Based on The Conversion Bureau: Mankind Triumphant

- Relic -

Chapter seven: AD2200 part 4 - Worlds

by Dafaddah

Author's note: Heap Big thanks to both SecondLaw and Microshazm for editing.

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“So Equestria was a simulation?! But it physically intersected with the Earth and caused all the events that led to Judgement Day. It was a whole other universe, wasn’t it?” asked Conrad. He and Billy lay on the floor of his bedroom, the simulacra spell deactivated. Billy had taught him a spell to contact Princess Celestia, and the three were engaged in his first briefing as one of her agents.

Her voice was as warm, calm and composed as he remembered it from his conversion dream. “Yes, but not in the sense of a computer simulation. A thaumatic simulation actually has a physical manifestation, although under normal circumstances it is short lived. But just like in human virtual environments, objects and people can either be pre-programmed or be artificially intelligent, sentient and capable of independent thought and volition.

“When Discord disconnected Equestria from our original universe it became a new, separate universe. Equestria was manifested permanently, so in that sense it was no longer a simulation. This also set the underlying physical laws of Equestria, to which Discord has a master key. He could modify entire sections of it as long as he was able to marshal the necessary thaumatic energy to effect the change. However, because he was denied the six subsystem spells, he could not directly alter or delete individuals, nor could he modify their personalities, relationships, skills, or memories, except through purely physical means. Perhaps that is why he became so good at both psychological and hormonal manipulation. What he could not do was freeze the entire Equestrian universe itself or reset it, he had to live in it, as did Luna and I. All of Equestria, grew from this seed.”

Billy looked at Conrad with eyes as big as dinner plates. “Your majesty,” said Conrad, “I am honored that you would tell me this. After Equestria’s convergence with Earth, any human scholar of Equestria would have given his right arm to have this information.” Billy smirked and pointed a hoof at Conrad’s own right foreleg. And then at Conrad’s left foreleg. Billy shook and gripped his sides as he laughed in silence, rolling around on the floor.

Conrad rolled his eyes. “I mean no disrespect, but why tell me, and why now?”

“My dear little Conrad, I have had many years to think about things following the events of Judgement Day. I no longer consider my own survival as a given, especially as I am at humanity’s mercy and could conceivably be terminated at any time. I want the story of Equestria to be known and to survive my ending, should it come to pass. Anypony can see from the books you keep in your room that you are the ideal candidate for the job.

“But the reason for starting this process now is due to the anonymous call you received yesterday. I recognized the voice of that caller, and if I am not mistaken, it is that of none other than Discord himself.”

Billy stopped rolling around and gagged, a look of fear on his face. “But... but.. how is that possible? He was ground up into powder to make the Treasure Chest.”

“That, my little ponies, I do not know. Therefore I need you to investigate this as quickly as possible, for if it is indeed Discord, our world is in dire peril,” replied Celestia in a somber voice.

Conrad and Billy stared at each other. “How should we go about this?” asked Conrad.

“First, I need you to find any and all information you can get regarding what was done with Discord’s statue, and how every single piece of it was used,” said Celestia. “I also want you to report what happened to your father and his security team. It is very important that you behave just as you would have had you not been ponified.”

“Yes, your majesty. I’ll get on that right away. Billy can help.” The other colt nodded to Conrad.

“Secondly, please find out all you can on this other person called The Lizard. There is something familiar about him, but just what it is escapes me for the moment.” The two colts voiced their acknowledgement.

“This is a dangerous situation for your father. I want you to know that I would never ask you to put my welfare or my directives above your responsibilities to him. Is that clear?”

“Thank you, your majesty. It’s a relief to hear you say it. Please remember that I’ve been the son of one of the most powerful people on Earth all of my life. I’m under no illusions regarding how dangerous his and my situation are,” said Conrad with perhaps more confidence than he really felt.

“It is I who thank you, Conrad and Billy. Please report back to me every day if possible,” said Celestia.

“I’m not going anywhere, Conrad. Please contact me whenever it’s convenient. Goodbye.”

For the first time he experienced the coy humour for which Princess Celestia was legendary. Conrad felt his ears burning. Billy took one look at him and started rolling on the floor laughing again. I guess it shows, even through the fur, thought Conrad with a smile.

In the Treasure Chest, Celestia pondered her conversation with Conrad and Billy.

Is that what she really believed? Was she now so attached to the earth and the ponies of her herd who lived there?

… my herd...

Was she still in any sense that Princess Celestia, the immortal alicorn, co-ruler of Equestria? Or just a head in a box with pretensions of more?

Maybe all of it was a dream and she was nothing more than a delusional human girl-child?

Who am I? What am I?

It wasn’t the first time she had been forced to ponder these questions.

Discord disappeared with a loud pop, and Celestia’s young heart broke.

How could he? How could Dexter... no, Discord just kill without remorse?

