//------------------------------// // Vita Longa, Ars Brevis // Story: A Mathematical Theory of ‬Hard Reset // by furrypony //------------------------------// ‭“44, 11, 42, 8, 28, 41, 33” Twilight chanted as she leaped out the window to her death. “Well that didn’t work.‭” Twilight executed the sequence of actions to save her friends. ‭“We thought we would never see you again!” cheered Pinkie Pie. ‭“Celestia, I want to tell you something in private.” Twilight looked at Celestia tiredly. Celestia nodded.‭ “‬Meet me in my chamber in two hours.‭” Two hours later,‭ ‬Twilight entered Celestia's chamber,‭ ‬and Celestia is lying in bed with rose petals floating around the room,‭ ‬despite there being no wind in this indoor location. ‭“No, I'm not here to have sex with you.” Twilight rolled her eyes. “I mean, I didn't intend to, though...” “Well‭? ‬I'm listening.‭” “I mean,‭ ‬this‭ ‬is a tempting offer.‭” ‬Twilight blushed,‭ “‬But I have more important issues than just having sex with you.‭” “I can only spend about an hour with you in private,‭ ‬so make your choice quickly which to do first.‭” Twilight decided to have sex first.‭ ‬Unfortunately it took a bit longer than expected.‭ ‬Oh well,‭ ‬thought her as she dozed off on a really soft pillow,‭ ‬I will tell her tomorrow.‭ ‬The lottery isn’t out until Friday. On the next day,‭ ‬Twilight sent Celestia a letter. Dear Princess Celestia, Please keep the enclosed scroll unopened in a tamper-proof chest until this Saturday.‭ Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle In the scroll was the lottery number along with the explanation. On Friday,‭ ‬Twilight opened the newspaper in the castle suite,‭ ‬but to her dismay,‭ ‬the Canterlot Lucky-7‭ ‬for this week was‭ ‬14-21-40-23-11-21-29,‭ ‬bearing no resemblance with her prediction.‭ ‬Thinking fast,‭ ‬Twilight wrote another letter. Dear Princess Celestia, Please don’t open the scroll.‭ ‬Burn it up instead.‭ ‬It’s really important for me. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle Several days passed and not a word from Celestia.‭ ‬Twilight sighed relief.‭ ‬I suppose she did do as I asked.‭ ‬Good.‭ ‬At least they won’t send me to the hospital this time. Twilight returned to Ponyville,‭ ‬now that there was no point for her to stay in Canterlot.‭ ‬She put up a show of normality during the‭ ‬welcome-back-party,‭ ‬but in the evening she dived into her books and let her thoughts race through. Why didn’t it work‭? ‬There are mainly two possibilities.‭ ‬The first possibility is that the world has fundamental randomness.‭ ‬The second possibility is that the world is deterministic,‭ ‬but some events in it are chaotic.‭ ‬They are so sensitive to initial conditions that unless I perform the exact actions,‭ ‬they will be different. The subtlety between a strike to the chin and a strike to the snout is the difference between a second of my victory,‭ ‬which is the difference of a few seconds for the time Celestia leaves the throne room after commending my victory.‭ ‬This difference changes the walking flow of ponies outside the castle,‭ ‬and so on.‭ ‬When the lottery is drawn,‭ ‬the initial difference changes to a completely different set of numbers. Twilight Sparkle felt the pangs of loneliness in being the only pony knowing the cyclicity of her time. Alright,‭ ‬time for plan two then.‭ ‬If lottery is too chaotic to be used,‭ ‬I could use some other proof that I have really experienced excess time than what is apparent.‭ ‬I can study a lot,‭ ‬a lot more than I could have ever done,‭ ‬then show my knowledge to Celestia,‭ ‬thus proving that I did experience excess time. This was an electrifying thought,‭ ‬and Twilight eyed the books around her with hunger.‭ Finally enough time to read them all. She briefly contemplated ditching her friends immediately and going back to Canterlot to study a Bachelor-PhD joint program in‭ ‬Meteorology,‭ ‬one of the subjects that she had‭ ‬always wanted to know more about,‭ ‬had no specialist knowledge in,‭ ‬and she knew that Celestia knew that she had no specialist knowledge in it.‭ ‬But she shot down the idea,‭ ‬because it would be very lonely,‭ ‬and she needed all the psychological health she needed to face the potentially infinite time ahead. After reading through the list of Dewey Decimal classes,‭ ‬she settled on making deep studies in five fields:‭ ‬Old Alpine Language,‭ ‬Physical Combat,‭ ‬Mathematical Physics,‭ ‬Alchemy,‭ ‬and‭ ‬Piano. Old Alpine Language is the language of the unicorns before the Hearth-Warming Unification.