Epilogue
We stared at the edge for a while before resuming our teleportation, it took us a while to find the next edge. It too, happened to be a one hundred and twenty degree angle. We calculated the width and teleported six times, reaching an edge each time and finding ourselves back where we had started.
We had not found a wall at the end of the multiverse. We had not found an end to infinity. We had simply found the largest universe ever. A perfect hexagonal prism floating like a massive ship in the cosmic ocean.
We mourned that we had not found it, as the possibility of reaching the edge of existence itself had been a great comfort to us. To have that snatched away was painful, and a great portion of our number chose to reincarnate after the discovery.
Those of us that remained pondered more deeply on that first question when we had first confronted it: What was on the other side of that wall?
What was inside the hexagonal prism that was 10^463652 number of universes tall?
---
Galaxia started her journey back to the nearest gathering of them.
The entity known as Hope was a combination of quadrillions of souls linked throughout the multiverse. They shared all thoughts, all ideas, everything was known to them. Someday Galaxia would break her own reincarnation cycle and become a part of them—that is, if the memories of the souls from her universe were acceptable.
It had been thousands of years since Galaxia had last spoken with Hope. The ideal King or Queen would only speak with Hope for the first few years of creation and then not talk with the entity again until the end of their universe. But Galaxia needed guidance far more often than that and this was too important to leave as a mystery. It had nearly killed her.
She made her way to Hope’s domain, using the teleportation relay through millions of universes looking for the network of souls.
As she neared the gathering, she changed her form back into an alicorn, giving Hope an example of the worlds she had been building.
“Galaxia… it is nice to see you,” said Hope as she entered their domain.
They did not await her reply before the mass of souls converged on her and examined her memories, picking apart all the data and letting it percolate throughout all members of Hope scattered across the multiverse.
As Hope withdrew, they took the strange atom along with them.
“Do you understand how this got to Equestria?” they asked.
“N— No,” she said. They always asked questions they knew she didn’t know the answer to yet. But she knew from experience that the questions they asked always led to answers.
“You carefully planned out every aspect of your universe before you started it. When is the only time you have sought out extra matter outside of your own universe?”
Galaxia pondered that for a while. “The only thing I can think of is that sun in Equestria. I set up the rules for suns to work much differently than the way I wanted Equestria to behave and so I needed to grab a sun from a separate place that didn’t follow my rules.”
“Precisely.”
She stood there, trying to chew on that information before giving up. “I don’t follow, Hope.”
They hovered the thing that used to be Nightmare Moon between them and Galaxia.
“You stole it’s home and its purpose. It came down to Equestria and despised what Celestia was doing with its former body so much that it possessed Luna and turned her into Nightmare Moon.”
“What do you mean, its home?”
“Suns sometimes have a guiding force, Galaxia.”
“That still doesn’t explain what it is.”
“What do you think it is?”
Galaxia stared at the thing. “Well… suns combine element one, Hydrogen, into all the other elements. But we’ve never gotten a sun to manufacture an element beyond element one hundred thousand before. However, this looks like it surpassed all previous limitations and had one trillion hydrogen atoms combine to form a single atom. How did you surpass that limit, Hope?”
“We did not. This… Trillion, as we call it in this form, was not created or manufactured by us. In fact, in order to find more we have to filter through dozens of universes worth of suns, and even then we may only find one or two.”
“If it’s so rare, why do you search for it?”
“What is the purpose of other large elements we have given you Galaxia?”
She paused, thinking it over. “Higher elements demonstrate a tiny amount of sapience the higher the atomic number. With element ten thousand used to guide plants and the highest fusible element—element one hundred thousand—used for animals.”
The amalgam of souls before her moved ever so slightly, as if they were nodding a head they didn’t have in order to encourage her to proceed.
“I don’t understand. We already have souls for fully sapient creatures. It’s like this element is some strange imitation of soul.”
“It’s no imitation, Galaxia.”
She watched in fascination as Hope held the Trillion aloft, covering it in some strange spell. Elements fused around it, intertwining and connecting seamlessly in a way that Galaxia couldn’t understand how they were arranging themselves. When Hope stopped, all that remained was a single navy blue glowing orb.
It looked just like a…
Soul.
