Chapter 6: The Colder Tones (Part 1 of 4)
Stillness...
Darkness...
Time Elapsing...
My sleep was dreamless, as I had worried it might be. No sooner had I made the decision to fall asleep then I went into a state of dormancy, my mind automatically shutting off all major functions and going into some sort of maintenance cycle. It was without motion, without any ability to stimulate my mind, but I wasn’t bored by it at all: I couldn’t have been, as all higher functionalities, such as personality and emotion, seemed to shut off automatically, as if they’d all somehow recalled how sleep should work.
During this time, I was only vaguely aware of the passage of time, but was still completely aware of my surroundings: the silence of the darkened room, the weak rays of light which made their way in through the open window, the light breeze wafting in and flowing gently over my false flesh, the distant sound of the wind against the stiff grass on the cold ground far below... In the distance, I heard some creature howl, a reminder that even in the dark of night the world remains alive.
Soon after most of my old brain functions had gone to sleep, new ones I’d been unable to identify before came alive. The maintenance mechanisms of the mammalian brain played out in front of me, striking the various facets of my personality, testing, repairing, relaxing, draining the accumulated mess of energy clinging to each little synapse. And the processing of the day’s experiences, exquisitely adding new memories to my long term storage, reconciling the new points of data into the old. Oh that glorious volume of information I had absorbed from the multitude of books, the knowledge so sweet as it became mine and added itself to my own intrinsic internal power. T’would have been orgasmic, would that I were able to experience such pleasures in that half-dormant state.
It occurred to what little mind I had that I could actually perform tweaks to the process and the things it was working on, making this the best time to optimize mind functions. I spawned new algorithms to reorganize the structure, piece by piece, concept by concept, getting even the smallest optimization out of something as simple as making the more used passages shorter and more robust. With the whole thing turned off, it was much easier to understand and meddle with its base structure. There were a few vulnerabilities I'd been concerned about before which I could now work out, those emotions and instincts I'd cobbled together and put through a bypass earlier were isolated off into their own little set of interconnected systems, I found a way to store long-term memories in 73% of the space I'd been using, and built in routines to perform basic calculations at approximately 37.6 times the previous speed. As I was doing this, I made note of just how much fear seemed to be developed compared to the other emotions, especially in my memories of magic. I wondered what had been going on in my life before this had happened.
I also speculated at this point that I must no longer have a subconscious mind, as all of my mental functions are now directly under my control, making it all technically conscious, aside from one structure.
It was a self contained mass of energy from which my will seemed to be derived: clearly central to my ability to use magic. Other than the facts which were obvious on the surface, it was almost a black box: I could see the many complex structures, arranged in an organic lattice like the rest of the parts I’d begun with, and I could see what it was doing but could not understand its full meaning, because it utilized concepts which were simply beyond my understanding of reality.
Part of me wondered if this might be what had been referred to as a “soul”. If it was, then I worried it might be damaged: there were clearly places which were made to interface with something, but those pieces simply were not there. I thought perhaps my emotions should be linked to it in some way, but if such a structure existed, it was not there any more. More troubling: I could not find a source for the energy it expended, though it gave off energy every time I acted. Even an act as simple as observing it in my sleep drew power from it, and the law of conservation of Energy states that that energy had to be coming from somewhere.
I hadn’t fully observed it the previous night when I was rebuilding, but I also recalled that it had had a slightly stronger energy signature. I had no way of knowing if this would be a problem or not at this time. I wrote in a set of processes around it which would monitor it for me, giving them a set of calculations to understand the rate at which it was fading. It was the most that I could do for now.
I spent the next hour or so just taking stock of the new information I'd pulled from Twilight's library. Now that it was all scanned into my memory, I could peruse the contents of those tomes at my leisure, unbound by the physical constraints of a book. It was going to take a long time to boil this stuff down to a cleanly working knowledge, but that was what subroutines are for. In the meantime, it was interesting to see how much of it seemed familiar, Starswirl, The Hearth’s Warming, The Crystal Empire, Griffonstone, and how much wasn't, the First and Second Fimbulwinter, the Caribou Kingdom, Starswirl’s actual treatise on magic (which, I must say, were only really impressive for the time they were written, and are now mostly obsolete, much like the writings of Copernicus), the war with the Dragons... As an alien, it should have all been new to me, but for some reason it was all clicking like, “yeah, that's what this planet is like.”
