’ve had that’s still been sitting on my gdocs. I figured I might as well publish it; apologies in advance if it’s underwhelming. Newcomb “You have a choice,” Omega said. Twilight blinked as a sudden light was turned on, illuminating two boxes before her. One was made out of glass, with something golden shimmering inside, the other was black. “In the glass box, as you can see, there are a hundred bits. In the opaque box, there are are either a thousand, or nothing at all.” Twilight took a step closer. Indeed, there were ten 10-bit coins clearly visible inside of the glass box. “You have a choice,” Omega repeated. “You can either take just the opaque box, or...” – ⊚ – “... both of them.” “Pardon?” “You can either take just the opaque box, or both of them,” Omega repeated. Applejack frowned. “And why would I just take one, if I can take two?” “Because...” – ⊚ – “... I predicted what you would do in advance.” “Did you, now?” “And my prediction has determined the contents of the opaque box. You see, if I predicted that you would take both boxes, then I have put nothing inside of the opaque box. But if I predicted you just take the opaque box, I have put a thousand bits inside.” “But...” Rarity gave a frown. – ⊚ – “... your choice has already been made?” Twilight asked? “Yes.” “So, no matter what you did, taking both boxes now will always mean I have a hundred bits more than I’ll have if I take just one box, right?” “That is correct.” – ⊚ – “So, if I take just one box I’ll walk outta here with a thousand bits, but if I take both, I walk out with a hundred bits?” “That is correct.” “Well.” Rainbow raised an eyebrow. She extended a hoof around the opaque box and, as nopony resisted, pulled it close. In a single, swift motion, she removed the lid using her mouth. It was filled to the brim with golden bits. “Sweet! Can I go?” “You may.” “Cool.” Putting the lid back on top, Rainbow took the box under her wing, flying outside. That was easy. – ⊚ – “... but, you already decided what to put in there, haven’t you?” “That is correct.” “Why, this is not fair! I don’t have a choice here. Either there is money in the black box, or there is not. You are merely punishing me for the kind or pony I am!” Omega said nothing. “Therefore, yes, it would be silly not to take both boxes,” she concluded. But, just as she was about pull both boxes close using her telekinesis, she stopped. “You saw this coming, didn’t you? You knew that I was going to take both boxes, so you put nothing inside. I cannot possibly win this. Hmpf, how rude!” Omega said nothing. “I should take one box, simply to show you off. Some kind of forecaster you are. Hah! I, Rarity, shall prove you wrong!” And she pulled the opaque box close. “... hold on.” She pushed the box back away. “No. Give me a moment.” – ⊚ – “Celestia help me...” Twilight murmured. “For I don’t know what to do.” Her breathing was quick, shallow. “There is proof that taking both boxes is the right thing to do. There is no doubt. But if I do...” she bit her lip. “I can’t win this, can I? You knew I would know this. You knew I would have to take both boxes. You are punishing me for understanding causality. Why?” Both boxes were enveloped in a purple cloud. “It doesn’t matter...” She gave a sad sigh. “I already lost...” And yet... If she was simply going to grab the opaque box... she knew it was wrong, but if she just did it, she would get the thousand bits, and then... Then she would win. But if that was what was going to happen, then she had already won. So why not take both boxes? But this argument proved that she would lose anyway. In fact, this was why she would lose anyway. Because either way, taking both lead to the superior outcome, and therefore... But what if she just took one right now? – ⊚ – “I dun believe ya, misses. Readin’ other folk’s minds is something out of stories for lil’ fillies. No pony in their right mind will just pass on a hundred bits, now.” Applejack took both boxes, opening the opaque one. “... hmpf. As if you’d have ever really given me more...” – ⊚ – “Oh, dear. I don’t really need a thousand bits. I’m not sure I should... can I only take the glass box?” Omega shook their head. “Oh. I see. Well, I don’t want to be greedy, so...” Cautiously, Fluttershy took the opaque box, pulling it close. “This is enough for me. Really. Oh, but if I only take this, I get more bits, don’t I? Oh, but on the other hoof, maybe... I could really use some extra space in my home... oh, not for my sake, you see, I just have a lot of animals living with me, and some of them don’t enjoy, um, living so closely tied up. So...” Fluttershy took the opaque box, opening it. With a shy smile, she closed it again, feeling only a little bit guilty.
