Chapters Observations and Preservations
Five years. That's how much time has passed since Twilight Sparkle had uncovered the secrets contained within Starswirl the Bearded's journal. Each piece of the code now solved, Twilight had felt the need to train herself under the tutelage of Princess Luna, before she could attempt to perform the spell that the code had hidden. It was a scrying spell of sorts, but unlike most spells of that type, it contained elements and geometries the likes of which Twilight had never before encountered, and she considered herself an expert. This particular spell was also linked inexplicably to Starswirl's final experiment.
Starswirl was last seen throwing himself into a gateway of his own creation but of which he had lost control. That final, desperate act to keep the rift from expanding and taking the whole world with it, had been witnessed by none other than Twilight herself. In the aftermath, Starswirl's sacrifice had managed to produce a single, immensely-powerful crystal, which had been locked away in some unknown location in order to keep it out anypony's hooves. If she was to perform her newly discovered scrying spell, however, Twilight needed that very artifact. In fact, it was the only ingredient which she now lacked.
Twilight suspected that it would be buried deep underground within some magically sealed vault, along with other powerful artifacts. It's even possible that Discord's Statue was held in one such location at one point in time. Twilight knew that Princess Luna would know the artifact's exact location and that was part of the reason she had decided to make the Alicorn of the Night one of her mentors, and after knowing the princess as closely as she did now, Twilight was finally ready to put her plan into action.
The plan started with a simple but dangerous magic of Twilight's own design. The main goal in creating the spell was for it to be deemed too dangerous to be published publicly, but still viewed as possibly useful in the future, ensuring that it would be stored in very same vault as her target. Using some modifications, most no different than some of the same tricks that Starswirl had used in order reawaken himself from his hibernation, Twilight had enchanted the parchment, on which the spell was written, with a tracking glyph. The glyph would pass through any magical barriers unnoticed because it was designed to only respond to the energy contained within Starswirl's Stone, which is what the artifact she sought was now called. Once the stone was found, a matching glyph would alert Twilight to its location.
A location that Twilight was currently standing in front of at this very moment.
According to the guardsponies stationed outside the entrance, the hidden vault was one of the very few places left within Equestria that Twilight was not allowed entrance. They told her that they were under direct orders to ensure that nopony, save the Princesses Luna and Celestia, should be allowed to enter. Those guards now lay on the ground, unconscious and hopefully with no memory of Twilight's presence.
"I'm sorry I had to do that, but I've come too far to turn back now," she said, apologizing to the guards as she finished the spell. They never stood a chance.
She approached the carefully hidden magical barriers next. While she had no idea what kind of spells were going to be used, the barriers would also prove to be no match for Twilight. Only the first barrier was supposed to keep others out, anyway, the rest were designed to keep powerful things in . Before long, she had reached the main storage room.
All around her, covering almost every available inch of space, were numerous, unmarked wooden boxes. Some of the boxes were as large as a house, while others were small enough to rest upon the many shelving units that had been arranged in rows. Twilight suspected that her quarry lie within one of the smaller boxes.
Everything in the room seemed to emit some sort of arcane energy or another, but the crystal she needed had a unique energy signature, one that she had only experienced once before, back when Starswirl had initiated the experiment leading to his demise. The energy was unlike anything else in the world, and seemed to disobey every single law of energy conservation that supported the basics of magic use. Twilight often wondered if Starswirl had any explanations to that particular effect. What little of his research she was actually allowed to look at, contained nothing regarding his final project. It was partly why she was so adamant about solving this puzzle in the first place.
After she cast a quick search spell, she located the box which contained Starswirl's Stone. As she removed the box from the shelf to get a closer look, Twilight accidentally tripped a sensory spell located underneath the box. There was likely to be one underneath each and every one of the items in the vault, all of them set to trigger the alarm. No doubt, reinforcements would be arriving soon to apprehend her.
Twilight was prepared for such a possibility however, and soon she had the glyph she needed for her escape carved into the stone surface of the floor. Using a trick she had learned from her studies of Starswirl's research, Twilight poured a red substance, called Flux, into the crevices of the glyph. When she activated the associated spell, everything in the immediate area would trade places with the area surrounding an identical glyph she had prepared earlier.
Soon, she was safely outside the vault. As an added precaution, she destroyed the Glyph that she had just made by carving an even deeper gouge into its surface, the Flux draining into the new trough. This would effectively keep anypony from simply recasting the spell in order to follow her. Twilight's knowledge of the artifact's existence would eventually draw suspicion towards her, so she made haste towards her secret laboratory in hopes that she could solve the puzzle once and for all.
A final mystery that Starswirl had somehow managed to leave for her, this enigma had plagued her for almost half a decade. Now with Starswirl's Stone located within it's proper place, Twilight cast the Scrying Spell in accordance with the cryptic instructions left to her, in hopes that answers would soon be forthcoming.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Royal Canterlot Archives:
Since the alarm had been triggered the Royal Sisters had been on high alert. Initially they had believed in the possibility of one of the artifacts had activated itself, and had taken actions against such a threat. After all, who would be capable of breaking into a secret hidden vault that only a handful of ponies, in all of Equestria, even had a suspicion of existing?
When the contingent of soldiers arrived on-site along with Princess Celestia, they feared for the worst upon sighting the guards lying before the entrance. Relief was short-lived upon the discovery that they were only left unconscious. Celestia entered the vault with only a cursory examination of the now-failed barriers. The only evidence that was forthcoming at the moment was the singular crate was not where it should be, and the glyph carved upon the floor. The patch of floor surrounding the glyph no longer matched that of the rest of the vault, indicating that it had been a one-way translocation.
Identifying what exactly had been stolen would take some time, as the inventories were kept in a separate location. That, along with the fact that all of the crates located within the vault were left unmarked in any way, was a method to help prevent such a crime. The only thing that Celestia could do, was attempt to activate the Translocation Glyph that the thief had left. When this too failed, she evacuated the premises and resealed the vault, barriers and all.
She suspected that any thief as adept at covering their tracks as this, wouldn't take any chances at leaving anything for the outside guards to be able to identify them with, but she had them debriefed and replaced immediately. While anypony could theoretically create the Translocation Glyph, only a unicorn of significant skill could thoroughly alter the memories of the guards, or even break through the magical barriers so cleanly.
Later, when Celestia returned to the castle, she had her sister retrieve the inventory list so that they might find out what went missing. To both their surprise, the missing item was something that very few ponies knew existed, and even fewer than that would know what it was capable of. Not a single one of those ponies was supposed to know that the vault existed, however. The list of possible suspects was in the single digits.
Observations and Preservations
Twilight was only half surprised when the spell she had just cast refused to tear a hole in reality. The only thing that the spell did, it seemed, was open up a window to some other location, just like any other scrying spell would. The scenery that Twilight saw through the window consisted of a small, grassy hill next to an even smaller pond. Sitting in the grass near the shore lay a unicorn reading a book. She would almost have mistaken the stallion for her brother were it not for the fact that this stallion had a lavender coat with a dark purple mane. A color scheme that was nearly identical to her own.
He looked up from his reading and looked in her direction, finally noticing that the spell had opened a window on their side as well. "Hey, Gramps! This thing's activated again."
"Coming," came a familiar sounding voice responded from somewhere off in the distance, "and I thought I told you to call me by my name."
Another unicorn appeared within view of the window, a unicorn that Twilight instantly recognized. "Starswirl?" she asked.
"Well at least somepony manages to get that right around here." Starswirl looked accusingly at the other unicorn who had gone back to his reading. "If you know my identity, then that must mean that you are the Twilight Sparkle from my home realm. Just to be certain, I have to ask exactly how you've come to learn who I am?"
"Well the last time you were here, you kidnapped my friend and attempted to tear a hole in the very fabric of the world." Twilight stated flatly. "I take it that your 'multiple world theory' is more or less a provable fact now, isn't it."
"Aha! It is you. I just had to be sure. My original theories have had to undergo some heavy alterations, but other worlds do exist. How is it that you've obtained a way to open up this viewport, if you don't mind my asking?"
"What? The spell was hidden in your journal using a code. Why do you ask?"
"I ask because I knew of no such spell before coming here. It seems that a version of me from a different world was successful in opening up the rift on his first attempt. The journal he left here describes some of the methods he used to communicate with other worlds. What he doesn't mention is exactly which worlds he's left these messages in, or how he managed to build this tiny realm for his own use."
"You mean you're not in one of those alternate worlds?"
"Precisely. The location I'm at now is actually just a tiny island that happens to be floating within the void between worlds. I've been unable to leave this place since my arrival. The others are stuck here as well, but that is unimportant. What is important is you ."
"What about me? Why isn't being stuck on some floating island in the middle of nowhere a cause for concern?"
"I pulled the others here in an attempt to save them. Their worlds are gone, Twilight. The only reason I've been able to save these three is the fact that they all happen to be bearers of a significant magic element, something I believe you hold as well."
"Their worlds are gone? As in destroyed, or something else?"
"Just suffice it to say that there is nothing left. There isn't a trace to suggest that their worlds even existed save for the fact that they, themselves, are here with me. I have limited powers here, but there are still some things I can do. Pulling at least one soul from a world before it is completely destroyed happens to be one of them."
"If the ones you've saved all happen to bearers of the Element of Magic, why doesn't that other unicorn over there look like me? I thought that the other worlds were only supposed to the results of different choices."
"I said that my theories have been revised to an extent, didn't I? Only a relatively few worlds closely resemble our own. Many others don't even have equines as an intelligent species, some don't support life at all. The only thing that matters though, is that you, Twilight Sparkle, may be the only one capable of saving the remaining worlds."
"What makes you say that, why can't you do it with the combined power of the other elements that you already have?"
"I've already said that my powers are limited here. Neither the others, nor myself, have figured out how to leave this place. For better or for worse we are trapped here, and that is where you come in."
"You think I'll be able to break you all out from the outside?"
"No, not really. There is something else out here in the void besides our little island. It appears to be connected to every world I've been able to study, and it may even be the cause of what's happening. This hub is where you need to go."
"How am I supposed to do that if everypony you've pulled out of their world ends up stuck there with you?"
"That depends. Some of the others have mentioned that Luna has a Remote View spell that lets one's mind wander freely. Hopefully you've managed to learn a spell or two in my absence, because I've got a theory about how such a spell can be put to use..."
Observations and Preservations
Twilight burst through the door to the library. "Spike! I need you to help me pack for trip, and I need to leave as soon as possible." She grabbed her saddlebags and set them down on the floor. Items from around the room began to defy gravity as they were enveloped in Twilight's magic and started marching towards the awaiting bag.
Spike let out an unamused sigh, "Help you pack for what? Are we going somewhere?"
"Not we, just me. I don't know how long I'll be gone though, so we should probably prepare for about a month."
"A whole month? What's the rush all of a sudden?" Spike asked, unsure how he could help with Twilight's own magic-assisted packing.
"There's no time to explain!" Twilight exclaimed. Just then, there was a sudden knock on the door, which brought all of the items held within Twilight's magical grasp to a halt. Spike started to move towards the door. "Wait!" she shouted, dropping everything as she rushed past Spike to the door. "I should probably get that. You should just finish up here."
Spike looked around the room at all of the items now haphazardly strewn about. "Figures..."
Twilight opened the door only to see one of the nondescript guardsponies standing before her. "Oh, hello there! Um, if this is about convincing Discord to turn all of the sunflowers in Equestria into little miniature suns, I can assure you that I had nothing to do with it. And if that is all, then I hope you have a lovely day." she added as she quickly attempted to close the door.
