//------------------------------// // Chapter 14 - Time marches ever on and on... // Story: The Life and Times of an Alchemist Turned Pony // by Thadius0 //------------------------------// (Let's do the time warp - To the end) I laid back on top of the tower, staring at the night skies above. They were exactly the same as when I had arrived. "That's just unreal. Except in Equestria." The faint clop of hooves nearby signaled that Measured had followed me up to the top as well. "Can't sleep?" She queried me. I sighed. "I haven't had a real need to sleep for a while now. I'm not sure if that's a good thing." The feeling of her brushing up against my sides caused me to absently reach over and stroke her mane. "It is a shame, you know. Having been alone for all this time." "Oh, I'm so glad I count," I snarked back at her, receiving a hoof in the ribs for my trouble. "Stuff it," she said, "You hardly count, seeing as how we've been married for nearly as long as we've been immortal. Nor do the other immortals. We see each other too often. I was talking about mortals." I nodded absently. "Yeah, it doesn't seem fair that there are so few of us. And all the mortals were too afraid of our 'almighty powers' to give us their honest opinions, much less friendship. I mean, we tried, but..." She nodded absently. "Fear of our power, of what we could do if they displeased us overrode any chance for us to connect with them." I sighed as I looked her in the eyes. "For what it's worth, I didn't know when I gave it to you that you would share my condition." She smiled at me. "Frank, you silly fool. I would suffer this with you all over again." Then she frowned. "Though, when you figured it out, you could have told me, rather than let me outlive the mortal Bearers before I finally caught on." I sighed at that. "Still upset about that? Haven't you hung it over my head for long enough?" She hummed a bit at that. "Maybe." I looked to the moon and realized something Luna had told me the other day. Or year. Or decade. Time runs together when you're immortal. "It's today, isn't it?" Measured stiffened, then slowly nodded. "Yes. Do you want to go?" I laughed a bit. "It would be a crime not to see him off. Plus, the others will be there, won't they? Easier to do what needs doing if we're all gathered. The only question is, which form to use." Measured reached over and bopped me on the nose. "This one, you silly fool. It would only be right." I nodded, and Measured and I disappeared in a cloud of golden fire. ----- Time. Time and infertility rates and gender ratios. That had been what killed Equus. The gender ratios were already well known, and it had been the hope of Tia and Lulu that over a hundred or so years, they would balance out again. But the ratios only got more and more skewed, and that was when Twi, Measured, and myself devised a test for the populace. Which revealed that not only was there a genetic predisposition to have more fillies than colts born, but not every mare or stallion was fertile. And over time, that only got worse. The other races had it, but nobody had it as bad as the ponies. Greed and stupidity killed off the young dragons and a good bit of the Diamond Dogs as they fell to quarreling over gems. The older dragons wept and slumbered, becoming part of the mountains on which they rested. Nothing woke them, and soon, they could not be told apart from the caverns they loved. The griffons skirmished a few times with the other races, but never the ponies. Probably had something to do with me 'accidentally' coming across their forward camps and them 'mysteriously' disappearing via 'random' acts of nature. Once there were too few for them to be declared a proper society, they moved into the Everfree...and five hundred years later, I went an entire decade without seeing one. The Crystal Ponies thrived for as long as they could, but when their numbers dwindled too, the Heart could no longer keep the weather at bay, and Cadence had to escort them from the frozen north. After a few hundred years, they had bred themselves out. No true Crystal Ponies were born anymore. What seemed like all the races of Equus eventually converged in Canterlot as their numbers dwindled. Buffalo, Zebras, and Changelings among them. But nothing stopped the slow, silent death that was casting its pall over the world. In the end, while they lived together, they all reached old age together, and the last changeling had closed its eyes in Canterlot only a week ago. Preceded by the death of the last pony-zebra hybrid only a few days before that. But there was still one pony life left in this world. ----- (POV shift) Rock Solid, an elderly Earth Pony, walked out of his home at the base of Mt. Canterlot. He cleared his shaggy green fur from in front of his eyes and looked up to the sun just peeking over the horizon. He knew it in his bones, somehow, that this was his last sunrise. No sooner had the sun cleared the horizon than he felt more than heard the sensation of magic gathering behind him. He turned to see a sight few could claim to have seen. First was Princess Celestia, appearing far to his left. Just after her was Princess Luna, followed by Princess Twilight (who had grown to be as large as any other princess from her formative filly-esque days) and Princess Cadenza. From there, the procession got...odd. Discord, the Draconequus of legend, appeared, followed by another odd bipedal creature. It wore weird clothes, was a funny-shaped biped, and had a sword strapped to its waist and an eclipse as its mark. Standing next to him was a unicorn mare. Rock knew those two, they were Auric Fulcrum and his companion Measured Thought. Said to be wielders of a strange power and just as immortal as the princesses. "Rock Solid," Celestia began. "Do you know why we are here today?" Rock nodded once. "Probably because I'm about to die." His voice was deep, commanding. He'd have used it more often, if there was anyone around to use it on. Luna tittered a bit at the expressions of shock on some of the others. "'Tis true, Rock. 