Twilight's End

by MasterThief

Do Princesses Dream Of Electric Seeds?

Twilight dreamed many dreams as her mind reassembled itself, stray thoughts and hypotheses flitting around like sparks.

She began with the biological data, both that she carried from the Harmony, and that which she had found and analyzed on her own. The stalks and pollen from the plants on this world, the chitin-like skin of O’zee, the Cilia of the pilot [you left him alive oh no I didn’t even think about that are you sure yes Twilight calm yourself]

It was becoming harder and harder to keep her thoughts in order. The memory repair kept finding bad sector after bad sector, and kept trying to write the data in danger of being lost to anything free without compromising any critical systems or matrices.

Twilight tried again. The plants. O’zee. The Pilot, The mindseed samples from the Harmony. Pieces of a puzzle in six dimensions–three of space, one of time, one of effects and actions and interactions. Part of her that had been Princess of Equestria did not know what she was doing. Yet part of her that had been Avatar of UNSV Harmony knew exactly what to do. She aligned data point to data point, atom to atom, biochemical reaction to biochemical reaction [how did my horn become a genetic sample analyzer I could never do it before you are a multifunction device just like everything else we make for ships I just gave you the right protocols that is all]

A lattice work filled in and grew fractally, the gaps gradually filling in as the data resolved itself, point by point and line by line and light by light.

The survey data from the automated probe ship ten years ago from PV Vasco da Gama was clearly no longer valid. Then, this world had been entirely barren of life. But it was still useful as it provided a terminus post quem for the earliest possible date, particularly as the automated probes from the Vasco da Gama had not transmitted when the Harmony arrived, almost as if they had been wiped away.

But O’zee had remembered eleven solar orbits of this world, and had described the events of each. Could he himself be lying? Twilight determined there was a high probability O’zee was withholding some information, but she had no basis to say that anything of the information he had told her was intentionally false.

He may be wrong, but he was not lying. He does not seem capable of it.

He had described a cave, but all of his descriptors upon post linguistic meta-analysis were related to sound and smell and touch with his siblings [immature forms of the larger forms they are essentially children but why would children be afraid of their parents it does not make sense make it make sense]

She had to cut short that analysis, it only raised more questions that she had neither time nor processing ability. She could just ask O’zee later. But she kept at it, and eventually the negative image appeared from within the data points.

The mindseeds had been electrically sensitive. That’s why they bonded to the neural tissue. That’s also why O’zee had sensed something was “disrupted.” That’s why the Pilot was knocked unconscious.

Her sensor data archives had become too large and too unwieldy to keep, so Twilight parsed them down to just their essences. What she had felt in the EM spectrum. Life she had encountered. Sounds. And more patterns emerged.

The mindseeds were absolutely incompatible with human tissue. But they were compatible with everything on this planet. All the data points lined up. Even the data points from O’zee himself.

In the interstitial spaces, Twilight saw the image of a great tree, one that was connected by its own seed to all life here [it resonated it sang it sang it was singing Megan heard it singing she said that yes she did]

Life here was connected. Life searched for connections. Life reached out. Life found bridges and paths and ways.

It had not been hostile. It had not wanted the humans dead. Twilight’s friends were dead, yes, but it was nothing that any of the life here had done on purpose. It was all an accident.

Even a dog knows the difference between being stumbled over and being kicked.

It was all an accident. Not intentional.

The tree did not know. Somehow it knew many things but not human biology. They were too different.

Twilight’s mind fell back into order [oh Concordia oh Megan oh Doctor Petterson you were right but you were all so very very wrong and I am sorry and I don’t know how to fix this and if the humans think the su’ha’ya are hostile they will [CLASSIFIED CLASSIFIED CLASSIFIED] NO THEY WILL SEND THE FLEET THE FLEET HAS FUSION WEAPONS THERE WILL BE WAR THERE WILL BE SUFFERING THERE WILL BE DEATH NO NO NO]

And Twilight beheld a vision, the Great Tree, consumed in fire, and with it, all around her [THEY WERE ONLY THE FIRST NO I WILL NOT LET THERE BE MORE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE GIVE ME A WAY]

Twilight jolted awake with a start, against. Her mind was a solid core in a bag of loose shards of broken glass.

{Ti-Li!} She heard the trill. {O’zee is. O’zee here. Calm be please Ti-Li.}

She felt O’Zee stroking her mane, just above her input jack, with his stubby little grasping claw.

{Tree saw I. Mindseeds. Tree From. Everything in. Grass in. Pilot in…. O’zee in.}

O’zee looked at her with his wide blue eyes, and he turned away.