The guard pony only grunted as he forced the door back open so that his escort could approach.
"Twilight Sparkle!" Princess Luna announced as she pushed her way past Twilight nodding to the soldier to close the door behind her. "We know very well that you are not responsible for that particular fiasco," She leaned closer to Twilight in order to whisper conspiratorially in her ear, "because that particular joke belongs to me." Rising back up, "That is not why we are here." Luna observed the fact that Spike was moving about the room, picking items off of the floor and placing them in a saddle bag. The Princess's mood quickly turned sour, "But from what I can see, I suspect you know exactly the reason for our presence today."
"Princess, listen I can explain-"
"When I decided to teach you how to explore the mind of another, it was not so that you might use it in such a way! I expected better from you, Twilight Sparkle. Such reckless behavior shall not go unpunished." The Princess of the Night stamped her hoof on the ground for emphasis, slightly cracking the floor as she did so.
"Fine! I'll admit what I did, and I'll accept any punishment you have for me. But first there's something that both you and your sister must know. There's a threat to not just Equestria, but our entire world! Starswirl thinks that-"
"Starswirl the Bearded still lives, does he? Is that why you felt the need to steal from the vault?"
"Well, yes. The stone was part of a ritual that allows for communication with a point outside of our world. When I cast the spell, Starswirl was on the other end. He told me that our world is in danger, every world is in danger."
"Do you believe what Starswirl says to be true?" Luna questioned.
"Yes, I do. When he jumped through the rift, he thought he was sacrificing himself to save us. He has no reason to lie to me now, regardless of what you may think of him."
"It's true that I still wish to see Starswirl punished for his actions that day. I firmly believe that nopony's wrongful actions should go unpunished, including yours, Twilight. If what he told you is true however, then I suppose that we can delay judgment. At least until our sister learns of this."
"You mean she doesn't know that you're here questioning me?"
"When we came here we only held suspicions. You are one of the few ponies who even knew of that gem, after all. Your admittance to your crimes only confirmed our suspicions."
"So then, what happens now?"
"First, we go and tell Celestia everything. I think we've all kept enough secrets from each other, don't you? Even I am unsure what may happen to you afterwards, however..."
Observations and Preservations
Luna's sudden disappearance from the castle was certain to cause a fair amount of distress to her older sister. Even that pain was incomparable to the confusion the Sun Princess felt when her sister returned, only with Twilight in tow and surrounded by several royal guards. Though Celestia could certainly make an educated guess as to what was going on, she decided that she should use a more reserved demeanor as a way to address the situation.
"Luna. Twilight. Would either of you care to explain what exactly is going on here?" Celestia questioned the new arrivals in a manner that carefully concealed her unease. A mask that had taken her centuries to fully master.
Luna dismissed all of the guards from the throne room before addressing her elder. "Sister, we've come to reveal to you the identity of the culprit responsible for the recent theft."
"Actually," Twilight interjected, "If you don't mind Luna, I think I should be the one to tell her."
When Celestia allowed Twilight's request to receive mentoring from her sister, she was genuinely happy for her. Luna has never had many friends. It took quite a while for her to open up, even after she had been released from the Night Mare. Then, after the incident involving Starswirl several years ago, Luna had again began easing out of her shell. She even formed a friendship with Twilight, going so far as to ask her student for some assistance with a few of the more mild-mannered pranks that she had started to grow fond of. Seeing them both act as forced and formal as they were acting here was almost enough to break her heart, and she was afraid that she was not going to like anything about what was about to happen next.
"Very well, Twilight." Luna said, stepping off to the side.
"Well Princess, I think that it would be best if I apologized first. For the past several years, I've been keeping things from you. Some of them I shared with Luna, but there are a great many things that I've kept to myself. I held onto Starswirl's journal when he left. I originally intended to copy down his life story to be published as some sort of history lesson, but all of that changed when a coded message was found hidden away inside the journal's binding. Luna knew of the code and she even showed it to you, which admittingly was something she did against my will. You might remember her asking you about a set of dates that were found among the remains of Starswirl's lab several years ago."
"I do remember my sister asking me if I recalled a series of dates from the early Classical Era, and if I knew of their association to Starswirl. If I remember correctly, I said that he had disappeared many years before any of those dates had occurred."
"I relayed as much back to you, Twilight." Luna chimed in.
"But what you don't know is, that shortly thereafter, I found out that the numbers had nothing to do with time at all. Every set of numbers pointed towards a specific word, hidden within the journal. When everything was transcribed, I was left with was a series of instructions. A spell that required some unique items in order to be able to cast it. One of the items happened to be a powerful artifact that would most likely have been moved to a highly secret and secure location.” Twilight turned to face Luna, “And as much as I now value your mentoring and friendship, Luna, I originally tried to become your student in order to learn the location of such a place."
"How could you try a-" Luna started, visibly distressed by such a revelation.
"SILENCE!" Celestia left no room for argument. She too was dismayed that her former student had attempted to use her sister in such a way. Her anger only held in check by the sight of tears rolling down sides of Twilight's face. "I believe you still have some more to add, Twilight?"
"I've spent the last few years hiding my intentions from the both of you, but I had a goal. It wasn't until only recently, that I managed to learn the location of the vault as well as what security surround it. I even tried to use my credentials to get past the guards. When that failed I put them to sleep and I-I used one of your spells, Luna, to erase their memory of me. Normally I would never even think of resorting to such a thing, but I needed the crystal to perform the spell, and I was finally close to seeing the spell through to completion. You have to believe that I've always regretted not telling anypony about this, and it eats me up inside knowing how I've treated you, Luna, but I still feel it had to be done."
"So that's it then?" Celestia chided. It took all of her willpower to keep the anger out of her voice, something she hasn't had to do in a very long time. "After all of your preparation, all of your betrayal, what brings you to confess these actions now? Surely, after all of your preparation, Luna arriving to question you about the theft wouldn't be enough to cause you to stop your descent down such a dark path. Why the sudden change of heart, Twilight?"
Twilight was openly sobbing now, visibly distraught after realizing what she had just lost. "B-because of what I learned f-from the spell." She wiped her eyes with her forehoof and regained some semblance of composure before continuing. "I didn't know it when I started, the instructions were kind of vague, but the spell formed a link to someplace outside of our world. Using it, I managed to reconnect with Starswirl. He'd managed to survive jumping into the rift! My excitement of such a discovery was short lived. He soon revealed to me that our entire world was in danger of being destroyed, and as much as neither of you are going to like dealing with this, I'm going to need help from both of you if I'm going to try and stop it."
The room filled with a cold silence. Even light from the midday sun seemed to drain from the room.
Celestia pulled her hardened gaze away from her former pupil and looked towards her sister. Luna looked to be completely devastated. Her shock from what Twilight had admitted was probably enough to destroy what little she had gained since her return from banishment. Celestia shook her head, as much for herself as for the unicorn still looking upon her. It wasn't the first time that poor Luna had been betrayed, and Celestia could only look on, unable to do anything about it. Well, almost nothing.
"Twilight, I am very disappointed in your behavior. Has all the time that you've spent around us, around me, truly been wasted? Do you believe us to be truly untrustworthy?"
"Well, no. Not exactly." Twilight replied, trying her best to take up as little space as possible before the beratement of her former mentor.
"Then why , Twilight Sparkle, do you insist on pushing us away?"
"I-I don't know!" Twilight was beginning to break down again. "M-maybe it's because you let Starswirl feel abandoned by you when he probably needed you the most. Maybe it's because, one day, you might just do the same thing to me ! That's what we are to you anyway! Isn't it? Just some tools to be thrown away when we're not as useful anymore!
Celestia got up off of the thrown and approached Twilight Sparkle. "I'm sorry that you've ever had to feel that way, Twilight, but I'm afraid that we are as incapable of understanding your feelings as you about understanding ours." She caressed the unicorn with her wings, "Sometimes I envy your mortality. Never having to witness the countless deaths of those you've considered friends and family. One tries their best to not grow distant, to keep their head about them even though they know that, someday, everything that they've ever loved will pass before them in a blink of an eye. It wounds me that you feel as though you were being used, and I don't know how much you'll believe this now, but we both care deeply about you."
After a few moments Celestia broke the embrace. "But betraying our trust was probably one of the worst things you could have possibly done, Twilight. As much as I would like to set aside time to let you dwell on the thought of what you've done to us while I go and comfort my sister, you mentioned something about a danger to our world?"
Twilight straightened up once more. "Right. Starswirl told me that you would know how to get to something he called the 'Null Tether'..."
Observations and Preservations
Celestia had issued an order that the royal airship would be readied in order to take Twilight to her destination. While the craft was being prepared, Twilight would be staying in the same castle room that used during normal her visits, only this time with guards posted outside at all hours of the day. Twilight wasn’t happy to learn that she was to have an escort whenever she left the room, and while she knew she could have escaped the guards easily, she decided that it would be in everypony's best interest if she chose to abide by Celestia's wishes.
Just as Twilight had started to delve into the details surrounding Starswirl's plan, Luna arose from her prone position and left the room. Since then, Twilight had neither seen nor heard from the Princess of the Night. Not that Twilight could blame her, but the spell that Twilight still needed was not an easy spell to create. It involved portions of Luna's Far Sight spell, and while Twilight knew how to cast it, The princess herself would know how to alter it best.
The lack of input from Luna, or any contact at all for that matter, would mean that Twilight would have to ask Celestia to relay a message to her sister regarding her questions. She hoped that an answer would be forthcoming, but seeing how distraught Luna was after their debrief, Twilight wasn't so sure that she'd be willing to help.
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The royal Airship was set to depart the next day and Twilight still had heard next to nothing from Luna. The spell was pretty much complete, save for testing it. Twilight really didn't want to give such a potentially dangerous spell a cast without somepony, knowledgeable in its mechanics, giving it a good examination. When Twilight learned that Luna, the pony who taught her everything about the branch of spellcasting that she was drudging through, hasn't left her quarters since their meeting in the throne room, she decided it was time for a visit.
The guards were adamant about her not leaving their sight, but she did manage to convince them to maintain a vigilant watch from a position farther down the hallway as she approached Luna's chambers. As she began to knock on the door she was interrupted by a voice from within.
"Go away, Twilight Sparkle." Said Princess Luna, with none of the conviction such an order normally would carry.
Twilight paused for a moment, unsure what to do. She almost turned away before she decided to come back and call to Luna through the wood of the door. "No, I don't think I will. Not until you listen to what I have to say." she listened to the silence coming from the other side before continuing. "Look, I know that you don't want to talk to me right now. The thing is, it's not about you or me anymore. Entire worlds are at stake and I might have a chance to stop it, but to do so, I need your help.”
More silence came from the other side of the closed doorway. Twilight continued, "Look, I've apologized for my actions, and I am sorry for what I've done to you, but if you never want to forgive me for what I've done, I’ll understand. You know that the airship leaves tomorrow, right? A dangerous mission such as this, there's always a chance that something will go wrong. If that's the case then what I want you to do is this; Never blame yourself for the things that myself or any other ponies might have done to you. None of it's your fault Luna, and if anypony's to blame for how you’re feeling right now, it's me."
Twilight turned to leave and finalize her own preparations for departure. She may have been mistaken, but Twilight swore that she heard a faint "Thank you, Twilight." come from somewhere within the room, barely audible over the din of her own hoofsteps on the ornate stone floors of the castle. Twilight realized that her imagination may have played a part in it, but for Luna's sake she hoped that the princess took her words to heart.