‭ ‬Some very ancient unicorn spells are still untranslated from Old Alpine,‭ ‬and even those that are translated tend to work better when cast in original Old Alpine.‭ ‬Twilight has taken basic courses in it,‭ ‬sufficient for working with the occasional encounters,‭ ‬but she has always wanted to take an extensive course in it,‭ ‬to truly cast Starswirl’s spells through Starswirl’s tongue. After battling the changelings for hundreds of times,‭ ‬Twilight had reformulated many points of Physical Combat on her own.‭ ‬Still,‭ ‬serious systematic training will be useful,‭ ‬both to make her final demonstration more impressive,‭ ‬and to deal with roadblocks in the potentially infinite future. Mathematical Physics is the rigorous study of how the world works.‭ ‬Magic is practical physics,‭ ‬but practicality cannot suffice for this situation she is in.‭ ‬She needed mathematical precision in getting to the bottom of the mystery. Besides,‭ ‬the study of mathematics has always had a cool,‭ ‬austere effect on her mind.‭ ‬It is calming to immerse herself in the contemplation of mathematical entities.‭ ‬And if I cannot escape,‭ ‬at least maybe I can find solace in such studies. Alchemy‭ (‬aka Chemistry‭) ‬has never been her strong point.‭ ‬She could perform the experiments assigned to her in school and pass the exams with high scores,‭ ‬but she did not enjoy it and did not take elective classes in it.‭ ‬This had always left a vague guilty feeling inside her,‭ ‬since she felt she had a responsibility to be good in all fields of magic,‭ ‬and such a defect must be fixed. And the study of Piano‭? ‬That is mostly an...‭ ‬insurance for the future.‭ ‬It is said that for musicians who have suffered great amnesia,‭ ‬they often still retain their full musical ability,‭ ‬and while they are playing their music,‭ ‬appear almost the same as before suffering the amnesia.‭ ‬So if I eventually lose my mind,‭ ‬maybe a bit of me can hang on in music. Life is short and the study is long,‭ ‬but for Twilight,‭ ‬life had suddenly become a lot longer. Of the five studies,‭ ‬she started with Physical Combat training,‭ ‬since it was directly useful for fighting the changelings every time she was reset.‭ ‬First at the local gym,‭ ‬she progressed to a four-year full-time study in the Canterlot Military School.‭ ‬Celestia was a little bemused by Twilight’s sudden change of study direction,‭ ‬but was mostly convinced by her explanation that it was the experience in the changeling invasion that prompted her to study physical fighting. In order to protect her psychological health,‭ ‬Twilight convinced Rainbow Dash to quit her weather control job in Ponyville to come along and study together.‭ ‬After graduation,‭ ‬Twilight and Rainbow joined the elite task force in Equestrian army,‭ ‬further honing their battle techniques.‭ Eventually,‭ ‬Twilight felt she had learned enough to consider herself an expert in physical fighting,‭ ‬and she felt it was time to go.‭ ‬So she took a holiday on her own to the Northern Mountains and killed herself there,‭ ‬making sure her corpse was unrecoverable. “Well that didn’t work.‭” Twilight grinned as she saw herself back to the familiar place.‭ ‬She grabbed Spike and galloped full speed downstairs,‭ ‬but soon stopped.‭ ‬She felt that her leg muscles were aching and sour. Oh,‭ ‬of course.‭ ‬Twilight facehoofed.‭ ‬My strength is not transported even if my muscle memories are. She started going at a more appropriate pace,‭ ‬which felt uncomfortably slow to her,‭ ‬after living in a strong body for so many years.‭ Oh well‭! ‬I still have my reflexes,‭ ‬and can still use most of the techniques for balancing and transferring of momentum.‭ ‬That ought to be good enough. Unfortunately,‭ ‬as it turned out,‭ ‬she still needed time to adjust to her new old body. ‭“Well that didn't work.” “I’m sure this time it will work.‭” Eventually,‭ ‬she found the subset of techniques she could execute in her old body,‭ ‬and with these,‭ ‬she found that it was possible to pass through several chokepoints that were previously impassible.‭ ‬A major rerouting followed,‭ ‬and in the end she managed to find a route that allowed her to consistently complete the level a bit over ten minutes faster than she could before,‭ ‬which translates to about‭ ‬30‭ ‬less‭ ‬dead‭ ‬ponies per invasion. Satisfied with her progress,‭ ‬Twilight started her study of Old Alpine.‭ ‬Convincing Celestia to allow her to change her study focus was easy,‭ ‬as she has always expressed an intense interest in all things Starswirl-the-Bearded-related.