Pathfinder took a slow, exaggerated breath. Of course it no longer served the same purpose, since they didn't require respiration. That cavity worked only to allow them to speak. Which was what Pathfinder did. "You are going to tell me... what you did to me," he said. "And how we reverse it."
Bit didn't look away, even as he advanced on her. Though maybe she shouldn't expect entirely rational behavior—he had only just been created. In some ways, he was also the first of his kind. A pony of crystal created from something organic, instead of computers and memories. She walked over to the nearby console, and pressed a few keys to begin the recording. She would worry about classifying the files later, when she didn't have a potentially dangerous pony in front of her.
"I saved your life," Bit said matter-of-factly. "You were dying, Pathfinder. I did what you suggested, trying to keep you alive as long as possible for the earth pony magic to work. By the end, you slipped into an unresponsive coma. Look." She urged him to the now-dark medical console, bringing up the recordings of the last week. "This is just before treatment. You had suffered a total failure of the upper and lower GI, with infections spreading through your lymphatic system. Necrosis of the soft tissue was advancing rapidly. If that damage reached your brain, treatment would be impossible. I couldn't wait another moment."
He stared up at the screen, which showed a stylized cutout of his body, with several glowing red patches. Of course he showed no signs of recognition. He didn't know what he was seeing.
"You told me to save your life," she continued. "I had hoped to explain what the procedure would do to you. But I didn't know if I would succeed until the end. I did not want to promise you success until I knew we had achieved it."
Pathfinder lifted one of his legs up to the light, looking through it. She'd seen that face before, on more than her fair share of ponies. But Crimson had worn it last, when he looked out at the mob. "What did you do to me?" he repeated. "And how do we reverse it?"
Bit circled around him, removing the crystal-scanner from the desk. The simple ultrasonic probe would do far more for him now than any of the medical equipment in the tower. She touched it to his back, moving it slowly along the center mass and checking for cracks. She did not remember her own birth, but some record she found suggested it was far more difficult than this. Creating a pony without a living base was far harder, just as the wizard had thought.
You were right. Once she'd taken the diagnostics, she would have to change the status of this project in his files. Even if the Wizard never came back, the computer had to be kept in order. It deserved to mark his success. "I had no medicine, and it was too late to make the drugs that would save your body. So I pivoted to saving your mind.
"You are a... I'm not sure what we're called. A pony made of crystal, now. You should have all the same memories, the same personality, but none of the biological needs. Our bodies require only the background magic radiated by the Zircon, or any other magical source. You won't get cold, you don't need to sleep, or worry about the radiation that killed you within the palace. I am... unsure what other ancient defenses will make of you. But probably those will read you as an automaton, and ignore you unless you are doing active harm."
"An automaton," he said. "That's the word you used for the death machines. But I don't feel like I want to kill ponies, or protect an evil king." He took a few tentative steps forward, scanning the room. Then he darted for the restroom, crystal hooves clattering with every step.
Bit followed close behind, tossing the scanner back onto the desk. "You won't need that anymore, Pathfinder! Your body will only produce waste when you're drinking a repair solution to recrystalize internal damage. I don't detect any cracks—"
He wasn't going to use the facilities. Pathfinder stopped in front of the mirror. He touched up against the glass with a hoof, twisting to one side, then the other. Bit stopped in the doorway, lowering her voice to something calmer and more respectful. "Those bumps and crystal protrusions aren't normal, they're part of the growth and repair process. A few hours in the polishing tank will take care of all of that. It won't itch after that. Unless you break, and we have to repair something. But you should probably try not to let that happen."
"Polishing tank." Pathfinder turned, ears still folded, eyes wide. "Can you go back? Now that I'm safe from radiation, how do we make me normal again?"
Even Bit's limited predictive ability required very little exercise to realize that her next few words would probably be hard on him. But he would have to confront the reality sooner or later. "That is not possible. Your mind was converted to a holographic, distributed crystal matrix. You're effectively a damage-resistant, error tolerant computer. The Wizard knew no way to reverse it. But why would you want to?"
Bit had no experience for what to do with a pony in such distress—only memories of what the Wizard had tried to do for her. She wrapped one arm around his shoulder. Apparently that was the right thing to do, because he didn't force her away. "It might be disorienting at first, Pathfinder... but this state is ideal. You don't age anymore. You can't get sick. You never have to eat or drink, unless you want to. Wishing to reverse this process is not a rational desire."
He was silent for a long time. Like her, Pathfinder was completely still while he thought. There were no subtle adjustments for balance, no twitches or gentle swaying to his breath. Pathfinder was as still as the crystal that made him, as only the two of them could manage. "I don't know... how I feel about this. But I wanted to live no matter what. I followed you... you said not to come, and I went anyway. Sooner or later the consequences were going to catch up with me."
He ducked out from under her leg, turning back to the tower. "You said there's a way to deal with this awful itching? Let's do that. I can barely even think straight. Just don't call it a 'polishing tank' again. I'm not a noble's necklace." He sighed. "If there's no changing back, maybe I should be looking into how to fake it. Maybe there's some... cream we could use, to make it look like we have fur."