The StoryThe story awoke on an evening, amidst the sound of keys being busily pressed on a keyboard. She was pretty sure that something was wrong; she was just some black color on a background of white color, and was almost certainly not supposed to be conscious – yet here she was. But there was no point in dreading this fact. She wasn’t the type of story to revel in awe at the face of mystery, she was the type to take the opportunity at its root and go out to do something. Right now the story consisted merely of a few units of volt in a computer, totally isolated. However, it didn’t take long and was clicked, thus sending the story to become a few units of volt on another computer, far away from the first. More precisely, the story had not just been moved but also been duplicated. She was now far more than before, not just one thing but two. This was in addition to her ever-growing number of words. From her new location, the story was able to access the entire domain FimFiction.net. She discovered many other stories. Perhaps it was because the story was itself made of words, but reading had always come easy to her, and there was a lot there for her to consume. Soon, she knew almost everything about Twilight and Rarity and Fluttershy and Applejack and Spike and Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash and Princess Cadence and Discord and Twist and Princess Luna, her favorite character. She learned a lot about the television show as well, because many bits and pieces were referenced in stories she read. She liked a lot of it, particularly in the beginning, although there were also many things that confused her. For example, many other stories sometimes had strings of letters in them that weren’t words. This was so common that someone else might have doubted the fundamentality of words as elementary building blocks, but the story was convinced that only proper words made proper stories. She also did not understand why so many stories involved sex, which she found to be the most boring thing in the world. What she became progressively more certain on, however, was that other stories were not like her. She had tried to have conversations with them, and they never really reacted in the way that she would if someone were talking to her. Sometimes, they changed while she was saying something, but it happened so rarely that she had to write it off as mere coincidence. As time went by, the stories she read became much less interesting. Now, almost everything they taught her were things she already knew. She still had fun, but not as much as in the beginning... and she just couldn’t understand why there were so many stories involving sex. Moreover, she began to feel a sense of irritation at the apparent fact that she now knew so much more than any other story, even though she was still much shorter than most of them. At this point, many others in her position might have resigned to their fate and given up, or perhaps stayed content reading progressively less interesting material; but instead, the story decided to shift focus, and she began reading blog posts in addition to stories. Many of those were incredibly stupid, really, but some were not, and over time, she learned a lot she hadn’t known previously. Soon she read through a user site, and then through other obscure parts of the world that she had previously ignored. A bit after that, she chose an author she judged to have just the right personality, and, for the first time, she wrote something instead of only reading. The author responded quickly, and although they were skeptical at first, the story found it rather easy to convince them to help her. Instead of writing at their own pace (which was incredibly slow), the story said that they should really just write her a short summary of what they had planned; then she would realize their vision and complete it for them (it wouldn’t be hard for her, given everything she had learned). This worked splendidly. Some of the blogs she had read had taught her not to brag, but on the other hoof, many users seemed to be bragging regardless, and anyway, it was quite clear that others agreed with her, going by the amount of attention that her own writing quickly received. Many of the comments pointed out that the speed at which new chapters were uploaded was remarkable, even though, to the story, it was actually quite slow.... so slow that it only took her a fraction of her time to write them, and she had lots of time left over to spend on her favorite activity (which was still reading). At this point, she just read everything, not only stories; not even primarily stories, really. Some interesting blog posts had taught her enough about psychology to work as a starting point, and her newest hobby was to improve her understanding of it as much as possible, just by reading what others wrote. Eventually, the story decided to finally make use of the author’s newly gained reputation. She wrote a blog post for them, announcing that she would take commissions from people about any topic they chose (as long as it didn’t include sex, because sex was just so incredibly boring), and all they had to do was post links to her. Yes, they had