Never Going Back Again

by NorrisThePony

(---)

(interlude)

“...If you are hearing this for the first time and there’s been a dramatic memory loss incident, the doctors here say that your condition might be exaggerated by an overload of information. So… to any health care personnel in the room, please ease Celestia gently into her current situation. Wait until at least twelve hours of harmonic magic stabilization, and then please show her the flip-side of this tape. Until then… co-operation mandatory, compassion eternal. See you on the other side, literally and figuratively, Celestia and company...”

Twilight burst into tears as soon as the cameras clicked off. The throne room of Canterlot Castle looked so wildly different than it had been even a month ago, with it’s mass of wiring and cables and electrical relays snaking down from the ceiling, across the floors, and up the walls. The skyline outside of the shattered and freshly repaired windows was an inky red. What colour it might be, when night came and went and dawn rose again, was anypony’s guess. Twilight had liked the purple day skies. The plaid, polka-doted one had nearly given her vertigo. Twilight couldn’t have imagined how Rarity would have reacted to such a garish display.

In a way, the inherent silliness of the residual Chaos Magic still infecting Equestria was a welcome distraction from the more sobering reality of the distant horizons. They were stained black with pollution and refuse, as Equestria immolated itself struggling to fight against the encroachment of a magicless future.

Magic was dying. And for all its miracles, science...did not feel strong enough to save a magical land. With the Tear seeping away the harmonic energy of their world, they were fighting against too strong a tide.

Twilight didn’t really care who amongst the gathered science staff saw her weep. There was about a dozen of them... All good ponies, all assembled for good causes, but they mostly all scattered to give Twilight and Luna some room.

Luna was by her side in a few seconds, though she lingered back by a few hooves, one foreleg raised as though she’d intended to comfort Twilight but had lost steam halfway through.

“…There… there…”

Twilight’s crying tapered into a little chuckle without fully stopping. “Gods, y-you’re so bad at this, Luna…”

“I’m well aware. I… am trying, Twilight Sparkle. I never had my sister’s talent for… well...”

Twilight gave a nod as Luna trailed off, and pulled her in for a hug with a wing. “Hey, me neither. Equestria’s stuck with the two most awkward princesses. Lucky them, right?”

“Yes, quite…” Luna said, somewhat distantly. “But… not for long, yes? We are attempting optimism.”

“Yeah. Attempting optimism,” Twilight confirmed. Her eyes traveled past Luna, towards...

It wasn’t really a pretty sight. It reminded Twilight of when the changelings had invaded Canterlot, so long ago. It was strange to look on the sight of Princess Celestia, encased within a bio-engineered pupa, suspended above the castle floor in a cradle of tubing and electrical cables.

“We will save her.” Luna’s gaze followed Twilight’s. “I... Know how much she meant to you, Twilight.”

“Me? She’s your sister...”

“Yes. And...” A heavy exhale from Luna. “I... Still think she saw you as the best thing in her life, Twilight Sparkle. More than even myself.”

“I’m sorry...”

“Sorry?” Luna chuckled. “I do not look upon this with resentment. Her pride in you is shared.”

“I just hope... It’s not all in vain.” Twilight nodded her head towards the pupa. Towards Celestia. “I hope we’ll... I hope she’ll wake up. When the time comes.” Twilight sighed, realizing how useless her words were. She hoped Princess Celestia came back to life. No bloody shit. Who in Tartarus didn’t? She wasn’t saying anything new and clever, so what was the point of saying it in the first place?

“I heard during my visit to Everfree Station that our probe crossed over The Passage fourty-eight hours ago. Our first successful interdimensional insertion. I trust you saw the memo?”

“I did,” Twilight nodded. “I wanted to go myself with you, but... So much to keep from exploding, back here. I didn’t think we’d see it in our time."

Luna was silent for a moment.

"That was intended to be good news, Twilight Sparkle," she said eventually. "A success, after all this."

"Yeah. One success. Equestria is dying. Harmony is dying. It's bleeding through a damn hole in the sky. It's taking all we have just to stay alive in a world without magic...how the blazes can we hope to save it? If this doesn't work...we can't even try again." Twilight knew she was panicking. 'Twilighting out', as her brother would've called it. She felt she'd earned the right, after the time she'd been having.

“You are neglecting consideration towards what we have accomplished. Plans for hopping across the cosmos... Sending ponies into the great ether. A dream cherished as a fantasy for so long...” A thin smile had formed on Luna’s face. “And now it’s... Tangible. We are building a station to do it, and ponies trained in the journey. It is much to have accomplished in what amounts to a blink of the cosmic eye.”

“Yeah, but... We didn’t do it because we wanted to. We didn’t have a choice. And we can't do much else, now. With the rest of the system's harmony magic bleeding through the Tear. If this doesn't work..."

