116 - She Who Dared to Ask, Part 1
Corona ran through every piece of data she could, just as she had been doing for the past few days. The Dark Tower was a decidedly interesting structure to study, if only because by nature it didn’t want to be studied. The data it allowed her to see was always vague, often contradictory, and in general didn’t tell her very much about the Tower itself or how it functioned.
What she was able to see easily were the dimensional matrices that White Nettle had set up in trying to take over the Dark Tower. Corona was pretty sure she had a handle on how that worked – and she could probably try to take over the Tower herself at this point, assuming she got all five of the right people to co-operate and she had a few decades to lace universes together.
She wasn’t going to try though. Nobody should have that much power.
Plus, try didn’t mean succeed. Something had gone wrong with White Nettle’s matrices that neither the Downstreamer nor Corona fully understood. As far as Corona was concerned the data said it should have worked. Did Pinkie’s presence ruin everything? Or did John’s reversion to the retcon ‘past’ change something she couldn’t detect?
She wasn’t sure and that was currently the mystery she was trying to solve. The Tower wasn’t being very helpful – it just stood there, dark and annoyingly inscrutable. She supposed she could walk into the Dark Tower, but she had the nagging feeling in the back of her mind that if she did that she wouldn’t be coming back out. She was going to do all she could out here first before the Tower blocked her access to it again.
She was forced to admit she was learning a lot about how higher multiversal structures worked in relation to the Dark Tower, but that wasn’t exactly useful information. Sure, the Shaping Mechanism could make such structures over a long span of time, but it wasn’t as if a Low-Class 2 had any business making structures like that. They simply wouldn’t be useful.
Corona shook her head, furrowing her brow to focus back on the data itself. She was currently floating several stories in the air in a zen-like sitting position, glowing softly. The Dark Tower was her backdrop, the finer details of the world simply not mattering. Surrounding her were thousands of intricate red magic circles projected by Raging Sights, designed to enhance her computational abilities and analyze immense amounts of data. Her eyes were closed as a method of forcing herself to magically integrate with the data rather than looking at it.
Had she not basically lived in the Shaping Mechanism for those years she would not have been able to make heads or tails of what was going on. As it was, she was effectively trying to learn advanced calculus straight from the textbook with only a passing familiarity with algebra going in.
And then Sai beeped. “Mystery uncovered, amiga. Would you like to hear the report?”
Corona didn’t open her eyes, but she nodded. “Sure. What did you find?”
“Part of the mystery of existence,” Sai responded, uploading data to Raging Sights. A new magic circle appeared, this one purple with an inscribed spirograph. Corona examined it using her magic senses, smiling.
“Looks like you’ve stolen one of the Tower’s secrets. How in its name did you do that?”
“Analysis of previous data, extrapolation, and luck,” Sai responded.
“Hmm…” Corona said in agreement, examining the data. It showed how the Dark Tower was connected to every universe. This fact was well known, although the exact how had been somewhat elusive. With this they might be able to get better maps of the entire multiverse, allowing for better navigation. No more nightmares running through the broken multiversal highways for months while others take days. It would take years to develop, but it could be started now.
She began playing with some parameters involving what Sai had found, running a few simulations on the way everything was connected. Universes could react to prompts from the location of the Dark Tower, adjusting their position in the Sea from a distance. This was probably somewhat like how Class 1 technology worked – except it required direct access to the Dark Tower to accomplish. Something that couldn’t just be mass-produced.
A deus-ex-machina device perhaps. Used only as a last resort because that’s the only time it would actually work.
She set a few numbers to random, seeing exactly what would happen if different signals were sent into the Tower. There was a certain air of uncertainty about this sort of simulation, since the power and ka-luck required to send something through the Tower was outright absurd, but it was worthwhile to get data points.
Most simulations were simple motions of universes through the Sea. Sometimes other universes would move with the target, sometimes not. But the nineteenth simulation did something much different.
Corona ‘Sunset’ Shimmer opened her eyes.
“What in the…”
She cancelled all calculations, saving all work for later; though something told her she wouldn’t get to that. She ran the simulation again, this time with a visual representation. A holographic model of the multiverse appeared in front of her, the three Spheres glowing softly, peacefully.
The point of light that represented the Dark Tower flashed brightly, and slowly but surely began sucking universes toward it like a vacuum. The universes collided as they did so, fusing much like the Shaping Mechanism. The Spheres began to elongate, like fiery stars being devoured by ravenous black holes. The Spline began to deform, following everything else into the whirl of power.
In the end, there was only one light.
Corona was sweating. “Wh… wh…” She flapped her wings, drifting away from the single point of light.
Her first instinct was to destroy the information she had just uncovered, wipe her mind of having ever known it, and then teleport herself away from the Dark Tower to make her think the Tower had ejected her through ka. She would never know she had found anything.
But before she could do that, she realized something.
She turned around slowly, looking at the Dark Tower. It seemed to loom larger in her view than ever before.
“…You wanted me to find this,” she said, mildly horrified. “Wh… how does that make any sense!?”
The Dark Tower, as always, was inscrutable.
Corona’s face twisted into rage. “Oh no… You don’t get to be that way! I’m going to get some answers!”
She flew down to the front door of the Dark Tower and walked in. It let her inside, showing her the staircase and all the doors.
She ignored the doors and the staircase. She flew up as fast as her wings could carry her, looking for the top. She arrived at the last door in a rush, caring not to view her life or other worlds. This was the door she needed.
CORONA
She placed her hand on the doorknob designed like her cutie mark and threw it open. She saw the other side – the Source, the clock, and the symbols.
She held her hands to either side. “Raging Sights, we’re teleporting to the other side. We’re going to get some answers.”
“Are you sure this is wise?”
“The wise thing would have been to erase the information. Might still do that. But I’m going to at least try this.” She held her hands together, encasing them in a magic aura, lighting her horn as well. Her wings spread out to their maximum length, glowing brighter than usual. She executed the teleport.
Sai let out a beep Corona hadn’t heard before. She didn’t have time to process this, because she quickly realized she wasn’t allowed into the final room.
She was instead sent to Lady Rarity, who was currently at one of Celestia City’s marketplaces.
Lady Rarity looked right at Corona. “…This is a surprise.”
Corona looked at her hands. “Why here…? Why here?”
Lady Rarity cocked her head. “Dark Tower?”
“Yes… It sent me here. To you. Why?”
“Maybe you need to talk to me? …What’s gotten you so terrified?”
Corona blinked, processing many different lines of thought at once. “…I think I need to talk to more than just you…”
~~~
Pinkie sat in the main lobby of Renee’s castle. She hadn’t budged for about an hour, which was highly unusual for her. She was moving her head like it was a clock, not removing her ‘gaze’ from a single point in front of her.
Pinkie made a ‘hrm’ noise. She had been struck with the sudden feeling that she was missing something important. She didn’t let it bother her; such feelings were commonplace, seeing as she never saw everything. Even with her sharpened Awareness, she wasn’t omniscient. Neither was Twilence or any of the others, for that matter.