‭ ‬However,‭ ‬this time it was more difficult to balance her studies and friendship,‭ ‬as the study does not even remotely interest any of her friends,‭ ‬and the local institutes does not offer good courses in Old Alpine. After one semester of full-time study in North Royal University in Goattenberg,‭ ‬she felt that long-distance relationship didn’t work out,‭ ‬so,‭ ‬per Celestia’s suggestion,‭ ‬she obtained a private tutor in Old Alpine so that she could study in Ponyville.‭ Old Alpine’s sound system has been perfectly preserved,‭ ‬since it was carefully codified by ancient linguists who tried their best to describe their language accurately,‭ ‬down to the smallest detail,‭ ‬for the very practical reason that even the smallest change in the language affects the effect of spoken spells. Due to their obsession with the sound of their language,‭ ‬the ancient unicorns didn’t use a writing system until late in history.‭ ‬They instead preferred to recite everything,‭ ‬since that is the only way to ensure perfect copying of pronunciation,‭ ‬intonation,‭ ‬and even hoof gesture that accompanies the recitation. To ensure perfect recitation,‭ ‬ancient unicorns developed a system of‭ “‬coded recitation‭”‬,‭ ‬wherein a given block of words is broken into separate syllables,‭ ‬then weaved together in a few different ways.‭ ‬By reciting the coded versions of the same block of words,‭ ‬and comparing them,‭ ‬it was easier to detect a mistake in recitation.‭ ‬Through this technique,‭ ‬they achieved almost perfect collective memory.‭ The Book of Seas and Mountains,‭ ‬an Old Alpine work of literature,‭ ‬remained unwritten for over one thousand years after its composition.‭ ‬Throughout that millennium,‭ ‬the existence of this book relied on the memories of each pony who recited it.‭ ‬And when finally the unicorns adopted writing from pegasi and earthponies,‭ ‬they gathered around every one of them who could recite the book and started reciting.‭ ‬It was immediately clear that everypony recited the same book,‭ ‬and on every syllable,‭ ‬at most one or two ponies would recite a different syllable from the others.‭ ‬The book was thus written down in the span of days,‭ ‬and it is the one and only version. As Twilight studied deeper into Old Alpine,‭ ‬she kept noticing bits and pieces of it poking out from modern magic spells,‭ ‬like an afterimage from the past.‭ ‬Three years‭’ ‬studies exhausted her tutor’s knowledge,‭ ‬and to continue her studies,‭ ‬Twilight got hold of the seven-volume set of Starswirl’s Collected Papers,‭ ‬Notes,‭ ‬and Related Works,‭ ‬in original Old Alpine.‭ One day she found herself able to understand memes among Old Alpine researchers.‭ ‬At that point she decided she has learned enough.‭ ‬As a last validation of her competence,‭ ‬she wrote an article‭ on ‭the reconstruction of a corner case of Old Alpine adjectivals‬.‭ ‬It was published. Feeling her work done,‭ ‬she locked herself in a room and swallowed two bars of copper,‭ ‬the most proper method of suicide for the ancient unicorns. As she rolled on the ground in agony,‭ ‬she understood why this method was so highly praised in the books:‭ ‬because whoever could suffer through it without rolling on the floor in agony demonstrated the highest mental fortitude. “Well that didn’t work.‭” “You tell me‭! ‬Just what were they thinking‭! ‬I can't even start to‭ – ” ‬Twilight growled at Spike,‭ ‬who recoiled with fear.‭ “‬Oh,‭ ‬sorry,‭ ‬I was...‭ ‬Never mind‭!” ‬She picked up Spike and gave him a little hug of reassurance before galloping out. Twilight noted with joy that her twelve-year long foray into the dusty books did not decrease her knowledge of physical combat significantly.‭ ‬Memories were quickly refreshed as she fought her way again and again through the changeling crowd. For the next subject,‭ ‬she chose alchemy.‭ ‬Thanks to her previous training,‭ ‬she knew enough to start studying on her own,‭ ‬but she also met with a mentor weekly for guidance. There is nothing much to say about these years,‭ ‬other than a steady increase of experience and knowledge.‭ ‬She reads books in Old Alpine from time to time,‭ ‬just to keep the knowledge afresh.‭ After last time’s terrible experience,‭ ‬she decided that ceremonialness in death is overrated.‭ ‬Far better to choose a painless method.‭ ‬So she mixed some sleeping potion to sleep away this life. The next life was spent on Mathematical Physics.‭ ‬This was basically what she had been doing all along,‭ ‬so there was really nothing particularly out of the ordinary for her happening in this life.