She looked over the carnage in the throne room. Nopony moved. Nopony was alive. She looked at the bodies of Professor Morning Bell and all the other dead strewn about the dais haphazardly. She felt the heat of emotion rise within her as she regarded the throne, symbol of wisdom and justice, sullied with blood. The throne where her mother usually sat. Where his mother sat. This emotion was beyond anger. It burned in the pit of her stomach and made her feel like striking out. For the first time in her short life, Celestia felt hate. In one of the mirrored tiles that graced many of the room’s columns, she saw her reflected face and the hard eyes contained within its countenance. She paused and stared at the scowling visage of a stranger.

Is this what I’ve become? She thought. She hid her face in her hooves. Shame, Celestia, Shame! You do not defeat the enemy by becoming like him.

She reined in her emotions. Calm down. First things first, find the survivors, organize help.

Less than an hour later her fear was returning. She had searched the entire castle only to find more dead. She exited the castle and began searching the ruins of neighboring buildings, looking for survivors. Discord had been thorough. It was only when she passed through the front gate of the Royal School of Magic nearby that she found somepony alive: Professor Silver Bit walked out of the front door of the teacher’s quarters, as she often did when Celestia came to school. She trotted up to her magic teacher, a teal colored unicorn mare with a sky blue mane and tail.

“Professor Silver Bit, you’re alive!” The middle-aged teacher had a look of confusion on her face. “What do you mean, young filly? Of course I’m alive. Why are you here? Graduation isn’t until tomorrow.”

Celestia pointed a hoof at the destruction around them. “There will be no graduation tomorrow. Professor, you have to tell me what is going on here. Is Equestria truly nothing more than a simulation?”

The old mare’s face went white. “I cannot... I’m confused...” She collapsed onto her haunches. “How strange, I... I do not know what to do!”

“Professor Bit!” Celestia held her teacher’s muzzle in both forehooves and raised it so she could look her in the eyes. “You must tell me the truth. What am I? Where is my mother?”

Professor Bit swallowed, a look of fear and dread in her face. “I am outside my parameters. I should have a guide. I should not even be activated!” The old mare curled up into a ball and refused to acknowledge any further queries.

Feeling panic rise within her, Celestia also fell onto her haunches, next to her now catatonic teacher. Celestia, think! She remembered her lessons in governance. What are my resources? Who can help?

She suddenly remembered: Professor Morning Bell’s collar! She examined it and the gemstones on it with her magical senses. Somepony had attached a message spell to them. Without further thought she activated it. Professor Morning Bell’s image appeared before her.

“Now, now, you know this is just an agent spell, it’s not really me. So dry up!”

“I had just enough time to set up this spell while Dexter was distracted by you. I’m afraid it won’t be able to answer all your questions, not by a long shot. But it is configured to be your guide and will provide you any information it has at its disposal, which is still considerable,” said the image.

“You are Princess Celestia of Equestria, destined to be co-ruler of Equestria with your siblings Princess Luna and Prince Dexter. Together the three of you are being prepared for the task of ruling a new pocket universe being created by the members of the Equestrian faction of the Consortium. Once completed, Equestria is to be the new home of fourteen billion Consortium citizens, including members of the Dragon, Gryphon, and Dog factions among others.”

With a sniff and a smile Celestia noted how similar the guide spell’s manner was to Professor Bell’s usual ‘dry’ presentation style. And the answer, as usual, raised more questions than it answered. She did have two other important questions.

The guide spell paused. “This will be difficult for you to hear, but your mother is a simulation spell as well. She was designed to raise the best possible future rulers of Equestria. In reality she is an amalgam of several ponies. Her spell was neither active nor in storage when Dexter moved Equestria’s substrate, and so you will not be able to access or activate it.”

“Her spell is in storage. The spell has been linked to the moon sigil on the collar Professor Bell gave you,” answered the guide spell.

I am not alone! Overpowering relief washed through Celestia’s entire body, leaving her feeling giddy and weak.

“No. She has been sleeping soundly and will continue to do so until her spell is re-activated.”

“Oh, thank Harmony!” It was one small grace in this shattering disaster, that her sister had so far been spared the horror of the moment. Celestia swore to herself she would prevent Luna from being destroyed by these events.

“I have been instructed to begin your training in the use of the the six elemental subsystems you command, and to do this as soon as possible as conflict with Prince Dexter is likely imminent. Shall I begin?” it asked.

“Yes. Yes of course.” Pull yourself together Celestia! You have to make this world safe for your sister and for other ponies! she thought. She wiped her muzzle with an already damp foreleg.

You can do this. After all, you were made for this...

Conrad concluded his report to his father on the previous night’s mysterious call. “... and so I checked with Jeeves to see if he had recorded anything. He hadn’t. Dad, it’s really scary if someone can just call us without our security systems being being aware of it or detecting any intrusion”. He looked to Billy who sat in the other chair in front of his dad’s desk. Billy nodded his approval of the report, and they both turned to face the elder Sachs on the other side of the desk.