It would reveal itself in time. Or maybe it wouldn’t, and it only mattered to someone tangentially related to her.
But there was an itch in the back of her mind nonetheless.
A portal opened right in front of her, turning her thoughts away from mysterious inklings and to her friends. The primary team finally returned from their mission, depositing Jotaro, Vriska, Flutterfree, Nova, and the addon Pidge in front of her.
“You guys finally made it back!” Pinkie cheered.
“That did take longer than expected,” Nova admitted.
Pidge raised an eyebrow. “I extrapolated a four-day mission after the initial hour.”
“Depending on how you count it could have been two weeks for some of us.”
Flutterfree chuckled. “Who cares, really? It was delightful. I’m going to miss Larklight.”
“Uh, we are sending a diplomatic contingent in two weeks,” Vriska pointed out. “It wasn’t goodbye.”
Flutterfree smiled warmly. “But that’ll be official. It wouldn’t be at Larklight. It was just… nice.”
“It has been a while since we found something so whimsical,” Jotaro admitted.
“I’m just glad I was there for it,” Pidge said, adjusting her glasses. “Pinkie, they’re all yours.”
“Sure thing!” Pinkie said. “But first, Pidge, I’m taking all of you out for some Earth Ottoman fancy food. Yes, I know, I had to make reservations a week in advance for that to work, but somehow it just does.”
“Sweet!” Vriska said, pumping her fist. “I am going to eat them out of business…”
“That’s not how restaurants work,” Jotaro deadpanned.
“I’m taking that as a challenge.”
“Yare yare daze…”
Renee and Eve trotted up to them. “Welcome back!” Renee called with a smile.
Nova smiled. “What happened while we were gone?”
“Oh, nothing much,” Eve said with a smirk. “Just White Nettle trying to take control of the Dark Tower. Not a big deal.”
Pinkie chuckled. “You’re getting good at that.”
“Thanks! I try.”
Vriska stared at Eve. “You’re serious. I missed something that interesting?!”
“By a few days, actually.”
“Well that blows,” Vriska muttered, folding her arms.
“Just bad timing, I wouldn’t worry about it,” Flutterfree said.
“Bad timing is bad luck, I need to worry about it.”
Flutterfree smirked. “I know.”
Vriska blinked – then let out a laugh.
Flutterfree turned to Pinkie. “It’s good to have you back.”
Pinkie grinned. “Trouble being leader?”
“Oh no, it’s fine, I just prefer not having to wrangle everyone all the time. It’s exhausting and I don’t have your endless energy.”
“It is a subject of much speculation where my energy comes from,” Pinkie said in a haunting tone.
Pidge adjusted her glasses. “Your endless energy is a byproduct of your Aware connection to ka via the Dark Tower, an aspect of distilled hyperactivity and ‘cartoon physics’.”
“You just read that from an encyclopedia,” Nova pointed out.
“Uh… yeah, not a ka expert here. But I’m still right!”
“Technically,” Eve admitted.
Renee cleared her throat. “I do need reports, people.”
“Aw, c’mon Renee, I’m taking them out tonight!” Pinkie said, beaming. “You can have those reports tomorrow!”
“Oh, I guess one time wouldn’t hurt.” She noticed the Ruby squad staring at her. “This exemption will never apply to you lot.”
The Rubies noticed her twitching eye and decided it was best to leave as fast as they could manage.
“Thanks Renee!” Pinkie said. “You’re the best! Come on team – and sixth ranger – let’s blow this pop stand!” She pulled a giant soda can out of her mane and threw it onto the ground, blasting away with everyone aside from Eve and Renee.
Eve smiled. “Looking at them fills me with hope for existence, you know?”
“I do. Though I also need Pidge back on repairing this castle. It seems like every time she takes a vacation of some sort everything starts breaking.”
“Maybe you should have two primary technicians?”
“Tried that. Ka hates the idea, apparently. So I’m eternally annoyed for the sake of everyone’s amusement.” Renee rubbed the base of her horn.
“Ah… Yeah.” Eve shook her head. “Wonder if Starbeat’s figured out how to remove annoyance-gags like that.”
“The more trivial it is the more likely it is she can’t remove it,” Renee muttered.
“Not exactly true. It’s more of a bell curve. Grand scoping events are hard to change, but so are insignificant ones. The middle ground is where you place your bets.”
Pinkie suddenly appeared between them in a burst of confetti. “Ahem. Eve? Renee? I’m getting a bad feeling. Don’t know what it’s about, but it hasn’t gone away this entire scene and everything’s been just a little too happy. Maybe I’m just paranoid, but I figured I should tell you.”
“…Are we already in the next chapter?” Eve asked.
“I can tell you we’re being watched now. But I have no idea. It’s only been a few days since White Nettle’s thing, it could be an epilogue or something.” She shrugged. “Just letting you know. Now excuse me, I’ve got a bunch of food that needs to get introduced to my mouth!” She vanished in a puff of confetti.
“And now I’m going to be paranoid the rest of the day,” Renee commented.
“I think we’re always paranoid at this point,” Eve said.
“True enough.”
~~~
Corona stood in the center of her Shaping Mechanism’s controls. She had her arms folded behind her back under her similarly arranged wings. Her red shades reflected the light of the area well.
Behind her were her closest friends. Lady Rarity, Vivian, and Sugarcoat. Lady Rarity’s team was also there, including Insipid, Velvet, Ash, and Nae. Corona felt that they all needed to be here.
Corea, Curaçao, and Toph hadn’t been able to make it. And Corona hadn’t asked Eve to come.
This was who she had to work with.
“…You going to tell us why we’re here?” Velvet asked. “We’re all sitting on the edge of our seats in anticipation.” To punctuate the point, she leaned as far forward in her chair as she could.
“Give her time,” Lady Rarity said, holding up a hoof.
Ash nodded in agreement, head moving in synchronization with Pikachu.
Corona sighed, turning around to face them. “You probably know I’ve been at the Dark Tower, taking advantage of an opportunity to study it.”
“I didn’t,” Insipid said, raising her hoof.
Corona smiled sadly. “It is what I was doing. Trying to figure out the mechanisms behind it and the structures of White Nettle’s experiment.”
“White Nettle was there?” Nae asked.
Corona nodded. “She tried to do something to take over the Dark Tower by fusing herself into it – we stopped it, and I examined the aftermath. And these examinations let me discover… something.” She lifted one of her hands, allowing Raging Sights to project a hologram. It contained a lot of lines that didn’t make any sense to her friends, but they could identify a spirograph shape in the center surrounding the Dark Tower. “This is a projection of White Nettle’s attempt on the Tower. It failed for unknown reasons, but it gave me knowledge. Using this structure here,” she pointed at the spirograph pattern, “Nettle was able to give the Dark Tower an order. The order didn’t parse correctly, but it was an order.”
“You can tell the Dark Tower to do things!?” Nae said, blinking. “That doesn’t sound good.”