‭ ‬There were some occasional adventures,‭ ‬but nothing dangerous enough to interrupt her studies with death.‭ ‬Well,‭ ‬almost nothing.‭ ‬She eventually died in some adventure out on the sea,‭ ‬but she had already learned quite enough about Mathematical Physics,‭ ‬such that she shrugged it off and continued on with her next project. The next life was spent on Piano.‭ ‬This was the largest departure from Celestia's plan for her,‭ ‬and as a result,‭ ‬it took some effort for her to convince Celestia to allow her to have a sudden career change.‭ ‬It went somewhat like this: ‭“Princess Celestia!” “Yes,‭ ‬my faithful student‭?”‬ “My traumatic experience during the changeling invasion has convinced me that life is really meaningless and there's no point in pursuing magic studies that I don't really like‭!” “But...‭ ‬I thought you loved magic‭? ‬Magic is your special talent,‭ ‬and your passion‭?” “Yes...‭ ‬but I feel like I have known enough magic already.‭ ‬I already have studied my subfield of choice to the level of current research,‭ ‬and all the other subfields that I care about are also at least at graduate level.‭ ‬And...‭ ‬I feel a bit tired of magic.‭ ‬All I'm going to understand by going for more magic studies is polishing and refining.‭” “And what is your plan‭?” “I plan to have a career change.‭ ‬I want to learn to play the piano.‭” “Dear Twilight,‭ ‬are you sure this is what you really want‭? ‬I am not saying that it is a bad idea‭ – ‬I will support your decision if I think it is what you really want and is good for you,‭ ‬but it would be a great change in your life and you must understand the consequences.‭” Twilight rolled her eyes.‭ ‬This is getting quite troublesome.‭ “‬It is not as serious as you are understanding it to be.‭ ‬I just want to take a break from magic,‭ ‬OK‭? ‬I'm not saying anything permanent,‭ ‬but I really want to learn the piano.‭” Celestia rolled her eyes.‭ ‬If she actually become a piano player,‭ ‬I'd need a substitute for her.‭ “‬Alright,‭ ‬I respect your choice.‭ ‬You are hereby allowed to suspend your magic studies and begin piano studies.‭” Thus began Twilight's fantastically out-of-character foray into piano-playing.‭ ‬She studied under Doremi,‭ ‬a pianist in Ponyville.‭ ‬She would still read up some of the magic books in her library,‭ ‬to refresh her knowledge here and then,‭ ‬but did not extend into new studies.‭ Twilight thought her experience in fighting might come into use for piano-playing.‭ ‬It didn't.‭ ‬Five years of full-time piano practice later,‭ ‬Twilight finally learned enough to‭ ‬play professionally.‭ ‬Then she settled in Canterlot,‭ ‬bringing Rarity and Pinkie Pie along to make sure she had sufficient supply of friendship.‭ ‬With the help of a reluctant Celestia,‭ ‬she joined the Canterlot orchestra and eventually played alongside ponies like Octavia. It's funny,‭ ‬really.‭ ‬How I could save Equestria twice,‭ ‬and yet ponies didn't really pay as much attention to me as one would otherwise expect.‭ ‬Sure,‭ ‬they respect me and random ponies on the street say hi to me all the time,‭ ‬but that's about it.‭ ‬And I don't get a lot of money either‭ – ‬not that I need much money,‭ ‬but it's funny how I don't get showered in rewards for saving the world.‭ Now that I'm a pianist at the orchestra,‭ ‬I actually get fans.‭ ‬Not a lot,‭ ‬but fans nevertheless.‭ ‬And money‭! ‬Even by Canterlot standards,‭ ‬I can live and look like high society‭ – ‬which is kind of useful when I accompany Rarity to her very important boring parties.‭ ‬Ponies really pay a lot of money for good music... Enjoying playing the piano had always required some mental fortitude for Twilight,‭ ‬but gradually even mental fortitude became insufficient.‭ ‬She could keep her skills without too much trouble,‭ ‬but pushing forward was too much of a bore.‭ ‬The only thing left to do was a melodramatic exit. What would be the most melodramatic exit‭? ‬I could...‭ ‬kill myself on stage,‭ ‬which could be preceded by a sorrowful piano solo.‭ In the empty hours of the music hall,‭ ‬Twilight choreographed her dramatic exit carefully.‭ ‬She had to check herself from adding too much to the performance.‭ ‬After the solo is finished,‭ ‬everything must be completed within‭ ‬5‭ ‬seconds. The day came.‭ ‬Twilight played her solo,‭ ‬a piece of Nocturne in minor keys.‭ ‬Then she stood up in the applause and proclaimed,‭ “‬The rest is silence.‭” ‬She then stepped two steps back and bit hard on the cyanide capsule in her mouth. Oh the drama...‭ ‬If only I can live to read the newspaper next day,‭ ‬to see what the ponies would say about this‭!