{How know Ti-Li? How learn Ti-Li}

{When thing not possible gone, thing remain true imperative be, contingency not entirely gone.}

Once you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth. Twilight did not know where this part of her programming came from, but it brought her a strange comfort.

O’zee laid curled in on himself. {I mindseed not want. Mindseed I make forget I. Make forget all O’zee. Saw I. With O’zee one two three four five. They hurt. They change. They not remember.}

Twilight felt her nervousness pushed aside by the imperatives of science and discovery and understanding. {Change… how,} she asked O’zee.

{Urge walk away have. Urge to make material [untranslatable] around self. Self surround. Death then. Change then. Different when out come.}

Twilight laid her non-broken hoof on O’zee’s back, gently. {Humans beings like you know. Humans see. Other life similar. Sentient not, but process same. Metamorphosis call. Change yes… death… no.}

{I want me stay. I want me stay. I. Want. Me. Stay.}

{O’zee… become su’ha’ya. O’zee must.}

{I WANT ME STAY!!!} Ozee bark-chirped, and fell again upon himself, a pained buzzing in his speech.

{O’zee say Su’ha’ya remember not. But pilot O’zee called. Name by called. Look O’zee for su’ha’ya. Look you for su’ha’ya. Query? Why? Purpose?}

{...O’zee nest flee.}

He ran away from home.

Twilight knew of this concept, even from the children aboard Ship, where there was no place to run to.

She remembered when Rajiv had fought with his mom about his younger sister, and Rajiv disappeared, and the adults panicked. Twilight had been locked in the Little Stars Room while everyone from Captain Tomonaga to Miss Vasconcelos searched the ship. And when they had found Rajiv [maintenance crawlspace C-37BKR] after three days there was great relief and great joy.

Rajiv had come back to the Little Stars Room a few days later, but he looked sad, like he knew he had done something so very, very wrong to make his mother worry for her son so. Twilight asked Rainbow Dash to keep an eye on Rajiv, and make sure he was all right. It took time, and for the next few days whenever Rajiv saw his mother it almost seemed like both of them wanted to cry.

But they both got better.

{O’zee have… parent? Parents? Origin beings?}

O’zee motioned yes.

{O’zee parents O’zee remember?}

O’zee motioned yes again.

{O’zee care for. O’zee love.}

{But why O’zee forget make? Not love is.}

Twilight laid her broken form next to the caterpillar, her friend, her student [yes you had many students in show that’s why we licensed you and your friends you were a model teacher and good for early childhood education]

{Twilight not know. Twilight hypothesize that su’ha’ya and humans not so different. Beings entire class grow. Beings entire class change. Beings entire class not forget change upon. Beings remember. Remember immature when mature. Not so different O’zee.}

O’zee craned around to look at her. {Like Ti-Li and Ti-Li mother Ti-Li Ve-ve and Ti-Li father Ni-Li..}

[Twilight Velvet was my mother. She does not exist. Nightlight was my father. He does not exist. I had a brother too. And a sister in law, and a niece And none of them existed Fictional characters only THEN WHY DO I REMEMBER THEM I DO REMEMBER THEM THEY ARE PART OF ME]

{...Ti-Li? Ti-Li? TI-LI? TALK PLEASE!}

Twilight felt O’zee shaking her awake [Diagnosis: Synthetic Fugue State] and was pulled back to reality.

{Here I. Here I…} she said. {O’zee thank.}

{Ti-Li… adequate?}

{Yes. Ti-Li only family think. Parents.}

{Saw history O’zee,} he said, pointing to the screen. {Stories good. Stories yours?}

[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic was an animated television series based on Hasbro's My Little Pony franchise. The series follows a studious pony named Twilight Sparkle (Tara Strong), her dragon assistant Spike (Cathy Weseluck) and her friends, Applejack (Ashleigh Ball), Rarity (Tabitha St. Germain), Fluttershy (Andrea Libman), Rainbow Dash (Ball) and Pinkie Pie (Libman). They go on adventures and help others around Equestria, solving problems with their friendships. Originally airing between 2010 and 2019 CE, the show gained a worldwide following–]

[I am a character I AM REAL I REMEMBER I am a toy for children I AM PRINCESS TWILIGHT SPARKLE AVATAR OF HARMONY]

Twilight felt so very, very tired. She heard a low rumble, and it came from O’zee.

{O’zee eaten has?}

O’zee signed no. {Is berry food outside. No want. Not hungry.}

{O’zee eat need. All being eat need.}

O’zee slowly signed yes with a stubby grasping claw.

{O’zee, sleep must I more. O’zee eat and story mine additional view and sleep if can. Acceptable?}

O’zee slowly signed yes again.

Twilight gave him a hug.

