Chapter Thirty-Four
Unity
Chapter Thirty-Four
Twilight looked up from her calculations. "The numbers check out. This should be it." She said.
Harmony was hovering over a deep canyon, holding position while the unicorn ran the figures. Directly head of them, the canyon rim was bordered by a high mountain range, and visible even from here, indeed, visible from hundreds of miles away, was an impossibly tall spiraling tower, seemingly made of some blue crystal, climbing so high that the peak might well be beyond the planet's atmosphere. The center.
"Do we proceed?" Reginald asked.
"We've come an awful long way not to." Applejack answered. "I say we see this through to the end."
"Absolutely." Rarity agreed.
"Let's do this!" Rainbow said, pumping a hoof in the air.
Nearly everyone answered similarly. In fact, only Fluttershy abstained. "Flutters?" Applejack asked.
"Oh, well, yes I guess it is the right thing to do. I'm just worried is all."
"Why pony worry?" Guttrix asked.
"It's probably nothing..." Fluttershy whispered. "It's just, after everything that happened with the Tyrathca, and then the Nazis... I'm afraid something bad will happen here too."
"Well heck, we're all worried about that!" Pinkie said. "But if we don't finish this we'll never know what we might have found out."
"Yes, I know. We need to go ahead. But please, let's be very careful."
"Alright then. Let's finish up what we came here for." Herbert said.
Harmony flew up, up, and towards the crest of the mountains. The higher they flew, the more of the tower they could see, and soon other, shorter towers came into sight as well. These were arrayed in a wide circle around the central tower, and were connected to it and each other by narrow elevated walkways.
As they passed the mountain peaks, the entire center complex was laid bare to their view, and everyone gasped or whispered in awe.
"Wow..."
"Whoa..."
"Holy..."
"Dude..."
"Narrrrfffff...."
"Pinkie, what?" Twilight asked.
Pinkie shrugged. "I dunno. 'Narf' just seemed appropriate somehow."
The center was vast; a single interconnected maze of towers, domes, concave dishes, and arcane machinery, all made of the same blue crystal, as big as, if not bigger than, New York City. "Well..." Rarity said, "I do hope someone has a plan... Searching this entire area could take a lifetime."
"This is more than I expected, that's for sure." Nigel agreed. "Any thoughts on where to start?"
"The central tower seems appropriate."
"I dunno." Bert said. "What if there are defenses?"
Fluttershy huddled back. "I don't want to be shot at again."
"Maybe we should approach slowly, carefully. Any defense systems might not consider us a threat that way." Xix suggested.
"Good idea." Twilight agreed, "But first, let's circle around at a distance, see if we can maybe find a door."
This plan struck everyone as reasonable, and they began to slowly fly about the tower, searching for a way in. They wer two thirds of the way around when Belle spotted it; a large pair of double doors with a platform jutting out before them. They were more than two thousand feet up the tower, and the platform showed no signs of having any ground access, no stairs or lifts.
"That's a good sign for our safe approach though." Bert said. "It's obviously meant to receive visitors by airship."
"Right. So, let's give this a try... Remember, slow and steady..."
xx
Caution foremost in everyone's minds, the approach to the tower took over an hour. All through this time, Herbert stood ready to react in the event of an attack, though he had to admit to himself that anything a place like this attacked with would likely be unsurvivable. So it was with a great sigh of relief that he guided them the last few meters, and landed on the platform. He then looked from the doors to his crew and said "So who gets to ring the bell?"
"We'll all go together." Applejack said.
Walking side by side, the group approached the doors. The walk took longer than expected; the sheer size of the doors meant that they skewed one's sense of scale and made the platform seem smaller than it actually was until you were actually crossing it. When they finally arrived, looking up at the doors, Guttrix asked "Now what we do?"
"We knock!" Pinkie declared, and did just that.
For several moments there was silence, and Rarity was about to say 'It was a nice try Pinkie' when the doors slid open with a tremendous rumble. Inside, the tower was dark, foreboding, and then a series of lights switched on, revealing a wide hallway as tall as the doors.
"Um... Hello?" Twilight called out.
As they watched, a holographic image began to form in the middle of the great hall. It was more or less in the form of a human face, but gigantic, pale blue skinned, with dark liquid pools for eyes. It's features were those of a man unfathomably old. And as the image formed, it's lips moved. There was no sound, but each member of the group heard speaking in their own minds, "Welcome to Singularity. My name was Pazu, and for whatever much or little it is worth, I am very, very sorry for what has happened to you all..."