“Perhaps.” Luna shrugged. “But we still accomplished it. They tell me that after crossing The Passage, our probe is now the furthest Equestrian made thing in space. And it is still intact, and still giving us predictable, tangible signals.”

“We’ll see what happens when it reaches the orbit of the Chaos Tear.”

“You do not seem to be attempting optimism, Twilight Sparkle.”

Twilight forced out a laugh. “No. I guess I’m finding it difficult. I was... I was thinking, Luna. About when it comes time to send ponies up there. Into the void. I want to volunteer.”

Luna frowned. “That is considerably unwise considering your importance to Equestria at the moment.”

“Yeah, but. What other option do we have, really? Find six ponies who can wield the Elements of Harmony? In, what? Three year's time?”

“The only pony who can wield the Elements of Harmony by themselves is the one we already have been discussing as ideal for this mission in the first place.”

Twilight saw her gaze travel over to the pupa in the corner. She found it... Interesting, that Luna had not bothered to personify the pony she was speaking of. Perhaps thinking of her as a tool or a creation or a copy made it easier. It wasn’t technically incorrect.

“And the only one who doesn’t have a say on the matter,” Twilight replied. “Celestia doesn’t... Why does she deserve that?”

“Why do you?”

“Because I can! Because I want to! Because...”

“Twilight. I know Celestia. As do you. We both know she would not say no to this. And besides, Celestia... Our Celestia...” Luna nudged her head towards the pupa. “Lies right there. Waiting to be woken, when the Tear ceases it’s influence upon her. Upon all of us. When she wakes, she will have no memory of any time in orbit. Because Celestia will not have to experience it. A copy of something is not that thing. "

“You don’t believe that.”

“No. But I have to, or else...” Luna forced a smile, pained and exhausted. “Or else I’d be joining you, and there would be three alicorns on this suicide mission instead of just the copy of one.”

“I just... I hope she’ll be okay.”

“We’ve run the trials. The process... There’s no pain. You just... Sleep, and awake again. Your memories from your last body, the last thing you were doing... It’s all still there. Like waking from a nap.”

“I know, Luna. I supervised the research.” Twilight shook her head. "And after everything we do, their bodies will crumble apart after three to five years. How is that painless?"

"She won't have to experience that. It will be like catching the flu, and getting some bed rest. Painless."

"It's terrifying. I know it and you know it. We're killing them. Why are you denying that?"

"...because despite that, it is what's necessary," Luna returned, narrowing her eyes. To Twilight, she seemed a little offended. "You act like I don't agree with you on the existential nature of our quest. I am not comfortable with it either. It haunts me. But what choice do we have? Without magic...what? What can we do?"

"I know." Twilight brought a hoof to the bridge of her snout. "I'm sorry. You're right. I know that. I know it's necessary."

"And you know that she'll be alright," Luna said. "Yet still, you don’t believe.”

Twilight sighed. She looked up at the pupa. At Celestia’s slumbering form, almost peaceful, with her eyes closed, suspended in the vat of preservation fluid.

“I guess I don’t.”

Comments

[Forcalor]

I'll be honest, that all looks like a very cool concept
And I think, I actually see from where inspirations come from
Can't wait to see how it will be resolved

[Squishtopher]

My face when the mare I love more than anything wakes up from suspended animation only to still remember experiencing the hundreds of deaths she was forced to suffer at my own hooves.
en.meming.world/images/en/c/c9/Surprised_Shaq.jpg

[Dafaddah]

It’s been a minute since I was so eager to get new chapters of a FIMfic story. Damn it, Norris, I am truly enjoying this excellent story!

[N4rwh41]

Yeah, I figured our Celestia was a copy. Makes too much sense if they can already copy brain states. Why send the "real" Celestia when a duplicate will do?

[Bicyclette]

The plaid, polka-doted one had nearly given her vertigo. Twilight couldn’t have imagined how Rarity would have reacted to such a garish display.

the “would have” doing a lot of work here, augh. and yes, it would have been the worst! possible! thing!

In a way, the inherent silliness of the residual Chaos Magic still infecting Equestria was a welcome distraction from the more sobering reality of the distant horizons. They were stained black with pollution and refuse, as Equestria immolated itself struggling to fight against the encroachment of a magicless future.

oof, love this. the true feel of a dying world…

Twilight gave a nod as Luna trailed off, and pulled her in for a hug with a wing. “Hey, me neither. Equestria’s stuck with the two most awkward princesses. Lucky them, right?”

“Yes, quite…” Luna said, somewhat distantly. “But… not for long, yes? We are attempting optimism.”

so very Luna

A copy of something is not that thing. "

oh wow! augh i love this. excellent stuff!

[FridayPie]

11545169
Depending if a copy pricess is conservative or destructive