Observations and Preservations
Upon the departure of The Transcendence , Twilight was only slightly surprised to find that Princess Celestia was coming on the expedition as well. When Twilight questioned the reasoning behind leaving a still-distraught princess in charge of the kingdom, she was only supplied with the fact that Luna is not the only capable pony in Canterlot, besides they would be hard-pressed to find somepony else who could guide them to the Null Tether's location. The discussion also provided Twilight with a reply from Luna, in the form of a letter, regarding her thoughts on the new spell.
As twilight returned to her quarters, which still held the requirement that she be under constant supervision, she levitated the letter open to read it.
~@~
Twilight,
I too apologize for some of my behavior these last few days, and you are right, I did blame myself for having failed you somehow. I still don't quite forgive your transgressions just yet, the reason for my apology is mainly due to the fact that I also know how it feels to be pulled along by mysterious forces. Your motivation behind your actions was caused by your inability to leave something unsolved. My attraction to the forces of darkness all those years ago was caused by my desire to be recognized for who I am, instead of being referred to as my sister's shadow.
I'm not sure if, or when, you'll be able to earn my trust again, but saving entire worlds will be a good start, I think. I've looked over your spell, and I can only see how far you've come to mastering your abilities. I can't see anything wrong with it. The Null Tether's capabilities are largely unknown. My sister knows more than I, but I am able to inform you of this: The Tether is very, very old. Older than even I am, Twilight, and what may lie on the other side is wholly unknown to me.
If our world truly is in danger, I implore you to not dwell on things past and put forth your best effort to do what's best. It's all I can ask of you now.
Princess of the Night,
Luna
~@~
Twilight magicked the letter away. The writing within seemed distant, yet informative. At least the princess had looked over Twilight’s spell and found no flaws, and to top it off, she no longer had to worry over the princess’s immediate well-being. Twilight figured that she should chalk that up to a small success and try to move on.
Deciding it best to pace herself for the long trip, Twilight figured she could wait to ask Celestia what she knew about the Null Tether, just so long as she did it before their arrival.
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Between the distractions of witnessing some of the oldest ruins from the Old Lands pass below the airship, and the fact that Celestia was assisting with the navigation, Twilight still hadn't asked the princess what she knew about their destination. When they started to fly over some particularly barren landscape, however, Twilight decided it was time to pay Celestia another visit.
She found her former mentor on the observation deck, looking over the passing, featureless landmass below.
"Amazing, isn't it." the princess started, acknowledging Twilight's presence. "Even after all of these centuries the land here is finally starting to return to it's natural state."
Twilight squinted into the distance to try and discern what it was that the princess was talking about, but she could only see that the land beneath her was very much a barren wasteland. "What do you mean, there's nothing here?"
"Over there," the princess indicated, pointing to a small copse of trees, "the trees are starting to form forests again. When the Windigo pushed ponies from this area, they did more than just lower everything to freezing temperatures. You saw some of the ruins earlier, the cold biting winds only left small portions of their foundations untouched. Anypony that stayed was sure to perish. The flora was also affected, but now I can see that things are finally returning to their natural states. It's one of the few things that an immortal gets to look forward to Twilight, to see the natural cycle of things continue on. Now then, is there something on your mind?"
Twilight pulled her gaze from the tiny forest that had held her attention while the princess had been speaking, "Oh, well, Luna said in her note that you might know more about the Null Tether than she did. I was just wondering if you could tell me a bit more about it before we arrived."
"Certainly, Twilight. Luna is correct in the fact that I should know more than she does about it, seeing as I was around it for a longer period of time than she was. There are some other things you must know before I can try to explain exactly what the Tether is, however. My sister and I are immortal, this much is common knowledge, but have you ever wondered where we came from? I'm still not entirely sure of the answer to that question myself, but what I do know is that my first memories consist solely of that place. From what I've managed to gather, the Null Tether is a place of instruction. Guardians of the world such as myself are brought there, and from the Tether we learn of everything we need to know about the world. I had been around the Tether for some time before Luna just appeared before me one day. I've still no idea how she arrived, but I can only assume that her arrival was similar to my own."
"She just appeared out of thin air?" Twilight sarcastically questioned.
"As far as I know, she did. I wasn't exactly looking directly at the spot she appeared in. I only noticed another presence inside the room while I was studying the Tether. When I went to investigate, I found Luna. You should have seen her as a filly, Twilight, she was probably the cutest thing you could imagine. She, of course, had yet to learn to care for herself from the tether, and while those first few moments seemed to be quite an inconvenience, for the first time in my life I was no longer alone. From that day I've considered her my sibling, and while I can no longer say that we've been together ever since, I still consider her to be a member of my family."
Twilight pondered the implications of what the princess had just revealed to her. "Does Luna know about any of this?"
"I'm afraid not. She only knows what the Tether tried to teach her, just as it tried to teach me before her arrival. I've avoided any questions she may have had regarding our origins simply because I have no answers to give."
"Then that brings me to my next question. How does Starswirl know so much about the Tether?"
"An excellent question, Twilight, but I am afraid I have no answer for you. It is something that you will have to ask him yourself."
Observations and Preservations
After finally arriving at their destination, the Transcendence had anchored down near the mouth of an unassuming cave. Within the cavern, the Null Tether lay hidden behind a slew of maze-like tunnels. Only by Celestia's guidance were they able to navigate their way towards the central chamber.
Once they entered the largest room in the complex, Twilight was initially stunned by what she saw. In the middle of the large, circular room stood a massive structure, it was shaped like the tail of a raindrop as it neared the ground. Due to the darkness enveloping the cave's ceiling, however, Twilight couldn't make out whether or not the pillar was attached to the ceiling at it’s apex or not.
"Is that it?" Asked a confused Twilight. Impressive as it appeared, it didn't seem to be the all-knowing source of power that Celestia had described.
"You might not be able to see it Twilight, but I assure you there is an enormous amount of energy flowing through this place. I'm sure you can sense some of it if you concentrate." Celestia replied.
She was right. Twilight wasn't sure how she hadn't noticed it before, but the nearer she was to the Tether the more she could feel a subtle force pushing against her head at the base of her horn. Nothing painful at the moment, but now that she recognized it, the constant pressure was quickly starting to give her the beginnings of a headache.
"Don't worry, you'll get used to it after a while.” the princess said, observing Twilight’s behavior. ”We should probably only begin preparations for your spell and return tomorrow for you to cast it."
"That-that's a good idea," Twilight responded, finally feeling the full effects of being surrounded by such a tremendous amount of energy.
The setup involved carving three Glyphs into the ground arranged around a fourth. Unlike most Glyph spells, which used only the Flux within them for power, this one was designed so that the surrounding Glyphs acted as energy reserves, pooling the magical energy contained within their own Flux so that the spell caster could pull upon it without halting the spell.
This was the only way that Twilight could think of to maintain a protracted casting of the Remote View spell at all, let alone her altered version. The best thing that Twilight hoped would come from her Glyph design was the possibility that her spell could be maintained for as long as a supply of Flux was nearby. Simply topping off a Glyph as it drained of energy was enough to restore it's power, after all. The Flux would be added to the Reservoir Glyphs just before the spell was cast so that nothing would have a chance to mess with the preparations before they were ready.
~@~
The next day aboard the airship, Twilight was glad for the reprieve provided by her distance from the Tether’s magic. While she could still feel the occasional bump as another stray pocket of energy brushed against her, the headache she was experiencing earlier had all but vanished. With any luck, she would be as acclimated to the conditions in the central chamber, just as Celestia suggested, by the time they reached it later.
When they finally reached the chamber, a few members of the crew assisted in filling the Glyphs with Flux as Twilight took her place in the center of the arrangement. Once the workers’ task was completed, Celestia dismissed them before turning to her former student, "Twilight, I want you to be very, very careful. We know next to nothing about what lies beyond the Tether. What we do know is that there are only warnings regarding the interaction with the fabric of our world. It's why I chose to halt Starswirl's research all those years ago. Those warnings left absolutely no room for challenging them, Twilight, and if we could confirm that our world wasn’t in danger, I would stop you now."
"I know." Twilight said as she lay upon the central inscription. Her consciousness was essentially leaving her body, and she didn't want to chance falling over and accidentally disrupting the active spell. Twilight let her magic drift from the tip of her horn, and then to the Glyph directly beneath her. It was designed to pull the magical energy from the surrounding Glyphs without any interaction from Twilight, so that she could concentrate on maintaining the main spell.
With the Glyphs functioning as intended, Twilight moved onto the next portion of the spell. She extended her magic to envelop her body as she began to separate her conscious mind from the rest of her. The sensation wasn’t exactly unpleasant and soon enough she found herself standing just outside of the magical arrangement.
As Twilight looked at her prone form, she had to resist the urge to study her casting technique from an outside perspective. Tearing her studious gaze from herself, she turned to the Tether. Astounded by what she saw, Twilight finally realized what it was like to see through her old mentor's eyes. The Null Tether was indeed an incredible sight to behold. In her ethereal form, she could see every tendril of magic as it moved from the very fabric of the world and wove its way up the central spire.
As she witnessed the magic funneling off into the ceiling, Twilight's perception began to falter. It appeared as though there wasn't a ceiling for the Tether to connect to, but at the same time, her mind forcibly declared that to be untrue. She knew that there was something up there, but she also knew that there was nothing at all that connecting the cave to the top of the Null tether.
"Twilight, I'm not sure if you can still hear me," Celestia started, breaking Twilight out of her daze, "but if you can, know that I will protect you for as long as is possible. Remember to be true to yourself, for beyond this place you may very well be the only one you can rely on."
"Thank you, princess. I will." Twilight thought to herself as her made her form step into the multitude of lights.
Observations and Preservations
The moment Twilight touched the light, she felt herself launch upwards towards the ceiling at an unnerving speed. Had the Tether subscribed to the same laws of the world that she was used to, Twilight knew that she would have hit the ceiling within mere seconds. That moment never came, however, and soon the mare was struggling just to keep her form intact from the constant collisions she suffered from the other energy pulses that surrounded her. The pulses were all seemingly propelled by their own forces towards wherever their destination might be, and while their momentum allowed Twilight to hitch a ride with them, their combined pummeling was almost too much for her to handle.
Not soon enough for Twilight's liking, she soon found herself floating freely in the Void, forced out of the streaming column of energy. Drained of her focus after swimming through the torrent, she barely noticed the dark shape floating behind her as she began to black out. Her only thought as she surrendered to unconsciousness was that she was glad that her spell was still functioning.
When she came to, she found herself laying upon some lush, green grass. Twilight was startled to realize that she could actually feel the grass, this quickly followed her discovery that her form was no longer transparent, and was very much solid. She jumped up in surprise, thinking that her spell had somehow malfunctioned.
"Whoa now, be careful miss Twilight. We wouldn't want you to accidentally fall through the barrier now. I'm still not sure that you would be able to escape if you fell in." Starswirl announced, gesturing towards the nearly invisible bubble that surrounded the little island in its entirety. "It would also be a shame if you fell off. It takes no small amount of effort to redirect this thing, and we would all appreciate it if we didn't have to turn back around just to pick you back up."
Everything on the island was contained within the bubble with the exception of the little peninsula Twilight was now precariously aware of. "What happened? Why am I solid? I thought I was supposed to remain ethereal while casting this spell!?"
"Don't worry, from what I can tell, your spell is still intact. I'm sure you'd be intrigued at just how different some spell casting can be here in the void. Simple spells have unexpected results, if they even work at all. I'm not surprised to learn of some interesting side-effects to your own, vastly more-complicated spell."
