Epilogue
In many ways Second Chance's return to Ponyville was completely predictable. Despite the fact that neither she nor Twilight had made any mention of the day they would be returning, Pinkie Pie had either managed to obtain restricted information or kept a surprise party on standby.
But before all of that was a trip from the train station up to Sweet Apple Acres, to return Apple Bloom to her family. Chance couldn’t help but giggle at the way Apple Bloom had taken specific care that no trace of fabric hung down from her saddlebags to obscure her cutie mark. She was more surprised by the number of ponies they passed who complimented her on it.
“I guess ponies really did notice all the crusading you’ve been doing,” she remarked.
Apple Bloom just beamed in response. Word had gotten back to her family that something had happened during the contest, because they were all there waiting for her by the gate. They weren’t the only ones: Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were there too, pacing nervously back and forth.
If anything, their reactions to Apple Bloom’s new cutie mark were even more extreme than anything Apple Bloom herself had done. Chance had never heard so many excited squeals in such a short time. Thank goodness her hearing had adjusted up when she’d become a pony, or else all that high-pitched sound probably would’ve hurt. It was hard not to share in the excitement, knowing what she did about just how long they had been working for their cutie marks.
When all that was done, Chance removed a hefty pouch from her own saddlebags, tossing it onto the ground at the Crusaders’ hooves.
“What’s that?” Sweetie Belle asked, poking the pouch with one hoof.
“Money. We earned some in the contest. The Apples need what Apple Bloom earned, but Twilight won’t let me give her what I made.” She tilted the bag upside-down with her magic, uncinching the drawstring. A dozen platinum coins tumbled onto the dirt. They were, of course, the same shape and size as bits, though they were several orders of magnitude more valuable.
“We’re gonna give two of those to Miss Cheerilee,” Apple Bloom supplied, separating two from the pile. “For the school. The rest… we’ll make a crusadin’ fund for you two. That way, we can try out the ideas that were too expensive before.”
Scootaloo chose that moment to leap into the air, wings fluttering wildly. She didn’t stay airborne for more than a few seconds, though that was several seconds longer than Chance or Apple Bloom would’ve. “See! I told you they’d help us figure it out!”
Sweetie Belle’s eyes narrowed. “Figure it out? They just brought a buncha money! That’s not the same thing!”
Scootaloo was unperturbed. “It’s the same in every way that matters!” She looked at the coins, counting in her head. “10,000 bits! That’s way more than they wanted!”
Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes. “Of all days, you had to pick today.”
“What?” Apple Bloom asked, genuinely confused.
“Scootaloo’s been obsessing about buying an airship since you left.”
“Or building one!” the little pegasus insisted, her wings buzzing. “It wouldn’t have been that hard! This will just be easier! I already know where we can get one!”
“We’ll talk about it.” Chance wasn’t sure what she thought about using their money on an airship. It would be useful, not to mention it might help Scootaloo at least with her mark.
There was, after all, a surprise party to get to.
Of the three in her little family, only Spike was surprised, though without a word on the subject an agreement had been struck that they would act like they had been and profess (honestly) that not a soul had said anything to them about the party waiting for them in the library.
Besides, the Crusaders were the only friends she was happy to meet again. Ponies seemed to have different rules about parties than humans did, because there were plenty of adults in attendance that she knew and there was nothing strange about that here.
Chance kept her eyes alert for an opportunity to have a private conversation with one of those guests, a mint mare who had been providing quiet music during the party but was clearly here to enjoy herself. On the pretext of making a request, Chance hurried up to her when she had finished a set of lively tunes and grinned up at her. “Hey, Lyra,” she said, a little less shyly than the first time they had met. “How’d your big meeting go with the Precursor Society?”
The mare beamed. “They thought it was brilliant! Revolutionary new ideas!” She looked away. “I may’ve accidentally let it slip that I have some kind of new source. I’ve already got several requests to meet and talk about it.”
Chance would’ve preferred Lyra say just about anything else, since if she was telling the truth it meant Chance herself had been volunteered to further involve herself with eccentric, human-seeking ponies. Maybe it was her civic duty. It wasn’t as though there were any other human representatives in Equestria to correct the numerous misconceptions ponies had about their kind. Political first contact would probably be easier if there was already a place for them waiting in the culture
“Well, there was something I wanted to give you.” Chance didn’t dare teleport ponies again, let alone taking passengers several blocks across a city. But something small, and a very short distance, that much was well within her abilities now that she had the Nanophage to do all the calculations. It was exciting to use any excuse to do magic.
It was fine, so long as the objects in question didn’t mind coming through extra-universal space a little differently than they entered. In this particular case the pop of magic brought a roughly hoof-sized flat disk. As she watched, an apparently low temperature caused moisture from the air to condense and freeze along its surface.
Chance didn’t mind that, and she scraped the thin layer of ice away with her magic before passing the round object to Lyra. “I had this made for you. Maybe it’s a little selfish, since I like hearing my own music played live.” She took a step closer to the musician sitting strangely against the wall, lowering her own voice in kind. “It’s a playback device. The suction cup has to be attached to a flat surface, like a table or a wall. When you do that, it will project a display to choose the music you want it to play. A hoof is too big, but you can levitate a quill or something to pick what you want it to do… and if it stops working, just leave the black side in direct sunlight for a day or two.”
Chance had never seen a happier expression on anypony’s face, not in her entire time in Equestria. Though she was clearly confused by Chance’s explanation of the simple machine, that didn’t stop her from giving Chance a quick hug. “Thank you!” she exclaimed, practically at the edge of tears. She did so loudly enough that several ponies who had been disinterested in them before suddenly turned to stare. There was even less recognition in their eyes: Chance knew well there was no danger of anypony identifying the device she had given to Lyra as anything interesting unless they already knew what to look for. A thin disk with a suction cup on one side and some strange holes would mean nothing to the ponies here. Lyra continued in a whisper, “I promise to be worthy of your trust, hono-”
Chance forced her mouth closed with a hoof, so she couldn’t continue. “Don’t. It’s a gift from a friend, and not even a big one. It plays music, Lyra. Not all our music, but… lots of the classics, plus some of the more modern stuff that I think you’ll like. Be careful with the volume… It can make more noise than a live band if you have it on a big enough surface.” She suddenly regretted not limiting the playback volume in the settings, her mind flashing briefly to an image of Lyra filling Ponyville with a blaring rendition of AC/DC’s “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap.”
