//------------------------------// // Chapter 4 // Story: The Last Pony // by Starry Nebulae //------------------------------// A few days later- how exciting, the Alabaster Alicorn thought, time is recognizable now!- Princess Celestia arrived at the Crystal Empire. When was the last time she had been here? Had she even been here since it appeared again? Whether she had or hadn’t, it had definitely changed. Unlike most of Equestria, which had by now become a desolate ruin, the Crystal Empire shone out, as if still aglow from the defeat of Sombra. Though the glow remained, the Empire itself was different. No longer did the roads shine with their crystals; they had been replaced with something that looked like the tops of the giant terminals in SMARD.The crystalline houses had been replaced with gray blocks of concrete that shot through the sky. How had she not heard of anything that had happened to this place? At the center of it all lay the most odd building Celestia had ever laid eyes upon. It was almost like a branch of a tree; a tall, spindly structure of a shining metal that tapered off at the tip, with flattened leaves of steel jutting out in a spiral. Upon the bottommost leaf was an odd sort of pod. It was comprised of a large, spinning disc in the middle, and a smaller disc, maybe about a tenth of the size of the big one, at both the top and bottom. With a bright flash of magic, she was outside what she could only assume to be its door. A paper note was taped to the outside, saying “Out of Order. Reason: This damned machine isn’t allowing any of us in. It keeps asking for a greater source of magic, no matter how much energy we put into it. Damned energy quantifiers must be busted. Cause: Unknown” Greater source of magic? The crystal ponies are just behind dragons in their innate magic level, and dragons are only behind… Her thoughts stopped suddenly. Could it be? Slowly, painstakingly slowly, she put her hoof to the door. It opened. “Greetings, Unknown Unit. Welcome to the CES Divinity, a class I warp ship,” a cheery, mechanical voice said, “Time remaining until departure: We are currently scheduled to depart in negative three thousand, five hundred and forty-two years, seven months, one day, and eight hours. If you think we are running late, please talk to your designated captain, and have a nice day!” What… is all this? Are these the warp ships the terminal spoke of? “Ship…” What are you doing, Celly? There’s no point in asking this machine anything. No response greeted her. “Divinity?” Stop! You’ll only end up on another fools journey. Stay here, die on your planet! The cheery voice called out again, “Yes, Unknown Subject?” “What is…” Stop. Stop! STOP STOP STOP! But it was no use. The voice which had ruled her actions since the Great Extinction, and likely many years before it, had shrunk to a tiny, shrill thing; a Queen turned peasant. “Divinity, what is the name of the your Captain?” A whirring noise. Beeps. Then, “My captain has designated three names for me. The first is ‘The Harbinger of Chocolate,” No… It can’t be… “The second is ‘The Mismatched Mad God” It… Who else could it be besides him… “The third is… ERROR. CONFLICTING COMMAND.” The buzzing, whirring, and beeping returned, lights flashed, and garbled voices rang out. Finally, “NEW COMMAND SET ACCEPTED. ALTERING DESIGNATED CONVERSATION ROUTE. Unknown Subject, I am to give you a choice. You may leave now, and I will lock myself to all forces for the rest of eternity, or you can stay, and we shall go to our designated destination. What is your choice?” Celestia stood silently. Could she really leave her world? She turned to the window, and gazed upon the Crystal Empire. Glimmeringly gray towers shot up through the sky, and mechanical beauty rang out. Farther, farther than any eye had a right to see, she spotted the remains of Canterlot. Its broken majesty called out, just a touch of work and it could be reborn in all its splendor. She spotted Ponyville as well. The town which existed outside of time. Somehow, it managed to remain a small, earth pony based town over the years. Moss and decay had overtaken the town, and it was now the home of many bugs. Manehattan. Now there was a town which had accepted change; though it had all collapsed by now, she could still remember it from the golden age of culture, an event which had happened after Luna had, seemingly out of nowhere, become the prime subject of the ponies' desire. Tall towers of steel, flashing lights galore, ponies clad in the latest fashion trends. She saw the world through the eyes of time; what it had once been, what it currently was, and what it could have been. And she found it wanting. “Divinity, tell me the third name of the Captain.” “Unknown Unit, that is not a valid choice. Will you stay or will you go?” “I will decide only when you tell me the third designated name of the Captain.” Please… Don’t. You already know; let it rest. He’s gone. “Parameters accepted. The third name of the Captain is ‘Discord’. It was a curious thing, her broken mind. It wasn’t as if she didn’t realize who the captain was, it was painfully obvious since the first title. Granted, the might have also been a certain pink element of laughter, but Celestia doubted that even her powers extended that far. And yet, it was broken all the same. Someone took her marbles away. Though, was it really broken? Well and truly? Or was it, as the shrill voice was shouting at her, simply an already broken mind pushing reality away further? How curious. The moon was shining lovely on the mechanical empire, and the Starswirl Nebula was really rather bright. How utterly rude of it. But, come to think of it, was it not just daylight a moment ago? Though, when the entirety of her life had all been proven to be pre-known by Discord, did time really matter? Did anything? Because, all her life, she had watched over her little ponies as they went on their day to day life. Each one a completely new story, full of thoughts and laughter and sorrow, all had somehow managed to live from day to day, in one way or another. One thing she had prided herself in, though she now was unsure if she had done this too heavily, was how free she let her little ponies remain. She knew that they were allowed to go about their day to day lives, with few laws existing to guide them. The ones that did exist were only for the harshest of crimes a pony could do. And despite that, they guided themselves in a generally peaceful way. Yet, she realized it now. Nothing was truly up to choice; as long as one creature existed which knew the future, and could guide the present to how it wanted the future to be, free will could not exist. Because all life would ever be was a puppet to that creature, completely under its control. And when that creature is chaos incarnate, it wouldn’t be able to resist altering everything. Time itself was merely another plaything of Discord. Think. Said the voice. But it was different this time. It felt soft and tasted purple. No. The voice sounds soft, and… I’m your subconsciousness, and even I’m not sure where you were going with ‘tasted purple'. But we can worry about that later. Hello subconscious. Care for a cup of chocolate milk? No thank you. Now think, Celestia. Rationally. Did Discord really know what was going to happen, and where you would end up? Well, I can’t very well see why not. I mean, is the fact that he reprogrammed this entire ship, millennia ago, I might add, specifically so it would accept me not reason enough to believe so? Yes, but he’s Discord! Does he really have a plan? Ever? Well, it does seem like he planned out what to do when he was first released from his stone prison… Oh? If he was such a planner, how did he even get defeated? Celly, he’s the very embodiment of chaos. He never has a plan; he simply goes with the flow, all the while trying to disrupt it. But… No buts. Not one. Discord is gone! Now, pay attention. The ship is talking. And it was, “-ergency subroutines activated. Warp travel initiating in three… two… one. Please, remember to keep all hands and feet inside. Have a nice day!” And at that moment, reality shattered..