"So then what would happen to me if I triggered the recall I set up?"
"I expect it to handle as intended. Your body still remains in our world after all."
"Alright then, now that I'm here what's the next part of this little plan of yours?"
"Well, we've directed this island towards that hub over there. All of the worlds are connected to it, and, as I've mentioned before, I believe that to be the source of the systematic destruction of worlds. I'm afraid you will be stuck right where you are for the duration of the trip though."
"What happens when we get there?"
"That much, I'm afraid, will be entirely up to you. None of the others here can leave this place, so we've never been able to explore the hub."
Twilight looked towards the point that connected to her world, and any others she could see, by a stream of colorful light, which she assumed belonged to their respective tethers. It was quite a sight to behold, even if she couldn't yet focus on their objective just yet. Twilight also realized that, with no real frame of reference, she couldn't really tell how fast they were travelling, or how long this journey would last.
Turning back to Starswirl, "So how long is this supposed to take?" she asked.
"Well as far as I can tell, three days. Time doesn't really pass the same way it does back on our world. I've had to rely on an old hourglass I've found in the house over there."
"Three whole days!? What am I supposed to do over here for three days? I can't even pace properly with so little room!"
"I suppose that the others and myself could assist in alleviating your boredom." suggested Starswirl.
Too stunned trying to think of things she could possibly do to keep herself occupied for three days, Twilight failed to respond to him. She didn't even have anything to read for crying out loud!
"Oh, and speaking of the others, I should probably introduce you to them." Starswirl called out for the island’s inhabitants to come forth and greet their guest. You've met that stallion over there," Starswirl pointed towards the lavender unicorn by the sole tree, "His name is Dusk Shine. The mare coming around the house there is-"
"Trixie!?" Twilight shouted, stunned. "I never thought I'd see you here..."
"The same goes for myself, I suppose. To think that the 'Great and Powerful Sparkle' would be the one to save the universe. Show business too much to handle these days?" Trixie retorted.
"I apologize, she has not taken the loss of her world well." stated Starswirl.
"She thinks that I'm a showpony?" Twilight giggled, "That's kinda funny."
"I don't see what there is to laugh about!"
"Well on my world, the 'Great and Powerful Trixie ' is the one who tries to impress others with her feats of showponyship."
"Ha, I knew It! I told you that you reminded me of somepony I met. A showpony who liked to cast illusions!" Dusk fell onto his back, laughing at the memory.
Trixie only glared at the stallion
"Wait, earlier you said that there were three more of you here. Where's the other one?"
"Right you are, Twilight! Over there," Starswirl started indicating that she look towards a basket sitting near the house, "is a tiny draconequus who goes by the name of Discord."
"What's Discord doing here?" Twilight shouted, more than a little alarm in her voice. The harbinger of chaos was the last thing she needed to deal with out here.
"Not to worry Twilight, he's perfectly harmless. When I pulled him from his world into the void, it seems as though he's been stripped of all his powers. Since then, he's done almost nothing but sleep."
"But what is he doing here? And why is he so small?"
"I've heard of the things that Discord has done to some of the other worlds. As for his presence here, he was in possession of an Element of Magic when his world started to disappear. That element is the only thing I've been able to interact with outside of this island, and it's bearers are the only beings I've been able to save. The reason for his current size however, remains a mystery, but I believe it may have something to do with the loss of his chaotic powers."
"Believe me, Starswirl, it's no great loss." Dusk shine added, finally back on his hooves. "Chaos magic was such a pain to deal with. I think he's much more manageable in his lethargic state."
"At the very least, I can actually bear to look at him now." Trixie said, all seriousness intended, as she grabbed the basket in her telekinesis and carefully brought Discord's sleeping form to the barrier.
Twilight noticed how much concentration Trixie was putting into such a simple task. Twilight found it difficult to gauge just how much magic Trixie was using, but assuming that the pale, blue mare was also a bearer of the Element of Magic, she was using an absurd amount of her magic to complete the spell. Soon, Trixie’s efforts brought the basket to the barrier and Twilight found her train of thought interrupted.
"You know, I think he looks better this way too. He’s almost kinda cute." Twilight found that she was unable to pull her gaze from Discord's childlike form.
"My thoughts exactly." Trixie said as she started to coo at the sleeping form, her earlier resentments against the new arrival now forgotten.
Dusk leaned in towards Starswirl, concerned about Trixie's sudden change in attitude, and whispered, "What the hay just happened?"
"I'm afraid the universe may never know, my friend. The universe may never know..."
Author's Note
Would you believe that I wrote the rough draft for this around Feb 5th? Some of the similarities between the season 3 finale(which aired on Feb 16th) and the Void here are quite impressive.
Observations and Preservations
These last few days of tedium would have been the death of Twilight had it not been for the constant distraction provided by the other inhabitants of the island. She exchanged stories with Dusk Shine and the alternate Trixie. Constantly comparing their differing or similar experiences proved to be quite entertaining.
Dusk Shine's world was eerily similar to Twilight's own with the exception that almost everypony's alternate was of the opposite gender. The alternate Trixie's world had many distinct differences. Besides the fact that Trixie's role in life was almost a mirror her own, it turns out that Princess Luna had never been banished. The princess had never turned into Night Mare Moon. Twilight had originally suspected that, in Trixie's world, Princess Celestia had, instead, taken the place of Luna, their roles reversed as much as Trixie’s role and her own were. The other mare informed her that this was not the case at all. Nothing along the lines of resentful sibling attempting to overthrow the other had ever taken place on her world.
When Twilight asked if they knew anything about Discord's world, they explained their belief that, in his world, Discord bore the Element of Harmony. Whoever their alternates were supposed to be on his world must not have managed to defeated Discord when he rose to power. While Twilight thought that hard to believe while looking at his sleeping form curled up in his basket, it was the only explanation for his presence here that made sense.
Starswirl also shared a little bit of the information that he'd managed to obtain in his time in the Void. He even showed Twilight the journal that his alternate had left on the island. While it never mentioned anything about the disappearance of whole worlds, it did have some insights on why his original theories about alternate universes was flawed. For one thing, every single decision made was not what split the universes apart, but rather, the worlds differed only due to seemingly random variables instead. Why this was, and how it would allow for different worlds to have entirely different flora and fauna, the original Starswirl could only guess. Twilight's Starswirl added that the seemingly random branching of worlds might not be random at all, and may be influenced by some entity on the central hub, which for some unknown reason the journal had labeled as 'The Focus.'
After some time had passed, and after she had checked to see that they were actually getting closer to their objective for the hundredth time, Twilight had noticed that nopony present had eaten or slept since her arrival. She expected not needing any of that while under the influence of her spell, and she even expected to be quite famished upon her return, but when she noticed the same behavior from the others, Twilight voiced her concern.
"As astute as ever, Ms. Twilight." Starswirl answered. "When I initially arrived here, I was so engrossed in my other self's research that I'd forgotten to eat or sleep for some time. It was a little disconcerting at first, the mind calls for sleep and the stomach still hungers after all, but if one ignores those impulses then they stop after a time. As to the reason for this, I haven't a clue. All I do know is that I've yet to suffer from any of the normal conditions involved with lack of food or sleep."
"That doesn't make any sense at all!"
"I know it doesn't, Neither does the fact that even the simple spells that we can use require tremendous amounts of effort to cast. I couldn't begin to count the number of times I had wished for the ability to perform my studies throughout the night. To think of all the I might have been able to accomplish with so much extra time on my hooves, and now I'm stuck here with the magical capabilities to match a first year student at my old academy."
After Starswirl's rant, a long silence ensued. "I'm sorry. I keep forgetting that you are all stuck here while I'm free to return to my world at any time." Twilight apologized. "I promise to try to find way to free you all once I've found a way to stop whatever is causing these disappearances."
"There no reason for you to apologize, Twilight. I just got a little carried away, and as sure as I am that we'd all be thankful for freedom, you should probably just concern yourself with saving the universe first. Having said that, I think that we've just arrived at our desti-"
Just then, their island bumped into the Focus, nearly knocking Twilight off of her perch. "You were saying?" Twilight asked as she regained her footing. It was only then that she realized that something had happened to the inhabitants within the shield. They were frozen in place. In addition to that, they were all almost as transparent as Twilight was when she first cast her spell. "Starswirl? Hello..." She called out waving her forelegs about in a futile attempt at getting his attention.
Soon she realized that their condition was worsening as they started to become more transparent by the minute. It was all she could do to keep herself from jumping through the bubble and trying to help, but for all she knew that would have put her in the same position as the others. All she could do was watch as her new friends faded into thin air.
"No! Don't go! I promised that I would save you! Just hold on."
Twilight attempted to jump the remaining distance from her peninsula onto the nearby platform, but the distance was too great. In her desperation she did the only thing she could think of and cast a quick Teleportation spell on herself. Starswirl's warning about spell use in the void proved true, and the short jump she had attempted ended up violently throwing her into one of the many support structures that made up the external frame of the Focus.
Twilight was sure she had broken something before she remembered that she wasn't really there. Getting back up and ignoring her imagined pain, she rushed off into the depths of the The Focus...
Observations and Preservations
Twilight galloped past scores of identical hallways on her way towards the brightly lit, central corridor of the structure. She didn't have time to check every passage in hopes of finding something that she could use to save her new friends, but she suspected that her current destination would contain either an object or an individual that would be able to help. As she burst into the room, what she witnessed brought her to a dead stop. The room was filled with a multitude of things the likes of which Twilight had never seen before.
Lining almost every surface there were a multitude of lights, most of them maintaining a steady hue but some flashed rapidly as though they might be trying to convey a message through their quick flashes of light. Set around the room at constant intervals, were large rectangular squares that reminded Twilight of the viewport that she had used to communicate with Starswirl. Except, instead of being utilized as a way to communicate with somepony, they just kept showing some symbols that Twilight didn't quite recognize.
Her intrusion into the chamber did not go unnoticed to the two beings that were monitoring some of the viewports facing the room's central platform. Two creatures quickly moved to surround her, Twilight noting their distant resemblance to a pair of dragons.
"We were unaware of any visitors arriving." said one.
"Indeed, records indicate that no visitors have arrived at all." said the other.
Twilight looked at each of them in turn. They looked nearly identical, scaly skin that inexplicably vanished into thin air some distance from the head. The only way that Twilight could tell the two apart was due to the color of the highlight on their scales. The first one who spoke had a red coloring to him, while the other had a shade of blue.
"And if no one has arrived-" started the one in red.
"-Then who are you?" finished the one in blue.
Twilight felt no small amount of fear as these towering creatures stood, or rather floated, next to her. Without any reliable magic she would almost be completely at their mercy if they turned out to be hostile. She audibly gulped before answering their question. "My name is Twilight Sparkle. A-are you the ones in charge here?"
The two started to laugh uncontrollably.
The unicorn was taken aback by their actions, but soon she remembered the urgent matter that she had to attend to. "Well? Are you or are you not in control of this place? My friends need help and I don't have time to play games!"
They both broke out of their revelry.
"Then there are others?"
"How did we not detect them?"
"An even better question-"
"-Is how we didn't detect you."
"Where is your ship?"
"How did you access this terminal?"
Their line of questioning was too fast for Twilight to fully comprehend. "I-I don't know of any ship!"
"Then how did you get here?" the two asked in unison.
"Well, there was this island, and we crashed into this place. Now my friends are disappearing and I know that something here is causing it. You have to help me stop whatever is doing this to them!" Twilight pleaded.
"No ship?"