'Tis nearly time thou shuffled off this mortal coil. Hast thou any parting words? Last requests?" Rock shook his head. "Don't need 'em. I've been prepared since the day I realized what death was. I always take care of my own business, never leave any loose ends." "A wise choice," Twilight filled in, "But perhaps you would like to know something." Rock shrugged. "Ain't no nevermind to me. Once I'm dead, won't make a lick of difference." "Ah," Cadence interrupted gently. "But that is what we're here to discuss." His ears flicked. "Come again?" Discord snapped his fingers and produced a map of Equus. "See boy, you're the last living pony, or, rather, being on Equus. Oh sure, we've got animals, plants, trees, and so on. But nothing with any real sentience. You're the last one, and your death will mean something." Rock snorted. "I doubt that. Just the last one to the line everyone else has already crossed." Auric and Measured shared a grin. "Oh, but there will be. You see, with your death, you will take with you the last life we could call on to wield magic, feel love, or cause chaos to any sufficient degree for three of us to be called 'aspects of Equus.'" Twilight, Cadence, and Discord flinched; they were afraid of what might happen to them. Auric plowed on, regardless of their discomfort. Scratch that, he knew it was there, he just didn't care at this, the end of life on Equus. "Myself and Measured, here, we're more elemental, primal, but all things fade. Even Celestia and Luna, the aspects of the Sun and Moon, respectively, will one day fade. We're only here to see you off, and then, well..." Measured cut in then. "We have a plan. So really, now that you know your death will mean something, any final words?" Rock held a hoof up to his chin. "Just a question. What next?" The others blinked at that, but Auric grinned. "It's a surprise, but let's just say this: We'll carry on the legacy of Equus, wherever we end up." Rock nodded at that and lay himself down in the grass outside his home. Breathing was getting a bit hard. "Yeah, well, I have a request for you, then. Wherever you get where you're going, do something for me?" Auric reached in and lifted the head of the stallion so they could lock eyes more easily. "What is it?" "See about guiding whatever life you make away from all the mistakes we made this time?" His vision was going. Was this meant to happen? A chorus of "We'll try" met the stallion's ears, and he sighed. "Thanks. It's...all I...ask..." He exhaled one last time, and knew no more. ----- (Auric POV) I stood up and looked over to Discord, Twilight, and Cadence. "We should do this quickly." Measured nodded and came up to my side. I clasped her right forehoof with my right hand and together we focused our minds. A mere year after Newvale became a ghost town, Dullahan contacted me, telling me he was feeling weaker. I and Measured showed up and determined that he had become the 'guardian of Newvale'...and with no Newvale, he had no more role here. We gathered up of him what we could, but he would require a host, a living host, to survive. He instead begged to be cast into the Void, to be allowed to dissipate. Measured handled it, but something went odd. She could find holes in the fabric of the Universe, and when we really focused, we could conjure one if we were together. Which is what we were doing now. A white light blossomed from between us, and it overtook the area. When it cleared, we were gone. And thus, the seven immortals left Equus behind after a million years of living on it. ----- When we regained our senses, Measured and I looked around to see ourselves in a white void, with the unconscious forms of the alicorns and Discord arranged around us. I smiled as I looked at the blank canvas around us. "So it actually worked." "So it would seem," Measured rejoined. I hadn't done this for no reason. I had actually enjoyed my time on Equus. It's just... One day I blinked, and realized that I wasn't teaching Sweetie Belle how to control her fire, but a different pearl-colored unicorn with a mulberry mane who could just trace her lineage to Sweetie. I went to sleep one day thinking that Applebloom was making good progress with her Venus training, and I woke up the next training the latest member of the Apple clan. I kept training Adepts, and the world and I managed to create so many Psynergetic devices, or Alchemical machines. I could almost mistake any well-developed pony city for one on Earth. Time marches ever on, but it failed to take me with it. Twilight nearly broke every time she had