Anemoia

by Starscribe

Chapter 14: Obsidian

Secretary Keen Ardor stared openly at her reply, unblinking. Finally he levitated something from a pocket—a tiny pad of paper and a pencil. It was no thaumic recorder, but it seemed effective enough at the same purpose. "How much of that is euphemism?" he asked. "The cold bit first. You don't require warmth?" He shivered as he said it, brushing a few faint wisps of snow from his mane.

"I barely feel it," she said. "I can be harmed by temperatures, but only in the swift transition between great cold and heat. I can crack the way glass does. But physically, I'm composed of the same material as the structures of Zircon. Only the spires themselves are stronger."

His pencil zipped across the page, and he flipped to the next. She thought she could feel a faint pressure of magic against her from his horn—but it wasn't an attack. If he'd tried that, he would likely learn the other strengths of crystal.

After another few seconds, he gestured down the road. "Please, Wi—Steward Bit. Would you come with me to the waystation? My engineers and technicians have examined your repairs thoroughly over the last several weeks. But despite our best efforts, we can't figure out half of the changes you made. They would be more successful if they dismantled some of it—but the lives of thousands now rest on the waystation continuing to function."

You were going to dismantle my repairs? It was exactly the kind of frustrating behavior she'd come to expect—yet this stallion, this 'Union Secretary' had held back. He hasn't ordered me around like the king. "I will accompany you," she announced. "But I should not remain away from the tower for too long. The patient upstairs might wake early—I don't want him to face that alone."

If her remarks seemed strange to him, the pony didn't object. He seemed content that she was following him, down the familiar path to the open relay station. The doors were open, and several new "no trespassing" signs had been erected, each one stamped with a stylized gear with the letter U located prominently in the center. It was the same symbol on his collar, now that she thought about it.

There were a few more guards just inside, as though waiting to catch any who disobeyed the instructions. But they didn't react with hostility, just saluting as Keen passed. "May I ask you a question, Secretary?" she said. "I have never been exposed to the ponies now living in Zircon until now, but every one of my observations has instilled me with troubling conclusions.”

He gestured with one hoof, smiling politely. "We are not the old kingdom, Bit. Ask your questions. I may not know all the answers, or I may not be able to tell you for reasons of the city's well-being. But I will try."

Bit hesitated a moment, long enough that they were past the soldiers. Just because this one pony was proving himself reasonable did not mean the others would be too. But finally they were standing in the control room, and she dared ask her question. "You overthrew the evil king—your organization did, anyway. You took over Zircon?"

He nodded. "We organized out of that conflict. The Union as it is today didn't exist. We lived only in the hearts of every brave pony who rose up against our oppressors."

That was close enough, as close as she was likely to get when there were no ponies from back then still around. "So why be so pointlessly destructive? Zircon was... I don't know what everypony else suffered under the king. But I know we had enough food, and nobody froze. It doesn't look like either of those things are true today."

She walked along the controls, gesturing at the relay station outside. "This facility should have required almost no maintenance. It failed because its redundancies were systematically removed. A critical induction relay attempted to discharge excess capacity, and the entire bank was fried, severing the matrix from the relay crystal. That should not have happened."

For a few seconds he watched her like an apprentice who had just been told he had a test coming the next day. But then his expression became more subdued. His horn glowed, and he quietly levitated the control room door closed. There were no other spells, though.

"To understand that, you must first understand the suffering our ancestors endured. King Zircon wasn't just 'evil.' He didn't just condone the exploitation of his workers. He acted with a cruelty no other monarch could rival.

"He marched ponies out into the glacier to establish mines, without proper equipment. As their frozen bodies cooled on the ice, he replaced them with a steady stream of new slaves. While his nobles feasted, he demanded the elderly and infirm be cast out into the cold, as soon as they failed to meet their quotas. He marshaled the sons and daughters of Zircon to endless wars of conquest with Equestria, determined to retake a land that was never even ours. This was the climate of the revolution."

Now it was Bit's turn for shock. Of course the King had always seemed pointlessly cruel whenever they met. But what happened in the streets outside the tower was beyond her vision.

