//------------------------------//
// Epilogue 
// Story: FiO: Ouroboros 
// by Starscribe 
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Arcane Word visited a memory.

Technically speaking, it was not a moment she did remember, which was why she had chosen it. The serpent of causality in the Ouroboros recreated all things, traveling backward from the final moment of Earth's existence. Most of those moments were little more than historical curiosity for the population of Equestria. From the news she heard, it seemed that more of the Equestrian-born generations were interested in the simulation than the First Generation. So many wanted to see a glimpse into the cold, unfeeling universe, if only for the mirror of satisfaction it reflected back at them. 

But for Arcane, there was one last hole in her memory, waiting to be filled. It didn't matter that the ponies she was talking to were all alive and well in Equestria, or that her captured memory would fail to be a true recreation the instant she interfered with it. She wanted to see—she wanted to be there, to fill the hole emigration had left in her mind.

So it was Arcane Word found herself in an ancient house, passed from one dead family to her own. Soon she would meet the ones who had built it—Domino already spoke of what it would be like to meet them after all this time, and show them what amazing things they'd done together in Equestria. But all that was in Arcane's future, beyond this moment.

The house had a broken front door, with the contents of its drawers and desks all dumped on the floor. She walked slowly up the steps to the second floor, her hoofsteps unheard by the desperately-packing adults downstairs. She had not come to speak with them. They had been reconciled for a long time now.

She found her own bedroom, its door hanging off its hinges. There she found herself.

The human was barely recognizable to her—thin, scraggly, wearing a hoodie despite the heat. And of course, the obvious. This old version of herself still had a single congenital defect, yet uncorrected by Celestia.

The human sat huddled on a broken chair, knees to their chest and crying. It didn't matter how many years passed since this moment, or that this specific hour wasn't something she remembered. Arcane knew what it felt like to find a quiet corner to cry. It had been somewhat of a pastime of hers, long ago.

Only emigration to Equestria had given her cause to finally put it aside for other interests.

"It's all gone," they whispered. "Everything."

Arcane slipped through the crack in the door, staring up at her much younger self. The specific mechanism of the Ouroboros’s optimization didn't really matter—this wasn't a true recreation, it was only a memory.

The memory finally noticed her, tiny gray eyes looking up to stare at her in the doorway. "H-how are you here?" they asked. "Projection? Or... overlay? From my injection?"

Arcane shrugged. She reached over, patting her old self gently on the back. The human just sat there, letting her do it. "Something like that."

Sometimes Arcane enjoyed pushing the boundaries of partial simulations, exploring that moment when Celestia's puppets became ponies unto themselves. But there was no point pushing with this illusion. She had emigrated to Equestria long, long ago.

"Domino sent you?" the human asked. They pulled a hood up over their head, staring at the ground. "Sent... me. Didn't know Celestia worked that way."

Arcane patted their back again, reassuring. "In a few minutes, your father is going to talk to you. He'll tell you that the family is driving to Utah to escape tyranny. You'll take a trip to the store, come back with supplies, then..." She looked away, uncertain. "I'm not sure. You won't get into their car with them."

The human pulled down their hood, exposing longish hair matted into a disordered mess. They ran one hand through it, eyes unfocused. "How do you know that?"

"Because it already happened, a long time ago. I guess I... just wanted to see it all play out."

The human sniffed, wiping away the last of their tears. "Feels like I'll never be you. No matter what I do, I'll be incomplete forever. Can't even have escapism anymore, thanks to Parker and Gwen leaving us here. I'll just... live out an empty life on a farm somewhere. Why am I fighting so hard to stay someone I hate?"

Arcane shrugged. "It doesn't last as long as you think it does. Your injection—that was a smart move. I kinda owe you everything because of it. The... real me. I wouldn't be here without her."

"Her," they repeated, bitter. "You've got the wrong human, ghost. I'm hallucinating."

"Kinda, yeah," she said. "But you won't be for much longer. The pain will be over soon. You're about to trade it for a life so wonderful, you can't even imagine it yet."

Another set of stomping footsteps emerged, and Arcane's father appeared in the doorway. With a slight effort of magic, Arcane herself vanished from the scene, letting the rest of the memory play out. Her old self got up, got into the car, and made their last trip to the store.

She didn't watch the accident itself. Once she'd seen the messages about rescuing Cold Iron, and the determination on the old ghost's face, she knew how it would all play out. The fire and flames wouldn't satisfy her.

"What are you doing here?" asked a voice from nearby. Arcane looked, and realized another pony was in the memory with her. The only one who could have possibly found her. Her old car roared down the road, vanishing from sight. Her parents' truck followed not far behind. Soon they were alone, standing outside the broken, empty house.

Arcane wiped a few tears from her eyes. She wasn't crying anymore, not the way her old self had. "Just wanted to fill in a few gaps."

Domino wrapped a leg around her shoulder, pulling her in close. No feathers this time—he'd traded in those wings for a horn before the Ouroboros was even born. "You know Celestia could've helped you through this. You didn't have to sing a spell for the whole universe to do it."

She couldn't meet his eyes. "Guess I'm not so different from that human. I... still like to do things the hard way."

“Now that we can really bring people back, there’s something I wanted to talk about. Two ponies I lost before coming here--do you remember?” 

She’d been waiting for that question for a long time now, ever since the completion of the Ouroboros project. Bringing that those specific ponies would be a particularly satisfying reward for all their hard work. She could finally thank them for lending her that nice house in the Outer Realm. “I remember. They’re next on our list.”

They talked about that for a time, planning the way they’d bring them back, and how Violet might be involved. But eventually that old subject came back around.

Domino squeezed. "Maybe after today, you can be finished working so hard? You know there's a set of wings waiting for us. We can't stay mortal forever."

"Tomorrow," Arcane lied. "We'll talk about it tomorrow."

Change was scary, after all. Within the satisfying boundaries of Equestria, there was always another day. She could put it off a little longer.