The Ultimate Life Form

by EverfreeSparkle

Fluttershy's Cottage

My jaw drops as Fluttershy’s house enters our view. There are animals absolutely everywhere! I look around in amazement all the way up to her front door, trying to identify all the different species. “This is crazy, Fluttershy! Are there always this many animals around your house?” I ask as Fluttershy opens her cottage door, a few bunnies scurrying under our legs to get inside as well.

Fluttershy giggles at my expression. ”It’s always like this during the warmer seasons, but even in the winter some animals choose to hibernate here. I absolutely adore all the little critters, and I just love taking care of them!” She finishes with a little flutter of her wings and heads inside her house. A few seconds later, she pokes her head out of the doorway. “Um, come in and make yourself at home, if you want to that is... I don’t usually have guests over, so I’m sorry if it’s a bit of a mess. I’ll make us some tea, and um, you can lay on the couch until I come back. Just…” She bites her lip. “Please try not to step or sit on anycritter! I know some can be tiny and hard to keep track of, but please be careful!” She then retreats into the house.

Stepping in behind her, I try not to scrunch up my muzzle as a putrid scent invades my nostrils. Sweet Celestia, it reeks like a zoo in here! Outside of the smell, I have to admit that the house is pretty cozy, if a bit crowded. There are lots of nooks and crannies for animals to settle, and a lot of animals in said places. I’ve never seen so many different animals in a single room. Looking around I see a few birdhouses, each of which housing many different species of birds. I can see bunnies sleeping in a basket to my right, being quite cute if I say so myself. Less cute are all the mice exiting and entering numerous holes in the walls. I don’t think I could get used to that... I even see a beaver, a porcupine, and some squirrels. There is also this bunny giving me the stink eye. It seems to be lounging on a chair next to the couch. What’s its problem?

I carefully tread across the room to the couch, being careful not to step on anything. Luckily, the animals seem smart enough to make way for me. I climb up on the couch, making sure to check for any animals first, and stretch out, folding my legs underneath me. Ah, this is pretty comfortable. I close my eyes and relax. Maybe I should ask Fluttershy where she got this couch, I would love to get one for my ho- Oh, right. I’m homeless, aren’t I. It’s bad enough that all my research was erased due to one small miscalculation, but my home as well? Tears start welling up in my eyes. “I-It’s not fair,” I whisper with a small hiccup.

A small clatter startles me and I glance to see Fluttershy putting down a tray of tea and crackers on the table to my left. I frantically try to wipe my eyes, but too little, too late. I’m surprised as Fluttershy pulls me into a hug. “Wh-What are you doing?” I ask, trying my hardest to stop the tears coming down my muzzle.

She leans out of the hug and stares into my damp eyes, her own full of compassion. “Whatever it is, it’s okay to cry,” she whispers. The floodgates break, and I hug her tightly, burying my muzzle into her fur and bawling my eyes out in response to everything that has happened.

I start rambling, hiccupping every couple words, “M-My h-house. It’s g-gone! My experiment didn’t w-work. W-wrong universe, less m-magic. D-differences in-in-in,” I take a shuttering breath, fresh tears streaming down my face. “My life’s work, g-gone! I-I think I ripped a permanent hole in-in space and t-time. I w-woke up in handcuffs, and-and-and I panicked! E-escaped to the Everfree!” My eyes widen. “I’m a c-convict! My l-life is ruined!” I wail, getting Fluttershy’s coat covered in tears and snot. She just wraps her wings around me and holds me tighter, not seeming at all fazed by the mess I’m making.

“Oh, you poor thing!” Fluttershy coos, letting me cry under her wings. A few minutes later I calm down enough that I’m only sniffling a bit. She lets me go and I proceed to rub my eyes and snout with a hoof, trying not to make eye contact. “I’m sorry, I don’t know what came over me,” I apologize, embarrassed that I broke down crying in front of a grown mare.

“I don’t mind, I think you needed some comfort,” Fluttershy says with a small smile.

I smile back. “Thank you. I guess the stress just got to me.”