Corona nodded slowly. “Lots of orders could be given to the Tower. I was able to come up with some much simpler ones and run them through simulations. With enough time and access to the Tower, I could move any universe in the Sea to anywhere else. It’d take a decade or so to build the multiversal structure using the Shaping Mechanism to do that… Well, that’s what I thought at first, anyway.”
She bit her lip. “I ran lots of simulations to see what would happen. Curious things that might provide some help in future multiversal technology. And then I stumbled onto something completely at random.”
“Ka made you find it,” Velvet translated.
Corona nodded. “Yeah. That’s… that’s what I think happened. But why it wanted me to find something so… terrifying is beyond me. It’s just, I don’t know, I can’t really say, and the fact that I’m talking about it without destroying it is making me question my sanity. Am I really who I think I am? What’s the threshold o-”
“Just get to the point,” Sugarcoat said.
Corona adjusted her shades. “Right, right. I… I found this.” She brought up the hologram of simulation nineteen, showing them the multiverse. “Prodding the Dark Tower with the appropriate energy will produce this result.” She gestured at the multiverse. “It will reduce the size of all connections to the Dark Tower to zero, which includes every universe. All worlds would be reeled in like fish on a hook, fused together like what I do somewhat regularly with the Shaping Mechanism. Everything will be compressed into one single point on the Sea of Infinite Possibility. Everything.”
They all stared at the simulation. Clearly, a few of them weren’t understanding what that meant.
“Fusing two worlds together generally isn’t an issue. The geographies mix, but for the most part everything will continue in a brand new existence. But if you combine more – say a dozen – planets start losing stability, forming shapes they weren’t meant to, and the conflicting physical laws fight with each other. It brings about death on an apocalyptic scale for the entire universe without actually sending it into nothingness.”
She took off her shades, looking at them all with conflicted eyes. “Only a scant lucky few would be able to survive the transition from all worlds to one. The overwhelming majority would simply be wiped out in the fusion. It would truly be the end of the multiverse. And I know exactly how to do it.”
“…What the hell!?” Ash said, holding out his arms. “You think there’s a discussion here!? Why are you even treating this like a question!? What’s even the point!? Have you gone insane!? I thought you had declared war on death!”
“I did,” Corona said. “And that’s why I’m considering this.” She looked at them all with wet eyes. “…After this is done, the Dark Tower would be destroyed.”
They stared at her, slackjawed.
~~~
The robotic Research Overhead walked into Renee’s office.
Renee raised an eyebrow. “What can I do for you, R.O.?”
The large humanoid robot sat down in front of Renee. “I have heard that Corona is back. I would like access to her report on the Dark Tower. I assume that, since my requests turned up nothing through the digital interface, the information has been classified.”
Renee raised an eyebrow. “…It certainly would be classified, if she’s come back. I haven’t seen her.” She pulled up her high-security manifesto of all active personnel. “It says she’s still out. She would have reported back in immediately if she’d returned. Why do you think she’s back?”
“I caught an image of her on a security feed in Celestia City.”
Renee raised an eyebrow. “You were scouring security feeds for her.”
“It was part of the ‘instant alert’ program. I wanted to know the moment she returned. The program scanned every security camera it could as part of its mission. I was alerted when it saw her. I was eager for the report, but calling her did nothing and your report was not available when I checked an hour later.”
“Well, I see a few explanations,” Renee said. “One, she’s not actually Corona. Merodi may not have many full member worlds of anthro ponies, but they aren’t unheard of. Two, she’s in some sort of time-travel-related debacle and has to get out of that first. Third… well I find this last one unlikely, but maybe she’s just taking a break before reporting. Maybe she had an adventure of some sort.”
The Research Overhead’s starry face shifted as he processed the information. “Perhaps. Number one is negligible, data analysis also has her magical signature.”
“Then she’s probably in a time travel loop or something. She’ll get to us when she’s done with that,” Renee said. “You can feel free to talk to her about ‘Research Division policy for reporting in’ after that. She is your Second, not mine.”
The Research Overhead nodded. “Exactly. Let me know the instant you run into her.”
“I’ll probably wait a few minutes and talk to her a minute, but yes, I’ll let you know.”
The Research Overhead bowed and teleported out of Renee’s office.
“She’s up to something.”
Renee glanced at the doorway to see her Second and husband standing there. “Dear…”
“You don’t have to believe me, I know you won’t,” Daniel said, raising his hands up in surrender. “I’m just letting you know.”
Renee smiled sadly. “I know you’re just trying to look out for us.”
Daniel nodded, looking into Renee’s eye. She felt a sudden emotional rush in her chest – she leaped over her desk and flung her front hooves around him.
He held her back. Neither of them knew why they were holding each other. All they knew was that it felt right.
They soon forgot all about the mysterious case of Corona in Celestia City, instead focusing on each other.
~~~
“…Dark Tower destroyed?” Insipid said, blinking. “Isn’t that, like, totally not possible?”
“It’s been theorized that it could be,” Corona said. “Using John to undo the self-defense program could definitely do it, and some simulations say a full Xeelee piano wire assault would tear the Tower down. The problem with doing it that way is that the order of the world would give way to instant chaos. Most simulations show extermination of life as we understand it. Others say everything ceases to exist. The Tower’s too deeply connected to everything.”
“But this doesn’t do that,” Sugarcoat said.
“Exactly. The Tower isn’t destroyed until the point at which all the universes are one. Without more than one universe, the structures that give it the self-defense paradox fail. Without connections, it can’t tear everything down with it. It would be destroyed in the act, and existence would move on without the influence of ka.”
“That doesn’t sound like a good thing!” Vivian blurted. “That sounds bad! Really bad!”
“Vivian. You’ve been working for Blumiere a long time, right?” Corona asked.
Vivian nodded.
“How many worlds have no hope?”
Vivian grimaced.
“What of the grimdarks? The worlds where there are no morals?”
“Those are a minority,” Nae countered. “Most worlds are just like ours.”
“Dictated by the Tower and brought to war where millions die,” Corona said. “It’s a story we all like to read about. Great suffering that is overcome. But that still means there was great suffering. Great death. Great war.” She leaned back against a wall. “It’s rarely worth it. All the death. And yes, I am aware how ironic this entire setup is.”
“Good,” Sugarcoat said, raising an eyebrow.
“Not good!” Nae blurted. “This is a villain’s ideals! ‘Kill everyone so the next world will prosper!’ There’s no way. Ka may be the direct cause of all those wars but it doesn’t kill the entire multiverse!”
“Yes it does,” Corona said, looking at Nae. “The fall of the Downstreamers.”
“That only happened once,” Sugarcoat pointed out.
Nae gestured at Sugarcoat. “She’s right, you know!”
Corona nodded. “Yes. But I have another example. The entire population of the multiverse has been killed many, many times over by one force. A force that, in the single universe, would no longer exist.”
