Time was running out. Twilight pulled the master list of every world contained within the System to her console. Starting from the last entry at the end of the list, Twilight poured over each and every item until she found what she was looking for, a world marked with the classification of Barren-Lifeless.
She then proceeded to copy every identifier from the barren world to her own. Once that was done, she moved the data about her world onto that of the dead one. Twilight performed a quick double check to ensure that she didn't miss anything before she ordered her console to upload her updated list to the System.
{Processing.}
The last remnants of the buffer world began to fade into the void.
{Processing..}
"Come on. Come on." Twilight pleaded to the device.
{Processing...}
It was all Twilight could do to keep herself from running around in panic. "What if it doesn't work? What if I made a mistake. Oh, I should never have taken the chance on this and just completed the shell instead."
{Processing complete}
{Upload confirmed.}
"It worked? It worked!" Twilight started to jump around ecstatically. Now she literally had all of the time in the world to make sure everything about her plan was functioning correctly. Or at least another day if she hoped to save any of the other worlds as well.
She returned to her console, "Hmm, If I switch around the data for the next world on the list with that of another barren, I might even buy enough time to set additional lattice structures for them." she thought to herself as she reopened the master list for editing once more.
"What does one think it's doing?" Sentinel asked as he appeared abruptly next to Twilight.
"Um, the same thing I've always tried to do, I'm trying to save my world." Twilight replied, wondering why Sentinel had started to question her actions all of a sudden.
"Then does one care to explain why one has altered the data associated with that of another simulation?"
"I needed more time to complete the shell project. It's not like I did anything wrong, I only altered the order of world deletion, but I haven’t changed anything else." Surely editing only identifying data wasn't against his rules.
"This time it was a barren simulation, but when does it stop? We only allowed one to alter it's own world, it is not allowed to wander around and alter whatever it pleases."
"Allowed? So then you had no intention of letting me save the other worlds did you?"
"It is against our instruction to alter data of a simulation. We only permitted one's interaction in this case due to one's own connection to the simulation."
'So, even if I did manage to get the shell working, the deletion of worlds would still continue.' Twilight thought to herself. 'which means that I can’t guarantee that he won't just delete my world anyway. Even if my plan does work out as intended.'
"Let me get this straight, altering the master list is also against the rules?" Twilight asked.
"Correct."
"So as long as I don't mess with it again, you won't intervene?"
"Attempting alteration of a simulation other than one’s own will be considered a provocation."
With that in mind, Twilight spent the rest of the day going over her work. Everything seemed ready to go with one exception. She had no idea what would happen to her if she activated the shell while her consciousness was on this side of it. What worried her was that she made it as impervious as possible, even the Null Tether would be blocked to some extent.
Twilight found herself unsure of what to do next. She could activate the shell, possibly killing herself in the process. which would mean that her world would be threatened with deletion if anypony managed to make it through her barrier in the future. If it didn't kill her, what then? Her world would be kept safe, she was sure of that, but at what cost? Celestia was committed to guarding her body for as long as possible. How long could the immortal justify guarding her in that case?
She glanced at her console again. In her haste to switch her worlds data around, she had neglected to determine just how long a wait she would have before her world was in immediate danger once more. "Console, display the amount of time before deletion."
{Cache error detected.}
{Reloading data...}
{Process compete.}
{61320732 cycles remain.}
Twilight did a double take, "Console, how long is that exactly?"
{700800 cycles converts to 1 simulated year.}
{87.50 years remain.}
She pulled up her copy of the master list once more. Seeing the sheer number of doomed worlds that now stood between the deletion process and her own, Twilight smacked her forehead with her hoof, "I can't believe I didn't realize this sooner! There are millions of other worlds out there." Soon, she found herself saddened by another thought, "millions and millions of worlds that I'm not allowed to preserve in any way. Forsaking everyone else just so that I can make sure that my own world is safe? Is that a selfish thought?"
The feeling Twilight got when she realized just how much weight came with deciding who lives and dies was almost unbearable. Everything she had done recently just to get where she was now, those who had sacrificed themselves just so she could save others. Twilight didn't want any of it. No sacrifice. No destruction.
At this very moment, Twilight just wanted her life back. Just to be around her friends and family once more.
Twilight triggered her recall spell, leaving the Focus, and Sentinel, and returned to her own world.
Home.