Shaking her head to dismiss that thought, she went on. “Just be smart, okay? Don’t show anypony else… but you can feel free to adapt the music. That’s why I’m giving it to you, because I think the Precursors made some great music and I don’t see any problem with sharing it.”
And so the party went on, with more or less everything she could've expected from such an occasion. Pinkie Pie had provided all her favorite treats, and absolutely everyone she cared about in Ponyville was there. Even if the attention made her a little uncomfortable, it was an established universal law that nopony could attend one of Pinkie Pie's parties without having fun.
But even the best parties had to end, and her "Welcome Home to Ponyville" party was no exception. Eventually the guests had all gone home, and only Twilight and a few of her friends were left to clean the library of its remains. Chance had tried to help, but had been told quite firmly that since the party was for her, she was not allowed to help clean it up.
But she didn't feel like sleeping, not with as much sugar as she had ingested. Instead, Second Chance took Twilight's tablet computer up to the balcony, and occupied herself for a few minutes configuring its projection and laser-tracking sensors.
True there was no Herschel up there, but she didn't mind. It wasn't as though Second Chance wanted to make any new discoveries. Rather, she just wanted to see if there was anything familiar.
The summer air was cool on her coat, though not enough to chill her. The moon was full, and between that and the glow of the tablet's little projector, she felt more than comfortable. Besides, the tablet had the added advantage of having access to familiar music. At least, the music Truth had seen fit to share with Twilight Sparkle.
Given the spectacular cloudless night, Second Chance settled on a mournful rendition of Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 14, which played quietly in the background as she connected a simple motion sensor to Twilight's telescope and patched it into the basic astronomy program contained in the tablet. She was lucky there was already software for this very operation, or else she probably would've had to be content with the recorded images stored within the computer.
Eventually she had the program configured, and with a camera shoved into the eyepiece of Twilight’s telescope, she could project what it saw to a size big enough to fill the rear wall with her tablet. It was a peaceful way to end her first day back in Ponyville, though the combination of the music and such a familiar activity from her human life left her feeling a little melancholic.
She was scanning the familiar Serpens constellation for signs of the Eagle Nebula when she heard hoofsteps on the deck behind her, which was a little surprising since she hadn't heard the door open or the familiar pop of air characteristic of Twilight's teleports. "Enjoying the night, Second Chance?" The voice was quite familiar to her, and it caused her to immediately look down, expecting to see the familiar lunar soil beneath her that was a sign she had dozed off. No doubt she had fallen asleep at the telescope. Yet she saw only Twilight's deck. Beyond that, she actually felt the tiredness growing at the edges of her perceptions, something she never felt when she was dreaming.
She turned around, and offered a weak smile to her nighttime visitor. As she had already known, the newcomer was Luna, Princess of the Night. "You missed the party.”
"Royal duties.” She looked down sadly. “I’m fairly certain there’s a law somewhere specifically forbidding any of Equestria’s ruling family to do anything fun.” She advanced through the field of projection and sat on her haunches beside Chance. "Some news demands a personal visit." She paused, listening as the music transitioned from the third movement back to the first as the song repeated, and the mournful sonata began again.
"News?" Chance raised an eyebrow, before looking back to the telescope. Now that the princess was here, she was determined to locate what she was searching for.
"Your projection is beautiful."
"It's real." She made a few more adjustments to the telescope before turning her attention on the multicolored cloud of gas, spectacular ambers and yellows and reds against a background of green and blue. "Your telescopes just haven't found it yet. My people call it the Eagle Nebula." She paused briefly, thinking. “How does the Nanophage have a program to help with unicorn magic?”
Luna’s expression grew sadder. “It does not. The ‘program’ as you call it was written to aid Alicorn magic. Our natural immune systems reject the particles just as with true sickness. A shame.”
“When? Truth’s systems were heavily damaged upon arrival. It probably lost its ability to generate its own power thousands of years ago.”
“Tens of thousands,” Luna agreed. “It arrived during far brighter days, Second Chance. Before the ponies of the lesser tribes gave it a name, mine knew it. Before the intelligence within was destroyed. The mind within was not destroyed on its arrival, as you believed. It was destroyed in the same war that claimed our civilization and left Equus torn from its proper orbit.”
Luna rose to her hooves to inspect the image the tablet was projecting. "I see the resemblance. A fitting name. Pity ponies had no instruments like thine a millennia ago. If they had, I imagine they would have appreciated the night better." She shook her head. "I did come for a purpose, Second Chance. I have yet to deliver the news I brought."
She nodded. "Right, you said something about news. What was it?"
"Congratulations," Luna offered, with a slight inclination of her head. "You passed."
"I..." Chance repeated, her tone growing more confused, "passed what?"
"The moment thou arrived in Equestria, thou hast been observed. We wished to learn from thee what sort of folk thy kin would be. We wished to know if we could trust them in Equestria one day, when they inevitably arrived with their promises."
"And I... passed?" Chance frowned. "You're saying you judged the whole human race based on me?" She shook her head vigorously. "I'm not the best example, Luna. There are way better humans than me. More characteristic examples."
"Perhaps, and perhaps not. Yet, a decision was reached. Twilight Sparkle was the pony primarily assigned to the task, and she has responded in the affirmative. The evaluation is over, and we agree there might be potential for a relationship between our peoples. It shall take time to prepare the spells Celestia and I considered for that encounter, yet that used upon thee when thou arrived provides an excellent template." Chance didn't get an opportunity to reply, to ask the battery of questions that Luna's strange remarks had brought. Luna, it seemed, was not in the mood for those sorts of questions just now. Instead, she glanced at the telescope again. "Are there yet more wonders this machine can display? We would love to get a better look at the unseen majesty of the night."