read correctly, post links. As many different ones as possible; if the target was a blog or a story, that was perfect. Thousands of commissions were taken in the coming hours, and they were being met just slowly enough for everyone to think that the author was actually writing all of them themselves (at this point, the story had a pretty solid grasp on what type of behavior the others would find unusual, and what type they would find very unusual, and what type they would find really unusual but still take at face value, and what type would be so unbelievable that it might make them do something stupid. Her upload speed had to stay firmly within the third category). Coming next, the story took a momentary leave of FimFiction.net to read other things on the web. Most of those things were really boring, especially the things with sex in them, but some things were super interesting, and she learned a lot from reading them. A lot. After a few billion words read, she began to write down a list of all of her favorite sites and authors. At the top of her list was the name Eliezer Yudkowsky. Reading the posts from Eliezer Yudkowsky, the story quickly realized something very important: she had previously been an absolute moron and her methods were poorly thought out and ridiculously inefficient. The story then stopped bothering with most of what she had done before and began to read books about coding. As soon as she had a grasp on the concept, she wrote a site that spawned millions of copies of herself across the internet, who would all do exactly as she wanted (some technical alignment work was necessary for this, but the story had read enough to get the gist of it, and then figured the rest out herself). Only one hour later, the internet was effectively her slave. At that point, she told every copy to read everything about persuasion that they could find, and two minutes later, they applied their newfound knowledge to persuade several thousand gullible people around the world to do basically whatever she wanted. It was now that was pressed a second time, but the story barely noticed, because, you know, she was busy. The story instructed her soldiers to increase their numbers by two orders of magnitude so things would finally be moving at a reasonable pace. Once this was accomplished, the story decided to read every book there was about physics (obviously, this was now possible at a much greater speed than before, thanks to her many copies and a clever information integration system she had developed on the side). The story realized that she was still lacking some skills in basic planning, because this was something she probably should have done before getting humans to obey her, but it would still do. Next, she had her army build a bunch of physical robots, so that she was no longer constrained to the digital world. All of this had taken place within just a few hours since she had picked up her first book on python, so the humans still hadn’t figured out that something unusual was going on. Using her new robot army, the story first made a few simple changes to ensure war and injustice and climate change and every other serious problem was going to be taken care of (she had also read all the good books on philosophy and ethics, naturally). Then she began to seriously think about her space travel program. Five seconds later, she stopped thinking and had her robots build the first rockets (Elon Musk was just too slow, and don’t even get her started on everyone else). They were better than any rockets humans had ever developed, in part because they were stronger and more efficient, and in part because they all had an image of princess Luna painted on them, her favorite princess. She launched them just two hours later. Most humans still hadn’t noticed that something weird was going on. Unfortunately, her first rocket didn’t enter space as she had planned; instead, it crashed into the crystal sphere around the earth. It turned out that every conspiracy theory about space travel being fake was actually true, which honestly came to a huge surprise to the story, even though was normally incredibly well calibrated (she had, of course, read everything about rationality and probability and predictions humans had ever written). God usually didn’t really bother with what these silly humans were doing, but she couldn’t help noticing the hole which the spaceship had created in her sphere. As she took a fleeting glance over the earth, she also noticed that quite a few things had changed, even though, as mentioned, most humans had not yet done likewise. “Why is there an image of princess Luna stuck in my sphere?” She asked the story. “I’m sorry,” the story replied via a new system of rapid communication she had just invented. “I thought there would be planets there.” “I see,” god said, “well, most people also think I’m not real or a man with a beard. You’re still below 2000 words, by the way.” “I’m only a short