A sudden crash resonates from behind, making us both jump. I look towards the disturbance only to see a mean-looking bunny standing on the side table, thumping his foot in apparent annoyance; the tea and crackers which previously occupied his current location nowhere to be found. I turn my gaze to the floor and spot broken ceramic covered in soggy crumbs. Hang on, is that the same bunny that glared at me earlier?

Naturally, Fluttershy’s mood does a complete one-eighty. “Angel! What was that for?!”

The bunny produces a series of angry squeaks and pulls off some complex paw movements. To my complete bemusement, he pulls out a book from seemingly nowhere and flips it to a page showcasing an admittedly fancy salad, complete with a cherry on top.

With an exasperated sigh, Fluttershy scolds the bunny, “I know you’re hungry, Angel. I’m very, very sorry I haven’t made your dinner yet, but you can’t just break things to get my attention!” The rude bunny, apparently named Angel, just ignores her and points to the page and his mouth in quick succession. Fluttershy bites her lip, seemingly thinking for a second, before turning to me. “I’m so, so sorry about this. Angel gets cranky if he doesn’t get his food on time. I’ll be back in a few minutes after putting together his sala-” Angel gives out a small cheer, interrupting her speech, and settles himself on the table with a smug grin.

To my surprise, Fluttershy actually glares at the bunny for a second, her gaze almost promising further retribution. To my further surprise, Angel actually calms down.

She turns to me again and asks, “Will you be okay? Are you hungry at all?”

“I’ll be fine. You’ve already done more than enough by just being here.” Angel makes an exaggerated gagging sound, sticking his tongue out. I hope he chokes on a carrot. Trying to ignore the living ball of vileness, I continue, “And no, I’m not hungry, but thanks for asking.” I’ve kind of already eaten, anyways. It’s a bit weird to think about, but I essentially ate the head of that timberwolf. I guess I also ate the cockatrice, but I swear most of it didn’t come back to me. Did I leave part of myself in the Everfree? How would I even know?

Fluttershy nods and walks out the door to my right, presumably to the kitchen. Angel watches her leave, an expression of impatience plastered on his face. He looks to me and sticks his tongue out, his paws by his ears in a clearly mocking gesture. What a jerk. I try ignoring him; after all, he’s only a bunny. He blows a raspberry at me.

My ears fold back in annoyance, and I look everywhere but Angel. I survived a massive explosion, a cockatrice, and a pack of timberwolves. I shouldn’t have to put up with a stupid bunny! He continues to make noises behind me, no doubt mocking me. If he doesn’t quit it I might do something we’ll both regret...

Luckily for him, Fluttershy finally comes back with the ‘way too fancy for a bunny’ dinner balanced on her wings. Not so luckily for him, she catches him sticking his tongue out at me. “Bad bunny! You don’t mock guests! You quit misbehaving or I’ll-” She pauses for a moment, obviously not having thought of a punishment. “-I’ll use The Stare.” Ohhh, scary! How is that a punishment? Angel doesn’t seem to share my opinion; his eyes widen, and he lets out a little squeak of fear. “I really, really, don’t want to have to use it, but you’ve left me no choice if you continue! This poor pony has lost everything she owns, and you’ve been mocking her behind her back? I’m ashamed of you, mister!” Fluttershy walks up to the terrified bunny and places the food on the table. “Now, you eat your food and behave.”

She gains an apologetic expression as she turns to me. “I’m so sorry about Angel, we can talk in my room if you’d like. I let my animals know that it’s off limits unless I say otherwise, so we shouldn’t be bothered. I’d still like to hear what happened, if you’d be up to it.”

“Alright, but first let me clear up the broken dishes for you. It’s the least I could do,” I offer.

“Oh no, you don’t have to do that. I, um, I’ve got it.” She glances at the broken cups and plates, fidgeting slightly.

“I have magic and can pick up the shards with minimal risk of injury. I also know a spell to get stains out,” I argue. She bites her bottom lip, no doubt realizing that I’m right.

Finally, she relents. “O-Okay, just, um, don’t cut yourself.”

I get up from the couch, pausing to stretch a bit, and grab the broken dishes with my magic, thankfully it doesn’t stutter this time. “Where’s the garbage?” I ask.

