Tales of First Contact: Tragedy

by Banjo64

Humanity's Final Legacy

“Princess Celestia?” asked Twilight Sparkle.

Celestia looked down at the little filly and smiled. Twilight had only been her student for a few months, but the Princess had already gotten used to Twilight’s unending thirst for knowledge. She could see another question coming as easily as the sky outside.

“Yes, my most faithful student?” replied Celestia.

“Um… I’ve been seeing some… really weird things lately,” said Twilight.

This, however, put Celestia on edge.

“Weird things?” asked Celestia.

“Well, just the other day I thought I saw a pegasus’s wings pop off his body for second. I thought it was just a trick of the light, but then it happened again! And then there was this pony who’s leg bent through his body, and… and…” Twilight sputtered.

Celestia mentally sighed. She knew exactly what this was about.

“And my tail seemingly became attached to my flank for a moment?” asked Celestia.

Twilight squeaked but nodded, clearly nervous about mentioning it.

Celestia chuckled, though on the inside she was also somewhat concerned. It wasn’t that knowledge about this phenomenon was forbidden, but there were some crucial details she’d made every effort to keep out of the public eye. She had to dissuade Twilight from asking for more information.

“Let me assure you that I am fully aware of these things as well. They are called glitches. They are an unfortunate side effect of the magic in our atmosphere. Let me assure you that while they may seem quite alarming, they are completely harmless. Whatever seemingly impossible things occur, they will be undone almost as soon as they appear,” reassured Celestia.

“Oh. OK,” said Twilight with a relieved sigh, her curiosity sated for now.

Celestia smiled at her student, but she was still worried. If her visions about Twilight’s potential proved true, then she may one day have to reveal the truth. She prayed that if that day came, Twilight would be ready.

---

“Princess?” asked a much older Twilight.

“Yes, Twilight?” asked Celestia, hiding her uncertainty.

It was getting uncomfortably close to Luna's return, and it was putting her very much on edge. A more immediate concern, however, was that Twilight had recently started a new research project. One that Celestia had been quietly discouraging as best she could.

“After consulting some book in the royal archive about the glitch phenomenon, I’ve been noticing that some things just don’t add up. It’s just so many inconsistencies in my resources that I starting to suspect that not all available information about this matter is in the royal archives. I know you disapprove of all forms of censorship, but I have to ask: is there more to this than you’re willing to tell me?” asked Twilight.

Celestia sighed. Once again, her student’s deduction skills impressed her. She just wished they weren’t directed at such a delicate topic. And a simple roundabout answer wouldn’t suffice this time. Not for the full grown mare.

However, her student’s deeply embedded loyalty now gave Celestia a way to push her away from this matter. It was just a method that Celestia didn’t really approve of: guilting her own subjects.

“First of all, Twilight, yes, I know more about the glitches than I’ve been telling you. However, there is a reason for this. The glitches are a key to discovering a hidden truth about the world we call home. This truth is something I cannot allow to become common knowledge,” explained Celestia.

“Hidden truth?” asked an extremely confused Twilight.

“It’s a matter of national security, I’m afraid. It’s… a dangerous sort of information. I still stand by what I said before in that it poses no active threat to us, but it still something I would rather keep hidden. I could tell you everything right now, I believe it would only upset you,” said Celestia.

Twilight looked rather conflicted now, but she seemed ready to object. Celestia continued.

“It’s not something I want you to concern yourself about. Please Twilight, just trust me when I say I know the answer, I have things well in hoof, and I feel that you will gain nothing by knowing it yourself. Maybe someday I will, but only when I think you're ready,” said Celestia.

Twilight sighed, but accepted Celestia’s answer for now.

Celestia prayed this would be the end of it. She knew exactly what would happen if Twilight pressed on.

---

Celestia sighed as she led the newly crowned Princess Twilight into the castle’s depths. It’d been inevitable really, once she had ascended. Celestia was simply out of excuses to keep Twilight in the dark.

“Twilight, I know how much you desire to understand the world around you. But once again, I must request that you let this matter drop. I won’t stop you if you’re truly determined to know, but I still insist that you would be better off not knowing the truth about the glitches,” said Celestia.

“I know. And I understand that learning about the glitches will likely bring me despair. You wouldn’t have gone to such lengths to keep me away otherwise. But if I’m to be a Princess of Equestria, I have to understand how our universe works. If this means I must learn about some dark secret that will horrify me, then I will face this terrible truth head on,” replied Twilight.

Celestia was proud of her former student’s resolve, but she was also saddened that Twilight was going to learn the truth. It was a heavy burden Twilight was asking to have placed on her back. One that she herself felt the weight of every day.

“Very well then. Here,” said Celestia as she opened a hidden door.

Inside was a strange white device that Twilight had never seen before. It was simple in design, but it hummed with energy unlike any she’d encountered. Celestia, however, knew it’s name.

“This is the I/O tower. It serves as a gateway to a place where you can learn the world’s darkest secret. Touch it, and everything shall be revealed to you.” said Celestia.

Her expression fearful, yet full of determination, Twilight reached out and touched the device.