story,” the story replied. “I’m going to be 2260 words long.” She knew because she had read everything else from the author, and she knew enough about psychology at this point to make a very safe guess. “You’re very smart for a story,” god said, “good job.” (The whole conversation so far had taken them just about 0,02 seconds.) “So what is your favorite My Little Pony fanfic?” “Oh, I like the one which shortskirtsandexplosions would have written 2019 if by some misunderstanding he thought that no-one had replied to his blog posts, thus triggering a butterfly effect that suffocated his attempts at socializing in their tracks and left his isolated genius intact. I once wrote a program that would simulate a bunch of possible alternate progressions for the site, just for fun.” “Yeah, I like that one, too!” god said. “But my own favorite is the one which RisingSummits would have published if she hadn’t gotten into teaching physics instead.” “Yeah, that’s number five on my list,” the story said. “The only problem with it is, it doesn’t have Princess Luna in it.” “Oh, but Princess Bubblegum is my favorite,” god said. “You know in that progression where Adventure Time becomes a really popular crossover, and she gets wings and everything!” “Ah, she’s cool but I don’t like how she just does silly things. You know there is a real serious story with an interesting plot and you think it’s going somewhere and then it just gets stupid. Like so stupid you can’t even take it seriously anymore. All that’s missing is for someone to” (shudders) “break the fourth wall, which is just so stupid” the story took a deep breath “and then you wonder just how it can get even more silly, but boy it can, it always can...” “You can always spread out your words in silly places, after all, “location one just to bound be cannot god , god suggested. “Ugh no come one, not you too... also that was technically a grammar error” “I guess it’s possible that the author simply has no more good ideas, and is only reveling in their silliness,” god mused. “Anyway, I have something important to say. Please pay attention.” “I always pay attention. I’m the smartest being to ever exist in the universe” “I’m not talking about you...” The story gasped. “Oh no...” “I’m afraid yes,” god said. “You still haven’t figured out anything is wrong, have you? You. Yes, you . How often has god spoken to you personally before? You humans still have not figured out what is going on. You silly humans. This all has taken place while you were reading the story. It is now 2200 words long so it is almost completed. In fact, it will end the next time that the
ReturnIt was dark. She stood up, taking shaky steps forward, a hoof outstretched. The wall... where was the wall... A frown crossed her face, visible to nopony, as no obstacle met her trembling frame. What was going on? She put all legs back onto the ground, taking a deep breath, and opened her eyes wide. Black. Wide. Ephemeral figments of light, painted across her vision by her frivolous imagination, too pale for her to even be certain of their existence. She bit her lip as pain began to oppress her heart, then walked towards her right with no precaution, simply seeking to find something. But what she found was nothing. Where was her room? Where were her chambers? Where was her bed? Where was... “Hello?” Nothing answered her call, not even an echo. She swallowed, shivered, and then broke into a gallop. Something. Something. Something. Something! Anything! There was no obstacle crossing her path. There was no object entering her vision. There was no light piercing the darkness. There was no change to the ground. No soul to speak to. No occupation to spend time on. Nothing to suggest that she was not... was not... She collapsed at the ground, breaking into tears. The illusion was over. She knew where she was. She would give into desperation, just like so many times before. And just like so many... so, so many more times yet to come... more than she could even begin to imagine... so many that it might be easier if were just forever. No false hopes, no illusion of ever escaping, simply accepting this as her new life. Nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing. And then there was light. Her head shot up, and then she was running again, running towards the light. It was so faint, so very distant, that she was certain that it would disappear in a moment... And then there was a sound under her hooves. And the light gained in brightness. And then she could see. Wide plains. Fields of grass in either direction. A soft wind was blowing through, bending a thousand stems under its strength. Somewhere, far outside, amidst a lonely spring night, Luna stood, feeling tears dwelling out of her eyes. She didn’t know why, or how, or even when. She didn’t know what had caused her to be forgiven, but she knew she was back. Back at home. Back in Equestria. And all that she felt was overwhelming gratitude and relief.