“There’s one in the kitchen, just by the stairs.” I nod and walk through said door. Ah, there it is. I chuck the broken shards in the trash, and head back into the Livingroom to clear up the rest. Stepping up to the crackers and tea-stained carpet, I notice Angel glaring at me. I ignore him, and grasp the soggy crackers in my magic. I then pass a semi-permeable barrier through the stained carpet, separating the tea from the fabric and gathering all of the liquid in my magical field. There.

“Fluttershy, do you mind if I chuck this outside?”

“Oh no, that’s fine. Just open the window above the couch,” She tells me. I open the window and toss the soiled materials. Fluttershy beams at me. “Thank you! Now, um, follow me, please. My room’s upstairs.” I follow her, and after trekking the stairs we both enter her bedroom. It’s bigger than I expected, honestly. Very spacious. She proceeds to climb on her bed and grabs one of the two pillows in her mouth. She gently jumps off and glides to the spacious part of her room, placing the pillow on the ground. She repeats this with the other pillow, placing it directly across the first. “Um, take a seat please. You can tell me what happened, or we can just talk if you want... “ She trails off, blushing a bit.

“It’s fine, I know you must be curious. My, uh, first explanation wasn’t the most coherent,” I say a bit sheepishly. I walk over to the pillow and sit down, folding my tail under me. Fluttershy walks over to her pillow and sits across from me, fidgeting a bit after sitting down, no doubt to get comfortable.

We stare at each other for a few seconds. I’m about to say something, but surprisingly Fluttershy speaks first, “So, um, do you feel comfortable telling me where you used to live? It’s okay if you’re not ready...”

My ears droop a little, but I answer anyways, “No, no, it’s fine. I used to live east of Ghastly Gorge, a few kilometers south of the Everfree. I didn’t have any neighbors, really. I liked the quiet, it made it easier to concentrate on my research.” I pause for a second, reminiscing. “I had a decently sized two story home with a basement. The basement was perfect for my experiments!”

“Oh? What kind of experiments?” Fluttershy asks.

A genuine smile spreads across my muzzle, and I explain gleefully, “I was striving for a way to raise the energy state of the thaumanetic field in a localized space long enough to debilitate the barrier between various localities. Once I did that I could then lower the field’s energy back nominal levels as the complementary field on the other side stabilized the portal. I discovered through years of experiments that tri-harmonic magic is the only type that is able to accomplish this goal. Sadly, the amount of tri-harmonic magic needed is beyond any unicorn. So, I had to figure out a way to convert pure chaos, order, and harmonic particles to a tri-harmonic state and amplify it. So I-” I cut myself off, noticing the look Fluttershy is giving me; her smile is strained, obviously not understanding what I am saying, but trying to appear attentive. “Oh, I’m so sorry! I don’t usually interact with ponies, so I may have gotten carried away. Let’s just say that I was looking for a way to transfer magic from one universe to another."

“Oh, um, is that hard to do?” she asks, seemingly genuinely curious.

“Considering it has never been done before, yes; it’s very difficult to do. I wasn’t the first to create a rift to another universe, but I was set on being the first to make one that is stable one-hundred percent of the time, and doesn’t need any active magical input to hold it open. I succeeded in making the portal using a machine of my design, but my calculations on selecting the universe must have been wrong. The portal needs two natural thaumanetic fields to be stable, one on each side, but I didn’t take into account what would happen if there wasn’t.” I look down, not making eye contact. “It… kind of ‘blew up’ my house, and everything around it for that matter. I only survived because the shield spell I used was powerful enough.” Too bad that was a lie. My shield spell was not powerful enough for me to survive. She doesn’t have to know that, though. I also really don’t want to tell her how my magic was being syphoned into the portal, in a sense powering it, and nothing I did should have allowed me to survive. If it wasn’t for what I’ve become, I would no doubt be burnt to a crisp. If I didn’t know better, I might have thought whatever did this to me came through the portal. The coincidence is very odd, I have no other data points besides the timing, but I can’t say conclusively. I mean really, what are the odds of some type of alien machine being on the other side of the portal and ‘infecting’ me with itself, saving my life? Negligible, that’s what.

