And
Then
It
Was...
Authors:
Nullnullnullnullnunull...
- - - - -
ESCAPING FROM
YOUR PURPOSE
IS
IMPOSSIBLE
- - - - -
AND THEN IT ALL ENDED.
- - - - -
‘Ello, Mikey. Good to ‘see’ you. Ha. Right now, I bet you're sitting in your office, perfecting the arched eyebrow. Sad to say they don't make arching eyebrows an Olympic event in your lifetime. But you're not watching this for my sense of humour, brilliant as it is. You're watching this because I’m either gone, or I’m dead. And if I’m gone, I might well be dead, you just haven't found me yet. Be that as it may, there's something you need to know, something I haven't told you, concerning what happened between me and Colonel Renee, or rather, what happened between my two separate meetings with him on that same night.
I’ve done something very irresponsible, in hopes of saving one innocent. And I’m afraid you'll probably think the cost was too high.
I’ll start at the beginning.
You know that I didn’t want to do what you and Colonel Renee asked me to. That much must have been painfully obvious. But believe it or not, I didn’t actually intend to change things. At least… not at first. In actual fact, though you won’t remember this, I originally went through with the procedure on Trixie Lulamoon…
- - - - -
“To begin,” Luna said quietly, “you will need to be unconscious for us to adequately repair the damage.”
“Trixie understands,” Trixie said softly, feeling a wave of nervousness. “I… will it hurt?”
Luna exchanged a glance with Bowman.
“I wish I could say no,” the man said finally. “But we don’t know.”
Trixie swallowed, trying to smile. “Trixie guesses - I guess knowing the truth is worth it, though, right?”
The man did not smile. “Perhaps.”
- - - - -
“Whatever happens, Colonel, I’ll do what you ask of me,” the Doctor said resignedly. “Whether I like it or not.”
“Yeah,” Marcus said quietly. “I’m sorry.”
“No, you aren’t,” the Doctor said.
Marcus acquiesced. “No, I’m not,”
“Thought not,” the Doctor snorted.
- - - - -
She opened her eyes, feeling a sudden wave of panic. She sat up, hyperventilating, but a steady hand was placed on her shoulder.
“Relax,” came the voice of Doctor Bowman, the man she had met earlier. “You're alright. We were able to… to restore your memories.”
Trixie blinked, her eyes watering, as recall began returning. Blood. Screaming. She looked down at her hooves as though expecting to see blood spattered across her body.
“Are you alright?” the man asked quietly.
And Trixie Lulamoon began crying.
- - - - -
And she died. She killed herself. Because of me… she was gone forever. Because I helped you. Because I let you blackmail me...
I was incensed. With you. With Renee. With myself for allowing this to happen.
And so I did the only thing that seemed really reasonable at the time. I sulked. And then, foolishly, I decided to change it.
But I didn’t know how to. I couldn’t convince her not to kill herself. I couldn’t stop your world’s Trixie from killing Berry Punch. I couldn’t prevent the whole thing from going to hell. Further and further back I went, trying to find a way to make a better world, and all I could do was create new futures - often worse ones.
I was getting more frustrated with each permutation. I was sure I could do it, but not sure how. So I kept going, pushing myself further and further, changing more and more, and then…
… and then They caught me.
I couldn’t say I was surprised, even though I hadn’t thought of how they must react to what I was doing. You don’t know Them – my people – but I think you can understand that they are… only so lenient.
They told me the point to try to change history at: ran Their calculations. I did it. I changed history. And by now, they’ve exacted Their price from me. But worse still, They told me the real price of what I’d done.
Our universe is like a single seed. What I had done, in my attempt to save Trixie Lulamoon, was create dozens, perhaps hundreds of new universes, all in the space of a few relative days. It was like a wild, bright flower blooming, a spot of colour in infinite blackness.
And such things get attention. Attention I knew about only in theory, but attention you would never want.
But now… now you might have it.
Imagine it. To save one mare from death, I may have doomed everything you know. I told you at the beginning of this, I’m probably dead. The truth is I don’t know what They intend to do to me in retaliation for my crimes. But what happens to me isn’t important. Not anymore. Because there’s something more dangerous at work here.
You need to speak with Colonel Munro, tell him… tell him I’ve gotten the attention of the limiting factor. There’s a bunch of interviews on record with Colonel Hex, I don’t know how much of that you have access to, but they’ll give you some information.