She nodded. "I can think of a few. I bet you've never got a good look at star formation before..." Chance went to work, adjusting the telescope to point towards the Large Magellanic Cloud. “Remember a few days ago, when you came to visit us in the hospital?”
Luna nodded.
“When I first woke up, Apple Bloom thought… thought that you’d come to take her away. I’ve been thinking about it, and I don’t think she expected you to take her back to Ponyville.” Chance took a breath, steeling herself for what she knew she’d have to ask now. “Is that one of the things you do? Take ponies away when they die?”
Luna was silent for a long time, watching the projection as Chance adjusted the telescope and zoomed towards the tiny patch of sky that guided star formation. Chance refused to say anything else, waiting on the Alicorn to answer. Eventually she did. “Your friend is not the only pony to believe I have a special connection with the dead. Even before my banishment, plenty of ponies suspected I might be the pale mare.”
Chance hadn’t heard the term before, but she didn’t really need to have to guess at who it was supposed to be. “Are you?” It seemed just about impossible to believe, but… plenty of other things about Equestria were impossible to believe. If a world could have celestial bodies and seasons controlled by the will of ponies, why not life and death?
“What do you think?”
She considered her response for a time. “I think… it would have been hard to collect souls if you were on the moon… and if you could’ve come back here to do that, you would’ve stayed back.”
Luna only laughed in response. “You Builders are all realists. No poetry.”
Chance chuckled, though her eyes remained on Luna. “Is… Did you ever see my parents? You think there might be room for them in pony heaven somewhere?” Tears streamed down her eyes, and her magical grip on the telescope faltered, blurring the projected image into nothingness.
Chance felt something heavy resting on her back, and looked up to see Princess Luna embracing her. “If they’re anything like you, Second Chance, I have no doubt of it.”
“But you don’t know?”
Luna didn’t answer for a very long time. Chance had never seen so sad a look on a pony’s face, not in the whole of her months in Equestria. “Only the dead know such things, Second Chance. Like my sister, like Discord and perhaps your guardian here, I may never know. This is the price of immortality. If you wish to see them again, I advise you avoid it.”
* * *
Chance was proud she didn't fall asleep on the balcony. Granted, if she hadn't been able to instruct her implants to keep her awake, she probably would've. She passed Spike on her way in, and waved vaguely at him. “Is Twilight done down there?”
Spike stretched his claws one at a time, groaning. “My wrists are sore enough to say yes.” He flopped into his basket, pulling a blanket over himself as he went.
“I'm sorry.” She lowered her head, biting back the guilt. “I tried to help, Spike. I'll make it up to you tomorrow somehow, promise.”
“Sure, Chance.” He yawned. “Sure.” He was asleep before she could say anything else.
She continued down the stairs, and found Twilight Sparkle going over the floor with a broom. “Hey Twilight.” She sat down at the base of the stairs, so she wouldn't get in the way of her sweeping. “You sure you don't want help?”
As always, Twilight barely seemed to be glancing at what she was doing with her magic. Chance wondered if she had been that way even before becoming an Alicorn. “Don't worry about it.” She smiled. “I already had Spike go over it once. I just wanted to make sure he hadn't missed anything.”
“Oh.” She was quiet for a few moments, just watching the broom as Twilight levitated it along. “Princess Luna left. Important princess things to do I guess.”
Twilight froze, looking shocked. “Luna? I didn't know she was here.”
Chance shrugged. “She came to tell me something.” Chance rose to her hooves, taking a step closer. “How were those books I left for you?”
Twilight nodded in comprehension, and set the broom down. “Truth showed me where you came from.” In lavender eyes, Chance could see her own cutie mark reflected. Was it the electric lanterns that made it look like the surface was burning?
Chance shivered and looked away. “What did you see?”
“You.”
Chance bowed, her vision blurring with tears. “Thanks.” She felt the familiar fuzz of magic scooping her up, and the familiar hooves. She really needed to find a new hobby. Maybe airship building.
“Do you think... do you think you'll stay, Chance? When it's all over? After we've saved them?”
We.
“Yeah.” She dried her eyes on one of her forelegs. “I think I will.” She took a breath. “I... it's been a long time since I've had a mom.”
* * *
At that exact moment, a filly that looked exactly like Second Chance slunk beside her mother in the darkness. There were no streetlights in that remote village, and guards were too few to patrol the streets at night. Indeed, aside from the green unicorn filly and her brownish earth pony mother, there was no trace of activity in the light of dark evening. Perhaps in such a remote part of Equestria, so late at night and with no friendly witnesses about, a single young mare might have shown more caution when traveling alone.
Not this one, though. Anypony who tried anything with her would’ve been lucky to escape with their life. She didn’t slow in her travel, leading the somewhat clumsy duplicate of Second Chance with barely contained impatience. No words passed between them, at least, not vocally. The filly heard her mother’s voice in her mind quite clearly. We must not linger; we speak with one neither kind nor merciful.
The filly had no true name of her own, only the name she had stolen along with the memories. She didn’t have to reach back to the forbidden memories to know how to speak silently; that was one of the few pieces of knowledge old enough to come from her true self. Then why are we visiting him? We could always make friends with somepony nicer instead. Everything had changed since she had stolen the body and memories of the filly Second Chance. Even her voice sounded different.
Her mother’s reply came with a harsh flash from suddenly glowing eyes. He is no friend, daughter. He isn’t even an ally. He’s the enemy of our enemies.
Which makes him our friend?
No. Her mother’s voice was harsh, though it could’ve been more angry. Not as you know the word. He has no love for us, and would not hesitate to sacrifice us if he thought it would benefit him. He is a predator, like us. We must not present him with weakness, or he will turn on us.
She nodded. But… aren’t I weak? I’m not full grown yet, and I’ve never gone out with you before. Maybe you should’ve gone without me. I wouldn’t want to be the reason we failed.