I was looking over a few novels when I felt a strong presence rolling in outside. I didn't bother to wake up, instead just moving the spellwork which gave me perception outside the window and perceiving what was below. A dark chariot had pulled up, and a midnight blue Alicorn about a head taller than Twilight was walking into the castle. A part of my mind told me that she was clearly both an authority figure, she was more powerful than Twilight in more ways than one, that she had the build and posture of both an experienced swordspony and combat mage, and that she was one of the most beautiful horses I'd ever seen and I really wanted to brush her mane. Ignoring the last fact, I took stock of the three stallions who accompanied her: one was a cloaked unicorn who seemed comfortingly familiar, the other two were armored guards of a Pegasus-like race I'd yet to come across, but my readings told me were “thestrals”. It occurred to me that I should look downstairs, but I couldn't move my window of perception outside of my own line of sight due to the magical nature of the castle’s walls. I pulled it back in and began the process of waking up, drawing the various routines to a close and regrounding myself in external reality.
I opened my eyes.
The whole experience of “sleeping” had been wonderfully surreal, and I was tempted to play with it more, but something told me I should wait on that and go see why Princess Luna had flown down from Canterlot with a friend at a time when she'd normally be in bed.
As I slid out of the bed to recalibrate my body and readjust to physical movement, I thought over what had just happened. I estimated I'd been asleep for maybe... Six hours? The sun had come up, I'd noticed when it had come through the window, but it no longer affected my ability to sleep in, because my eyes weren't real.
On the positive side of things, it was virtually impossible for someone to sneak up on me while I was sleeping, as it had no effect on my ability to detect movement or magic. I now knew I could improve myself while asleep, as well as work magic externally. With enough time and knowledge I might even be able to farsee and cast while asleep, meaning I would be able to utilize a full host of abilities even during regular maintenance cycles. The regular weaknesses that the need to sleep brings sentient beings had been almost totally negated.
On the negative side, no more dreaming, which meant no more Dream Energy. I wasn't sure if the lack of them would eventually overwhelm my mind and make me go insane, but I'd have to deal with that when it came up. On top of that, there was the matter of the broken structure I'd been examining: if it truly was my soul, and souls truly were required for Magical Will to be exerted, then as a being of pure magic I was in danger. I'd left some processes to monitor the structure, but until they had conclusive results, there was little that could be done.
Satisfied with the state of my physical body, I headed towards the door just in time to hear a set of metal-clad hooves walking up on the other side. I reached out with a hoof and opened it, causing one of the thestral stallions to jump back slightly with a little whinny, his hoof halfway raised to knock.
He straightened up fast though. “Ma’am. Is your name Meta?” he glanced awkwardly at my wings and horn.
“Yes, that's my name. Can I help you?”
“Your presence has been requested in the meeting room.”
“May I ask what for?”
"Just a meeting with the princess. Standard procedure."
“Um... Alright.” I stepped out into the hallway, letting the door shut behind me on its own as he lead me down the hall. The fact that a princess had come from Canterlot implied something big was going on. The fact that I was being lead to a meeting with her and given only vague details implied that there had been a change I wasn't aware of. Twilight had mentioned that Luna would be here, but she hadn't sounded like it would be so... Militaristic... I decided to test the air.
“Might I ask what your name is, sir?”
Silence. After a few moments of hesitation, he answered, short, as if I’d been explicitly placed on a need to know basis, “Hammer.”
He knew what I was. I knew he knew what I was. His motions, his tone, his hesitations, he had been briefed that I was an alien of unknown power, and that this mission would clearly involve a potential altercation with me. I tried to look deeper into his mindstate for more information, but I found white noise: it was as if he was actively working to block my analysis of it. It would stand to reason that this was the result of training against mind-based attacks.