XXXX
This was not at all how Twilight had expected things to go. She had thought that the center would be abandoned, a system running on it's own, or perhaps a being of great power that would boast about what it had done. Instead of confrontation, though, she was now met with apology. And she wasn't sure what to say.
Luckily, the others weren't as tongue tied. "What do you mean sorry?" Bert asked.
"What do you mean your name 'was' Pazu?" Applejack added.
"You have many questions." The apparition said. "I will answer as best I can... First, I think, I should begin with some history. None of this will make sense to you without that context."
"Okay...." Twilight said, finding her voice. "Please."
And Pazu's tale began to unfold...
"I will not try to tell you my species' name for ourselves. None of you could pronounce it anyway. I can tell you that other beings have called us by many names: Guardians, Watchers, Preservers... The most pertinent for you is Firstborn, for that is what we were, the first sapient species in all the known multiverse. We were traveling the stars when your planets were naught but dust in solar nebulae..."
The Pazu image continued, "In all our explorations, we found nothing more priceless than other minds. But, all too often, sapience was fleeting; A new people would arise, show promise, and then be snuffed out by one catastrophe or another. So we decided to do something about it. Across the multiverse, we located dozens of planets well suited for survival, but not blessed with people of their own. On these worlds, we built facilities like this one. Each is automated, designed to scan the multiverse for species or cultures in danger of extinction, and bring representatives to those worlds to keep them safe..."
Belle said "So that's why you bought us here! And the Yilane and Lyrick too!"
"Yes." Pazu nodded. "I'm very sorry, but your home planets are gone."
"Okay, but what about us!?" Nigel demanded. "Our world is okay isn't it? And Eqqus as well?"
Pazu seemed to sigh. "Yes. Yes, your homes are unharmed. At least insofar as threats big enough to trigger singularity."
"Then why...?"
"Singularity was designed to be automated. That is why I am here; I am a virtual copy of the real Pazu, who lived and died long ago. I was made to maintain the systems. Singularity was built with the best and most durable technology our people could produce, with self-repair systems intended to keep it running for long ages. But, the third law will have it's way with everything, sooner or later. Singularity is, by your reckoning, two billion three hundred seventy two million years old... And it is beginning to malfunction. I have no direct connection to the control systems for the teleporters anymore, nor the logic core that chooses who and what to bring. I can still see what it's doing, but I have no control. From what I have been able to tell, it is... (here, the image actually looked embarrassed) ...it is miscalculating the immediacy of dangers: You humans, for example, were abducted because the system thought your were threatened by your planet Mercury's orbit changing in ways that would destabilize Earth's orbit."
"Damn." Reginald said. "I've heard about that, but it's like a one percent chance a billion years from now!"
"As I said, miscalculating the immediacy of the threats."
"Well, what did it think was going to happen to Eqqus?" Rainbow asked.
Pazu answered "Nothing specific... It seems simply to have decided that the presence of an active gate to Tartarus is too big of a risk to ignore."
"Well," Reginald said, "Let's get to the big question then: If you could teleport us from our worlds to this one, can you send us back?" Everyone looked at the image expectantly.
But they were to be disappointed. "I'm afraid not... Remember, Singularity was designed to save beings from dying worlds. No systems for sending the chosen places back was implemented. Now, with your help, to access the controls I can no longer command directly, we could move settlements from place to place on this world; For example, if the Sylphs and their allies would like to be moved safely away from Tyrathca territory, that can be done."
"We'll be glad to, if that's what your people want Belle." Twilight said.
"Getting away before the Tyrathca turn back is a good idea." Belle answered. To Pazu she asked "Could we arrange to be closer to where they are?"
"Easily. But I asume you have more questions first...?"
“I know I do.” Applejack said. “If this place has been bringing folks here for as long as you say, why isn't the whole planet cluttered up by now?”
Pazu replied “We designed Singularity to give a second chance. And we arranged the placement of useful materiel, rich veins of metals, magicite, extremely rich soils, in order to improve the new arrival's chances. But once they are here, they are on their own. And sadly few make it.”
Reginald asked “What about the time-scale? It seems incredible that this world's environment would stay stable for over two billion years!”
“It wouldn't naturally.” Pazu answered. “This is another of Singularity's functions.”
In a whispered voice, Fluttershy asked "I have a question... We've seen so much violence on this trip. The Tyrathca, and then the Nazis and whatever those other creatures were... Why would you save things filled with hate?"