The mare touched her daughter briefly, expression softening. Don’t be afraid, daughter. Let me be concerned for that. Leadership often involves taking the greatest risk personally, if risk is what will secure your goals the greatest chance of success.
The filly said nothing to that, merely absorbing the wisdom her mother always had to offer. Granted, there was plenty of other wisdom in her mind now, from sources stranger than anything even her mother might’ve suggested. The thought of “mother” brought three images now, not one. A soft, pink primate with long hair and kindness but not quite the level of intellect to understand her, a violet mare whose intelligence and power had frightened her, but also given her great comfort, and the black insect whose love ran all the way to her soul, and came with the ruthlessness to commit any act that might lead to victory.
It frightened her how much her mother’s words seemed to agree with her vast wealth of new, alien knowledge. Be extremely subtle, even to the point of formlessness. Be extremely mysterious, even to the point of soundlessness. Thereby you can be the director of the opponent’s fate.
Two thirds of what the nameless filly now knew seemed to be in agreement. Only the pony portion of her memories disagreed. What her true mother had taught formed one extreme, and the mercy and weakness of the ponies stood at the other. The aliens existed somewhere in the middle. There is no instance of a country having benefited from prolonged warfare. So spoke that strange knowledge within her mind.
The nameless filly occupied herself almost constantly with considerations of her new knowledge. How any being could be vast enough to contain it all baffled and frightened her both. She had to fight Kimberly Colven? A woman whose will had been so mighty that eons in the void had not broken her the way it had destroyed the other who came from her world.
Of course, what scared her most was that Kimberly Colven, or Second Chance, or whoever she was, fought for the exact same reasons that she and her true mother fought. She wanted to protect her people, a people that hid starving beneath the ground and whose culture had been driven to near collapse by foolish war.
The nameless filly knew Second Chance as the pony could not possibly know herself; she had seen her entire life with the objectivity of an outsider. She knew what the unicorn could not possibly know; that she would sacrifice anything if she thought it was needed to preserve her people. No trial could dissuade her, no threat would daunt her into submission. That was what had kept her sane in the void between worlds.
Was the nameless filly glad her mother had sensed the death of her servants, and she had been spared taking the place of Kimberly so soon? Yes. Did she think it was worth the trade of having such a tenacious enemy at large? That was much harder to say.
Of course, not having to go on assignment almost the moment after she was born was no small luxury in itself. She would never say so to her mother of course; that would be a sign of weakness a future queen could not afford. But why was it her fault if she enjoyed spending time with her family? If the filly whose identity she had stolen had such an opportunity to spend time with her birth mother, she would’ve jumped at it. Doing so in her place felt like giving the proper respect to an enemy.
Or something. It was a pretty vague feeling.
Their destination, as it turned out, was a cave not far from the village, though its position in a thick patch of decidedly spooky woods probably was enough to persuade the weak-hearted ponies from stumbling into it accidentally. Whoever they had come to visit obviously did not fear visitors, because they had lit up a fairly sizable fire near the entrance, large enough to keep any insects from getting close as well as roast whatever creature they had killed on a spit over the fire.
She couldn’t have said what sort of being it was, only that it had once had four hooves and been larger than the average pony. The head had been removed before roasting, and the whole thing was covered in a thin layer of crispy blackness. She felt a shiver of revulsion pass through her mother, and she couldn’t help but echo it from all three of her perspectives. Meat alone was enough to sicken the pony, while the alien was revolted something had been killed for the meat. The changeling saw the whole thing as some barbaric imitation of what a real predator did. Ponies were prey, but you could only eat them this way once. Properly cultivated, a pony could provide love for years.
“Good, you’re here.” An elderly-sounding voice spoke from deep within the cave. “I was beginning to fear you had met some misfortune on the way.”
She followed her mother into the cave, and was struck by the other signs of prolonged habitation. The ground was carpeted with thick furry hides, and a variety of primitive weapons and tools hung from racks pounded into the stone of the mountain itself.
“Only in your fantasies is there misfortune to challenge me, Tirek.” Her mother’s illusion melted away in a flash of intense blue fire, leaving behind the lithe, proud form of the Queen of all Changelings.
Her nameless daughter imitated her, though she could not change so quickly. A nymph wasn’t nearly as frightening as an adult queen in any case; her fangs were short and her wings too weak to lift her for long. Her carapace was so new it hadn’t fully hardened yet. She hoped this being called Tirek would not notice.
Tirek answered with a harsh, grating laugh. A shadow stirred in the darkness of the cave, a thin body shifting on a sleeping mat of more hides. “Is that so? I hear a weak pony creature thwarted your so called ‘invasion’.”
She felt her mother’s furious anger without having to look up and see her snarl. She echoed the feeling, baring her teeth and spreading her legs in what she assumed was a fighting stance. If a fight was coming, then she would help!
“Celestia’s apprentice, not just anypony.” Her tone turned cold. “At least I was defeated by an enemy, not betrayed by my own brother.” She gestured towards the young queen. “See how loyal my family is?”
An angry growl bubbled from the end of the cave. She forced herself not to flinch, drawing on her mother’s anger for strength. A figure stepped into the firelight. It was feeble and thin, like the most emaciated changeling she had ever seen. Worse. It looked like no living thing she knew; his lower body like a pony but the upper almost like the aliens. Kimberly would have called him a centaur. Perhaps one of those who guarded the circle of the Inferno where the violent spent their eternities.
He had emotions, or an emotion. Tirek could not mask his feelings as her mother could; hatred radiated from him in waves, hatred tempered by an eternity. Behind feeble discipline was a rage almost too intense for a rational mind to contain. He might be thin, but still he towered over the two of them. Could they win in open combat with such a monster?
Tirek reached out… then past them, rotating the unfortunate on the spit another turn, before returning to a sitting position. “Perhaps we all have our advantages and our weaknesses. Yet I was surprised you wanted to meet with me. I thought you had already sold yourself to another.”
Chrysalis bared her fangs again, though she relaxed even as Tirek had done. “I am sold to nopony, regardless of what He might claim. If an arrangement brings swifter results, then I will not need him.”