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AND NOT SUPER TRAMPOLINE BECAUSE HE'S A BAD AND LAZY FRIEND BUT Y'ALL SHOULD READ THIS 'CAUSE CHINCHILLAX IS AN AWESOME WRITER WITH COOL IDEAS!
6646864
And offered to Super Trampoline but editors are allowed to say no to a project and still be good friends.
... this story blew my mind! You did an amazing job of humanizing beings with unfathomable cosmic power. I never once felt lost even when reading about notions that should be exploding my tiny little brain. The concepts in this are just marvellous, too. If I've got any complaints, it's that Pinkie doesn't really do much in the story, but then, I guess it wasn't really about her in the end? Still, this is super, I loved it. ^^
6647112
I'm so glad I got to blow your mind! There are a ton of concepts explored in this and I'm glad they all came through clearly.
6647103
Fixed
6647210
No I haven't read Pride and Prejudice since...
I was reading through it about the time this was written. Woah.
6647266
How'd I know?
1. I'm reading it myself, too-- for English class. (What a load of rubbish, if you ask me.)
2. The first sentence goes:
6647266
Those ideas you tried worked out perfectly. That was incredible! You blew my mind too!
6647802
I'm glad you liked it. :)
6646864 Editing help from Amphicoelias even though he lives 6000 km away because Amphicoelias needed something to procrastinate and it might as well be in the service of helping create more Library of Discord.
An interesting origin for Pinkie Pie, but the nuclear physics is downright cringeworthy. The idea of point particles as mechanisms is interesting, but you're basically thumbing your nose at the limits of the strong nuclear force. Yes, magic can probably alter that sort of thing, but to a reader from a universe where anything with an atomic number higher than eighty-two is unstable, casually mentioning atoms with triple-digit numbers or higher without any acknowledgement of the issue feels ridiculous.
And then there's the climax, or rather the climax of the series premiere from Galaxia's prespective. Her implanting the ideas into Twilight cheapens the revelation and the first step of Twilight's journey from the little unicorn with no friends to the living embodiment of Platonic bonds. You out-deus ex machina'd the original, which is frankly impressive, though for all the wrong reasons.
The side story is intriguing, but it has absolutely no bearing on the plot. I'm sure it will be covered in the sequel, but for now, it just feels like a shaggy dog story that took up the first part of every chapter.
So, yeah. There are some fascinating ideas here, but the stumbling blocks are more like face-height walls.
6662090
Well darn. Sorry it didn't live up to your expectations.
Fair point. My goal was to create something unsettlingly alien, even down to way atoms behave. I probably succeeded too much on this, as it ended up being incredibly jarring for you and ripped you out of the experience.
Yeah...
Is was supposed to be a good introduction to Hope as a character and a reaction to finding the outside of the Library of Discord. But you're right, it does mostly exist for the sequel.
6650384
Thanks for the help.
Interesting work, well done.
6683593
Thanks so much for reading!
I love your comments and encouragement!
I didn't quite follow the ending, right at the end. [SPOILIES]
The source of the Trillion atom, I think, is from the universe that had mastered atom-crafting. By reprogramming the way that their atoms work, they were afforded atomically precise manufacturing. Presumably, they used this to create a 'signature atom', one so large and unique that it would be one of a kind. This atom would make a great 'tracer', something to be sent out, retrieved, and studied. I'd imagine that you could design a Turing complete computer inside one of these tracers that could do all sorts of things. All that's left is to send it out(Library of Discord style) to logarithmically find the edge of the universe.
Galaxia says that larger atoms exhibit more sapience. I may be misunderstanding this, but I feel that 'demonstrate' would be a better description. In a world driven by entropy, larger atoms become unlikely. However, intelligent systems like us humans with particle accelerators and the earlier mentioned race have broken this trend by forcing larger atoms into existence. These atoms could not exist naturally so are therefore products of sentient design. Again, atoms like these would be great for sending messages because their existence proves the power of the sender.
The end of the story suggests not only that these large atoms are at the core of souls, but that one was maliciously sent by another race as revenge for stealing a star. If I understood that right, than the Trillion atom sent was either an artificial soul manufactured and designed to corrupt Equestria or the alien race had distilled one of their own souls to the atom and sent it. Both seem like uncharacteristically malicious choices from a society advanced enough to develop these technologies.