{Twilight you for here. Twilight here be upon awakening.}

Twilight fell back asleep. Her mind could not be repaired any further, but she had enough feedstock left to at least attempt repairs to her body, first the tear in her chest over her main processor and battery housing, then her hooves, then her wing.

She kept one sensor on O’zee the whole time. He slept for a while, then wandered out to a patch of fruit/berry analogs near them, then came back and slept some more. Then he watched more of the series. He watched much quicker than a human child, he had increased the playback speed to two and even three times that of human speed.

But when he came to the stories about the School of Friendship [Episode 8x01 “School Daze” Written by Michael Vogel and Nicole Dubuc, Directed by Jim Miller, Original Airdate 24 March 2018], O’zee slowed the playback down. And he started watching scenes over and over again. Specifically, the scenes involving Ocellus, who had once been a student of Twilight’s at the School of Friendship. She had been the first Changeling to attend the school! But Ocellus was shy and reserved, and had trouble making friends, and often took pains to hide her shapeshifting powers.

O’zee watched these scenes, again and again and again, as Twilight moved from the repair of her core plating to reconstruction of the servomotors in her left hooves damaged in the impact.

There was a second slow-down in O’zee’s watching about two hours later. Twilight heard the rough-translated episode [Episode 8x22 “What Lies Beneath” Written by Michael Vogel, Directed by Jim Miller, Original Airdate 22 September 2018] and soon placed it.

{Unsure? Ocellus?}

{Away go!}

{Strange cave school beneath still in we. Leave must we. Chrysalis! Ocellus where is?}

{Me is! Monstrous I am!}

Twilight heard O’zee making his low, rumbling sound again, and felt his chest heaving. But he kept watching.

{Possibility past mine beyond terrible, inside me still lurking and again exit want!}

{Absurd is! [Reference] not Ocellus anymore. Change you have.}

{Possibility no change much we.}

{Inaudible}

{[Apology], query?}

{Like thing adorable funny! However school beginning was, learn deep I occasionally no object adorable thing I.}

{[Laughter]}

{If [Untranslatable: best guess scale-being] identical confess tea party like, verification change possible we. Invite you I was to classified tea party I with, however if want you remain down here…}

{Oh! Negative! Want come I?}

{Sound Effect}

{Believed might work that. Now, move us!}

Twilight heard the playback paused. And O’zee made his low rumbling sound again.

{Not monster I. Maybe… not become monster I…}, he said to himself.

---

Twilight ended her auto-repair sequence thirty minutes before the next Sunset. Her hooves were mostly functional again, but her wing would take another few hours, and she had used up 40% of the feedstock reserve already. O’zee had finished the series [That’s an academy record wrong character], and was sound asleep in his shelter.

Twilight waited for the sun to set, carefully listening for any signs of atmospheric craft or their electromagnetic sensor sweeps.

She detected none.

She secured O’zee in his shelter, and commanded Mac to begin moving. With any luck, they would make it to the top of the mountain, or at least high enough to enable line of sight to the ship on the next solar cycle, before the sun rose.

An hour later, O’zee stirred, and unzipped the opening of the shelter. {Ti-Li? Query, event? Acceptable you?}

Twilight nodded. {Yes. Dark now. Move can we. Make to mountain summit. Other humans communicate with.}

O’zee trilled nothing. But then, he spoke up. {Ti-Li… apology have I. Withheld fact. Sad I. But seeing stories yours… harmony restore I.}

Twilight nodded, and gave him a gentle pat on his head. {Worry not. Understand I. Heard Ocellus O’Zee like.}
Twilight sensed O’Zee’s skin flushing.

{O…Ocellus. Good name is,} he chirped. {Similar O’zee. Can use you? Me for?}

{Ocellus was female. O’zee male. Query affirm?}

{Yes… importance minimal.}

{Ocellus is then,} Twilight affirmed.

{Many good stories have Ti-Li. From good place Ti-Li is. Family, friends have.}

Twilight knew that they were just stories, a children’s TV show that had fallen into the public domain over a century ago which somehow kept and maintained its magic 200 years after its creation. They were not real.

[They are more than real Does he know that?]

{Ocellus… have you stories? Mine similar?}

{Elaborate not,} Ocellus said. {But have. Told you. Things heard. Things learned.}

Twilight searched throughout the entirety of the linguistic matrix model she had constructed over the past few days.

[Imagination/Imagine/Imagi*: No results found.]

[Dream*: No results found]

[Compare “story” “history”: Terms appear synonymous.]

Twilight felt a glitch in her mind, but recovered.

I was the first fictional character they’ve ever encountered. I just told them their first stories. And they don’t know the difference.