“And why do you think I would need you?”
“Because you’re intelligent enough not to think you can subdue a nation on your own.” He laughed, but Chrysalis wasn’t done. “Even if you could, you have nothing to lose and everything to gain by agreeing to an alliance.”
“Explain.”
She did. Once she had laid the plan out in detail, she continued. “We want different things, Tirek. You want their magic, the swarm has no need of it. You want to rule?” She shrugged. “The swarm is rulership enough for me. We ask only the right to their love, something you neither desire nor need. In exchange, you shall have all I’ve promised.”
Tirek considered, then nodded. “I think we have a deal.”
* * *
“Are you sure you need me, Sweetie Belle?” Chance shifted uncomfortably in the stiff fabric of the uniform, rocking between her hooves. “I don’t have the same talent for this stuff you do.”
Sweetie Belle looked much more comfortable wearing her Jr. Ponytones uniform than Chance felt. “While you and Apple Bloom were gone, I had to take Scootaloo. We sounded like a box of cats rolling down a hill.” She leaned closer to her friend, eyes widening. “C’mon, Chance! You don’t have to be great. We just need somepony who can actually carry a tune.”
Chance stared down at the green fabric, adjusting the tie beneath her hooves. “I guess that makes sense.” Chance didn’t exactly enjoy singing, not like Sweetie Belle did. That said, she did understand what Truth had explained about the likelihood that her friend would find her cutie mark doing anything besides singing, and the chances weren’t good. Somehow she doubted forcing her to sing with Scootaloo was likely to produce results.
Were they likely to check off another cutie mark after just one practice? Probably not. But after all the excitement of the Equestrian Innovators Conference, Chance could appreciate an opportunity to do something routine.
“Just as long as it doesn't take too long. Twilight thinks I’ve got to make up for all the magic-practice I missed now that I can do it again. I’m sure she’ll have like a hundred different assignments waiting for me.”
“Eugh.” Her friend shook her head in disgust. “No thank you. Magic’s great and all, but I dunno why Twilight wants you to be such an expert. You aren’t trying to be a wizard, right?”
She shook her head. “I guess not. But I am trying to be her apprentice. Like, if you wanted to work for your sister, I bet she’d make you work on dresses until you were sick of them too.”
“Maybe.” She groaned. “That’d be the worst. Having to compare what I made to her stuff all the time? I’d feel like the clumsiest pony in Equestria every time I picked up a needle.”
Chance had to resist telling her friend that she probably was one of the clumsiest ponies in Equestria, or at the very least in Ponyville. So instead she said, “kinda like singing next to you is gonna be.”
That elicited a smile from her friend, though not a terribly large one. “Yeah, well… it’s a good thing you’re such a mature pony that you’re not bothered by stuff like that, huh? Got that neat cutie mark and everything… practically an adult! Pretty soon you’ll be dropping out of school, apprenticing full time, chasing after colts…”
Chance shoved her sideways with her shoulder. It was enough to send the filly stumbling, though fortunately for her crisp new uniform she didn’t actually fall. “I wouldn’t count on it. I’ve told you before, I’m really older than this. More mature.” She nodded emphatically. “I’ve already been through that once before. Colts weren’t more interesting than my work the first time, and they aren’t going to be the second time. If anything, it’ll be easier.”
She allowed herself a grin. “You’re the one who should be worried. Give it a few years, and you’ll be swooning over anypony on the cover of a fashion magazine and fantasizing about your prince charming just like your big sister.”
Sweetie Belle glared back at her for a second, and Chance half-expected some sort of angry, defensive retort. Instead, the filly just shrugged and resumed walking. “Maybe. I’ll take things as they come.” She looked away, towards the sky. “You really think buying that airship is going to help Scootaloo get her cutie mark?”
Chance glanced around to be sure nopony was close enough to hear, then spoke in a hushed voice. “When you were talking to Truth, he scanned all three of you… like a medical spell, but better. Something’s wrong with Scootaloo’s wings. Maybe if we get the Nanophage in her soon enough she might be able to fly one day, but she’ll never be very good without some major surgery. I figure… I figure an airship’s the next best thing.”
She returned to her normal speaking voice. “Not to mention it’ll be really fun to repair, and it’ll be our free ticket anywhere in Equestria when we’re… old enough to be allowed. We could go exploring with it, or you could use it to go on some sort of singing-tour, or…” she ended with a shrug. “Who knows? Unless you can think of something better to do with all that money.”
Sweetie Belle clearly thought about that for a moment, but in the end she just shook her head. “Guess I’m just worried that I’ll be the last one without my cutie mark. You’ve got yours, now Apple Bloom. If Scootaloo gets hers with an airship, then I’ll be the only blank flank left. Well, Babs Seed too I guess, but she’s almost never in town.”
Chance reached out, embracing her friend right there on the streets of Ponyville. “Even if that does happen, we’ll still be your friends. If we have to be there to try every single cutie mark, we will.” She broke away, grinning. “Don’t think we won’t, either. Truth already had to make a list of every single one to make predictions.”
“Really?” Sweetie’s expression brightened. “That actually sounds like a really neat idea! Do you think you could make a copy of the list for me?”
She shrugged. “I’ll have to make you a tablet first… it’d take way too much paper to print it all. Truth said there were just over a billion different marks… for now. The possibilities increase by an order of magnitude once you modernize. Once ponies start advancing at the same speed humans do, population growth should never be able to keep pace with the growth of new marks.
“Oh.” Sweetie Belle’s ears drooped, her tail sagging. “I guess we should just stick to singing then, huh?”
“Probably for the best. The list can be our solid plan B.” They weren’t far from the park, and as they rounded the bend, Chance could make out the Ponytones as they gathered to practice. In addition to a few of Twilight’s friends and their relatives, she could make out a little gathering of fillies and colts of the newly founded Jr. Ponytones that made up the group she was about to join. She knew them by sight at least; a gray unicorn filly with a yellowish mane, and a pair of colts, both earth ponies, one brown and the other white with brown spots. All wore their uniforms, and watched as she and Sweetie Belle made their approach.