In that moment, I could have escaped. It would have been easy to just phase through a wall, take off through the clouds, get as far away from here as possible. But what then? Twilight was my only real friend on this planet, and probably my best hope at figuring out what was going on. And what if they took me fleeing as a form of defection? Would I be hunted? Was I willing to take the chance? What if there was no hostility here, and Luna was here to help? I couldn't possibly trust this “knowledge” I'd come into this world with about how strange this seemed.
I had no real options, only one course of action. Left without even an emotion or activity to go off of, I followed the Thestral Guard to an unknown liaison...
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*Le me about to close fimfic, when suddenly*
"New chapter posted: 6 seconds ago"
Yay!
And nothing yet to show that Luna isn’t about to make the biggest enemy pony kind has ever known
Oh! This chapter was such a tease! If cutting them into pieces helps you write, cool, but I am going to be going mental reading such short slices at a time!
8577978
8577939
Sorry. I'd rather post them as big chapters myself, but I just couldn't take the size of this chapter with the number of times I've had to put it down and do other things.
I'm going to try and get the next 2 3rds out very fast.
8577958
Something to note: there are three ponies in this story who are treated as "Rational". They are all princesses.
8577996
Oh man, but there are four princesses! \_(ʘ_ʘ)_/
LunaaaaaaaaaaaAAAA!
42.
This is from the previous chapter, but I think this is a very important point. Luna is entertaining the idea that Meta is friendly on a conscious level. And indeed, considering Meta has no idea what's going on in that black box 'soul' structure...
We shall see, we shall see. I look forward to more.
8578026
She kind of does. I mean, enough to know what it could and couldn't be. Like, she knows it's not there to take her over suddenly... I'm actually revising the part where she tells Luna about that right now...
8578000
Yeah, and one of them is all lovey dovey emotional.
8578006
Not for long.
Hmm...
On the one hand, I fear that Luna will be making a terrible mistake. On the other, Meta's nighttime self-optimizing justifies the princess's concern. What happens when a rational optimizer decides the benefits of evil outweigh those of the alternatives?
In any case, it's sure to be an interesting conversation.
*rolls up newspaper*
NO!!! Bad Author, BAD!
Oh boy, I hope things'll get spicy... But only a little bit.
8578075
Y? If anything they'll make good target practice for Meta if they are anything like some other stories about Caribou. I kid, it would be kinda hard to fit those guys in a teen rated story.
Ok, I have to say that I really love what you have done with this story. Its so refreshing to see a story that doesn't drown in the Generic HIE nonsense the most HIE stories tend to follow. So congratulations, your right up there with. "Drawn With the Night by Dan s Comments", "A Ghost Story by Elemist", and "What I've Become by Knight Breeze".
It worries me greatly however, that you intend to make this a Token style crossover story. In may experience this type of cross over always kills the story. Although initially the cross over characters are introduced as minor characters, they inevitably begin over powering the main characters in terms of plot and important to the story. Case in point. "The Dragon King of Equestria by Ausbrony" Starts out quite well as a stand alone story. The Author introduces Token based cross over characters, and for a while all is well. However, as the story progresses the cross over characters begin making the main character look more and more pointless, and very much incompetent in the story. Sadly in my opinion, as of his latest chapter, his story has "jumped the Shark". Which is sad because it was a very good story, with a unique OC, that was becoming likable.
If crossovers add quality to your story, please use it. If it adds no value to the plot or story line, I seriously advise you to reconsider.
The Monk
8578072
Fair enough. We can only hope the trend of absorbing the tenets of the show will win out.
It sounds almost like trying to explain why Humans are the way they are. It's actually pretty interesting.
Last chapter = heavy breathing.
8578072
8578197
The conversation is like, 4,000 words of them discussing the nature of existence. It's the reason this chapter is taking so long.
8578075
Don't worry,they don't show up until the sequel, where she befriends Dain and helps him annihilate the Reindeer and Hippogriffs, because doing so is rational.