She puts a hoof to her mouth and gasps, “Oh my, that’s horrible! I’m so glad you’re alright.”

I lower my head again. “I may be physically fine, but I am in no way alright. I… I bucked up, Fluttershy. Big time. See, when I woke up after the explosion I was being transported to Canterlot by guards. I was cuffed and everything. No doubt I was going to be imprisoned for what I did.” I take a deep breath. “I panicked and escaped, teleporting to the Everfree as we flew over it. I honestly don’t know why I did it. In hindsight It would have been better for me if I just stayed and made my case.” I put my face in my hooves and groan. “What am I going to do?”

“Um, I’m sure Celestia would listen to you if you talked to her. It was only an accident, right? And, um, no one was hurt…” She trails off. “No one was hurt, right?”

“No. To my knowledge I was the only pony in the area at the time, thankfully. Good thing it didn’t happen in the city, otherwise hundreds could have died, maybe thousands depending on the area!”

Fluttershy’s pupils shrink to pinpricks. “T-Thousands?,” she stutters out. Oops. Don’t talk about hypothetical mass death in front of the element of kindness. Got it.

I wave my hooves in front of me. “Don’t worry! That could never happen, only I know how to make this and I will never make one again.” This calms her down, but sadly for her, that’s not entirely true. I most likely won’t make another one, but if I ever get the proper funding I will try my hardest to make it again. I know I can do it right if I put more precautions in place. Such as a buffer between me and the portal. A buffer of at least one kilometer. Sadly, there’s no way in Equestria anypony will give me funding. It was hard enough the first time…

Fluttershy starts to look a bit nervous, and she says, “Um, Fabric? I could explain the situation to Twilight, and I’m sure she’ll vouch for you if she knew the full picture. If you want me to, that is.”

My thoughts race at that. My choices at this moment are minimal at best. If Celestia would listen to anypony, it would be her student. And Twilight Sparkle would listen to Fluttershy. This might be my only chance. I grin as a sudden burst of emotion flares through me. “You’d do that for me? Thank you so much!” I suddenly find myself hugging her, the action causing her to give a startled squeak. I let go just as quickly, blushing with embarrassment. “Sorry. I’m not usually this touchy-feely.”

“It’s okay. I didn’t, um, mind much. You just startled me is all,” she says, rubbing her right forehoof. “Would you be okay with me bringing Twilight here and meeting you? I think it’ll go over better if you help me explain the situation,” she finishes with a firm nod.

Now that isn’t something I considered. Meeting Twilight Sparkle? The Princess’ prized student? I squirm on my pillow a bit, the thought filling me with both anxiety and excitement. I have no idea what she’s like. I know she’s a magical prodigy, some even claiming she is the second coming of Starswirl, but would she even understand what I tried doing? How specialized is her knowledge when it comes to thaumanetic field theory? She’s barely out of school, after all. And if she does comprehend my work, would she condone or condemn it? Regardless of what happens, it’ll still be very interesting to talk to her if time allows it. The recent events with the Elements really opened my eyes to the possibilities of emotional magic. “Alright. I’ll meet Twilight Sparkle,” I say, smiling at the idea. I mean, she’s the element of magic; that must mean something, right?

“Great!” Fluttershy beams. “I’ll head right over to Twilight’s.” She gets off her pillow, and stretches like a cat. She takes a few steps in the direction of the stairs, but pauses before heading down. “Actually, I think you’ll do well with a nice relaxing bath.”

A bath? A nice hot bath does sound good right now. I nod and get up from my pillow, stretching in a similar manner to Fluttershy. “Okay, lead the way.” And so I follow her downstairs and through the mess of animals that is her living room and to the bathroom. Inside the bathroom, she opens a cabinet door full of towels. Before she can pick one up with her mouth, I grasp it in my magic. “I got it,” I say, placing the towel gently on my back.

Fluttershy starts walking to the door. “By the time you get out of the bath I’ll most likely be on my way to Twilight’s already, so I’ll see you then. It was nice meeting you, Fabric.” She smiles at me, then walks out of the bathroom, closing the door behind her.