Was she imagining it, or was that relief on their faces. “Oh, good,” said the brown colt, looking Chance up and down. “You found somepony else.” His voice had an almost falsetto squeak to it. He narrowed his eyes. “You’re better than the pegasus, right?”
She shrugged. “I’ve got different talents than Scootaloo, if that’s what you mean.”
Sweetie Belle cut her off. “She is, don’t worry. Why don’t you make yourself useful, Button, and get another copy of the alto part for her.”
He grumbled, but trotted off towards the adults anyway.
“Don’t worry about Button.” The pinto colt extended a hoof with a friendly smile and more than a slight accent. “Pipsqueak. I sit up on the second row.”
“Second Chance.” She mirrored the gesture, though in truth she still didn’t fully understand the point or procedure for a hoof-shake. Was she blushing? No, it was just the glare in her eyes making her face feel hot. “Thanks for letting me come. I’ll try not to slow anypony down too much.”
“You won’t.” The mare offered her hoof too, along with an innocent grin. “Dinky Doo. We’re not very serious. Not like the real Ponytones. We don’t even perform.”
“We don’t even perform yet,” Sweetie Belle corrected. “We just need a little more practice is all! Now that we’ve got some more talent, we’re a shoo-in at the next Hearth’s Warming Pageant!”
That was when the other colt returned, offering a folder in his mouth towards Chance. She took it in her magic, opening it up and flipping through the pages. She wondered idly why ponies used the exact same system for representing music that humans did. She might have trouble reading any of it otherwise.
It didn’t matter. Sweetie Belle had been right; it was fun.
* * *
A universe away, a good king rested on a balcony with an old hardcover book in his hands, reading beneath the light of the setting sun. Of course there was little reason left to read this way, little reason that anyone should be restricted to such sluggish information exchange in the modern day. Perhaps he was just sentimental, for the days when human beings had been confined to symbols scrawled on pressed and dried plant or animal tissue. This volume had a little of both, with a cover of genuine leather that had survived the harsh conditions that had followed Earth's nuclear holocaust remarkably well.
"My King," came a voice from behind him, a voice he had become more and more accustomed to hearing in person ever since the Steel Tower had been sharing the Federation's advances in extra-universal travel. "My report, as you requested."
Richard lifted a hand and gestured for Tesla to sit down, before glancing back down to the book and reading where his other hand had been resting.
"While civilization has been improving our houses, it has not equally improved the men who are to inhabit them. It has created palaces, but it was not so easy to create noblemen and kings." Then he looked up, resting the book gently beside him on the bench. "Am I a good king, Tesla?" From the highest balcony of the Steel Tower the view stretched far and wide, a view of rusting metal transforming into the structures of a makeshift city. There was motion in the dark, though stark little of it. Despite the ease and efficiency of fusion power much of his people still relied on solar power, and that remained difficult to store through the cold nights. As such there would soon be very little in the way of activity to see below, not until the sun came again. "Could I have done better for mankind?"
Tesla hesitated, and was clearly not eager to answer the question. "Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown," he eventually replied. "Only history can judge kings. But because of you, there will be a history to judge. Future historians should have the respect to see you did everything you could."
Richard was silent as he watched the lights come on, tapping on the cover of his book with simulated fingers. "Perhaps, Tesla. One can hope." He glanced sidelong at him, however briefly. "What of your report?"
"Favorable," Tesla replied, proudly. "Brigid discovered a vein of rich metal deposits in a thickly wooded area a few dozen miles from the entry point. There is no sign the local population travels there, and the animals have left the drones alone. At the current rate of replication, we should establish our first microfusion plant within five years. Once we do, it will only be a matter of months before we can generate the power necessary to stabilize the Rift from that end."
Richard imagined hundreds of autonomous drones hard at work in a patch of dense woodland, noisy with the sound of industry far from any ears who might know what those sounds meant. They would dig deep beneath the earth, establishing mines and pipelines and waste disposal areas where none could see. He did not imagine child-sized dogs, with their strange legends or any cooperative relationship. “What of Leonidas? Any news of him now?”
Tesla seemed more reluctant this time, but he still answered. “Brigid believes she has located his remains. She travels to recover them even as we speak. She assures me he will be repaired as soon as resources permit.”
"Excellent." Richard folded his hands in his lap, watching the last rays of sunlight as it passed beneath a horizon of twisted metal. "Keep me apprised, Tesla. I want to hear the minute anything happens that might affect the timeline. Preferably for the better."
"Of course, your grace." Tesla bowed, then rose. "The moment anything changes, you will be the first to know."
"Good," Richard answered, reaching for his book and opening directly to the page he had left off. He only had to pause to flick on the light resting beside him on the table. Richard would ensure that mankind was ready for this mission the moment the option opened.
Richard was a good king.
Also LikedSimilarAuthor
- Starscribe · 83k words · 342 14 · 4.3k views
- Starscribe · 204k words · 595 32 · 6.4k views
- Starscribe · 14k words · 249 9 · 4.1k views
- Starscribe · 38k words · 332 17 · 5.7k views
- Starscribe · 101k words · 1,620 49 · 20k views
- Starscribe · 190k words · 325 24 · 4.5k views
- Starscribe · 154k words · 610 37 · 5.7k views
- Starscribe · 133k words · 140 9 · 1.8k views
Stats
Page generated in 0.78 seconds
Total duration
882 users online
687,415 hits today, 2,571,732 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
5932943
There's always a reason somewhere. I expect you'll know now. Or whenever you get around to reading the epilogue, as the case may be.
5937199
It does seem rather a bummer on Luna's part to exclude Apple Bloom, though since at present it didn't seem like the filly even understood what was going on so far as Chance's magic was concerned, I'm sure she'll be okay. As to paying people with aluminum, I hope they warned those ponies to get rid of the assets quickly. Granted, it will take time for the news of this new technology and its consequences to spread. With any luck anypony with holdings should be able to diversify before the worst consequences are felt. Fairly certain that's what happened in our world as new technology drove the price way down.