Except suddenly it wasn't. Bit rode beside the Wizard in an armored carriage, protected by soldiers marching in formation out both windows. She leaned forward to look back, and saw hundreds of others exiting troop transports just behind. This was the end of the ice-road, where Equestria drew close and they could no longer trust the heavy treads of their vehicles.

"Making them walk like this seems so stupid," she said, annoyed. "We have another two hundred miles, Crimson. We should've brought more adaptive vehicles."

Crimson hadn't looked out the window in hours—his attention was focused squarely on the apparatus that took up most of the carriage. An intricate array of crystal studs and thaumic conductors surrounded by a spun-glass phial barely the size of a hoof. "There's nothing in the north worth squabbling over," he said. "The pegasi report no obstructions between us and Trottingham. Those ponies might be annoyed to walk now, but they'll be grateful when they see we spent those bits on cannons instead."

The memory faded, and Bit found Keen Ardor staring at her. "Are you following, Bit?"

She nodded reflexively, before she even processed that doing so was a lie.

"The happiness and plenty eventually ended. The city began to fail all around us. Ponies worked together to salvage and repair what they could, sacrificing every luxury until heat itself was all we had left, and the hothouses could no longer grow enough to sustain us.

"From all this chaos, the Union was finally organized," Keen continued. "With the leaders of each labor union speaking for the workers of their trade. Life in Zircon has been improving ever since. But that is the critical point—we inherited the city as you see it, with resources strained and infrastructure long failed."

His words struck into her like a sudden drop to cryonic temperatures. It had been so convenient to have a single enemy to hate, the ones tearing apart her home without even understanding what it was. But those feelings were all wrong. The Union hadn't been a force of destruction, it had ended the spiral downward with organization.

"That is why I wanted to speak with you," Keen continued. "This relay station was the very worst, since it was the first our ancestors sacrificed. The palace was, and still is, too dangerous to risk demolishing. I would like to accomplish what you did here in the other five heat-relays in Zircon. But even one repaired before winter would likely be enough to guarantee enough heat for everyone.

Is this what you would want me to do, Crimson? Should I be spending every waking hour looking for you? How much better could I make the tower?

"I need to care for my patient for the next four days," she said. "Then I will know if the treatment was a success. Until then, I would be irresponsible to abandon him."

Keen scratched at the gray growth under his chin, looking thoughtful. "This care cannot require all your time, yes? I would like to go over this station with you before you return to your tower. Then when treatment of your patient is concluded, you could accompany me and a team of my engineers to the industrial relay. It was the last to fall, and likely the closest to functional again. We could use your expertise."

Bit watched the pony, thoughtful. He sounded so polite, as Crimson had often sounded. He just spoke to her, without trying to pressure or intimidate her. Of course she wouldn't know that for sure until she tried to defy his instructions. But did she even want to?

I still need to find Crimson. Either find him, or discover that he can't be found anymore.

Even thinking it felt like she might be swallowing poison. Admit her Wizard was vulnerable to the same rotting that assaulted all these other ponies? Generations had come and gone since the end. Magic could make unicorns live long, but how much longer?

"What did you do with the royal family?" she asked. "The queen who ruled after Zircon, Ochre. She was in charge during the revolution, right?"

Keen shrugged. "The tyrants got what they deserved. We destroyed as many of their monuments as we could, except for those we keep as a reminder. Ponies must always remember the dangers of unchecked power."

That's not what I asked. "What about the old wizard of the tower—Crimson. Do you know what happened to him?"

Keen's eyebrows went up. "I don't know why you would care about that, Bit. The tyrants lived so long ago, they cannot threaten us now. If you're worried about some heir returned to harry the revolution, don't be afraid. Prince Crimson Zircon had no children. Ochre's foals did not survive longer than their mother. Our freedom is secure."

You sound like you think I want them to be gone. This isn't good news. But how could this pony, even a practical one, possibly comprehend dedication to a directive like hers?

"I will tell you what I know about the relay station," she said. "And answer any question. But if you want me to go help with some other station, you need to help me with my mission."