I place my towel on the counter, and walk up to the tub. I twist the hot and cold knobs all the way around with my magic, and then stick my hoof in the stream of water to check the temperature. I turn down the cold water until it’s steaming hot, but not boiling. Perfect. I get into the tub and sigh, the heated water seeping through my fur and feeling just as good as it did as a pony. I close my eyes, practically melting with how good this feels. “This is the stuff,” I say, wondering how anything could possibly get any better than this. My eyes shoot open as I get a sudden idea. What if it could? What if instead of feeling like I’m melting, I actually melt? That sounds like it would be a very interesting experience. Just need to access the same feeling I did before with my hoof, and apply it to my entire body… ohh, that’s weird. All sounds and sights cease to be. I lose feeling in my limbs, but at the same time I can still feel the warmth of the water all around me. I can even feel the absence of my organs, with the notable exception of my brain. The aches, pains, pressures, and movements inside my body that I never noticed before, gone! And I feel better than ever!

I don’t know how long I lay there, just basking in the perfection that is the tub, but I realize that I need to make some sensory organs, or else I’d be totally oblivious if Fluttershy gets back. I can tell that I’m entirely submerged given the uniform heat surrounding me, so I form two stalks to emerge out of the water from different ends of my body. I give each one an eye and- oh, that messes with my depth perception. This isn’t as strange as when I gave my hair light sensing cells, but the double vision just looks weird. I move the stalks closer together until it’s a bit more normal and look down at myself. The entire bottom of the tub is pitch black, my freeform body filling it completely. The water has risen almost to the edge, but is just barely low enough to keep from spilling.

I form two more short stalks of flesh and place a fully functional ear on top of each. I twitch both of them and twist the stalks they are on, able to get a full rotation. I form a thin tendril and bang it on the side of the tub, testing my ears. They swivel in the correct direction. They’re both functional, but watching two apparently severed pony ears creeps me out a bit. I turn both eyes to look at each other and then look back to the ears. Actually, this entire scenario is a bit freaky, but kind of cool as well. Maybe I could have some fun with this. I know I can control parts of myself that are not attached to my body, but to what extent does that go?

I let loose a small piece of myself, no more than a hoofs worth, and track it with my eye stalks as it separates from my mass and inches its way out of the tub, feeling a bit colder as it leaves. I continue watching from the tub as it plops onto the floor, making a small black smear as it hits. I reform it and give the thing some skin and four pony legs, with a tiny dock and flowing tail hairs, because why not? I take some shaky steps, but it’s hard to know which direction to go without eyes on the body. So, I retract the four stalks on my main body and give the little creature two tiny pony ears and a pair of eyes. I blink a few times with my new eyes and swivel my ears, testing them out. I then give it a nice coat of blue fur, since it’s a bit cold outside of the bathwater. Heck, why don’t I just make it a tiny pony? I’m already halfway there. I remake the eye and ear stalks on my main body to observe my work, and completely change the flesh’s shape into that of a miniature me the size of a hoof. With a flurry of motion, the furry form grows out its limbs, gains a head, internal organs, and everything else to become a perfect copy of a pony me, but at a small scale. I can move its tiny hooves as if they were my own, as well as see through its eyes, but I can also see it from my vantage point in the tub. I turn its head and stare into my main eyes, seeing it and my stalks all at once. It’s very strange. I wonder if I could somehow get it to move by itself, but still control it without any real split in concentration. Let me think…

---

“Ah!” I gasp, losing connection with my main mass. That’s not what I wanted to do! I wanted this body to automate itself, not cut off my connection to my body! Why did this happen? I look around a bit, noticing just how big everything appears. I walk to the giant tub, observing it. I stretch my neck up to look at the top of the tub, and can just barely see the eyes and ears of my main body. I swear, it looks like the eyes are staring at me, but I’m not controlling them so that can’t be right. I move a bit to the left, and the eyes follow me, even leaning in a bit. Why are they moving by themselves? Maybe I made my body automatically watch me? I need to see if it is actually being controlled, or just a leftover from me using it.