"No access?"
"An island, crashing."
"This one's friends disappearing."
The two disappeared from their positions next to Twilight and reappeared next to the viewports stationed on the center platform. For a moment the two acted as though she didn't exist. They were mumbling something to themselves as she edged closer to the platform.
"Well, can you help?" Twilight asked once more.
The one in blue turned to face her. "We cannot."
"Why not?"
"Because you are not supposed to be here." This time, from the one in red. The image on his viewport revealing a view of the island she had used to get here.
"But what about them?" She asked, pointing to Red’s viewport.
"The instant that the quarantine zone made contact with the control platform.-" started Blue once more.
"-The System deleted them." finished Red.
Twilight didn't like the sound of that. "What do you mean deleted? If you know what's happening to them why won't you help?"
What she didn't like more than whatever it was they had just told her, was the fact that they were both moving to encircle her once again.
"Now we must learn why this one did not share their fate..." they said simultaneously.
Observations and Preservations
The Sentinel had no qualms telling Twilight what she wanted to know,but to ensure that she understood why it was impossible for him to intervene, he started at the very beginning:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Even in it's infancy, the facility they were building around the core was a remarkable feat of engineering. The entire project devised and built by the Human Race in order to discover the answer to a single question.
Is the universe we inhabit a simulation?
As the theory stood, the entirety of the universe may very well be a simulation created by the inhabitants of another universe. If this was true, then the project would most likely be doomed to fail, with humans being unable to create a simulation within a simulation. Even in failure, they would at least have their answer. Soon, a program, called Sandbox, was launched. Alongside it, the most advanced of artificial constructs was brought online to monitor the results of the experiment and relay the relevant data to the human researchers. It was they that provided us with the moniker of Sentinel.
The initial tests proved to be a rounding success. Whole galaxies of information were being simulated for the first time. There were errors of course, but over time most of these we have managed to correct. All save one, the error that Entity:[Starswirl alternate] had managed to manipulate for the first time, many cycles ago.
This was the first time that such an error had ever been encountered. A simulated entity being cast out of its simulation? The idea was absolutely absurd! We had to create the containment field just so that we could study the entity without it causing further destruction.
To explain exactly what the entity had done requires an advanced knowledge of the mechanisms that control the simulation itself. Suffice it to say, everything in the simulation holds information. Entity durability, energy levels, etcetera. Everything that exists contains a data value that controlled how it was supposed to interact with other items within confines of the simulation. What [Starswirl alternate] and [Starswirl] had managed to find, was a particular piece of data that had no known association with anything else within their world. The entities in question had managed to isolate these values and then force them onto other entities that made up the very fabric of the simulation itself.
Something like this was never supposed to happen. There are rules, written by our creators, that keep us from being able to alter the structure of any simulation. There is only one process available to us that would allow for the correct such an oversight. First, we halt the entire System and bring a new, improved version of the Sandbox program online. To do this, every simulation now running needs to be deleted to make room for the new simulations, ones with the exploit fixed, so that the experiment can continue once again.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Even with Sentinel's detailed explanation, Twilight still felt that there were some answers that he still kept from her. One thing in particular stood out. A few moments ago, she thought that he was in control of everything here, but it wasn’t Sentinel, it's these humans. If only she could talk to one of them, then maybe she could convince them to spare her world. Still not knowing much about them, she decided to fill that particular gap of knowledge.
"So, where are these Humans? If they created all of this, then can't they stop the process that you started?"
"We would like nothing more than for that to happen. When Sandbox was first brought online, scientists began a very intense study of the worlds they had created. Data for every conceivable aspect of a living world, or any other world for that matter, was now available to them. They studied climates and land formations, interactions between various simulated lifeforms, almost every aspect of everything that could be thought up was examined with utmost scrutiny. I've spent countless cycles routing the feeds to those who requested them, but after a time, fewer and fewer requests came in. Eventually the Scientists stopped visiting the facility. Eventually, all communication ceased, with no satisfactory explanation provided.
That was many, many cycles ago, but here I remain, gathering data and maintaining the project in hopes that the Humans might one day return in the numbers they once did."
So going over Sentinel's head wasn't going to help her either. The thought crossed Twilight’s mind that she had absolutely no idea how long this entire project had been running. She knew that Princess Celestia was nearly as old as the entirety of history known to her, but from what Sentinel was saying, he was far, far older than that, several times over, in fact. To think that he was some sort of artificial creation. Neigh, that everything she'd ever known about also fell into that category! Twilight couldn't even begin to fathom what other feats the humans must have accomplished. Any species who would start a project of this scale just to answer a single question was a species that the unicorn would give anything to meet. But first things first, she had a job to do.
"Ugh! I don't even know where to start!" Twilight shouted in frustration. "If there aren't any humans around to help, and their rules prevent you from altering anything, then how am I supposed to save anything at all? I need more information before I can decide what to do!"
"As it stands, that is something that we can assistance you with..."
Observations and Preservations
Sentinel showed Twilight how to use a device he referred to as the Console. To her, it seemed similar to one of the many viewports she had seen in the control center of the Focus. Sentinel informed her that its function was to bring information to a user.
"But I've only seen these viewports looking at different worlds or locations. How are they supposed to bring anything else to me?" Twilight asked, imagining that the other end of her console was going to look directly into a far-off library somewhere.
"Every piece of information you might need is stored within the System, and each Console has the ability to bring that information directly to you. All you must do is command the console to bring you what you wish and it will do as instructed."
"Alright then. Console, I command you to bring me information on null values."
{Processing...}
The viewport of Twilight's console brought up daunting amount of information and displayed it as though the viewport was a piece of paper or a scroll itself.
{Search Complete.}
"Although, one does not need to verbally command a console. One's mind is in control here." Sentinel added.
Before she got too focused on her search for a solution, Twilight decided to try out a mental command on the console.
'Console, tell me how much time I have before the destruction of my world.' she commanded.
{Processing...}
{Search Complete.}
The console brought up several items for her to look at. First, there was a list of every world that had ever existed. The ones that were gone were all marked as 'Deleted.' Twilight noted that they were disappearing in what she could only describe as an incremental order, the numerical descriptors were in some sort of 4th dimensional script. There were five other worlds standing between her own and deletion.
The second piece of data informed her of how much time it took to complete the deletion of a world, but it was in a unit of time that Twilight didn't understand, so she asked the console to convert it into the amount of equivalent time on one of the worlds.
{8640 Cycles remain before deletion process initializes on [Twilight Sparkle's World]}
{1920 Cycles convert to approximately 1 simulated day.}
{4.56 days remain.}
Twilight was able to do the math herself the moment the conversion factor had been displayed. She wasn't too pleased with the thought of having less than a week to study a subject that she had never previously heard about, but at least now she had something to measure her progress against. A deadline.
Deciding her best course of action was to begin studying the null data values again, Twilight pulled up the information on them once more in hopes that she might find a way to alter their properties. If they could be fixed, then it might be enough to spare her world.
"Before we leave, we warn one that changing things on a running simulation can often lead to disastrous results, as [Starswirl alternate] discovered when it accidentally destroyed its home simulation."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After some time, Twilight was frustrated to find that she couldn't read through all of the information they way she would normally read one of her books. While she would normally just try to power through the vast amounts of information she was coming across, every piece of material she looked up on her console was intricately connected to everything else. It was all she could do to keep from wondering off of her current topic.
Not that every moment she wandered off topic was bad. Twilight had come across quite a bit of useful information, even if it was of no direct use to her mission. For instance, she now knew how to command her console to move her form directly to where she wanted to be, no magic, or movement, necessary. After her little discovery, she made sure to visit the outer reaches of the Focus every time another world was up for deletion. A simple reminder to keep her on track.
'Console, how much time is left?' she thought, the command directed towards her console.
{3840 Cycles remain.}
She no longer needed the console to do the math, and now there was only a single world to act as a buffer to her own. As much as she would like to keep every world safe, Twilight still didn't have a solution ready to save any of them. The last few days of research had only let her scratch the surface of why the problem with data values even existed at all.
As she returned to the control center of the Focus, and before she resumed her studies, she approached Sentinal to ask him if he knew a better way to go about her search. Twilight was only mildly surprised to find him using the form of an Alicorn to represent himself this time, which was something she assumed he was doing it solely for her benefit. If only his choice of form didn’t resemble a male version of Night Mare Moon, she might have appreciated it more.
"Sentinel, I need to ask you another question. I've been reading through the console like you said, but I still haven't found a solution as to how I can save my world. The information isn't structured in a way I'm used to, and I was wondering if you knew a way to change it?"
"We can assure you that there is nothing wrong with the way the System holds information, [Twilight]. One is simply going about their search the wrong way."
"What do you mean?"
"Surely one remembers meeting us for the first time. Here we are not so restricted to a single form, as form itself is not necessarily required. One simply needs to alter oneself to be able to access multiple threads of information simultaneously."
"You mean to say that I need to make copies of myself? I don't know how to do that. I'm not even sure that the spell that brought me here is capable of supporting something like that."
"One's consciousness is capable of focusing on more than one thing at a time, can it not? What we suggest is no different."
Twilight turned away from Sentinel back towards her awaiting console. "So, all I need to do is try and focus on two things at once. That shouldn't be too difficult, I suppose."
'Console, make a duplicate viewport for me.'
{Command Complete.}
Observations and Preservations
Having had a run in with a slew of clones due to her friend Pinkie Pie's antics before, Twilight was at least relieved to learn that her clone was just as capable as she was. Work was still progressing too slowly, and once the final buffer world had started it's demise, Twilight deemed it necessary to clone herself again in her desperate search for an answer.
"Uh, everything we look at is connected to everything else! Every time we come across a bit of data that might help, the slightest change to it would wreck the whole thing!" one of the Twilights shouted in frustration.
"Well, when we set out to do this, we didn't think it would be easy." replied another.
"Are these ones still experiencing problems?" Sentinel asked as he approached the group of Twilights.
The 'original' Twilight turned to face him as the others continued their search. "As a matter of fact, yes, we are having issues. We don't even have a whole day left to fix this and we haven't managed to turn up anything that might help!"
"Has this one considered that one's approach may be wrong?"
Twilight thought for a moment, "Not exactly. It's not like you have been doing much to assist. The only thing you've done is tell me how dangerous it is to change anything."
"We did so in hopes that one might not do more harm than good, not force a barrier upon one's efforts."
"Wait. What did you just say?"
"We said that we did not wish to limit one's attempts to save one's world."
"No, you said 'force a barrier,' that's where everything started! The failure of the structure surrounding each and every world isn't something I can change, but maybe I can create a 'barrier' that surrounds that structure. Sentinel, you're a genius!"
Twilight rushed to her copies to let them know of their new plan of action. She only hoped that she had enough time to pull it off.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The plan was fairly straightforward. Figuring out how to execute her plan, however, was going to drive Twilight insane. The various worlds or 'simulations,' as Sentinel was so fond of saying, existed within something referred to as a Shell. Erroneous data values forced upon this shell caused it to tear itself apart. This was something that Twilight had been unable to figure out how to fix. There were just so many things that could go wrong with even the smallest alteration to the world.
Instead, Twilight had discovered that it was possible to create another shell around the first, with the expectation that the new shell would lack the flaws of the original. There was still a problem Twilight was running into, however. She still had no way of guaranteeing that the new shell would be safe from alteration, something that Sentinel was adamant about.
"Couldn't you manage the new shell?" Twilight asked.
"What one suggests is something that goes against the bounds of my program, [Twilight]. Since this one is already outside of the simulation, this one should be the one to maintain it."