“There’s no-”
“Time travel,” Corona said. “Every time any timeline is rewritten, all future individuals are not only killed, they cease to have ever existed. The souls of the new timeline are not the same as the souls of the rewritten one. Aradia’s confirmed this – and just look at Skaia’s Dream! They only reason there are so many is that all the alternate timelines are different people!”
They stared at her.
Corona grimaced, because she knew exactly what she was saying. “In the single world, all physical laws will be averaged out. It won’t be mundane, but given all the complexities and contradictions inherent in time travel, that will even out to nothing when combined. There would be no more rewriting entire universes several times a second, like the Gallifreyans do.” She folded her arms. “Their entire inner population is killed every second as everyone undoes every action they decide they don’t like. At least the Xeelee bother to send their intelligences back through the time loops they have set up – but what of the people who aren’t digital in their time webs?”
Lady Rarity started doing the math in her head, her pupils shrinking the further she got along. “Holy Armonia…”
Corona nodded. “The number of people who have died due to rewrites far exceeds that of those who live. Considering the size of the multiverse… If every being in existence were to die right now, it wouldn’t even compare.” She held up a hand, seeing Nae’s objection. “I know that’s not an excuse – just because something’s small doesn’t make it less wrong. This is a very horrible proposition I’ve found, and I know that better than anyone. If it’s accomplished, it’ll be killing almost everyone… but the world that remains and those who survive will no longer be prisoners. The most deadly forces in existence will be banished. And we will no longer be forced into stories.”
“We’re in a story now,” Sugarcoat pointed out.
“I know that. Which is why I’m disturbed that the Dark Tower let me find this. My best guess is that I’m supposed to be the villain this time around? Maybe? It’d certainly make for some good drama.”
“That makes sense,” Velvet said.
“But here’s the problem. If I’m stopped? The information can still get out. And I can’t be the only one who would arrive at this conclusion.” Corona put a hand to her head. “Why would the Dark Tower let someone find the secret to its destruction?”
No one had an answer for her.
Corona sighed. “…I guess we may not be meant to find the answer to that question. I called you here because I’m not sure. I needed to hear your opinions. Maybe Nae’s right, maybe I am going crazy and we just need to purge all this from our memories and never think about it again. But I see something here. A chance to… change everything. To end the largest source of pain I’ve ever encountered, one I’ve never been able to fight against. It’ll end the ka curses, the multiversal conquerors, the extreme disparity of power…” she trailed off.
There was silence.
“I know this is asking a lot of you all of the sudden. But… what do you think?”
Nae folded her arms. “Take a wild guess what I think. No. There is no such thing as mass death for the greater good. It can’t be good if that’s how you get to it.”
“Motivations behind actions are what determines their morality,” Ash said. “…It’ll stop all the tragic wars over senseless concepts that exist only to be ‘cool’. There will never be another war like the one we were in. No more multiversal wars of any kind. That level of destruction would no longer be possible…”
Nae stared at him. “…You’re actually considering this.”
Ash nodded. “It… It’s definitely wrong. But remember what our team does. We do ‘wrong’, brutal things for the sake of bettering other societies. This seems like it could be the natural conclusion of what we do.”
“That is kinda right…” Insipid muttered.
“I say we do it,” Velvet said. “I’d love it if we could end this ka madness.”
“You likely wouldn’t survive to see it,” Corona reminded her. “None of us would. Ka wouldn’t be able to protect us if the Dark Tower collapses.”
“So? I thought we were fuckin’ heroes, not self-serving supervillains.”
Corona nodded slowly.
“…We shouldn’t,” Vivian said. “It’s… it shouldn’t be right. So many people… our families… our friends…” She looked up at Corona. “I say no. But… I’ll follow you, Corona, whatever you decide.”
Corona stared at her in disbelief.
“You’re better at thinking these things through than I am. I… I trust you. I trust that what you decide in the end isn’t wrong.”
“…You put too much faith in me.”
“No she doesn’t,” Sugarcoat said, folding her arms. “You’re not only the smartest one in the room, you’re the one with the most experience and understanding of how the world works. You have the ability to empathize with every conscious being in existence. You are in the unique position to understand the plight of everyone you’ve ever met. You are quite possibly the most emotionally understanding person in the multiverse.”
Corona stared off into space. “…Which is why I have to be the one to ask the question…”
“Bingo,” Sugarcoat said. “I thought that was obvious.”
Insipid blinked. “Like, woah, she’s the chosen one or something.”
“It’s not too late for me to reject destiny…” Corona commented.
“If this is your destiny then your destiny is to reject destiny,” Sugarcoat deadpanned.
Velvet facehooved. “Fuck, that’s just stupid enough to be completely true.”
“It is. I’m up for creating a new world order, by the way.”
Corona looked at her hands. She imagined the blood of decillions of people on them. She trembled.
“…For the record, I defer to Rarity,” Insipid said. “Like, I totally can’t think that well?”
Corona turned to Lady Rarity, her face in pain. “Rarity… You’ve been quiet. What… What do you think?”
Everyone turned to her.
“Here’s what we need to do…” the spirid-unicorn began.
~~~
“Priority message from the Time-Space Administration Bureau,” an aide told Evening.
She smiled warmly. “Patch it through to my station.”
Eve’s primary monitor lit up with bright colors, displaying the interior of a TSAB council hall. It was empty save for one person – Nanoha Takamachi, a concerned expression on her face.
“What is it?” Eve asked.
“We’ve been hacked,” Nanoha said. “Our primary top-secret database was infiltrated twenty minutes ago.”
“Oh. …Did they find something out about us I need to know about?”
“Nothing like that,” Nanoha said, voice wavering slightly. “All evidence points to it coming from you.”
Eve stared, blinking. “Wh-what!?”
Nanoha let out a breath of relief. “You don’t know anything about it. Good.”
“Of course not! We would never…” she blinked.
“You might want to clear your area of any unnecessary personnel for this conversation,” Nanoha suggested.
Eve gulped. “Right…” she transferred the feed to a more secure monitor. She teleported into a room much like her office, except with walls all around instead of other desks with people to talk to. “I’m in a secure location.”
“Find out if Giorno has done anything,” Nanoha requested.
“If he has I won’t be able to tell you,” Eve admitted. “Possible treason charges, even if he was corrupt. I’d have to bring him to our government first.”
“You don’t have to tell me, just find out,” Nanoha said. “I’ll tell you what I do know. The hack was similar to what we’d seen Olivia Velazquez try in the past, though far more successful. I am aware Olivia’s dead, which makes the fact that it’s her impossible.”
“Her nanobots and protocols are still in use by Intelligence and a handful of others,” Eve admitted. “I didn’t tell you that.”
Nanoha nodded. “I figured as much. But… Eve, the hack was too advanced. When Olivia fell in the war, you could never have made it this deep into our systems. The protocols have been dramatically improved. Progress. Intelligence would just hire new hackers to create completely new and improved code. Not adapt something they aren’t familiar with.”
“They could be recycling…” Eve said – but shook her head. “I don’t think Giorno would do this. It is possible someone within his Division did, though, against his wishes. What did they take?”