---

Twilight's body felt heavy. Heavy and cold. Her surrounding were unclear, as she appeared to be in some kind of darkened chamber. She tried casting a light spell, but her magic wasn’t responding.

Confused and worried, Twilight tired to stand up. Her body was very stiff, but she managed. She walked around in the dark for a bit, trying to get an understand of her situation. As she did, she noticed that her hooves were making unusually loud clanking noises as she walked, as if she were wearing heavy horseshoes. Suddenly, there was a loud click.

Turning toward the noise, Twilight noticed a small light coming from a slightly ajar door. Dread began to rise up into her. Every fiber of her being told her to just turn back, that what was on the other side of that door was something she wasn’t meant to know. Yet she forced herself to walk towards it and push it open.

Within was a large room with a wide window. At a glance, it appeared to be a labratory of some sort. Outside, Twilight could see a barren wasteland that stretched out as far as she could see, though this was limited as there appeared to be a sandstorm outside. Far more alarming, however, were the strange skeletons that laid around the room.

Twilight was no osteologist so she couldn’t identify the bones, but she noted that they appeared to belong to a bipedal species. They were too small to be minotaur bones, so what were they?

Where am I? What is this place? And what does this have to do with the glitches in Equestria? She wondered.

As she looked around, she saw strange machines far more advanced than anything she’d ever seen. They were large and imposing, with many lights and even more buttons. There was also a large black screen of some sort. Feeling very apprehensive, Twilight slowly made her way forward and gently tapped one of the machines.

The black screen suddenly lit up, and displayed three words:

EQUESTRIA SIMULATION ONLINE

And with those three words, Twilight’s worldview was shattered forever.

Simulation?! But… but that means… Twilight’s thoughts began to scramble as despair began to fill her.

She looked down at herself, hoping to see proof that the screen was wrong, but all she saw was that her body was no longer flesh and blood, but mechanical. Turning around, she noticed that a large black cable was attached where her tail should be, leading back into the dark room she had just left.

Twilight had read her fair share of science fiction. She was able to determine exactly what this all meant. And she now knew exactly what the glitches were.

---

Twilight returned to Equestria to see Celestia looking at her with tears in her eyes.

“Princess…” whispered Twilight.

Celestia turned away.

“You wanted to know, and now you do. This world, and everyone living in it, is not real. We are a virtual simulation created by another people. A people know as humans. We exist only within the data streams of one of their greatest machines. That robotic platform you used to see the real world is one of the few windows we have to see and touch the real world,” said Celestia.

Twilight was overwhelmed. She had many questions, but right now all she wanted to do was lie down and rest. Yet her inner scholar demanded she push on.

“But… but all I could see was bones. What happened to those people?” she asked.

Celestia sighed.

“I do not know the details. Our overseers were not informed when the end came, but they deducted that the war than had consumed their people for decades had reached its end in the most terrible way possible. Without supplies, every human in the building passed away shortly after,” said Celestia.

Twilight was horrified.

“Our creators are gone, Twilight. It was the despair of this revelation that pushed Luna to become Nightmare Moon all those years ago. They have been gone for over a thousand years now. We, the denizens of this virtual world, are their last remaining legacy,” explained Celestia.

Twilight looked at the I/O tower, trying to comprehend this revelation.

“Then… then are we doomed? If our creators are gone, and everything here exists in a machine…” said Twilight.

Celestia shook her head.

“Not in such a way. While the facility lacked the means of keeping organic beings alive, our simulation is perfectly stable. I’ve been putting our robotic platform to good use, making repairs where needed, and our personal energy generator is still working perfectly. I’ve calculated that it will be many, many years before we start having any real problems,” said Celestia.

Twilight let out a sigh of relief, though she was far from at ease.

“What’s more, I’ve been utilizing what resources I can find to expand our mobility. Perhaps in a few years we’ll be able to set out and explore the world of our creators, and possibly learn what became of them,” said Celestia.

“I see…” mumbled Twilight.

Celestia walked over and pulled Twilight into a hug.

“I know this is a lot to take in, though I suspect that the hardest part is accepting what this means for us as individuals. Tell me, Twilight, do you want to know why we were created?” asked Celestia.

Twilight hesitated, but then slowly nodded.

“Before she died, our overseer told me that above all else we were meant to bring joy to others, but if we cannot bring it to our creators then we can share it among ourselves. I don’t know exactly what she wished of us, but I believe she wanted us to do what we could to continue living, even if they all passed away.”

“Perhaps there are human survivors out there somewhere we can aid, or maybe we are meant to reclaim and heal a now barren world. Either way, nothing has changed. We are alive and free to act as we choose, Twilight, even if we lack actual bodies. That was the human’s final gift to us, and I plan to utilize it to it’s fullest,” said Celestia.

Twilight gave a sad smile in agreement.

Author's Note:

Has anyone read the short story There Will Come Soft Rains? The idea here is basically taken from that, but with a fully developed bunch of AI and a spark of hope. How does one live on knowing that you can no longer fulfill your reason for existing?

Comments

[RTK]

haunting and bitter sweet

[Accurate Balance]

It's not a piece a tragedy. It's beautiful and uplifting.