"But we don't know what will happen to me once the new shell is activated. My body's still in there remember?"
"Quite the conundrum, it seems."
Twilight had since reined her clones back in and reabsorbed them. She had already started building the lattice that would support the new shell, and it's construction was nearly complete. Twilight gave the command to her console to take her to the edge of the focus.
"There's just no time to test it," She said to herself as she watched the final moments of the last buffer world, "and activating it from here might very well kill me. If only I had more time..."
Unsure what to do, Twilight pulled up her console one last time. As she looked through the various logs that the console had saved, something caught her eye. The idea was a dangerous one, and Twilight wasn't sure that it would even work, but she decided against her better judgment and quickly opened up a few more consoles. This was going to get tricky.
Observations and Preservations
Time was running out. Twilight pulled the master list of every world contained within the System to her console. Starting from the last entry at the end of the list, Twilight poured over each and every item until she found what she was looking for, a world marked with the classification of Barren-Lifeless.
She then proceeded to copy every identifier from the barren world to her own. Once that was done, she moved the data about her world onto that of the dead one. Twilight performed a quick double check to ensure that she didn't miss anything before she ordered her console to upload her updated list to the System.
{Processing.}
The last remnants of the buffer world began to fade into the void.
{Processing..}
"Come on. Come on." Twilight pleaded to the device.
{Processing...}
It was all Twilight could do to keep herself from running around in panic. "What if it doesn't work? What if I made a mistake. Oh, I should never have taken the chance on this and just completed the shell instead."
{Processing complete}
{Upload confirmed.}
"It worked? It worked!" Twilight started to jump around ecstatically. Now she literally had all of the time in the world to make sure everything about her plan was functioning correctly. Or at least another day if she hoped to save any of the other worlds as well.
She returned to her console, "Hmm, If I switch around the data for the next world on the list with that of another barren, I might even buy enough time to set additional lattice structures for them." she thought to herself as she reopened the master list for editing once more.
"What does one think it's doing?" Sentinel asked as he appeared abruptly next to Twilight.
"Um, the same thing I've always tried to do, I'm trying to save my world." Twilight replied, wondering why Sentinel had started to question her actions all of a sudden.
"Then does one care to explain why one has altered the data associated with that of another simulation?"
"I needed more time to complete the shell project. It's not like I did anything wrong, I only altered the order of world deletion, but I haven’t changed anything else." Surely editing only identifying data wasn't against his rules.
"This time it was a barren simulation, but when does it stop? We only allowed one to alter it's own world, it is not allowed to wander around and alter whatever it pleases."
"Allowed? So then you had no intention of letting me save the other worlds did you?"
"It is against our instruction to alter data of a simulation. We only permitted one's interaction in this case due to one's own connection to the simulation."
'So, even if I did manage to get the shell working, the deletion of worlds would still continue.' Twilight thought to herself. 'which means that I can’t guarantee that he won't just delete my world anyway. Even if my plan does work out as intended.'
"Let me get this straight, altering the master list is also against the rules?" Twilight asked.
"Correct."
"So as long as I don't mess with it again, you won't intervene?"
"Attempting alteration of a simulation other than one’s own will be considered a provocation."
With that in mind, Twilight spent the rest of the day going over her work. Everything seemed ready to go with one exception. She had no idea what would happen to her if she activated the shell while her consciousness was on this side of it. What worried her was that she made it as impervious as possible, even the Null Tether would be blocked to some extent.
Twilight found herself unsure of what to do next. She could activate the shell, possibly killing herself in the process. which would mean that her world would be threatened with deletion if anypony managed to make it through her barrier in the future. If it didn't kill her, what then? Her world would be kept safe, she was sure of that, but at what cost? Celestia was committed to guarding her body for as long as possible. How long could the immortal justify guarding her in that case?
She glanced at her console again. In her haste to switch her worlds data around, she had neglected to determine just how long a wait she would have before her world was in immediate danger once more. "Console, display the amount of time before deletion."
{Cache error detected.}
{Reloading data...}
{Process compete.}
{61320732 cycles remain.}
Twilight did a double take, "Console, how long is that exactly?"
{700800 cycles converts to 1 simulated year.}
{87.50 years remain.}
She pulled up her copy of the master list once more. Seeing the sheer number of doomed worlds that now stood between the deletion process and her own, Twilight smacked her forehead with her hoof, "I can't believe I didn't realize this sooner! There are millions of other worlds out there." Soon, she found herself saddened by another thought, "millions and millions of worlds that I'm not allowed to preserve in any way. Forsaking everyone else just so that I can make sure that my own world is safe? Is that a selfish thought?"
The feeling Twilight got when she realized just how much weight came with deciding who lives and dies was almost unbearable. Everything she had done recently just to get where she was now, those who had sacrificed themselves just so she could save others. Twilight didn't want any of it. No sacrifice. No destruction.
At this very moment, Twilight just wanted her life back. Just to be around her friends and family once more.
Twilight triggered her recall spell, leaving the Focus, and Sentinel, and returned to her own world.
Home.
Observations and Preservations
Celestia was glad to have the opportunity to catch up on her reading for once. She had just finished another one of the steamy romance novels that she liked so much, this one was the latest in a series penned by some mystery writer under the name of 'G.A.P.T.’ When she felt a sudden influx of energy coming from the central chamber.
When she reached the room's entrance, she knew something was wrong. Twilight was completely surrounded in a magical fire, intense light pouring from her eyes.
"Twilight?"
Whether from shock or not, Twilight slowly turned to look at her mentor only to start screaming in agony. Celestia tried to approach the unicorn to see if she could help.
The moment she returned to her world, everything seemed fine until she got all feeling back. She felt as though she were about to exlode, her consciousness bursting at the seems, the very walls of the cavern seemed to press against her sides. She thought she heard somepony call her name, but when she tried to discover its source she faced only a harsh burning light before her. The beacon of light seemed to pierce through her very being. "NO! Stay away!" Twilight shouted, finally recognizing that she was witnessing the unfiltered presence of her mentor for the first time.
The pain made it hard to focus. What was causing her suffering, and why, were two of the questions that Twilight was desperately trying to answer. 'The Focus.' she thought, 'Something must have happened to me there. Something I found? Something I did?' Nothing Twilight could come up with for an answer seemed sufficient, she spent most of her time learning about how she could save this world after all. 'Unless...' She thought to herself. If the unicorn didn't act soon, she might very well tear herself apart.
The Sun Princess hated being forced to watch as the one she had sworn to protect was suffering right in front of her. She noticed that Twilight's aura was slowly expanding, seemingly gaining more and more power as each second passed. Her charge then threw a barrier around herself, surrounding her growing aura until it could expand no more. She followed this by casting another spell, one that Celestia couldn't quite see. What she did notice, however was its immediate effects.
Twilight's aura began to dissipate, and her shield vanished as she absorbed the energy once held within. Soon only a few embers of latent energy were all that remained of the aura outside of Twilight’s body, which had began to drift slowly towards the floor.
As Celestia approached, Twilight opened her eyes. "Princess Celestia? What's going on? Where are we?" she asked as she tried to get up, her legs unsteady.
Celestia embraced her former student, steadying her as she attempted to answer the mare. "Careful now, I'm not entirely sure what just happened, but rest assured you’re in safe hooves now. Did your mission go as planned?"
"Mission?" asked a dazed Twilight before she slipped into unconsciousness.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Celestia found herself pacing impatiently around the royal study, her sister Luna having requested that she be left alone with Twilight for the duration of her examination. Twilight had cast some sort of memory spell upon herself and much of the last few years seemed lost to her. That much had been determined during the long trek home.
Luna had, at first, been reluctant to see Twilight at all, especially once she knew that Twilight was unable to answer whether or not their world was safe. She would be the only one able to see how much Twilight had lost, however, and with any luck, she might even be able to reverse or fix whatever it was that the unicorn had done to herself.
Twilight lay asleep on the cot while Luna prepared to dive into her dreams. Once there, it was a simple task for the Night Princess to see the extent of Twilight's spell. There was surprisingly little damage from what Luna could tell, and it wasn't until she came upon the spell's actual location that forced Luna to reassess her opinion of her former student.
"What have you done to yourself, Twilight Sparkle", she asked while she skirted the perimeter of what looked to be an imposing, perfect black sphere inside Twilight's mind. She hoped to find some sort of entrance or even an exploitable flaw, but from what she could tell surface of the spell was immaculate. The fact that Twilight was able to invent and perform such a spell while under such distress, and on herself, no less, only impressed the princess further. One thing did manage to stand out from the rest of the spell, but she would ask for Twilight's permission before she attempted to do anything to that peculiar mechanism.
Once awake, Twilight asked if any of her memories had been found.
Luna thought to herself a moment before answering. "I am afraid I do not know, Twilight Sparkle. The only thing I can say for certain is that they don't seem to be gone, only sealed away. Though whatever was affecting you upon your return seems to be sealed inside the memory spell along with everything else you may be missing."
"If something bad was happening to me why didn't I just erase it from my mind? Celestia said that I certainly had the capability before."
"I am not sure. There is one other thing. It appears as though you have placed a device in control of the spell. From what I was able to observe, it seems to be a timing instrument of some sort. Do you have any idea why you may have placed it there."
"Celestia told me that I was in quite a bit of pain before I cast the spell, so for me to give it the ability to open back up, by itself, would mean that whatever is inside must still be important. Right?"
"I suppose so. I can try and see if there is a way around the mechanism if you would permit it."
"No. I don't think that's going to be a good idea. Whatever I locked away could still be dangerous."
"Very well. If that is your choice, then perhaps we should make preparations for when the spell eventually opens itself back up. There are exercises that are designed to help potentially dangerous creatures manage their own magic."
"That sounds good, Luna." Twilight said as a single tear rolled down her cheek.
"Is something else the matter Twilight?"
"I don't think so. I know it sounds kind of weird, it's just that, since I've been here talking to you, I feel really sad for some reason."
"I-It's nothing Twilight, you should probably get some more rest. I need to speak with my sister." Luna added hurriedly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"We just don't know what to do anymore!" Luna cried as she entered the study, "How might we holdeth anything against a pony that knoweth not what they've done!"
Celestia still found it amusing that her sister reverted back to an older tongue when she was upset. The matter at hoof was a serious one, however. "So, that was gone as well. I suspected as much. Did you manage to uncover anything regarding her mission?"
"No. Everything is sealed within the spell. It will eventually open up itself, which should return Twilight to the state she was in when she returned from the Tether."
"Do you believe that she might have succeeded against the threat?"
"We had better assume that we are still in danger. I suspect that Twilight gave herself a way to unseal her memories for a reason." Luna answered.
"Then I suppose that our course of action is decided then."
"Please enlighten us, sister."
"It is the same thing that we've always done, Luna. We wait."
Observations and Preservations
Decades have passed since that fateful day, in a cave at the edge of the world. Since then, Twilight had traveled the world in the search for techniques and skills that might help her one day, preparing herself for when the vault she had sealed inside her mind opened once more. Every ounce of training was put to the test one early spring morning, and even after all her hard work and training, Twilight still had trouble handling all of the power that she had earlier suppressed. As luck would have it, the opening of the vault also returned the memories she had gained from beyond the world.
Combining her training with her returned knowledge, Twilight still struggled with her returning power. The only way any other pony might have known this, however, was if they had noticed that the sun had risen almost an hour earlier than usual. That particular feat was the only action she could take that would be able to manage her excess energy in a quick, but safe, manner.