Regardless, it is turning early in the morning and I've gotten far too little sleep lately so I think that I'll cut these thoughts short. Despite the questions above, I did enjoy the narrative and concept of this story! As you can see, it got me thinking, which I'm glad for.
6696917
I love your theories! :D
I go into more detail on the mystery of Trillion in the next book. But I can explain a few things now.
Nightmare Moon wasn't sent from another race. She was a Trillion that had peacefully minding it's own business, guiding a sun around. But one day she found that her own body would not move under her command. Some outside force had taken it over and started moving it in a regular, consistent rhythm. After several thousand years of being annoyed that her own body was not hers anymore, the Trillion abandoned itself and headed to Equestria to attack Celestia in some way. It was a sun before, so it didn't have much in the way of plotting, but it was able to take over other ponies before eventually making her way to Luna. The "shield" that Hope places on each Trillion actively prevents two souls from occupying the same body. But Nightmare Moon didn't have that and so she was able to enter and take over Luna. She spent a long time in Luna plotting out ways to have her revenge. From Luna's memories of the stories her parents told her, she knew that the sun had been taken from a separate universe. And so she plotted for a long time about what she would do if she met "Galaxia" that had stolen her former body.
No Trillion is artificial. If anything, the shields that Hope puts on every soul is what is unnatural. Their shields contain many different spells: backups of all former lifetimes (encrypted), monitors so that Hope can locate them quickly, vagueness spells so that it's impossible for any race to figure out what the souls are actually made of (normal element), and others.
I like "demonstrate" better as well, so I changed it in the story. Thanks!
6711404
While a fun idea, I'm going to go ahead and say that humans don't exist in this multiverse.
6662090
These things. All of these things.
One would then have to ask why stars have infantile, unprotected souls.
I'm calling it right now, Discord is the atom!
It's a mystery! Can't wait for the sequel to get this answered.
So many questions,
How are trillions created?
How can they exhibit sapience?
What else can they do?
How much influence they have over their environment?
What's the key difference between trillions and souls?
Are there even bigger atoms out there?
If not could they exist some how?
We know that Hope tempers with souls; but this line if thinking leads to an even higher power being responsible for creating the multiverse and the machines known as atoms and indirectly everything in between...
6714247
I don't think this "shield" was mentioned in this story so make sure you remember to add it on the next one.
So then let's see if I'm on the right page: Souls are formed by atoms of different sizes with those in the hundred thousand atomic mass being fully sentient life forms. The larger the base atom the more sapience it demostrates. The trillions are advanced enough to control solar bodies.
I wonder if being like Galaxia, Luna, Celestia or Discord in their pure forms are a soul that has a base atom that is more or less complex than a trillion?
FYI, the average human brain is estimated to have about 100 billion neurons.
6647390 It might be sarcasm, or satire for part of the author.
Much like Machiavelli's The Prince.
I mean the sentence "it's a truth universally acknowledged" is such an over the top way to claim something it practically beggs for controversity to arise. xD
6665101 The narration of something so alien is precisely what I like the most about this story. It's also why I love it like no other. It's imaginative and pretty clearly explained.
6696917
You mean the edge of the multiverse, it was mentioned that most universes tend to have a shape with no edges.
~Leonzilla
6662090
About the elements.
Does the idea of stable elements that goes way beyond human knowledge seems more far fetched to you than the popular idea that there is a multiverse with countless universes within it?
Excuse me, but I find that notion silly.
I agree, but not just this moment, just about every action Galaxia and Cosmos made had me wondering about how that seemed to create an scenario where "destiny" was what made everything possible and "free will" had little to no impact. But just when I thought that was going to undermine the value and significance of the events, the author had Galaxia bring the issue to question to Cosmos.
I felt the arguments provided in their dialogue were valid in showing how despite all the tempering these powerful beings had on their lives, our heroes were still ultimately responsible for choosing their destinies out of their own free will.
Why do you think she was worried if there was never a chance things wouldn't go the way she planned?
There is a strong emphasis on free will.
As you can see just giving Twilight the ideas wasn't enough to take away all the credit.
It's a matter of whether one is willing and able to accept there was still a significant role for free will involved in all the events that where nudged by Galaxia and Cosmos.
But I can see how if the story doesn't manage convince you of that then all this work wouldn't seem nearly as magnificent as I see it.