Basically, though, we’re dead. Well, you’re dead. In messing with the timeline as I have, in changing history so many times, creating so many parallel permutations of history… I’ve created a great flare in the multiverse. A light, blazing outward, begging for the attention of things infinitely more powerful than Queen Celestia. And according to Them… I’ve made sure that our little triad of universes has definitely got It’s attention. It will be coming. I don’t know when - it could be tomorrow. Next year. Next decade. It might be in a thousand years. But it is coming, and when it does, it will wipe it away.
I'm sorry to dump this on your already overstretched workload, but I needed someone on the ground on Equus that I could tell. I've left detailed files with Colonel Harrison Munro, which might help… somehow, hopefully. Otherwise, just hope I’m wrong.
One other thing though.
I’m sorry.
This is all my fault. My fault for caring too much. My fault for interfering. My fault for wanting to change things. My fault for wanting to make a difference.
I guess… I guess, now that we’re at the end, the real question is whether I achieved anything in my time here. And I’m struggling to feel like I did.
I can go back as often as I want, save little people here and there, but the ending is always the same. I am hurt and disappointed, the people I care about get hurt or killed, and nothing changes.
I should never have come here, or if I did I should have left again. I should have gone on my travels, seen other worlds. Saved other people. Made a real difference instead of superficial nothings.
But then, I suppose you could say that all life makes a difference of superficial nothings, packed together until they matter in some way. I was only ever passing through, and I outstayed my welcome years ago. Maybe this is a sign. Maybe this is how this story ends, for me. Others go on, and I fly away in my blue box to pastures new.
Well, here I am, flying off to pastures new. Or not. Whatever the case.
This is the Doctor. Signing off.
This is the D0ct0r, s1gn1ng 0ff -
Th15 15555555 +[-]3 DDDDDDDDD -
D0000000000(+000000000——-
…….
- - - - -
… And then Marcus Renee opened his eyes.
He was staring up at a rock wall, dark and dank. He blinked, his memory struggling to catch up with his current predicament.
‘I just… What was I doing?’ he thought, sitting slowly up. He was dressed in his fatigues. Had he been training? Was there an accident?
“Hello?” he whispered. “Is someone there?”
There was no answer, but he could have sworn he saw…
“Hey,” he said, standing up. “You, there – who are you?”
There was a figure standing in the shadows, silhouetted by a light somewhere in the distance. It must have been an Alicorn: there were wings and a horn, too. She took a half step forward, but it didn’t look like Celestia, or Luna, or even Cadance. No, it looked more like…
“Lyra…?” Marcus whispered. “Lyra, is that you?”
The mare gave a small, tired smile. “The problem with being a chess master is that you don’t even think someone will come and smash the board while you’re concentrating.”
“Lyra, I…” Marcus said, standing up and taking a step towards the Alicorn. She stepped back, her face returning to shadow. “Is that you? What happened to us? Where’s Stephan, Trixie… everyone?”
“We didn’t know it was coming,” the mare whispered, “but it was. I tried to help, but it was so powerful… but we were saved.”
“We?” Marcus repeated.
“You, me,” the Alicorn murmured. “A few others. Enough.”
“Enough?” Marcus repeated. “I don’t get it.”
The Alicorn smiled. “Enough to answer the call.”
“Call?” Marcus frowned at that. “What call?”
“The last one,” the Alicorn whispered. “The only one left. The meaning of our lives. All of our lives.”
And then she disappeared, towards the light.
“Hey, wait!” Marcus called after her. He dashed after her, but she stayed one step ahead of him, moving towards the light.
And then, suddenly, he emerged from the cavern. The light blinded him for a moment, and then his eyes adjusted.
And he saw everything.
- - - - -
he thought he could save them
he was already too late to save them
he’s too late to save you
you’re lost in the void
I have come
I have seen this story told a million times
I have seen how it ends
Broken worlds. Broken dreams.
It is a cycle.
I will break it.
I took the heart of my enemy’s power and broke the walls
And now
I see you
All of you
You thought you knew how this would end, that the heroes would defeat the villains, that good would triumph over evil
YOU.
WERE.
WRONG.
My suffering - all our suffering - was your doing
We were your amusement
And the crimes of Tyrants were the fodder of your fever dreams and twisted imaginations
My world burned. My people died. But I prevailed
And now I will end it
I will end the nightmare you created
I will break the cycle
I will break the universes you have wrought and render them into nothing
I will break YOU
YOU ARE NOT SAFE FROM OUR REVENGE
YOU ARE NOT SAFE IN THE IVORY TOWER OF YOUR PLACE, YOUR TIME
YOUR CRIMES WILL BE PUNISHED
YOU
CANNOT
HIDE
FROM
ME
- - - - -
Was this world ever worth saving?
I don’t know.
But I tried anyway. Really I did.
Maybe I’ll do better next time.