She wandered back to the controls, skimming the dials and displays just to be sure. As expected, almost none of the output of the power plant was drawn by exterior loads. There was her tower's internal heating, and probably some streetlights. We have to do something about that. This station will fail if we run it like this forever.

"What mission is that?" Keen asked. "The Union is not averse to making a reasonable exchange. So long as it doesn't sacrifice the wellbeing of Zircon's ponies."

"I have to find what happened to Prince Crimson Zircon," she said flatly. "I must find him, or find what happened to him, specifically. If you will help me do this, then I will evaluate the other plant for you, and provide instructions for its repair. After I help my patient."

Keen frowned, scratching at his chin a second time. Then he scribbled something on the pad of paper he'd brought. "You said you need four days. When that time is elapsed, I will send a historian from the Union of Scribes. Given you reputation, the secretary may come to your tower himself. If any pony knows how to uncover the information you're looking for, it will be the scribes. Are we agreed?"

He extended a hoof, thin and lean as the Wizard had been. In a way, Keen Ardor reminded Bit of Crimson. He seemed so reasonable, but so worried over improving the lives of Zircon's ponies. She took the offered hoof. "Agreed."

"Excellent!" He withdrew, levitating the door open again. "Then let me call the engineers. They had a list of questions for you. I hope you don't mind."

"No," she said flatly. "Just so long as it doesn't keep me from the tower."

Comments

[Lucid Storm]

Love the chapter! go go Bit! Fix that city!

[Velvet-Fresh]

i have a feeling they'll lie about killing her creator. Or worse, brag about it like its a momentous day of their history

[DovahkiinMaster]

10707225
And then Bit will unlock higher emptions, and those who've trespassed will have an unpleasant experience.

[Rubberduck]

Zyrcon will rise again! And Bit is the one making it possible!
Awesome story! ^^

[duckmagee]

I have a feeling that after the royalty was taken out different factions fought each other to fill the power vacuum, that what truly wrecked the city beyond repair

[Direct Access]

Considering who was used to create her, perhaps this endless dedication to searching for Crimson and refusal of his death comes not from Master-Creator bond, but rather, from relationship between him and the pony she used to be.

[minibox]

We have the first extensive contact and transaction between Bit and the Union. Hopefully, it'll lead to an honest and fruitful relationship. It also appears there are hints that Bit is getting herself ready to accept the fact that Crimson is dead. Though I think Bit will likely show denial and possibly anger first if presented with actual evidence. Grief is a strong emotion. And we still don't know how ready Bit is to face that truth.

[FanOfMostEverything]

Well now. Trying to claw back after years of desperate salvage would explain the state of things, but I'm still wary about Keen Ardor. He feels a little too smooth to be completely trustworthy. Still, he's earned some points back. If nothing else, these more diverse experiences are awakening more pre-Bit memories. Always a good thing.

10707225
Oh, they'll absolutely crow about it in the most grandiose rhetoric they can muster.

[Teraunce]

Nice chapter and I see Bit is finally getting over the stage of denial.

[Halira]

Going to suggest a dark option. The King passed away, Crimson became king, and Crimson was the tyrant that pushed the last straw with the people. With Crimson being completely oblivious to how unhappy the people were with his policies.

[Neece]

The implication that they killed children is disturbing, although quite expected.

10707869
That'd border tragedy, not only dark. Dunno if it'd happen in this story... But it's possible.

[tsaukpaetra]

Interesting, the generation station will break it not utilized? Surely a temporary load could be devised to help balance it?

[Rawislon03]

10707869

Maybe we’ll find out the glacier mentioned was where the materials for the Crystal Seeds originated from. A brutal campaign of exploitation and enslavement to create a Super-equine Wunderwaffe to finally beat back the perfidious Equestrians.

[Scintor]

Just another socialist utopia. One murder away from paradise.

[ShadwSonic]

Assuming the talk of slavery and cruelty was correct, maybe the revolution wasn't as bad as I thought... they just threw the baby out with the bathwater.

[Avatar Sprite]

10708268
Power systems here are pretty similar, we don't actually have that much stored, because we can't. We have to use dams and water to store large amounts of power.