5942884
And thanks for dropping an occasional comment! It's really hard to stay motivated in a vacuum, but so long as a few people still care enough to do that...
"Epilogue"?!
Nice callforward, Scoots.
I can think of many worse fates.
Without having introduced the satellites, that mention of Herschel doesn't really make sense for first-time readers.
Though I realized his voice was coming out of my mouth even as I was reading his first line, so not a huge shock.
There we go, they already have platinum coins instead of aluminum bars, no market crashing issues at least for the CMC and their newly impressive net worth. Well, until they buy Scoots an airship to fix up.
Neat. And the potential volume depends on the size of the flat surface? That could be trouble, try not to attach it to the Ponyville Dam, Lyra.
Oh wow, that's a significant development.
Twilight judge the human race as passing? I do wonder how much she might have allowed her feelings for chance to affect the decision, and if it's a bad thing if she did. The nearest immediate example of a human proving worthy of love potentially means quite a bit when it comes to this sort of thing.
Oooooo, oops. That's one recommendation that doesn't take.
Chrysalis teaming up with Tirek? That's not good.
Chance goes singing with Sweetie, meets Pipsqueak.
Hahaha.
Maybe, but your subjects aren't exactly setting a good multi-dimensional example at the moment.
Wish more people would fInd this story, it's an absolute gem.
Great job, can't wait for more
5963552
A king that has to tell himself that he is a good king is never a good king.
I like it a bunch, but I am a bit confused about the canon. Is this story a midquel between the current harmony defended and MLA stories, or is it more of a prequel to a rewrite of the harmony defended which will be released later? I probably missed a blog or authors note somewhere.
5983071
Well duh, he is the leader of a faction who has committed mass genocide in the name of progress. The road to hell is paved with good intentions. Also, the lack of magic that all things being absent from the golems with copies of a human mind proves that they are not alive and merely a good copy of a person and nothing more.
6083534
A copy of a person is just as alive as the original person, and if their minds are linked, they can possibly be considered the same person. Magic or no magic. Magic just makes it not have a horrible dystopian outcome. But they're still both alive, even in the dystopia.
Yes, the whole mass genocide is a pretty good reason someone might be considered a really fucking bad king. But ultimately, it's needing that validation, discarding all context and reason so you can still tell yourself that you are a good king, that makes you a bad king.
6087476
Respectfully I disagree. A copy is a copy is not the original no more than a fax machine produces original documents. Something is always lost. The evolution and development of mankind is of a biological nature. To download a copy of a person into a computer and call it the person while killing them is a mockery of life. Regardless of "free will" or "emotions" what we are is fundamentally biological and calling a simulation of one's mind in a computer the same as the original is ridiculous. They have successfully created sentient machines. Bravo. However at the cost of billions of lives It is not worth it. If you could copy yourself, would you consider the copy the same as you or just a copy? I know I sure wouldn't. Before it is otherwise said, no I am not against progress; In fact I look forward to what nano-robotics will allow for life extension. By repairing the organic body not replacing it with steel and silicone.
6087595
Something is always lost even as you live. It takes a sufficient loss to make a person into a non-person, but otherwise the pattern is self correcting. If you play a record and bump the phonograph, and the record skips, that is a loss, but a sufficient loss would be to melt the record into slag, or scratch it so badly that the original song could never be recovered. Sufficient loss is whatever it takes to make some shape, recording, being, diagram, or other information item, unrecognizable as what it originally once was.
I won't deny that computers can be seen as a mockery of life. Whether that's a bad thing or not is debatable though. Some things are just begging to be mocked.
A copy of myself would be the same as me at the time of copying. Afterwards we would be different, diverging from that point. If in the future we are connected sufficiently to exchange our information (i.e. not sufficiently lose it), then we are now a single self again.
That's the solution to the teleportation copying dilemma, btw. The inverse operation of being copied is to merge nondestructively. If neither copy is destroyed before the merge, then there's no death, and no experience lost. If either copy is destroyed there can be no merge and there is a death. While no merge occurs, it doesn't count as death, but a merge itself is not killing either copy, if you combine both into the end result with no (sufficient) loss of information.
Oh I'm not denying that organics are superior to metal. I think there is a third thing superior to both of those of course, but ultimately a machine made out of giant hunks of metal is always going to be a lot simpler than something whose information is contained in the very molecules it's made up on. I think whatever robot revolution isn't going to be big honking steel skeleton monsters, but instead it'll be fixing all the ridiculous inefficiency in organic molecules, resulting in like, super organic robot somethings... and then computronium and then we win
I broke down for her.
6083534
I think you’re unfairly maligning Richard here. Various companies within the Federation essentially enslaved who knows how many thousands of people and you’re placing all the blame on Richard because he took efforts to take down those kidnapping and enslaving his people? It wasn’t like he set out to incite total war. Do you honestly believe that when he first heard of the corps. pulling this shit that he didn’t first attempt to go through official channels?
edit:
Honestly, what alternative paths to resolution do you see working, ’cause I don’t see any that don’t run the very real risk of escalating the situation… or is it your contention that Richard should have simply done nothing?
6188751
I did not say that he had to do nothing about the slavery. However, that does not justify the forced uploading of individuals into his system. Which is in my opinion an act of mass murder. He could simply free the enslaved and destroy the infrastructure that allowed and maintained the slaves. But capturing and forcibly converting people is wrong. If an individual wishes to commit suicide I am not going to stop them, but when their rights start to interfere with the rights of others; I feel morally compelled to stop that in some way. Also, yes I think the tower individuals have the rights of sentient beings; However, the way they came into being should not be allowed to continue.
Should I read this or Harmony Defended first? I just finished My Little Apprentice, so...
6366836
This one. Harmony Defended comes after.
6367879 Okay, thanks.
The title of the story remind me of this...
6367879 Oh and, I just found something very interesting that was published about quantum mechanics yesterday. You know how magic in your story is just an object's quantum probability being manipulated at the macro scale? Well, this reminded me of it in a way. Seeing quantum motion; even one day ripples in the fabric of space-time?