“Son, you did well. You followed the protocol to the letter, and I’m proud of you, especially after what almost happened yesterday. I just wish you would have brought this to my attention last night,” said Wilberforce Sachs. He looked at his son. I am proud of him! he thought.

“I’m sorry Dad, I was just so distraught. I wasn’t really thinking straight.” Conrad sighed.

There was however, one aspect of the call that badly troubled Wilberforce. “Are you sure the first person in the call identified himself as ‘The Lizard’?”

“I believe I have. Although you should say ‘it’ and not ‘him’. The Lizard is a fully autonomous AI,” replied his Dad. “Unlike the other AIs, The Lizard chose to remain on Earth when they left in the closing hours of the singularity. It was actually pretty important in minimizing the effects of the Austerity Wars and the setting up the WorldGov. It occasionally provides some intelligence to the WorldGov.” He paused, deep in thought for a moment. “It’s very troubling to think that an autonomous AI might be involved in an attack on a government official’s son, and the HLF. By the way, boys, this is classified information, so don’t talk about this to anyone unless I personally tell you otherwise.”

“Was The Lizard involved with Project Eris?” As his Dad seemed to be in a talkative mood this morning, Conrad decided to risk asking that question with Billy present.

“Yes it was.” The elder Sachs looked at Billy for a moment. “This stays in this room, capiche?” When the boys nodded he continued. “The Lizard provided much of the design work of the casings used for the Eris missiles and their target placement in Equestria at detonation, as well as for project Catch and the Treasure Chest. As The Lizard is an artifact of mankind, this still means that the defeat of Celestia’s invasion is still purely a human achievement. But we don’t want The Lizard’s involvement to become general knowledge. There is still a lot of fear of autonomous AIs left over from the events that led up to the singularity.”

“I’ll work that out with my security, but for the moment just tell them that you reported the call and their instructions to me. Nothing more than that. Is that understood?”

She led the rag-tag procession of ponies out of the city in some parts shattered, and eerily distorted in others, all of these the handiwork of Discord. Smoke still rose and fires raged in many sections. Its structures had proven too vulnerable to Discord’s attacks. The price of that bit of wisdom was lives. Too many lives.

Celestia hung her head in shame as she recalled those lost in the last few subjective weeks. In some cases she had been able to transfer their personalities and memories into a still living body. There were so many of those with blank or dysfunctional minds wandering the landscape. And in many cases the transfer didn’t work: the receiving body and new mind were unable to integrate, and both died.

The six elemental subsystem spells Celestia controlled gave her great power in this universe. She could literally change the characteristics and personalities of the ponies around her with a simple act of will. It took all of her considerable willpower not to exercise those functions indiscriminately. In fact she loathed using them at all. She shuddered to think of what Discord would have done with them.

Three hundred would have to suffice. Other than Luna’s, there were no more hidden personalities in the storage substrate. Celestia’s search had been thorough. She had also discovered entire villages of Dragons, Gryphons, Buffalo, Zebras and Dogs, as well as other creatures. She activated them, and then left them to their own devices. For his own impenetrable reasons, Discord had also left them alone, so far.

“It would have been less than twenty, had you not transferred the six elemental identity management spells to me, and instructed me on how to use them,” said Celestia.

“As one of the main beneficiaries: I concur!” said the old unicorn with a broad smile.

They began walking side-by-side at the end of the snaking line of ponies, many of whom were carrying their equipment and provisions. Celestia finally had a moment to discuss something that had been bothering her. “Professor, please don’t be offended by this question, but I must ask it.”

The professor took note of the anxious face of his former student. “Ask, child.”

“How do you feel about the... original Professor Bell? Do you consider yourself a copy?”

“Child, I am a copy. I know it because I did the copying myself, at least I remember doing so. Up until that point in time there was no other Morning Bell. Just me. Beyond that point, there is another me, which we can call the original, who gave up his life to protect you, and me and those other three hundred and ten ponies. I mourn him, and yet I celebrate him. It’s decidedly odd to be one’s own saviour, don’t you think?”

Celestia had not thought of it that way, but the words nevertheless comforted her. The Professor had always had the knack of lifting her spirits in the most unconventional fashion.

“Think of it another way,” he continued, warming to the topic. “Who and what we are is nothing less than the series of all the choices we have made in our lives. Those choices, made by the original Morning Bell, have been passed on to me. Now I must honor that gift by continuing that series in the same spirit. So to answer your question, I am Professor Morning Bell, the one and only.”

Celestia’s smile, so rarely seen in the last few weeks returned, and was no less radiant for its extended absence. Up and down the line, ponies nudged each other to see the welcome sight.

Celestia looked around her at the countryside. Although many parts showed the ravages of Discord, there were huge swaths still untouched and heart-breakingly beautiful.

This is our world now...

The ponies marched onwards towards the Everfree forest, many with smiles on their faces and a spring in their steps.

… and this is my herd!

Mankind Triumphant - Relic

by Dafaddah

AD 2200 part 4 - Worlds