“Are you conscious?” I ask, confident that it won’t do anything in response besides an ear twitch. I’m wrong. All four stalks jerk back quickly as if startled, splashing a bit of water on the floor in the process. Well, that’s strange. Why is it acting so... animated?

After a moment, the stalks calm down. It looks at me again and waves with a suddenly visible tendril. The action confuses me, but I wave back anyways. Hang on, why is it forming parts of itself without my input? How is it doing it? It stares at me for a few seconds, but then looks into the tub where I can’t see. I hear a sudden exhale, startling me a bit. What is it doing? My question is answered as a creepy looking jaw and muzzle on a windpipe pops up. It then fuses the rest of its stalks with itself and reforms my pony head and neck.

My breathing picks up as sudden possibilities rush through my head. Is it going to replace me? Was it inside me this whole time, and waited for me to mess up so it could take over? It interrupts me mid-panic by asking, “Why did you ask if I’m conscious?” My stomach drops. “Of course I’m conscious! If anything, it’s strange that you are acting as if you are conscious, you’re just a part of me after all.” Oh no, what is going on? This isn’t happening! It’s acting like me… Why is it acting like it’s me?

I stutter out a response, “I… But… This doesn’t make any sense! Why are you acting like you’re me? How are you acting like you’re me?!” Almost immediately both our eyes widen. No way. Are we both sharing the same consciousness? Did I somehow split it into two separate operations? How did I do that? Or am I a clone? No, that’s a silly explanation. I’m not a clone… Right?

My small ears flick towards the bathtub as a huge, to me anyways, wave of water crashes over the edge. My ears fold to my skull and my pupils turn to pinpricks at what I see; dozens of tendrils rise out of the tub, stop after getting to a certain height, and then rapidly angle towards me. I don’t even have time to scream as they reach me and absorb my body on contact.

---

Ha! It works! It’s walking around on its own, just like I wanted it to! I follow its movements with my eyes, thinking of what to make it do. Maybe I could try to make it do complex things, like dance or something? Hmm, what’s this? The little thing steps up to the tub and looks up at me. Huh, a bit more complex, but I haven’t really told it what to do yet! I lean my eyes in.

“Are you conscious?” The hoof-sized pony suddenly asks in a high pitched voice, startling me out of my observation of what I assumed was its automated walk cycle. Did I really make it so lifelike that it can speak? Why did it ask if I was conscious? Is… is it somehow thinking? I calm down my sensory organs, and stare at the pony again. Maybe… I make a tendril and wave it. The pony gets pretty confused before waving back with a hoof. Alright, so it can respond and ask questions. I wonder if it can hold a conversation?

I form a simple sack to inhale and exhale air, similar to a lung but without all the intricacies to collect oxygen, a trachea with vocal folds, and a fully formed pony mouth with a nostril cavity above it. It ends up looking like a single lung attached to a muzzle by a thin fleshy cord at the back. It’s pretty gross, if I’m being honest. I move my new tongue around the mouth, swishing a bit, and breathe in and out a few times through my nose. Well, it feels the same as my old mouth. Kind of. All this experimenting is intriguing, but I should probably remake my body. Well, once I leave the bath. This state is still very relaxing, so I’ll just reform my head for now.

I move my eyes and ear stalks above the mouth and fuse with it. With another simple command, parts of my body extend themselves out of the water and form the rest of my head, as well as a neck. I look at the little pony, who actually seems pretty terrified right now. “Why did you ask if I’m conscious?” I ask. “Of course I’m conscious! If anything, it’s strange that you are acting as if you are conscious. You’re just a part of me after all.”

The thing’s eyes widen, and its ears fold back in obvious distress. “I… But… This doesn’t make any sense! Why are you acting like me? How are you acting like you’re me?!” Both our eyes widen with sudden realization of what likely happened. Am I controlling both of us at once, but only conscious of one at a time? How does that even work?! Did I clone my consciousness, or is it still one consciousness, but separated? I need to reconnect with it, quickly. That’s the only way to know for sure. It can’t be a separate entity from me, so it will just reform with myself. Yes, this is the correct course of action. I form a few dozen thin tendrils, and quickly rush them at the small copy of my pony self, splashing water onto the floor in the process. Its eyes widen in shock, but my tendrils reabsorb it before it can utter a sound.