This added explanations to the original narrative might cheapen the value of the events, but add depth, they make understood how the events fit in this universe the story hasillustrated and the importance of Galaxia as a crucial part of the story.
~Leonzilla
7146003
I never said the intervention took away all the credit. Just because it cheapened Twilight's actions doesn't mean it made them worthless. However, one of the major aspects of the series premiere was that Twilight had to work without her beloved mentor; she had no guide but herself and her friends. Having a super-alicorn "cast a few idea spells into her, making sure Twilight made the connections between how her friends behaved and the Elements" lessens the impact by a significant degree (but not to zero.)
Oh, and since you asked:
There may be islands of stability further down the periodic table. We don't know. We don't yet have the technology needed to synthesize those nuclei. However, even optimistic estimations of such an island put it at element 164 with a half-life measured in minutes.
There may be something outside of our universe. We don't know, and we may never know save through theoretical models. The technology needed to detect such things, much less access them, goes well into the super-Clarkean.
Basically, we know a lot more about how atoms work than how the multiverse does. Both may yet surprise us, but my money's on the latter. So yes, I do find stable nuclei with four- or five-digit atomic numbers more far-fetched than structures larger than a single universe. (Also, remember that I wrote a story literally entitled Parallel Universes for Dummies. I'm pretty biased in this regard.
)
7146254 Well alright then.
But what do you mean exactly by super-Clarkean?
7146303
Technology so advanced that to us, it's indistinguishable from magic.
7146333 Oh I see, I got to remember that term for later use. That term of a phenomenon that might come in handy in a future conversation, you get that often when you are venturing into the unknown.
After all, If you were to do so much as to show the internet today to a person one hundred years ago it wouldn't be strange to see them compare the concept to magic.
~Leonzilla
7144960
It's a call-forward to a minor detail that happens in the next book.
I had originally had her name as Asvayujau, a Hindu Goddess of happiness. I thought it was thematically appropriate. But after spending a lot of time thinking about it, I really didn't want any references to actual human religions. So I needed a name change. I jammed letters on my keyboard between the characters for Asvayujau, then I deleted and added some until I got what I thought was a pretty nice sounding name: Asvarel.
Switched!
Isn't he? I laughed so hard writing him
Why thank you!
7145874
Previous versions of the epilogue were ridiculously huge infodumps, so some of the answers to your questions got moved to the next book.
I'm pretty sure I cover most of this in the sequel, but here's how the soul system works in this multiverse:
Element 1 Hydrogen: The only substance in the entire multiverse. Can be given instructions that have to be obeyed. Contains 1 electron, proton, neutron and (unlike our universe) a single copy of a multitude of other kinds of quarks.
Elements 1-118: The kind of elements that would appear on a periodic table. These are by far the most frequently used. A King or Queen can assign elements different properties during their universes Big Bang Spell.
Elements 118-10,000: More Elements that a King or Queen can work with, but they get increasingly disobedient the higher the atomic number.
Elements 10,000-100,000: Somewhere around the 10,000 mark, elements can start to disobey the commands given to them by Kings and Queens. This makes them suitable for use in plants and animals. Depending on the culture wanted, Kings and Queens consider plants ideal for element 10,000, and animals for element 100,000. The higher autonomy for animals makes them more interesting.
Elements 100,000-999,999,999,999: Currently unattainable. Many, many experiments have been conducted but elements in this range cannot be synthesized currently, and none have been found naturally in the multiverse.
Element 1 Trillion: The true essence of sapience. Currently unsythesizable and indestructible. Absolutely everyone in this multiverse has a Trillion as the base element that guides them. Hope takes Trillion and adds monitoring spells to them and calls the end product a "soul."
So:
(Trillion) + (Hope's Monitoring Spells)--> Soul
I'm so glad you so thoroughly the story. I hope you enjoy the sequel too
7196175 I think it might have been rude of me to not answer you here when I first read your comment.
Thank you for responding, I just didn't see anything else to add at the time.
Sorry for not thanking you sooner.
~Leonzilla
8187527
It's a good thing you stopped. That next chapter in Reincarnation or Immortality has a lot of spoilers for stuff that happens in this book.
8265429
Is it still playing?
A little too much "here's exactly how everything happened" but if nothing else, I'm impressed you made Nightmare Moon a greater threat.