“You didn’t hear this from me,” Nanoha said. “They took the location of the Wishing World.”
“…Oh.”
“It’s not as bad as you think it is,” Nanoha quickly added. “We already used its wish about ten years ago – there was a tornado of universe devourers attacking major TSAB worlds. Military strikes would have taken too long, so we used the wish to get rid of them. It’s an empty world now.”
“Good. The fact that it’s empty, not the universe devourers.”
Nanoha sighed. “But in that file would also be the data we use to try and find Wishing Worlds. They’re getting rarer and rarer as time goes on, but we are always trying to find more. Our ka analysis says it’ll take someone who stole the information much less time to find a Wishing World, simply because their usage of the information is more exciting.”
“So we’ve got someone possibly from Merodi Universalis looking for a Wishing World.”
Nanoha nodded. “Look into it.”
“I’ll let you know what I find out – if I can,” Eve admitted. “I’m not going to betray my nation, Nanoha. If it comes to that.”
Nanoha glanced behind her. “I wouldn’t ask you to. This is just to let you know. You might be able to stop something terrible from happening.”
“I’ll try.”
“Takamachi out.”
The screen died. Eve quickly dialed up Giorno. “Have any of your agents hacked into the TSAB?”
Giorno blinked. “Not that I’m aware of.”
“Find out. And find out fast. Someone took the TSAB’s information on Wishing Worlds.”
Giorno nodded. “Give me a half-hour.”
“Thanks,” Eve hung up and called me. “Hey, Twilence, someone’s stolen the TSAB’s se-”
“I know,” I told her. “…You think I can tell you anything more than what you already know?”
“…I was hoping.”
I smiled at her. “I’ll be right there. We’ll figure something out when Giorno finishes his search.”
“Thanks.”
Eve hung up, wondering who else she might call.
Then she sighed. “Pinkie, I may have stumbled across what you had a sinking feeling about. Soon as you finish dinner you should probably come over. Don’t rush to finish, we still have at least half an hour. Try to enjoy yourselves.”
~~~
Allure, Thrackerzod, Squeaky, and Bot walked through the League of Sweetie Belles. Allure was leading them, a big smile on her face.
“Hi Suzie! Hi Burgerbelle!”
“Hi!” the two said – though the Flat’s bouncing motion threw Allure off for a second.
“Great day, isn’t it?” Bot beeped. “I predict maximum relaxation!”
“Guess who’s doomed us all?” Squeaky asked.
“Uh, Burgerbelle?” Bot responded.
“What did I do?” Burgerbelle asked.
“Burger,” Thrackerzod said, summoning a hamburger and throwing it.
“BURGER!” Burgerbelle shouted, diving after the delectable food item.
“Some things never change,” Allure said, rolling her eyes.
Suzie nodded. “And some things do. There’s no hard fast rule about any of this. Ever.”
“Inconsistency is a pain,” Bot muttered.
“Inconsistency is life.”
“Therefore, life is pain!” Bot declared in a chipper tone.
Squeaky facehooved. “Oh for the…”
“She’s right, in a dark, depressing sort of way,” Thrackerzod said. “Like how we could all die by meteor strike right here, right now.”
“We’re in the middle of Celestia City,” Allure deadpanned.
“Dimensional chances are never zero.”
“You can’t strike something without moving.”
“Lateral movement.”
“You can both be right,” Squeaky interjected.
“No!” they blurted.
Suzie rolled her eyes. “I’ll leave you four to this pointless argument.”
“I wasn’t involved!” Bot declared.
“It’s a ‘by-proxy’ sort of thing.”
Bot beeped in confusion.
Suzie simply chuckled and walked away, waving as she did.
“…Well, now we aren’t arguing anymore,” Squeaky pointed out.
“Her point was invalid!” Bot shouted. “Suzie!”
“Don’t chase after her,” Allure said, pulling Bot back. “It’s not worth it. Nothing to fret over. Like, at all. She’s ju-” Allure’s phone rang, cutting her short. She pulled it out – it wasn’t a call, but a video recording sent to her directly from an unknown address. “…Weird.”
Bot poked her head to look at her phone. “Play it. Play it.”
“It could be spam or s-”
“Play it!” Bot said forcefully. “I must know! Play it or I hack your phone.”
Allure narrowed her eyes. “Fine, fine. And a one and a two and a I know what to do…” She opened the file.
She recognized the kind of feed instantly – it was from the scope on Nae’s personal rifle. It was currently pointed at the floor, but they could hear voices clearly.
“Just so we’re all on the same page…” they could hear Sugarcoat saying. “We’re actually doing this. Going to find a Wishing World.”
“And then rip everything,” Velvet said. “It’s simple, Sugarcoat. We all know exactly what we’re doing already, no need to duplicate it.”
“We all have to be sure,” Corona said. For a moment, the gaze on the scope passed over Corona. “We’ll be responsible for what comes next. The weight will be on us. Mostly me, but it will be us.”
Sugarcoat nodded. “You don’t just think about collapsing the entire multiverse into one point lightly.”
“We know,” Nae said – speaking in such a way so she wouldn’t overload the gun’s microphone. “The Dark Tower would be destroyed and there’d be no more time-death. I still think this is hasty.”
“You don’t have to come,” Corona said. “I can wipe your mind and let you stay. You don’t have to be responsible.”
Nae paused. “No… no I’m coming with you. I owe you and Lady Rarity that much.”
“Thank you, Nae,” Lady Rarity said.
“Then we’re a team,” Corona said. “…Going to free everything. And…” The Sweeties could hear her choke, but they couldn’t see her face.
“Corona…” Vivian said. “Are you sure you can do this?”
“Yes. No. I…” There was a pause. “I can.”
“…I’m not sure I believe you.”
“I’m not sure I believe myself,” Corona admitted. “But we have to go. If we’re going to do this, people are going to try to stop us. Let’s move, find the Wishing Word, and the-”
The video ended.
Allure stared at the phone in her hand. “Wh… wh… wh…”
“I’m sending this to Eve, Renee, and O’Neill immediately,” Squeaky said, tearing the phone out of Allure’s hooves.
“I… Wh…” Allure stared into nothingness, mind unable to process what she’d just witnessed.
“She’s done it,” Thrackerzod said. “She’s seen it.”
“What?” Bot asked.
“The truth.”
“How can that be truth!?” Allure blurted. “How can our friends do this!?”
“Nae’s not,” Squeaky pointed out. “She got you that video.”
“But all the others! Sugarcoat! Vivian! Lady Rarity! Corona! Corona’s… Corona’s our guardian! …Something must be controlling her.”
“The only thing that’s controlling her is the same thing as the rest of us,” Thrackerzod commented.
“The Tower wouldn’t want to destroy itself!” Allure blurted. “Something else is going on. I know it.”
“They still need to be stopped,” Squeaky said.
“Yes, yes they do. They won’t succeed. They won’t destroy anything, they can’t – but they won’t. This isn’t them!”