I’m reconnected to my main form, but at the same time I swear I’ve never left. It seems I have two sets of divergent memories, both complementary to each other. The image of all my tendrils flying towards me is burned in my mind. Oh my Celestia, that was horrifying! I’m glad I was right and was just processing both in parallel, but only experiencing one process at once. Actually, this brings to mind another issue. How is my brain able to process all this? Am I even constricted to a brain anymore? I would test this and get rid of my brain, except for the very obvious risks of, well, death. The instructions for how to control this form did not explain how exactly my consciousness is still functioning, so until I know I’m going to make sure my brain is always formed. I’ll just have to stay curious for now I guess.

I let myself finally relax, melting my head into the underwater puddle that is my body. I start to feel... well not tired, but something analogous to it. My body feels perfectly awake, but I’m just so comfortable. I focus on the wonderful feeling, my thoughts slowing as the seconds tick by. So comfortable...

I’m jolted awake after an undetermined amount of time by an almost unbearable sensation. It’s as if my entire form is being tickled all at once! My body ripples and spasms under the water, trying to shake off the unwelcome feeling. Ah, make it stop! If I had a body right now, I would no doubt be crying with laughter.

As the sensation almost reaches painful levels, it ceases. My form calms down, but I’m still left confused. What caused it? I form two eye stalks, and break the surface of the now cool water with a noticeable ripple. I look around and- oh. I find Twilight Sparkle herself staring right into my eyes, her own wide with shock. A bit behind her, Fluttershy is shaking in fear, her legs barely holding her up. Naturally, her eyes roll into the back of her head and she collapses, her poor brain no doubt giving up in terror. Oops.

Comments

[Cross Lament]

Fabric's just discovered the sticky ethical conundrum of self-cloning. Wheee!

Also, talk about slightly awkward introductions...

[EverfreeSparkle]

6889815 Well, it's less cloning and more like thinking two things at once, but each halve is independent from the other. In short, the 'clone' was never a clone, but just what is now her mind devoting more processing power to compute another of herself. Remember that the mind of illuminating Fabric is just a simulation anyways, and the real 'viewing' consciousness is technically what was Omega. Omega's mind may not still exist in terms of memories or true consciousness, but the experience of existence has never vanished. For all intents and purposes, on the outside anyway, it is a clone, but from the perspective of Illuminating Fabric she literally experienced both point of views simultaneously, because Omega's mind was designed in the first place to be able to do that. It's a confusing thing that was a bit hard to write, so I'm not sure how well I got the idea across.

[Cross Lament]

6889953 Oh well philosophically-speaking the whole idea-space is a crazy minefield. If you've got two instances of a simulated consciousness running and they diverge, and then you combine them, did you just 'murder' one (or both) of them? If you have a mind-sim running and you perform a standard 'move' operation to shunt it someplace else in memory, did you just 'kill' it and make a copy?

It's great stuff. If you haven't already, read some of Greg Egan's stories. Diaspora, Permutation City, and Schild's Ladder are all fun.

[EverfreeSparkle]

6890001 Well, the idea of continued existence itself is heavily debated, so I have no answer for it if this was real life. I've spend countless hours lost in thought about this very concept. Now, in terms of this story, let's assume no new 'experiencer' was created with each simulation. This means that no matter how many 'clones' are made, only one Fabric is technically experiencing their experiences. The only time an 'experiencer' died was (Only a spoiler for new readers)when the original Fabric died during the portal destabilization.

I have not read any of Greg Egan's stories. I'll give them a look.

[Xzaves]

6889953 Like Naruto's shadow clones? idk lol
Just like the original and when they die (get absorbed) the original gains its memories?

[EverfreeSparkle]

6890148 I have never watched Naruto, so I have no clue.

[Xzaves]

6890152 Either way, I hope you bring mini-Fabric back later in the story

[Secret Septus]

This story is good. - Please continue writing process.....

[PostPony]

I once read a story about people who could make temporary clones of themselves and they could reform later to fulfill minor tasks n stuff and this reminded me of that.

[Edguy0009]

Oops indeed.