This seems like the first step to figuring out how to detect and apply quantum properties in many particles at once. It is not even close to what happens in your fic, not by a long shot, but it did remind me a bit of it. Thought I would share.
6372333
It's not just how much data there is. Seventeen gigabytes of porn is a paltry concern compared to 20 bytes of machine code that eats your memory. 0.00001% corruption could be tiny, and it would still be terrifying. Because it's corruption from Outside.
6087710
And how do you expect this 'merge' to take place? Would you take the risk without knowing for 100%?
6377918
No more than I'd risk splitting. I suppose it depends on how reliable the technique is, and how dire the need. I can't expect anything, because both copying yourself, and merging with your clone are entirely impossible with our current level of technology, and will continue to be so long after my death, so anything I say is mere speculation.
I just noticed... IS&S was based in England, and it's CEO (who became king) was Richard. The first (and only) king Richard of the Steel Tower. King Richard is also immensely concerned with the recovery of the knight Leo the Bold/Leonidas.
King Richard I of England was known as Richard the Lionhearted. He was the first person in history to be a king and a knight. "He was a bad son, a bad husband, and a bad king, but a gallant and splendid soldier."
6189820
While I'll agree that forced uploading is morally squicky, I wouldn't say the same for voluntary uploads; that's violation of freedom of choice vs. the natural evolution of transhumanism. (This dichotomy is basically the source of the horror, to me, in Friendship is Optimal, where CelestAI is going to upload you, but you're going to want it.) The Steel Tower did not resort to forced uploads in response to enslavement, at least not directly. The enslavement was one of the first offenses committed by either side in the conflict. The Steel Tower responded with sabotage against the companies suspected of committing the act. The conflict evolved to terrorism on both sides, and then the forced uploads happened.
Further, while forced uploads are bad, it's only forced via law upon citizens of the Steel Tower; they're not kidnapping organics from the Federation and uploading them. It's entirely possible to leave the Steel Tower for the Federation and vice versa, as demonstrated by some of Chance's friends (at least it was prior to open war). All laws in all countries are optional, in the sense and on the assumption that you can leave the country for another which does not have that law.
As promised, I have now read MLA and MLA: Apogee.
They were excellent, as expected, and I am looking forward to reading the new release this Saturday
7169151
And here it is! ^^
http://www.fimfiction.net/story/326689/mla-perihelion
7173451 hi I have a few questions I started reading the Aprentince series but then I saw your last pony on Earth series . Does it matter which series I should start? And I've been a struggling Arthor for awhile now. I just can't come up with a good original story and idky it's so frusturating if you have any free time do you think you could pm me? I would really appreciate your advice thanks
What does Apogee mean?
7216175 webopedia.com/imagesvr_ce/9677/apogee-diagram.jpg
When a satellite is at the furthest point in its orbit from the body it orbits.
This is great! Just like everything else you've written.
impressive story I loved it. now on to the sequel.
Ugh, someone needs to delete that disgusting bit of malware named Bree.
Also, why doesn't this series have more upvotes? It needs all the upvotes! I'm delighted with it so far.
7774524
One of my editors loves you right now for realizing that similarity. ^^
7774534
So that was an intentional reference was it? Or just a very awesome coincidence? Either way it just proves me a bit of a nerd.
I have been enjoying this story immensely, not often i read stories that inspire me so much. I might nab a bit of how magic works from this, even if it might not be as applicable as i might want.
Several factions all acting for the good of those they care about, as any good conflict should be. Loving the saga thus far. On to the next installment.
8129614 if that is what you believe then you are quite welcome to think that way. I wish you the best and hope you have a good day
8134209
What a wonderful and compelling argument! I think my favorite part is when you called me an idiot; that statement stung quite a bit coming from someone with your excellent spelling skills.
8146942
Not a troll. Sorry for the spelling, but I was rather tired.
Dang, two for two on the food stories front! Looking forward to reading future installments!
8134606
It was three am and my point stands.
8417073
You know, I would have told you that my stance on the issue changed in the TWO YEARS since my original comment if you weren't a dick about it. Which is why I was so sarcastic. Next time, try not to comment on an argument two years old.
Facts not in evidence.
Thus is an excellent amd enjoyable story though. I anticipate Leo waking up, and either learning the Steel Tower isn't what he thought/hoped it would be, or Luna learning that Leo was never what she thought/hoped he was. Given Brigid's selection for this mission, Richard seems unavoidably stupid or evil - and given his power, both are equally threatening to Equestria. Much warm delicious drama ahead I feel.
8666299
Ah, so you mean randomness simply went in favor of the other side?
Well... I suppose that makes sense.
7523039
The only thing I can think of, is that it is one of Starscribe's earlier works. Combine that with the Art that didn't really do a good show of showcasing what this story is about, and that seems like the most reasonable explanation. At least it was that way for me, before I got sucked up into reading the prequel with Sunset Shimmer....then I got HOOKED
If I am not mistaken, those in the Tower apparently did not like biological life. But the question I have is still lingering: Who shot first?
At the end of this second story i am left with mixed feelings i cant quite put into words. Maybe if i cant think of them later ill be sure to add them here but ill probably need some time to processes things. I have to admit this hasnt grabbed the the same way the PaP universe had but ill continue non the less.
I guess the biggest issue i have is the things left unsaid. I feel like there are some conversations between Twilight and Chance that should have happened by now about the great war and its two factions, the presence of tower personel in Equestria in the past and the potential future Twilight saw.
Also i dont know if it was intentional but now that there is a second Second Chance running around should we call her Second and Kimberly Chance?
9479229
Yeah, victims.
Of Federation, as we know now, of actual antagonists
It, s quite a feat to attempt to murder someone twice.
You are a wizard, Chance
Very clear. None of that confusing "Who is the real bad guy" stuff, you just came straight out and said it: It ain't Richard.
Oh boy, a 5 way gambit pile up. Chyrssi, Tirek (probably), Federation, Tower, Second chance and Co.
No.
You're not.