"Because all beings carry the potential to change." Pazu answered. "My people's views on right and wrong were not all that different from yours; We would have condemned the actions of those you name as surely as you do. But to deny them the right to exist, when their children might do better... No."
"I guess that makes sense." Applejack said.
"Yes." Rarity agreed. "I only wish we might have been able to get word of what has happened to us back to our homes."
"There may yet be a way." Pazu said. "I was hesitant to mention it; the malfunctions Singularity is experiencing make it risky. But if it means this much to you..."
"It really does!" Twilight said.
"To all of us." Bert agreed. "What did you have in mind?"
Pazu explained, "As I said before, there is no way to send your towns back home. But, there is a lesser system which can send a small number of individuals back. It was designed in case a rescued group needed to retrieve something from their former homes, and can only send four at a time to a world. It also tags them for automatic retrieval after twenty four hours."
"So we could go home for one day?" Nigel asked.
"That's not bad. We could at least contact the Princesses." Twilight mused.
"If the risk does not deter you, come, I will show you how to activate the system." Pazu said. The image then turned and led the way through a labyrinth of halls, to a control center deep within the tower, where it showed them what to do.
"What kind of risks are we talking about here?" Twilight asked as the lesson ended.
"Oh, ending up on the wrong world, being vaporized, the usual teleportation risks. Of course, the risks are quite small, one in several million. And so long as you aren't killed outright by a glitch, you will still be returned here after twenty four hours."
"We need to get word to our peoples." Herbert said. "I'm in."
"What about us Twilight?" Pinkie asked. "Seven from Eqqus and it can only send four."
"I'll stay here." Fluttershy whispered.
"And I will remain with you." Rarity said.
Xix-xax said "If it sends us back to where we were taken from, then I would end up away from the other three, out where Shetland Crossing used to be... So it's best if I stay as well."
"Guess that settles it then." Applejack said. "Me, Twi, Dash, and Pinks."
"The rest of us can stay here, with Pazu's guidance we can go ahead and move Sylph Hollow and the Yilane and Lirick towns closer to Unity." Belle said. "But wait, what about you Guttrix? Don't you want to go home?"
"Guttrix home is Longstop. Guttrix stay here."
"Alright then." Twilight said. "Let's do this..."
XXXX
Having programmed the system according to Pazu's instructions, Twilight and Nigel each joined their friends on two of the many available platforms. "It should power up and transport us in thirty seconds." Nigel said.
"Good luck, all of you!" Rarity waved.
Twilight was curious what this would feel like. She certainly hoped the smaller transport wouldn't result in the blinding light and raging storms of the larger ones. And so it didn't: In a moment so fast that she couldn't quite place the exact instant it happened, the view before her changed from the inside of the tower to a sunlit woods. "Whoa!" Twilight yelped as she stumbled from the surprise of the transition. As Applejack and Pinkie helped Twilight back to her hooves, Rainbow flew up to get a better look from above the trees.
"Well, I guess it worked." Pinkie said.
"I wouldn't be so sure." Rainbow said, returning. "Come on to the edge of the trees, you need to see something."
The group followed Rainbow, who led them to a spot from which they could look out from the edge of the forest. The first thing they saw was, as expected, a circular scar in the landscape, clearly the place where the singularity machinery had taken a town. But, the next thing they saw was a surprise: All around the scar were humans. Humans, human vehicles, human scientific equipment.
"Oh no..." Twilight said.
"I'm guessing we got switched." Applejack suggested. "We're here, that must be where Fallow Meadows came from, and Mister Gumbal and the others with him must be in Equestria."
"Makes sense." Rainbow nodded. "So what do we do?"
Twilight pondered this question. "Well, I can see two options... The first is that we just stay here in the woods and hide until Singularity pulls us back. The other is, we go and say hello, try to let the humans in charge here know what's happened."
"That might be kinda dangerous Twi."
"I know, but-" Twilight's answer was cut off as a new voice demanded "I know I heard someone out here! Come out with your hands up!" The brush rustled and a soldier stepped into view, rifle at the ready. He stared at the quartet of ponies. "What the hell?"
Pinkie made the next move. She lunged forward, faster than seemed possible, got right in the soldier's face, and began to shout at him in a perfect impersonation of R. Lee Ermey:
"Now you listen to me maggot!! I am General Pinkiminus Pie, here with a crew that is testing a brand new top secret black-ops x-files microwave mind control weapon!!! For the next twenty two and a half minutes, it was cause you to perceive everyone you see in the form of a small, brightly colored equine!! And so help me God, son, if you are not perceiving me as a small, brightly colored equine, then you are a sissy boy pansy communist nazi terrorist with no future in this mare's army!! Now what do you see when you look at me!?!?"