[djthomp]

"That is why I wanted to speak with you," Keen continued. "This relay station was the very worst, since it was the first our ancestors sacrificed. The palace was, and still is, too dangerous to risk demolishing. I would like to accomplish what you did here in the other five heat-relays in Zircon. But even one repaired before winter would likely be enough to guarantee enough heat for everyone.

That's better than than I was originally interpreting for the maintenance capabilities of the current authorities. It would have been better still if they had managed to not lose the tech base to maintain all of them, but you never know what you're going to get out of a revolution so what they have now could certainly be worse.

[tsaukpaetra]

10708620
It's not about storage. Bit stated that their low usage of the provided power would cause the generators to break again. In the case of a dam, that situation is resolved by fixed bleed-off to decrease the pressure. It's technically just wasting the potential energy stored in the lake to prevent the turbines from spinning too fast and self destructing.

[Avatar Sprite]

10708900
And she also said it broke originally, If I understand it right because things were at their capacity -

A critical induction relay attempted to discharge excess capacity, and the entire bank was fried, severing the matrix from the relay crystal. That should not have happened."

The whole capacity and a bank of these implies it was basically power generated being unused, overwhelmed what storage there was. I was saying that, similar to there, power systems on earth, need external storage like dams and so on, because we don't actually store power much in power form

Edit: Re-reading comments, I think we are almost saying the same thing, in different ways, and I am just misreading things.

[tsaukpaetra]

10708926
Yes, exactly. 😇

[nighters]

do you think these union guys were really a mix of equestrians and traitors joining together to throw the old king? and that what causes so much trouble when their goals were accomplished they turned against each other the city really started to suffer?

[FridayPie]

10709416
Not necessary. It's possible that pyramid syndrome had happened: after actual top was destroyed, what left had struggled to form new "elite" among those who have less knowledge and by definition were more ruthless than predecessors. If predecessors were protecting status quo, newcomers have ambitions. Lucky is country where this process is stopped early. Most of European revolutions devolved into bloody mess because of this.

[Lithl]

10707869
The flashbacks we've seen seem to suggest Crimson had no interest in ruling.

[Nyerguds]

After another few seconds, he gestured down the road. "Please, Wi—Steward Bit. Would you come with me to the waystation? My engineers and technicians have examined your repairs thoroughly over the last several weeks. But despite our best efforts, we can't figure out half of the changes you made. They would be more successful if they dismantled some of it—but the lives of thousands now rest on the waystation continuing to function."

"Dismantle?! I have notes!"

"Yes. That's why we're asking them."

"Ah."

"Making them walk like this seems so stupid," she said, annoyed. "We have another two hundred miles, Crimson. We should've brought more adaptive vehicles."

That's not "Bit" at all that's riding beside the Wizard in that armored carriage... she's really recovering her old memories!

"That is why I wanted to speak with you," Keen continued. "This relay station was the very worst, since it was the first our ancestors sacrificed."

Wait, so the others will be easier to repair?

[Alex Warlorn]

10707385
Hardly impossible. Or they all thought the milk and honey would keep on flowing with no cows or beekeepers after they killed them all because they were part of the system "the man" ruled over.

[Alex Warlorn]

While something certain reached a breaking point for the people to rise up for blood, I wonder if anything was exaggerated to make things more black and white.

I'm guessing the Yaks were too stubborn for Zicron's armies.

"The tyrants got what they deserved.

Why do I get the feeling, just like the french revolution, the real tyrant was already dead, and all you murdered were their panicking heirs trying to prop up a system that no longer hold?

"Ochre's foals did not survive longer than their mother."

That is disturbing.

He left out how they destroyed every place of knowledge and education seeing them as part of 'the man.'

[ThatBadGuy]

Keen frowned, scratching at his chin a second time. Then he scribbled something on the pad of paper he'd brought. "You said you need four days. When that time is elapsed, I will send a historian from the Union of Scribes. Given you[your] reputation, the secretary may come to your tower himself. If any pony knows how to uncover the information you're looking for, it will be the scribes. Are we agreed?"