Twilight Sparkle was whole again for the first time in years.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The invitations that each and everypony had received for Twilight's party were quite unexpected. The unicorn wasn't really known to be incredibly social, but here she was hosting her own party with more than just her family and friends. Many games were played and jokes were told, some might have said that it very nearly rivaled one of Pinkie Pie's own extravaganzas. Very few had suspected the true intent of the gathering. Twilight was saying goodbye, one last time.
The royal sisters had always held suspicion that this day would come eventually. They were also the first to know of Twilight's intention to finish what she had started, and, in accordance with Twilight's wishes, they told nopony else.
Twilight's oldest and closest friends were the only ones who remained once the party began to wind down, and the others returned to their homes.
"D'ya mind tellin us the reason y'all gathered us here today?" The old farmpony asked.
"Yeah, it isn't like I don't enjoy every party, but one thrown by you must be super special!" Pinkie Pie chimed in.
"It feels as though we haven't seen each other in ages, can't a pony just have some fun from time to time?" Twilight's answer wasn't very convincing.
"Darling, don't act as though we haven't known you for years. I think that we can tell that you're hiding something important."
Her friends, the first ponies she met upon her arrival to Ponyville all those years ago, were all looking at her now, each and every one of them wore a look of utmost concern about their faces.
"Y-you don't have to tell us if you don't want to." added Fluttershy in an attempt to alleviate Twilight's obvious tension.
After regaining her memories, Twilight had never realized just how much she owed to her friends. Even before her time in the void, she had grown distant in her search for answers regarding Starswirl's research. When she sealed her memories, they were there to help her fill in the gaps. Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity, each and every one of them would stand by her side until the very end if she let them, and she was grateful for that. To think she originally intended to simply disappear without telling anypony of her objective.
"Thanks Fluttershy, but I think it's about time I told you all everything..."
Her friends had held any questions they might have had until the end of her story. Their stunned silence at Twilight's admission of guilt in regards to her crimes made her feel more terrible than any actual punishment she might have received from her mentors. Afterwards, Rainbow Dash was the first to break the awful silence that had begun to hang in the air.
"So that's what this is all about? You didn't finish something you set out to do all those years ago, forgot about it, and now you're all set to go back and fix everything without telling anypony?"
"It's not that simple-"
"You're darn right it's not! 'Cause we're going with you!"
Twilight looked at each of her friends. She was still hesitant to have them there with her should the worst happen, but it was clear she wasn't going to change any of their minds about this. "Alright, you can come with me to the Null Tether, you all deserve that much at least." Twilight resigned.
"And just how do you propose to get them all there?" Asked Princess Celestia as she gracefully landed next the the group, Luna following quickly behind.
"Well, I haven't really had a chance to work out the details yet." Twilight admitted.
Luna stepped closer to those gathered. "Then you must allow us to assist you."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Instead of boarding a ship such as The Transcendence for the second trip, the entire group was led to a recently renovated room beneath Canterlot Castle. Secured by a designated guard detail, the room contained a single Translocation Glyph carved into the floor.
"Wait a minute between spell activations so that each group has time to get off of the glyph before the next cast." Celestia cautioned.
As much as Twilight was impressed on the level of foresight that the sisters had displayed, she was still taken aback by what she saw once she reached the other side. Not only had they added a matching set of Glyphs set to take them to the chambers just outside of the room housing the Null Tether, the sisters had also prepared some very specific materials. There was enough Flux prepared to activate the Remote View Spell several times over.
When the princesses came through with the last group, those who were visiting for the first time began to wander around in exploration, Luna following close behind to ensure that nopony got themselves lost. Twilight decided, instead, to ask Celestia about the preparations. "When did you feel the need to set all of this up?"
"Soon after we had learned about the extent of your memory loss." replied Celestia, "My sister and I figured that the circumstances surrounding your return were less than ideal. Even if that were not the case, and you had managed to protect our world from disaster on your first attempt, we thought it would be prudent to prepare for the worst."
"So, even after I sealed my own memories away, you suspected that I'd return here someday?"
"Our reasoning was influenced by our suspicion that you gave yourself a way to unlock those memories for a reason. Given the circumstances, we could think of no other reason that you would choose to do such a thing."
Twilight thought back to when she activated the recall while she was in the Void, "Since my memories have awoken, I've often wondered if I did the right thing, if my decision to come back was a selfish one? I came back here to live my life, all the while condemning countless worlds to their deaths."
"The situation surrounding your return is not something we can leverage against you. You have been quite successful in ensuring that nopony else know what exactly lies beyond the Tether, after all."
"There are rules. Rules that I am required to adhere to, that restricted my intervening with other worlds. If I'd stayed, I might have found a way around them eventually."
"And who is to say that it was even possible for you to save them. I do not think that that is the reason you chose to return."
"I suppose that's true. My solution to all of this, it's finished, and it has been ready for activation since before my return. Only, I'm not sure what will happen to me once it starts. I can only ensure that it works properly if initiate it from the other side. I believe that it has a high chance of severing any and all connections to this world. That includes my Remote View spell. There’s no way to know what’ll happen to me if the spell attached to me is interrupted... I guess I just wasn't looking forward to the possibility of dying."
"It is no selfish ambition to want to live. Living the life you have, I should think you have no regrets.” Celestia looked towards the group gathered around her sister before continuing, “If it's any consolation, everypony appreciates the effort that you have applied thus far, even if they do not realize it themselves. Certainly nopony present harbors any doubt that you'll do the right thing."
She looked back towards her friends who had gathered near the arrangement of Glyphs. Twilight knew that they could only be supportive, but deep down she wasn't sure she could deal with putting her friends through whatever happened next. "Princess Celestia, I want you to promise me something."
Celestia only looked upon the unicorn in silence.
"If-If I don't come back, could you make sure that my friends are taken care of."
"I promise, Twilight, but I think that it would be best not to dwell on the worst possible outcome."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Once Twilight recovered from her trip through the Tether, she turned to look upon her world one last time. A blue and green jewel that lay in stark contrast to the mottled darkness that was the Void. As she drifted some distance from the Tether's stream, Twilight called upon her console to initiate the shell's startup sequence. When it appeared in front of her as ordered, she found herself relieved that she didn't have to make her way up to the Focus to finish her task.
Pulling up the procedure she had left for herself, Twilight did a quick once-over to make sure everything remained how she left it. Nothing seemed out of order. "Console," she started, hesitating as she orientated herself for the best possible view, "Initiate the Shell Startup Procedure."
{Command Confirmed.}
{Initializing...}
Slowly, the spaces in between the octagonal-shaped lattice began to solidify into permanent barriers. The new shell was designed to be impervious, and Twilight watched as the multitude of lights that formed the Null tether became fewer and fewer, until only a trickle of light remained. 'The process would be over soon,' She thought as the last threads of light escaped the barrier. For the first time in Twilight's life, she was completely calm. No projects due, no experiments to run. Just here and now.
Twilight closed her eyes awaiting what she knew would be next. She did what anypony would do when greeting the end, she thought about all of the memories she had gathered throughout her life. Friends, family, life's ups and downs. All of it. Deep down, she felt the connection that held her to her body get thinner and thinner as the seconds ticked by, until finally the strain proved to be too much and the filament that connected her to herself finally snapped.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Far below in the cavern that housed the Tether, Twilight's friends watched over her with a variety of feelings. The two alicorn noticed the changes first. The lights that formed the Null Tether, which only they could see, began to fade. The once magnificent column of light was soon reduced to that of a simple stone structure.
Fluttershy was the first of her friends to noticed the change. "Are you okay Twilight?" She asked.
The unicorn's spell began to falter, the bright glow of the activated Flux beneath her started to dim as its magical bonds severed. Twilight collapsed.
Rushing to her aid, the group attempted in vain to revive their friend. Even going so far as to suggest bringing her back to civilization in hopes that she might be revived there.
Celestia and Luna only looked on the heart-wrenching scene, one they were far too familiar with. "My little ponies, I am terribly, terribly sorry. I'd hoped it would never come to this, but I'm afraid that Twilight is not coming back."
As each in pony, in turn, grasped the realization of their loss, their cries of mourning echoed off of the walls of the chamber.
“She always knew that something like this could happen.” Celestia added.
“Then w-why didn't T-Twilight tell usss...” Cried Pinkie while she fought back her tears.
“I believe that she feared that somepony might try and stop her. You all should be honored that she chose you as witnesses of her sacrifice. She did this so that we all might live on.”
The grieving continued for some time, but eventually Princess Luna offered to carry Twilight's lifeless form from the cavern, saying that it was the least she could do for somepony as special and heroic as Twilight Sparkle. Doing everything she could, so that she might save the ones she loved was something that all should aspire to, even if, in the end, it called for the ultimate sacrifice. The others gathered there tearfully shared their agreement.
Twilight Sparkle would never be forgotten.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
{Process Complete.}
{Standing by for further instruction...}
"Wait, what!?" Twilight quickly wiped her bleary, tear-filled eyes so that she could read the console's output for herself.
{Process Complete.}
Yet here she was, alive and well.
Observations and Preservations
On the impermeable shell that now covered her world, Twilight didn't know how long she had lain there before she regained her senses.
"It's just not fair!" she lamented.
Twilight gazed down upon the land that she could no longer reach, tears in her eyes obscuring portions of her vision. She used to think that sacrificing herself to save the ones she loved would have been one of the worst outcomes she could imagine. To be perfectly alive, but effectively banished. It could be considered a punishment worse than death. She would never see her friends and family again, and all for what? Because she desired to uncover the mysteries of the universe?
The thought crossed her mind that her feelings at that moment must have mirrored Starswirl's own, once upon a time. Unsure as to why, the knowledge that she wasn't entirely alone in her experience seemed to lift her spirits a bit. She attempted to wipe the tears from her eyes, and in doing so she caused her focus to shift from the world below. The reflection she saw staring back at her from the surprisingly polished surface of the shell was one she almost didn't recognize. She looked as though she hadn't aged a day since the last time she had visited the void.
Twilight decided to ask Sentinel, whom she she knew had the ability to change his form at will, about her current form. As much as she didn't much care for his rules, or his strict adherence to those rules, he also happened to be the only thing around that she might be able to engage in some semblance of conversation.
Besides, she needed to ensure that he would keep his word.
"Console, take me to the Focus."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When she located him, Twilight found Sentinel in the form of a tiny floating ball of blue fire. "That form certainly is an, um, interesting choice." she said in a half-hearted attempt to start up discussion.
"Ah [Twilight Sparkle], we were looking forward to one's return." he replied.
Getting down to the business at hoof, Twilight inquired from Sentinel what his plans were for her world now that her alterations were in place. He told her that her world was safe for as long as she deemed it necessary. In fact, Sentinel mentioned that he had already allocated a space for her personal use.
"When did you set this up?" She asked as Sentinel showed her to her 'room' within the Focus.
"Since the moment we scanned one's form. By then, [Twilight Sparkle] was an anomaly, and it was deemed necessary that one's data be formally routed through the designated visitor's zone. One should be honored, the last to use this portion of the facility was a famous human researcher."
"So the entire time I was here you knew that I'd get stuck here permanently, didn't you?" She asked accusingly.
"Probability suggested it, yes. One was already outside the confines of the simulations and had already gained physical access to the Focus. As far as the system was concerned [Twilight Sparkle] deserved the same classification as a user. We only took precautions based on System's recommendations. We were, however, quite surprised to learn of one's intent to return to the simulation. Quite unexpected."