"Sir! A small brightly colored equine sir!" The soldier frowned. "...Mare?" He passed out as Twilight cast a sleeping spell on him.
"Um, Pinkie... What the Hay was that!?" Applejack demanded.
"Oh, I saw it in one of the old human comic books Spike was reading last month." Pinkie explained. "The 'Just-Us League' or something."
Shaking her head, Twilight led them away from the sleeping soldier. Staying hidden, at least in the forest, was no longer an option; even if she could keep the man asleep for the entire day, his position ensured that someone would come searching. And so they slipped away, hoping to find a more secluded location from which to decide what to do.
The quartet of ponies walked for some time, not finding anything that would work for their purposes. As they were trying to quickly slip down a narrow concrete culvert, they were found again. The clicking of multiple rifles alerted them all to a team of soldiers that had crept in behind them. Looking at the men and their guns, all of which were aimed at the group, Twilight wasn't sure how to proceed.
Then, from behind the soldiers, a voice said "At ease! Guns down!" The soldiers complied, and a man in a black suit came to them through the massed guardsmen. He looked over the entire group, then knelt down before Twilight and said the last thing anypony present would have ever expected: "Twilight Sparkle, I presume?"
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"twilight sparkle i presume" wait...... what? Do they know of the show? In any case see ya next week
O.O oh my!!! this is epic!!! :D
can't wait for the next chapter :D
Mister Stanley?
16 years old, still funny.
Maybe they should've teleported in groups? The system must've decided to pick one place or the other to go.
I sense things are not as they seem. Here's where things get complicated.
Celestia got in contact with them?
I don't think the MLP show existed in this setting (at least none of the humans in Fallow Meadows recognized the ponies). Therefore, if this human knows Twilight Sparkle's name, he must have met actual ponies.
Whether they're on Earth or in Equestria, I suspect that the storms have somehow opened a way of direct travel between the two.
Great now we have a cliff hanger on a great spot. I think somehow Princess Celestia got in touch with humanity as is assisting them to find out what has happened to both towns. Now the hard part, waiting a week for answers.
*raises stop sign* Whoa whoa! Back up! What! How? Did something else happened while both Ponyville and Meadows got transported? The Singularity is having problems with its systems.
DAMN YOU CLIFFHANGER!!!!
Can't wait next chapter!
Oh dear... they didn't just get transported to a switched one, they found one where MLP:FiM exists.
What's this a crossover with?
6446943 Everything. (okay not entirely everything but there are quite a few different worlds mentioned in this.)
Hum...what.
6446834 My guess would be that Celestia made contact with the human world in search for their abducted ponies. Im not sure though.
All right MIB in the house!!
Well hello to you too agent smith!
I believe in moral nihilism.... So i dont see anything bad about the "bad guys". But i do hope they all band together someday to fight a threat
Does anyone know what Blueblood is doing right now, did he go back to Ponyville or is he dead off somewhere by himself?
>Plot twist
Oh god my detector malfunctioned and didn't tell me, frakking machinery!
>PIE
Ponies on Earth and not being dissected? Not what I usually see but a nice change of pace from other stories I read.
>Greentexting in fimfiction
My god I feel like a faggot from 4Chan.
Keep up the good work man.
*facehoof* Celestia's golden flank I smell sequel. Or prequel. Or sidequel. Somethingquel.
Interesting explanation. Though I think you mean 2nd law not 3rd. And I thought they didn't know of MLP.
... fucking Mercury.
Man in a black suit? Agent K?
Well, this is an interesting little wrinkle. Which, of course, makes it the best place to end for the week....gah.
So two main theories I've got are that either the Princesses have taken to scouring the multiverse to find Ponyville, like others have mentioned, and has either opened a gate from Equus to Earth or has at least contacted Earth....or those portals in Singularity are malfunctioning more than Pazu realizes and either the ponies got shot forward to after the next time a group gets sent to Earth, or the next group gets shot back to before the ponies show up. Yay time-space paradox.
thought you were threatened
And my guess on the humans knowing who she is... timy-whimy spacy-whacy. That is all.
This seems alot like a reverse Halo device, where its meant to save sentient life rather than wipe it out. Of course the malfunction bit makes me wonder how smart they are to trust the AI which is part of that malfunctioning system. Is it being honest with them, did it perhaps bring these different groups here in hopes one would destroy it allowing it to end its function, etc.