“How well do we know them again?” Bot asked.
“Well enough! They wouldn’t do this! Wouldn’t even think about it!”
Thrackerzod raised an eyebrow but said nothing.
“…Blumiere,” Allure said, suddenly.
“What about him?” Squeaky asked.
“We need to watch him. Zod, can you handle that?”
Thrackerzod nodded. “Sure. I do wonder why, though.”
“Time-loop stuff. I’ll explain after you pick the team. Rest of us…”
“Are going to sit here,” Squeaky said, handing Allure back her phone. “They’re going to take care of it.”
Allure nodded slowly, not quite able to form words. “Yes… Yes…” She put a hoof to her head. “This doesn’t get out. We don’t need the multiverse panicking.”
The Sweeties nodded.
“Bot, analyze the internet for anything you can find. Squeaky, with me, we’re going to try to figure out what she plans to do with that Wish, specifically. …If we can.”
Squeaky looked at her with sad eyes. “Okay.”
The Sweeties scrambled, each running as fast as their legs would carry them.
~~~
Renee, Daniel, Eve, O’Neill, Starbeat, the primary team (plus Pidge), myself, and Nanoha watched the video – though Nanoha was watching from the TSAB, currently present only in the form of a video call that showed her scrambling to charter a speeder ship to Merodi Universalis.
Eve gulped as the video ended. “And that’s… all the League of Sweetie Belles got from Nae.”
Renee looked at Daniel with scared eyes.
Daniel gulped hard. “…I knew it.”
“Why would she do this!?” Nanoha asked as she ran through the halls.
“…Because she’s seen the multiverse,” Eve said, staring into nothingness with a forlorn expression. “She knows more than all of us exactly how much pain and death there is out there. “
“So she wants to solve it by causing more pain and death,” Pidge said. “…Brilliant.”
“That’s essentially what we do, sometimes,” Nova said. “Take out an army to free the people. Destroy a universe so it can’t hurt anyone else…”
Starbeat nodded. “It does fit… I’m only concerned that she seems to have adopted the idea of it so quickly, and that her friends were willing to go along with it. I’d almost say the Tower was working here, but I can’t for the life of me imagine why it would do this. And my scans don’t indicate any sort of personality overwriting happening.”
“It’s a perfect climax,” I said. “The fate of the multiverse, with the enemy being someone we’ve known almost since the beginning. It’s perfect. So perfect I want to slap myself. She’s been built up for this the entire time. She’s suffered, she’s seen the darkest depths of everything and fallen to lows most of us never reached, she became the warrior against death itself, not admitting that any problem had no solution. She became the Rogue of Doom… she destroyed Topeka… she’s been shaped in the Shaping Mechanism to understand the dimensional science required to do this. And her friends? They trust her judgement, or that of Lady Rarity. And those who would convince her to turn around conveniently aren’t with her.”
Starbeat furrowed her brow. “I… guess I can see that.”
Pinkie sighed. “She’s our enemy now…”
“Trying to destroy everything…” Nanoha muttered as she ran through a doorway. “The Wishing World doesn’t have that kind of power. It can’t even do anything to the Spline.”
“She’s probably just using the Wishing World to set up whatever it is she’s figured out,” O’Neill said.
“Study of the Dark Tower doesn’t immediately give you great knowledge,” Nanoha commented.
“It does if it wants it,” I said. “It wants to tell the greatest story… And it’s chosen her to be the tool to tell it.”
“Something still smells fishy about this,” Pinkie muttered.
“We’re definitely not seeing it all,” Starbeat admitted. “If this really is a true climax of sorts, then there’ll be a lot more involved than just a Wishing World and a collapse.”
“So, what do we do?” Nova asked.
“…Stop her?” Nanoha said.
“Yes, that’s obvious. How?”
“Ka tracker,” Daniel said.
“I can’t see where she is right now,” I said. “Doubt that’ll work.”
“It is very muddled,” Starbeat granted. “Signal’s unique as well, so prediction won’t quite work.”
“We have the heroic advantage,” Jotaro said.
“Do we?” Flutterfree asked. “This could be a tragedy.”
“She is asking the question from pure motives,” I said. “…And she’s suffering mentally because of it.”
“I hope she’s okay…” Flutterfree said.
“She’s trying to destroy the multiverse!” Daniel blurted. “Why are you worried about h-”
Flutterfree glared at Daniel with her ferocious red eyes. “She’s my friend. That’s never going to change.”
“We’ll stop her,” Eve said. “It doesn’t mean we’re going to hate her.”
“Wouldn’t have it any other way,” Nanoha said, finally getting into a speeder and setting off.
Daniel looked like he wanted to shout again – but Renee put a hoof on his side. “Please, dear… not now.”
He saw her struggling to keep herself from crying. He relented.
Eve took in a deep breath and let it out. “Nanoha, you have the dimensional analysis methods to find a Wishing World, right?”
Nanoha nodded, the feed staying on her as she traveled in her ship.
“Our best bet is to try and use those to find the Wishing World before she does.”
“You know that’s completely dependant on ka, right?” Pinkie said. “Who gets there first, I mean.”
“I can help,” I said. “I have a deep understanding of the connections in existence, and I can write us there faster.”
Nanoha nodded slowly. “…I’m not happy with it, but it seems like our best option.”
“Charter the Austraeoh,” Pinkie said. “It’s the best.”
“It’s my ship. It’s already ready,” O’Neill said. “Who’s going?”
“We are,” Eve said. “All of us here. We’re going to find her, stop her, and then bring her home. Nobody has to know this happened. She’s one of us – we can get her back.”
Renee smiled warmly. “You think you can do it a second time?”
“Yes,” Eve said. “I can tell she’s avoiding me because she doesn’t want to talk. She knows I could talk her out of it. Maybe not consciously, but somewhere in there. And the part of her that’s on this crusade to fix everything won’t let her consider that.”
“Incoming message from the League of Sweetie Belles,” O’Neill said. “They found her.”
“Hm?”
“She’s on Celestia City, in a ship called the Condor. It’s preparing for launch.”
“Everyone move!” Eve shouted.
~~~
Corona, Sugarcoat, Vivian, Lady Rarity, Insipid, Velvet, Ash, and Nae walked onto the bridge of the Condor, a pink ship with three main decks. They had chartered it through Lady Rarity’s account just a few moments prior and were ready to depart.
“Okay…” Corona said, laying her hands on the control console of the Condor. “Sai, upload the Wishing World programs into the navigational computer.”
“Already done, amiga.”
“Thanks,” she said with a sad smile. She turned to look at her crew. “It’s ready. Everyone… this is your last chance to turn around. I won’t judge you if you do. …In fact I’m basically asking you to leave and let me do this.”
“Not a chance,” Sugarcoat said. “You need people with you.”
“Plus, we have the entire trip to change our minds,” Vivian said. “If we learn something new or… you know.”
“The trip won’t be as long as the projections say,” Corona deduced. “There’s no way the Tower would let us wander in this ship for years.”