8578088
The end of this chapter is making me consider adding a "Gore" tag. Is this what you refer to as "Spicy"?
8578188
And yet, if you'd been reading my blog, you'll know that she talks to their ambassador in the sequel.
8578194
Oh boy, a long comment!
Good to hear that: that was the point of this story! :3
Hmm, I should look back at those...
I don't. This story ends with her creating a token. The sequel will be about interplanar travel, and be a deconstruction of the Displaced Multiverse as a whole. That is, unless I get bored with Meta and decide to kill her off...
Never read it.
Just so you know, I've already talked this to death in the comments on the early chapters and in a blog post about it. I don't think there's much more to discuss on the matter...
8578260
Well then they can't be anything like the ones in the other stories. Exactly the point I was trying to make.
Omg..... So much logical thinking. I love it. I really do.
Keep this work of art safe. For you art the author of mine dreams
Someone needs to be retrained I think, she is exactly the person who needs to know. That pony should be glad she rationalised her brain because human fear responce could easily have gotten her to panick and attack him to escape.
8578188
Their implementation in those other stories is the very reason they give me such a knee-jerk reaction. It's one of the few fanbase-born cliches that I've come to outright despise. It's bad enough to make me stop reading a story outright. I've never seen a GOOD implementation of them.
8578260
she befriends? How is a kingdom an individual? And honestly I can't tell if you're being serious or not with the rest of that reply...
This is going to end in tears. I can feel it. It's got me all nervicited.
It's funny, I usually don't read Displaced fics because of how cliche they are, but this deconstruction is amazing. I think the reason why it's so amazing is because I can tell it's born out of your resentment for what usually amounts to a waste of a perfectly good premise.
8578315
8578533
They are a culture which holds male supremacy, female servitude, and the right to rape as central tenants,and they are hostile against other nations, especially Equestria. They get treated a bit like a Middle Eastern power that "can't be negotiated with". And just to assuage your concerns, I can't stomach Fall of Equestria stories, and wouldn't have thought to include them if Alara J Rogers hadn't had Discord deal with them in what turned out to be a VERY interesting chapter of Not The Hero. They'll be portrayed as the mad-people that she has to learn to live with.
8578454
8578965
Glad to hear you're both liking that: I write the stories I want to see written, and I wanted a hyper-logical take on Displaced, where there were serious conflicts which went beyond physical combat. :3
8578471
Good point. Luna is smarter than that, and Meta would realize the situation regardless. I'll go back and change it to something like "Just a meeting with the princess. Standard procedure."
8578535
My spoilers for future chapters are often the kind which are hard to truly interpret until much later, when it happens ad you're like "ooohhh, THAT'S what she meant!"
8578965
Heh, funny you should say that: guess who's crying by the end of the next update.
8579014
I think I'd still be happier if the Caribou were just not present at all.
8579029
They're like, one nation among doezens, in a story where that's not the only focus. Trust me, if you like what's going on here, the sequel does it bigger, and you'll enjoy it no matter what she deals with.
8579060
As I mentioned in a reply to NuclearRage. Every time. EVERY. TIME. I have seen the Caribou used in a fanfiction it has left a rancid taste in my mouth. No benefit has ever come to any story on this site from using the Caribou. I'm not even willing to give it them a chance anymore.
8579075
Even Not The Hero? Because I found Discord's one-man-war to get the element of cruelty back from Dain to be riveting, even in the context of Anon being the far more dangerous and twisted villain.
In any case, it's actually a very minor plot point that only really comes up for the sake of philosophical discussion in the face of political realities. They're really not delved into in the way you're probably thinking...
8579090
That one I cannot say I have read. Although after looking at the trigger warnings and the fact you mention "Anon", I won't be reading it anyhow.
8579098
...Ok... Now I KNOW that I need to get you to read it, because the fact that you like this story and dislike Anon tells me that you are the type of person that Not The Hero is meant to resonate with.