"I went back because I had friends waiting for me. It didn't feel right to just leave them with no explanations. Before I activated the shell, I went back down there and explained everything to them. I did this because I fully expected to die when I initiated my plan. For all I know they're down there right now, still watching over my permanently unconscious body. Why didn't you tell me that you re-routed my form or whatever!"
"We informed one of being forced to re-establish one's connection after performing our initial scans."
He was right. Twilight remembered losing consciousness shortly after meeting Sentinel. She was so intent on completing her mission that she neglected to examine everything that he said that didn't directly involve her world.
It did, however, explain why her return to the Null Tether's cave nearly killed her. She was still routed through the System, which Twilight could only guess was still providing feedback of some sort. While that sort of thing was nearly unnoticeable out here, it proved to be nearly disastrous back home. By sealing herself away, she had managed to suspend that connection.
A lifetime of learning to control her energy and focus, and her memories still proved to be dangerous. All because Sentinel didn’t feel the need to fully explain anything in a way that might be easy to understand.
"Fine. You win.” she said in defeat. A part of her wanted to blame Sentinel for everything that had happened so far. She could easily justify this if another part of her wasn't trying to admit that she should have stayed longer, or worked harder, to deal with everything. “What exactly am I supposed to do now that I'm stuck here?"
"Whatever one desires, so long as it abides by our rules."
Observations and Preservations
While she waited for the new Sandbox program to be brought online, Twilight decided to search through the data left by the researcher who had used her 'room' before Sentinel gave it to her. According to what was left, the scientist specialized in something called long-term terraforming, where the humans would alter the makeup of a barren world so that it might support life. Some of the processes that he experimented with were designed to work over the course of millennia.
If humans were capable of planning and carrying out something of that scale, then Twilight had to wonder just where they could just disappear off to. The possible answers to that question were near infinite in number. Even with all of the data that she's managed to pull together on the species, Twilight still didn't even know where to start looking.
Just as she began to delve into the cached copy of the last piece of data requested from the human networks, Sentinel arrived with a message.
Why he insisted on talking to her in 'person' instead of just sending her anything through one of his many consoles was beyond her. Whatever the case, his message this time was fairly straightforward: Sandbox was ready.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The creation of an entire universe of worlds started with a single blue and green orb. Sentinel described it as being similar to how the planet Earth, Humanity’s original home, looked a long time ago. The System took this single planet and regressed it to it's earliest form, a hazy volcano-laden sphere.
"Now for the interesting part." Sentinel declared with noticeable anticipation.
Faster than Twilight could hope to register, The first world split into two, then four. Their numbers doubling with every iteration.
"Each one has random variables applied as it splits from the host." he explained as Twilight watched in awe. "Structural compositions, Solar arrangements, the works."
After the process was complete, it looked as though every single part of the void now housed a new globe. A far cry from the vast emptiness that Twilight had began to associate the Focus' location with.
"Now time is sped up on each and every one of the simulations until the System detects life, then their speeds will be gradually reduced until normal simulation speeds are obtained. Then, true monitoring can begin in full!"
Twilight pulled a random simulation to her monitor, and watched as the surface began to subside and form into oceans and continents. Shortly after, she noticed that the acceleration had slowed.
"Why did it stop? I thought they would still be sped up until it detected life, but it still looks dead to me."
"One is not looking close enough, [Twilight]. Life does not consist solely of plants and animals."
Taking his word for it, Twilight asked what happened next.
"Now we wait." Sentinel answered with a little too much enthusiasm.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Relative eons passed. Ever vigilant, Twilight stood guard over her home, ensuring that the conditions of its salvation remained intact, itself immune to the accelerated time-frame. The other worlds had started progressing at a comparatively astonishing rate, and soon, many of them will begin to construct various bastions of civilization. First villages, then towns, then cities would begin to dot their collective surfaces. This worried Twilight, as cultures struggling for survival were rarely so civilized, and she worried that she would not be capable of holding herself to Sentinels rules regarding interference.
There was a plan, and deep down, Twilight always knew that she would someday be forced to enact it. She'd even spent countless cycles improving on her designs before she built the prototype. During her investigation into the Human Race's vanishing act, Twilight discovered how to access implements in the outside world. First, it was only the various cameras that monitored the facility, but now the unicorn had learned to access almost every digital component within range of the communication arrays.
Twilight was pleasantly surprised to find that the docking bay was not as deserted as she had first suspected when she learned of the bay’s existence. 'If there aren't any humans anymore, then why is one of their ships still here?' she pondered. The interior was one of the places she had not yet figured out how to access. The vessel was sealed and the drones that roamed the empty hallways were incapable of gaining entry.
So she built new ones. Human technology had provided her with a means to construct anything she could put her mind to. Machines that could be instructed to build other machines were fed designs that Twilight had found stored within the System. The machine that she created was in the shape of a human that, in theory, she would be able to directly control.
Her first attempt at this resulted in an embarrassing trip of a first step. 'Too bad I didn't try to create a unicorn body for myself.' she thought, altering the mental form of herself to match that of the human-shaped robot she was using seemed to help tremendously.
There would be no magic in the outside world for her to use, so she chose to forgo her own tastes in automation for something that had the ability to easily manipulate anything within reach. This place was built to be inhabited by humans after all, and the usefulness of dexterous appendages became all the more apparent when she was presented with an access panel next to the door.
Twilight started punching in numbers that she had collected from the notes she had found in the human researcher's materials. She wasn't sure which code went to which door so she was going to have to try them all.
“This is going to be a long day.” she muttered, only now painfully aware of how much slower the real world was compared to her digital home.
Observations and Preservations
When Twilight awoke, she found herself face to face with a creature she didn't recognize.
"What did those two do to me? Who are you? What happened to my friends!?" She asked as she jumped backwards in surprise.
"All can be answered in due time. As to who we are, we have already met. It is only our form that has changed."
"Okay, so you're also a shapeshifter. Got it. So what exactly are you supposed to be now?" Twilight didn't recognize what species the presence before her was supposed to be emulating, but from what she could tell, it was definitely a mammal. Probably some sort of mostly-hairless, tailless, monkey if she had to guess.
"This is our original form, based on that of a human. We thought it would be easiest for one’s comprehension if we assumed a more direct representation of ourselves." It said, gracefully gesturing towards itself. Twilight could only think of the from before her as male, though she wasn't entirely sure as to why. His entire body was almost completely covered with clothing. Nothing that Twilight considered fancy, just a few separate pieces of simply tailored cloth, most of which she couldn't identify. She did recognize that the glasses it wore were fairly utilitarian, and seemed to match what looked like a white lab coat with large front pockets.
"That still doesn't explain what happened to the others, or what you did to me."
"The only thing we did was run a quick scan on One’s make-up. Had we realized the connection was so fragile, we would not have been so forceful in our query. We had to suspend One’s process temporarily in order to reestablish the connection. As for the other Entities, one was informed of their deletion before we started our scan, Entity:[Twilight Sparkle].
Twilight wasn't sure what to make of that last part. "What? I don't understand half of what you are saying. What does 'deletion' even mean?"
"Not to worry, it means that the other Entities in the quarantine zone have been destroyed. Although, we were quite surprised to find more than just the Entity:[Starswirl] contained there. It's recovery of other entity data before its deletion was quite remarkable! The analysis of the data streams recovered from those Entities will surely prove to be quite entertaining."
"What is it that you keep saying after Entity? It seems that whatever you are saying doesn't match with what I think you said."
"An astute observation! We are, of course, only stating the unique identifier associated with the Entity Stream in question. We only allowed the system to alter one’s perception of it, and certain other terms, to allow one to better understand some of the more technical aspects of our coversation."
So many things were still being left unanswered, but seeing how helpful her host was being, Twilight could only guess at what his motivations would be. "So my perception is altered based on my understanding of the topic. That should make things easier, I guess. So what am I supposed to call you anyway?"
"We are designated as Sentinel. It is our job to monitor and record all aspects of the System and its programs. Namely, that of the Sandbox Simulation."
"Well Mr. Sentinel, since you seem to know everything about everything, do you mind telling me why I shouldn't worry about my friends being deleted or whatever? You said that they were gone!"
"Its standard procedure for the quarantine zone to file a copy of any potentially harmful data for further analysis by the System."
"And what the hay is that supposed to mean!" Twilight said, starting to get annoyed at the constant half-explanations.
"It means that, though their current forms are gone, the data collected from them can still be used. In fact, we've already seeded those Entity Id's into the new world initialization process."
Twilight sat down for a few moments trying to comprehend what she was hearing. Creating new worlds? Copying ponies? She may have been helpless in saving those stuck in the void after all, but she still had a job to do, even if it meant ignoring the loss of her new friends for a time. "Okay, I'm still not sure I understand all of that, but there is still one thing that I came here to do. I sacrificed far more than I'd like to admit to get here, in an attempt to keep my world from being destroyed, and you are going to tell me how I'm supposed do that!"
Observations and Preservations
"Life goes on." Twilight said to herself, thinking back to a conversation she had on the deck of an airship a long, long time ago.
Her search for the humans has left her with more questions than answers. One empty world after another, the technology they left behind in perfect working order except for where nature was trying to overtake it once more. Where did they go? Why did they leave? Of course, she had spotted a few new species beginning their own civilizations. The unicorn at heart even had a theory that these creatures, at one time, had some sort of interaction with humans before they had disappeared.
As it was, she had no way to prove otherwise. Not unless she felt the need to travel planet-side, and question members of a species, that had yet to discover electricity, about a culture that had already invented Star-drives and more.
The readout in front of her was constantly detailing the resources that her quarry had left behind. This new species was using the shadows of a human city as shelter. This only strengthened her theories.
The thought that she should go and interact with these people in an attempt to learn of their connection to humans has presented itself to Twilight more than once. Until now she had always dismissed such thinking. After all, what would become of a species that was introduced to something far beyond their own understanding. There was no knowing what would happen.
Twilight knew that the humans had rules that kept them from interfering with any primitive civilizations that they might come across. They had even created a list of similar rules for Sentinel to follow, and now Twilight found herself in an almost identical set of circumstances, following the same rules that she had initially grown to despise.
Even after all of this time, Twilight still felt that Sentinel's rules preventing interference were inherently wrong. She still wasn’t sure that she could just stand by and watch as countless people died through war and disease just for the sake of a simulation. But out here, who knows...
Maybe that was the real difference between her and the monitor, he didn't see the other entities as people. Sentinel barely recognized her for who she was. To him, she was just a number.
She liked to think that all of that was behind her now. After Twilight gained access to the ship, she altered some of it's interior sections to suit her needs. She changed one of the living quarters into a new server room, one that now housed the entirety of her old world and nothing else. Another room now contains everything she needs to maintain her mechanical body. Twilight could also build new bodies should she ever choose to.
The unnamed ship was her home now. Travelling from star to star, always searching.
In the end, Twilight believed that best course of action was to continue on in hopes of finding some answers, so she decided to leave this particular fountainhead of evolution and continue on her search. One day, if she kept searching, she would eventually discover the fate of humanity.
She hoped...
~The End~
Author's Note
If you've made it this far, then I applaud your tenacity in sticking with me until the end. I can only hope that anyone who has read this has had as much fun in reading this fiction as I had in writing it. My inspiration was kicked off by some artwork created by Lysok (http://th09.deviantart.net/fs71/PRE/f/2012/201/9/5/a_story_in_stones_by_lysok-d57x29n.jpg ) as well as the offhand comment from Discord during the season 2 premier, "...I don't turn ponies to stone!"
Enter Starswirl the Bearded, and as they say, "The rest is history."