to put one of her friends into the ground. The other immortals, we were there for her, but it was never quite the same. She tried her hardest to be at least friends with their descendants, but when the lines started to end, she felt...empty. Hollow inside, she had said one day. She really took it hard when Spike died. She varied the most out of all of us. Some centuries she would try to be friends with all the ponies she could, some centuries she would shut herself away. Time kept ticking, but that didn't make it any easier on her. Cadence broke down crying after her great-to-the-tenth degree grandchild failed to show an interest in her lineage. She even didn't believe that she could be descended from an Alicorn. Because, in her words, 'what immortal would put themselves through the pain of having to bury all of their extended relations? It just doesn't make sense.' That was one of the few days we feared for the Empire, because it was when Cadence fled to cry in the wastes. She eventually recovered, but she kept her hooves out of interfering with her extended family from then on. Directly, anyways. Whenever the line needed help, they would mysteriously find enough to help them get by, in one form or another. Time flowed ever onwards, and it eroded, but never broke, her heart. Celly and Lulu had each other at least, and Measured and I coped as well. Discord, though. He leaned heavily on me when we had to put Fluttershy to rest. After a decade, he finally realized that small bouts of beneficial chaos were a thing he could be doing. And with the amount of life in the world, it was impossible that there would not be one pony every generation who could appreciate a good bit of chaos. He actively searched for new friends every generation, and sobbed in the tower once their funerals were over. And he honored all of their last requests, which was not to weep for too long, and find another friend some day. Time, that harsh taskmaster, did crack his whip, but none of us did break. We, all of us, worked together. Equestria thrived, and all of us defended her. We made artifacts, learned much of magic, Alchemy, and Psynergy. We watched the world change around us as ponies began to reach for their limits, then reach higher. And yet, we all knew it would only end one way as we saw the trends form. The world would end with a whimper, and we would be alone again. So Measured and I began to experiment with our ability to call forth a hole in the fabric of the universe. We observed it, measured it, and found how to properly use it. We practiced to the point where we didn't need to expend any effort on calling it up, but rather, we directed our energy on where it would send us. Together, we had just managed to send the last immortals on Equus outside of not only their universe, but the Multiverse entire. Beyond and Before, or perhaps just Nowhere and Everywhere. It was a thrilling thought, being somewhere with no real rules yet. Apparently, it was thrilling enough that the others began to stir. "Auric," Luna began, "Wherefor are we?" I smiled and waved a hand around in the emptiness. "I've told you all about the Multiverse." A chorus of nods and agreements met my ears. "This isn't it." Twilight sputtered as the implications met her ears. "But that's impossible! The Multiverse is comprised of every conceivable possibility in every combination or permutation! We can't be somewhere where it doesn't exist!" I smiled. "Ah, but we are. Beyond, Before, Nowhere, Everywhere. If this is just another Multiverse, I would think we would see some possibilities right about now. But there aren't, because we just got here." I then cocked my head to the side. "Or perhaps we've been here all along? Time...space...rules...we could do without all of those things here. Our minds are altering the area around us to function as we think it should. It's why you're lying, or standing, on non-existent ground - you think there should be something there, and so this place obliges." Cel and Lulu exchanged a glance, clearly unhappy with the loss of any sort of order or system. Discord cracked up, though. "Unimaginable possibility, even for someone like you or me! The one place where all of us could have a fresh start! We could do anything! Scratch that, we could do everything!" I smiled at him. "Indeed we could. But we have a few obligations." I turned to gesture at the Celestial Sisters, and they came forward to stand next to Discord. "The first thing we need to do is go over our world of origin, and ensure there are no open time loops. If there are, they jeopardize the stability of that world, which jeopardizes the stability of our existence here. You three are uniquely suited for this task." The trio nodded, the sisters slowly, Discord like a jackhammer. Twilight looked around the void expectantly, and I pointed to her. "If you want, you can try to document this before we begin to do anything with it. That way, we'll at least have some knowledge, going in." She smiled slightly at the thought and wandered off, and I made to do the same. Cadence and Measured spoke up then. "And what of us? Or you?" I turned back to glance at them. "I have a thing I need to do, first. I think. And you two can brainstorm about what we will do." ----- Hope. That is what I hope to convey with this transmission: hope. Though your world may be ending, though all things may be burning, take heart: it need not be the end. My name is Auric Fulcrum, and I am one of the few immortals who knows what to do at the end of their world. I cannot pass The Answer on, for all beings must come to ask The Question and Answer it in their own way. But if you try, truly try, and manage to do so and are immortal, then there is hope for you. Only an immortal who knows how can transcend the Multiverse's rules and laws can survive the End of All Things. All worlds must end, it is the law of entropy. But if you are immortal, then such rules need not apply, and you can escape the bounds and confines of the Multiverse. Beyond, what awaits is limitless potential. I stand here with six other immortal beings, aspects of Equus. First, we shall ensure that our old world is stable, so as to stabilize our existence here. And from there? Who knows. Anything could happen. Nothing is forbidden. This message is set to broadcast, repeatedly, eternally, with only a minute between transmission times. It will bring that one nugget of wisdom, that one truth, back into the Multiverse, to all that can and want to hear it, for as long as the Multiverse exists. And that message is hope, for it will not be in vain. I nodded and closed my device up, then ripped a hole back to the Multiverse we had just left behind and tossed it in. I turned around and put a hand to my chin, thinking. Wasn't there something else I had to do? And my eyes fell upon another me. I grinned as the memories flooded back, and realized that I was about to have a conversation with myself... ----- Well, that was interesting. Far more fun to give the bitch-slap imbued with just the right amount of energy than to receive it. ...Maybe I should have warned myself about the ponification... ...Nah. Life's more fun with surprises. I walked for a short while and found myself with my fellow immortals. They all raised an eyebrow at my sudden appearance. "Truly, there are no rules here." I nodded at Luna, then at Twilight, who took it as her cue. "Even without magic, you can alter this landscape to whatever you want. It obeys rules because we think it should, yet it becomes whatever we want to have." Discord and I smiled at each other. "Harmony," I said. "Order for the rules we impose, Chaos for not needing to abide by them. Togetherness. Yet nothingness. A combination of presence and absence." We all exchanged a glance before they looked at me and Measured. "So what now?" I looked over to the solar alicorn and thought about her question for a moment. "We could do whatever we wanted. The question is, what do you want?" They all exchanged a look before Cadence spoke up. "We could...start again." I smiled at that. "That, we could easily do. Here, we could make a million Equestrias. We could form a realm entirely to ourselves." I snapped my fingers at the thought. "Heck, that's what we should do. Another realm, another multiverse. Life can carry on here, but we can make a whole new set of worlds that interact with one another in ways we want them to!" They started to think on that, and Cel smiled and spoke up first. "Wherever we go, it'll need a sun for light. All life requires a sun." Luna spoke up next. "And a moon and stars, to regulate the tides and keep life at night from being too dark." They shared a glance then. "And we shall make our world in the image of Equus, and be the stewards of its lights." I nodded at them as I 'felt' the energy around us take note of their proclamation. I turned to Cadence and Twilight then. Cadence spoke up first. "I shall give this new life we make the capability for emotions, be they logical or not. All life should have the ability to feel and the drive to succeed." she stated. "And I," Twilight continued, "Will give them the ability to have magic. Because with it, anything can and does become possible, so long as you take care with what you are doing." The canvas around us 'shifted' again. I turned to Discord, and he laughed. "I'll introduce chaos into the systems you craft, of course! Life wouldn't be exciting at all without chaos! But I promise to keep it tasteful and mostly harmless." I turned to Measured then, and she smiled. "Naturally, I will aid you and your powers as well as I can. This world shall have Psynergy and Alchemy as well. Perhaps the way they use the Elements will surprise even you." The canvas around us...I could 'sense' that it was nearly ready, and I held up a hand to make the final proclamation. "All well and good, but that is only one world. This I promise you: whether you choose to stay with that world and be its stewards, or disguise yourselves, or perhaps even let yourselves rest, your world is yours. I only ask for a tower, a place to call my own should I need a place to rest my head should I visit. For I will not be so bound." I raised my other hand and somehow gained a deeper voice. "Let your template be copied! Let your world not be the only one! Dozens more, I tell thee, shall spring up around other stars, other suns! I shall be the guardian of the pathways betwixt worlds, and visit each one! I shall not interfere in their upbringing, but I may walk amongst the populace to watch that eternal play known as Life Itself." And the blankness around us... Changed.