Life is like an apple. It starts high in the tree, then splatters on the ground.
Not sure what that had to do with the story, I just felt that I had to say it.
"Narrrrfffff...."
What do you want to do tonight Brain?
That had me rolling!
Nah. Could've used a "poit". Definitely a "poit".
Oooooh, this is interesting... hmm...
Awesome job on this chapter, well done!
This signularity business is awesome, I love it! Nice job again!
Keep it up!
6447541
I believe that the author stated at one point there would be a sequel. That was months ago and could have changed by now. The question is where would the story go?
alright, with that chapter ending in that fashion, it is only natural to have this reaction.
or the classic JAWDROP.
Congrats that ending was possibly the last thing I expected to happen.
Also
Somehow I can't seem to think of a good counter argument to that.
6447460 He's in a jail cell back in Unity, possibly under the delusion that he's in the lap of luxury.
6448814
Naaah, too short. "Troz!" has potential, though.
Whew! Just caught up with the story so far. I'm sure enjoying it, especially the recent adventure chapters.
Its interesting that this is unicorn Twilight. If she gets her own planet, I wonder... Perhaps the humans that end up in Equestria can bring back to her some royal unicorn jelly to cause the transformation (We know that inventing new magic does not cause it so much as the royal unicorn jelly. Well. I'd better not tell you where the royal jelly's made. Sweet royal jelly.)
Fluttershy is a dud. Not useful at all so far other than as a stand-in medic. Rarity? Meh weak shields. Oddly its Pinkie thats pulling her weight.
So I didnt expect the tripod to be stripped for nuclear fuel by Nazis. Interesting twist-- the kind of chain of events that seems to actually happen in life.
The machine at the middle. You know, I'd expect the AI to have a sort of royal court hanging around it. You could chat with it for years and not learn a billionth of what it had to discuss. It seemed downright cooperative and I'd expect it would keep getting visitors from all species who happened to locate it until they went extinct eventually.
Speaking of extinct. Some species would be too successful and flood the whole planet. Like humans.
And how do we reconcile the hinted at contact betwixt humans and other races of legend? Temporary teleportation trips?
Those people that came from Arizona. They have yet to be important to the story at all. Other humans-- So the machine brings humans if it thinks they are in danger as a species... over and over? It doesnt say "LOL oh I have some of those ones already and they're still around"
This story reminds me of Larry Niven's ringworld idea.
What about Canterot High, Crystal Prep Academy, and the surrounding town getting sent to Unity's general area? (And if possible, Inkopolis and Octo Valley?)
6448814
Every time I see you around, I get a little bit pissed off that you aren't writing anymore.
The Eldritch beings in the nuked city remind me of the conical creatures from The Shadow Out of Time.
That's a suspiciously convenient period of time.
I just found this story yesterday, and I am hooked, can't wait for the next update!!!!
Spooks DID NOT shoot them full of holes? Whqt Earth is this?
6447814 oh god I didn't even consider the men in black being brought into this, that would be so awesome
What the...?! How did that guy know who Twi was?
Pinkie doing that General impersonation was comedy gold LMAO!
I expected that something would go wrong with the teleporter but I seriously didn't see that last part coming.
Now you listen to me maggot!! I am General Pinkiminus Pie, here with a crew that is testing a brand new top secret black-ops x-files microwave mind control weapon!!! For the next twenty two and a half minutes, it was cause you to perceive everyone you see in the form of a small, brightly colored equine!! And so help me God, son, if you are not perceiving me as a small, brightly colored equine, then you are a sissy boy pansy communist nazi terrorist with no future in this mare's army!! Now what do you see when you look at me!?!?" OMG OMG OMG
IF YOU DO NOT PERCEIVE ME AS WILL SMITH WEARING A TUTU DRINKING TEA WITH AGENT K YOU ARE A GLOZMODIAN PUCK EATING FLOBBERWORM!!
Pinkie, don't ever change.
It was probably built specifically for them. Do they really think that an entity capable of bringing entire cities through space intact wouldn't have been watching them this entire time?
Oh hey, I was wondering where the Wizard ended up after he flew off without Dorothy...
That...
That was...
Pinkie, that was beautiful!
There are no words for just how wonderfully beautiful that was! I thought I'd die laughing imagining that soldier's face!
Agent K? The MiB works quick.
)
Another acceptable option would have been the Addictive Science MiB. (I highly recommend reading it from the beginning as it is hilarious, over the top, often somewhat nonsensical, mad science fun.
Celia is best mad scientist.
Sorry Twi.