- MLP: FiM
- Dark
- Adventure
- Drama
In all his existence, Discord has never faced an enemy as dangerous as this.My friend, you have found the cool part of FiMFiction, where we demand answers from the clichés of the standard MLP fanfic. Rejoice.
8579130
Yeah. I had looked it up after you mentioned it. It is those triggers that I really don't care for. Brainwashing and rape are two things I am more than happy to pass on. I also loath the use of "Anon/Anonymous" as a character. Don't care if they're the protagonist or Antagonist. If I see "Anon" mentioned, I'm not reading it.
Am I judging a book by it's cover, as it were? Yes, but I am more than happy to live with that.
8579130
Quick question, how do you embed a story's cover page into your comment like that?
8579014
For the sake of fun, I'm going to guess Luna. It seems like the counterintuitive choice.
I have a couple of questions about that cocaine bit but it doesn't seem to be relevant to the story so I'll just leave it be. Anyway I really hope Luna doesn't just up and antagonize Meta right out the gate. That wouldn't help anyone.
Now it is getting interesting.
What defines our 'humanity' is a mixture of 'choice' and 'emotion' stirred in with 'survivalist logic'. Makes me wonder if Luna had realized the time bomb Meta actually is, due to emotional repression at a fundamental level - stressing the definitely human soul further by hyper-compressing the emotions, instead of having a safety-valve method to deal with it.
I cannot wait to read more of your hand, RockstarRaccoon!
8579567
The "embed" tag. Use the button with the video-file icon, which is a very misleading image.
8579618
Well, I DO say that people should never assume that the expected will happen in this story, and that's about as unexpected as Rarity vomiting at the end of the chapter...
8579764
I'm thinking of asking Chessie what she would call the pony version of cocaine in Starlight Over Detrot, and retconning it to that. Ask away though.
Also, Luna is best princess, so she knows what she's doing.
8580696
She brought a fucking claymore made of anti-magic crystal with her. What do you think?
8580815
Thanks. I've been wondering about that for a while now.
8580834
You're throwing out quite a few concepts which will become relevant over the course of Act 2.
8580980
I wasn't even intending to do such a thing! 
oh come on!
But seriously? Keep up the good work. Want me to edit my previous comment, or delete it?
Edit: I deleted the comment, to have other readers wondering what was that all about. But seriously, that chapter made me think of all of that.
8580696
I like you. This is an interesting way of seeing it.
8580985
There's no reason to delete such a comment, it's not like you guessed the actual plot, just what it discussed...
8581360
...Um, Sorry for deleting the comment?
I believe I'll use PM when thinking of potentially plotty thoughts that can be risky due to spoileriffic potential until approved for public view by the author. What do you say?
8581280
Thanks for the compliment, man.
But seriously though, repressing one's emotions never leads anywhere good. I've seen such things happen before...
8582120
Honestly, this story is plenty insane with or without the vague spoilers. Have you not noticed that I keep dropping hints about future events? Like that Meta is a Shoggoth? There have been studies that show that minor spoilers don't actually decrease the enjoyment of a well delivered story. I don't care about you guessing at minor details in the comments, because I've already told several chat rooms and the Displaced group forum most of what happens next...
8582120
And she's not repressing her emotions, she's choosing not to have her actions and thoughts directly affected by them.
8582142
Well, I'm going with 'really mad-genious' instead of insane - because the work itself is really well-done. Like the monster once it received lightning and raises from the slab is a job well done.
And yet... the fact that the 'emotion: fear' has in fact increased in size leads to think that Meta's only accumulating pressure within her 'emotion quarters' at the expense of her soul's fire. But that's just my thought in the matter.
8582177
I put your comment back.
It's interesting that you reference Modern Promethius / Frankenstein, as that was something I was thinking about with Meta, especially the whole "engineered perfection" and "without a soul" aspect. I should add that to the 2-page long description...
And no, she's not saying it's getting bigger, she's saying it's the most developed of all her emotions. In chapter 9, we learn that Marilyn Susanna was driven by paranoia.