“Unless the story needed to be really extended,” Sugarcoat pointed out.
“It’s not going to be,” Velvet said. “The pattern is wrong. It could end in all of us being brutally murdered though.”
“Lovely,” Insipid deadpanned. She touched Corona for a second, absorbing her powers. “Okay, so, how can I help pilot this thing?”
“I’ll get us started, then I can introduce a feedback loop between us,” Corona said. “More dimensional matrices is always better.”
“Unless we’re walking right into something worse,” Nae said, hefting her rifle.
Corona gulped. “I… I know. And we need to keep talking about what we’re doing until we arrive there. Vivian is right, we can turn around at any moment. But we need to start moving befo-”
“They found us,” Lady Rarity said, looking at the communications console. “They just told us to dock for a routine inspection.”
“Time to go,” Corona declared, placing her hands on the main controls, pulling away from Celestia City. “They sending any ships after us?”
“It appears so,” Lady Rarity said. “Nothing big though, just standard police barges.”
“Maybe they don’t know it’s us,” Corona said. “Might be able to pull this off with a quick one-two teleport to another universe.”
“They’re jamming,” Sugarcoat said.
“Well, now they’re definitely going to know it’s me,” Corona muttered. “Insipid, controls. You might have to punch through a dimensional wall yourself if this becomes too difficult for me to handle.”
Insipid saluted. “Like, got it!”
Corona spread her arms and wings wide, pointing her horn upward. The Condor was surrounded by a series of red magic circles that twisted reality around them, trying to tear through the dimensional jamming. Most would have absolutely no luck against Merodi dimensional jammers.
Corona had spent a decade of her life living near a Shaping Mechanism. She knew exactly what she was doing. It would take time, but eventually the jammers would be overcome by her reality-bending magic.
The only problem was that, after about fifteen seconds of this, they started getting fired on.
“Return fire!” Velvet shouted.
“Belay that!” Corona and Lady Rarity shouted.
“What? They’re attacking!”
“They’re Merodi,” Corona said. “I’m not attacking them directly. Divert power to shields, we have dimensional tunneling under control.”
“You’re gonna have to fight them eventually,” Velvet muttered.
“Now is not eventually.”
“Like, so, how do I make a portal when I can’t make a portal?” Insipid asked.
“Just think about making a portal. I’ll tell you when you should be able to.”
“Blumiere’s figured out what’s going on,” Sugarcoat said.
“How do y-?”
“Celestia City’s point defenses are charging.”
“Ponyfeathers,” Corona cursed. “Right, just a little longer. Uh… Sai, nanobots, screw with their systems.”
Sai did as asked – and since she knew Celestia City’s coding like the back of her digital hand, they stopped working in less than a second.
“That was effective,” Nae said. “But they won’t be down long.”
“Don’t need very long,” Corona muttered, pushing through the jammers. “Almost… there…”
At this point the Austraeoh dropped into space – right next to a TSAB speeder.
Corona opened her mouth to say ‘NOW!’ but nothing came out. Instead, she felt something. She stared at the front tip of the Austraeoh. Something deep within her shouted, a deep personal connection tugging on her.
Corona, don’t, Eve said from across the divide of space.
Corona found she could see Eve, almost as if she were standing right in front of Eve’s face. And she knew that Eve could see her too..
I have to, Corona thought.
No you don’t. Come back.
…No. I’m sorry. You understand.
…I do.
“NOW!” Corona shouted.
“FIRE!” Eve shouted.
The Austraeoh fired a beam of magic energy designed to drain all magic from an area, making small Merodi ships completely useless.
But it missed.
Eve gawked. How did the Austraeoh miss that shot!? It was right there!
Insipid pushed through the dimensional barrier – and the Condor was gone. The Austraeoh and the Speeder followed the next instant – but Corona had already carried the Condor somewhere else, this time with a heavy attempt made to mask their destination.
But Corona and Eve could still see each other. There was a connection there… a connection that was fading… One they couldn’t explain and couldn’t ignore.
Eve felt a deep Song rise within her, starting as a dramatic moody piano sounded that soon shifted into a darker, almost mechanical beat.
“Try to find another way
To keep safe all the things that I hold dear
You may be one of them, deep in my heart
But you’ve become the danger that I must fear
Sole responsibility
To protect and serve against who has the nerve
I see what makes you dangerously
Fight against the very things that define who we are.”
Eve spread her wings and gestured a hoof toward her vision of Corona.
“Take my faith in you away
Run away from me this day
I will find you!
I will find you!
Turn your back on what you love
Fight against those far above
I will find you!
I will find you!”
Corona looked back with sad eyes.
“The tragedies take their toll
Tearing at my fragile soul.”
Corona shook her head, turning her expression to one of determination. She laid her hands on the controls and started searching for the Wishing World. She grimaced.
“Living in a state of agony
Our dreams of war destroy us
But we ignore their evil
We’re all submerged in tragedy
Like a plague within our midst
The Tower’s ka kills in darkness.”
Eve looked down and frowned.
“Past mistakes are haunting me
Prices paid and treasure gained
Raising us to where we are
My Corona, come to us
Come protect the world you know
Those you brought into your glow.”
Corona winced.
“A Wishing World sits ahead
Telling me where I should tread
I will find it!
I will find it!
I do this for all of them
No more life within this scheme
I will find it!
I will find it!
New creation brings a dove
There are no more far above
I will find it!
I will find it!
All existence come to me!
Time to set you free!”
Eve stared at Corona, pleading her to stop. Behind her, people scrambled to trace Corona however they could. Nanoha appeared on the bridge, uploading the information she had. Twilence rapidly scribbled in her notebook.
“Just listen to me
You can’t know this is right
Don’t become what you once were
Letting anger be sight.”
Corona stared forward, tears in her eyes.
“Eve, I know it’s not the first time
That the pressure gets to me
But I feel the anger inside
Hinting what I used to be.”
Eve held out her hoof, pleading.
“Then don’t let this be the end
You are still my dear old friend
Let me help you!
Let me help you!”
Corona shook her head.
“The bond between us is true
But I am seeing this through
I will find it!
I will find it!”
Eve pulled her face back.
"I will always come for you
It doesn’t matter what’s true
I will find you!
I will find you!"
Corona turned away. She spread her arms and wings wide.
“All existence come to me!
Time to set you free!”
The vision began to fade as two old friends were set on opposing paths.
Stats
Page generated in 0.05 seconds
Total duration
1,009 users online
1,772,683 hits today, 2,814,898 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.®
Fourteen.
Well, hot damn. I’m... still thinking of if I agree with Corona conceptually or not.
First Edelgard, and now Corona? I wonder what it says about me that some of my most respected fictional characters are all gigantic Machiavellian schemers.
With that said, ensue the “Corona did Nothing Wrong” memes.
9811820
Funny someone brought up Edelgard. She's the only reason I give Corona's position a chance now. Otherwise I'd been a hard no but... well, I can't stand by the harsh costs of one revolution while utterly dismissing the other, especially given the comparable circumstances.
Point being: Corona Did Nothing Wrong.
9811820
Yes, the Edelgard stuff was a downer...
Can't say I'm surprised at Corona going full on Thanos. I feel like the decision to destroy Topeka got passed over for how horrible it was for her to decide on her own that peoples privacy was more important than the existence of an entire dream realm
9812475
To be fair, nothing actually LIVED in that dream realm, any suffering would have been tangential, though no doubt there would have been some deaths from panic and psychological messes.
Though you were right to get suspicious of her at that point. The moment I wrote her doing that, I knew she would be the one to do this. You, my friend, have a good eye. Wanted to congratulate you when you first commented on Topeka, but I held my tongue.
-GM, master of licking.
She may not have been on camera for dozens of chapters, but Sugarcoat is still amazing.
Plot armor. You're not getting out of the climax that easily.
And the question is precisely what I thought it was. It's the same one Corona's been asking her whole life, from the Topeka incident to earning her degree to studying her friends' musically triggered powers to apprenticing under Celestia: Why and how does the world work the way it does, and how can I change that for the better?
Naturally, the meanings of "the world" and "the better" have changed over the decades, but it's still the central theme of Corona's life, setting out to shape reality to better fit her ideals. And that ties into her greatest flaw, as perfectly encapsulated in one sentence:
Pride. I phrased the question in a very deliberate manner. "How can I change that for the better?" Corona embraced friendship during that fateful Fall Formal, yes, but whether consciously or not, she has always viewed herself as the most capable person in the room. (And to be fair, she usually is.) But that means she takes burdens upon herself that strictly speaking, she doesn't need to. Finding a novel cure for death when dozens were available if she'd just asked. Isolating herself in the Shaping Mechanism rather than bringing in a team. Avoiding anyone who might talk her out of this plan, deliberately or not. She possesses a bizarre blend of hubris and martyrdom that makes her perfect for this climax.
The last scene of the last chapter brought the ending of Super Mario Galaxy to mind, with all the myriad features of the universe brought together in a single location. Now I see that that is, in fact, the plan: Collapse reality into a singularity and create a single, wondrous world, free of the shackles of ka. (After all, you never play in the New Galaxy.) But we can see the Tower in that last shot. I don't expect Corona to succeed exactly as she expects to, but I can definitely see her achieving something. The Tower deceives those who try to analyze it, after all, and this is still the Void arc. Who's to say that simulation was perfectly accurate?
9813454
She did the exact same thing when she destroyed Topeka. She realized The Doctor would be able to talk her out of it, so she stopped him from talking
I don't quite understand the point of this plan. Wasn't her goal to eliminate death? Yeah this would eliminate certain kinds of death but wouldn't death as a concept still exist? Or does destroying the tower eliminate all the rules including the one that says people have to die at some point?
I can certainly see the good that could come of this but I don't quite see how this would accomplish her original goal unless this is just her settling for something close enough to her goal that she knows is attainable.
9816663
No, this would not eliminate death. As a dynamic character, Corona has more than one goal.
In essence, she admitted to herself that, after creating the immortality serum, she had succeeded as much in 'ending death' that she could since Absolute Immortality didn't exist and the Tower probably wouldn't let her do it anyway.
This is a secondary goal. Death was the problem, she succeeded in mitigating it. Most of her life since then has been focused on migitating pain and giving worlds what they need with the Shaping Mechanism. Now she's found a new quest.
-GM, master of quests.
9816718
Well that makes sense, still mass murder for the sake of eliminating known problems which would ultimately result in a new world with it's own problems is still pretty insane. It would make more sense if she was around to shape things afterwards but she can't even guarantee her own survival.
I mean yeah they'd be free of the Tower's control but it's not like she can guarantee something else wouldn't just assert its own control on the new world.
So wait, if this collapses the entire multiverse into a single universe. Wouldn't that universe still eventually... end?
If it goes through the 'Big Crunch' scenario, then you're looking at a single new universe (with different laws of physics) every quadrillion years or so. But if it experiences Heat Death or a 'Big Rip' then there's no guarantee there'd even be another universe forming after that one.
9816813
You make a good point.
The universe that would be a result of this wouldn't be mundane, but... it's not known whether the second law of thermodynamics applies to it or not. So, it's possible that that universe would just burn out eventually with no way to prevent it. Even if it is preventable, however, the system that could prevent that would eventually fail, and the universe would reach some kimd of an end.
However...
Let's not so far ahead just yet.
It all can change a hundred times, after all. The countdown to the Critical Event is still at 14.
wow...had to force myself to read 115 but this was great , totally worth the crazy amount of time i spent on 115.
OK, the tower will not be destroyed, it will still exist in the nexus probably , the tower doesnt want to be destroyed, but it wants to end suffering somehow, so it chosen sunset to carry it out, and set a course in the story for it to eventually survive, how I know this? The previous chapter mentions the future, one where white nettle is married with a child, and seskii is there able to see the story, it could be the nexus considering the velociraptor is still there selling shoes, and also seskii mention twilence, meaning she is still alive, and also being able to be aware, ultimately the city has at its center the dark tower, being functional, considering seskii can see the story, so I think corona succeded in some way, but not the same way as intended, or perhaps she failed but achieved something to better the multiverse anyway , because ka still exist, right now twilence can't see further because the tower does not allow her, but once all is finished, she will be aware again, it just let her see whit nettle for us.
I-
I-
Wh-
Wh-What.
...I think just about half of what I thought just got turned on its head. Sure feels like it.
Well, right now, it certainly seems like from one perspective it's her - Corona Shimmer is the foretold traitor. The great threat of destruction seems to be her.
And yet it's more complicated than that. I guess...I guess her perspective makes sense, but is it right? There's no good answers here.
The Tower certainly let her in for a reason. That was one heck of a reason. All this prior work of keeping the Tower safe and intact, but was Nettle right? The Tower doesn't want to be replaced? Is this it's way of having one final story told before the end?
But the end is never the end...
Is this the Convergence perceived?
Was the vision of the Eighth the Convergence percieved?
Knowing the rules so far in this story, it's impossible to tell. There's to many strings to be fulled by fate to single any one motive.
Sombra still pulling through, years after, beyond death, with her accumulated knowledge and research into the Tower. Aye.
Ofbloodycourseitwasthenineteenth.
The Pink One being uncertain in that way should be an instant tell that something really bad is going to happen.
Twilence operating without future sight and just as a regular Aware is going to be kinda interesting.
EDIT:L Well, an Aware Prophet
This is a certified "Aw, hell."™ moment.
Also, it's been a long time since we last saw Sugarcoat.
Wonder what Corona's gonna do if or when she finds out about Nae being the one to blow the lid on things? I guess knowing Corona...probably nothing or close to it. Merodi is pretty well aware now, Corona thus far is trying to avoid causing damage. Punishing Nae won't change anything though restricting her would improve Corona's chances of success. I dunno.
Man, it's been a long time since we last had a Heartsong.