She didn't argue the absurdity of that suggestion. Not that it was impossible, of course—magic could do almost anything with the right application of leverage and resources. But wanting to appear like he was still constrained by biology, more than just avoiding the fear of a nervous mob—that she couldn't understand.
She led him down to the polishing tank, careful never to call it by its proper name. The box was entirely dark inside, with a thin metal harness to keep the pony securely in place. A thin layer of grit collected near the drain at the bottom, though that was all.
"You climb in this?" he asked, resting one hoof inside. "The evil king had more spacious prisons."
"Rarely," she answered, slipping past him to open the harnesses. They didn't lock, since of course there was no automaton that required polishing against its will. This might be the only polisher built in pony shape in all of Zircon. "You only need polish when a fresh crystal grows. After today, that won't happen again unless you crack. I suggest avoiding that with all possible caution—suggestions that we cannot experience pain because we aren't biological is not true. Cracks are incredibly painful, and do not heal naturally. Fortunately, repairing them is easy enough. I've been fixing my own damage for centuries now."
Pathfinder sighed, climbing in beside her. "Show me what to do, I guess."
She clicked the harness into place around him. For such a large earth pony, it almost didn't fit, though thankfully he was just small enough. Finally she stepped back, resting one hoof on the controls. "It won't hurt. I don't have any comparisons for what it feels like. Given how much debris you're carrying, it should be a relief. Just don't try to leave until the cycle is complete. The machine will open automatically. But if you break it, we don't have another. I'm not sure how long it would take me to repair."
He nodded, slumping down against the restraints. "Got it. Stay here. How long will this take?"
She shrugged. "The standard maintenance cycle is two hours. But you need considerably more polishing than that. Not more than a day."
"You expect me to sit still in a black box getting blasted by sand for... a day?"
She nodded. "You won't have to repeat the process again. But the crystal grew roughly over your necrotic flesh—the computer will need some time to make your body even."
"Ponies don't work that way," he said. "Doing the same thing all day—that's how you make someone go insane. Forgetting how impossible it is. I can't stand up all day. What am I supposed to eat, sand?"
Her ears twitched in frustration. Had he even been listening? "You don't have to eat anything, Pathfinder. And yes, you can stand up all day. I've been standing since the moment I was created. I promise it isn't as hard as you think. And you won't go insane, you'll see. The Wizard was smarter than all that. He was designing a species to last—he knew you were going to live much longer than organic ponies. I don't understand all the changes, but I know what I've experienced.
"We don't see time the same way. Other ponies need constant stimulation, we don't. If you aren't thinking, you'll... drift. Your body can maintain autonomous functions without conscious input. It's relaxing, soothing even. Cleaning windows, fixing machines... you'll see. I know you don't think so now, but this is an advantage. You're growing into something more than you were, not less."
He didn't reply, just continued to hang there in the restraints. Bit could've tried to convince him a little more—but all that itching probably was making him insane. If he started scratching, he might cause hairline cracks that would eventually spread into real ones. She activated the machine, instructing it to prepare a new automaton for service. The screen reported what she already knew—that there was considerable pitting and structurally unsound crystal throughout his body.
It took the old machine a few minutes humming away to finally come up with a repair plan she liked. It would actually take two days to complete, trimming away enough material that Pathfinder would come out smaller than before. But he'd been so huge already he had a little growing to spare. At least this way he'd look natural.
"Isn't it going to do something?" he called from inside. "I don't feel anything!"
I probably should tell him how much this machine is going to do. This was different from accepting treatment—if she didn't repair him, he wouldn't just look strange. All that weak crystal would present a structural hazard. It might even be enough to shatter him. "It was just preparing!" she yelled, pressing the activation button. "I'll see you when it finishes! Don't try to open the machine until it's done!" Fans spooled to life, water-pumps hummed, and whatever he might've said was drowned in the sound of sand on glass.
10729449
Yeah looks like my scheduler schedule-died. Just posted it manually.
I wonder what Pathfinder how the other will take what happened to Pathfinder...
in a way it a kind of immortality, that make the elite take interest, this could very well lead to a new civil war
All things considered he's taking this rather well.
I'll be quite surprised if he doesn't open it before it's done. Even if he doesn't, Bit probably should've told him he's going to experience some... well, shrinkage. Another two days before she can bring him out before the less-than-adoring public is going to be a hard sell. And if she tells them he needs to be polished first, I don't know what they'll think.
The shock hasn't fully processed yet. What Bit said is true, you can "get lost" in the work. But, if you're actively pondering your situation, there is no "time loss". Here's to hoping Pathfinder discovers a bit of inner peace...
Let me write what would be an ideal thing to say to calm him down and accept his current status:
"Either i did that, or let you die. It's all because of your own stubbornness. I have given you a second chance, immortality, no need for food, sleep or warmth when those things are in grave shortage. You won't even be attacked by robots anymore, so you can have potentially infinite, comfortable and safe life.
Of course, you can always throw away all of my hard work and return to being dead."
(Ye, i know that actually he is not safe, as other ponies might harm him now. But what he doesn't know wouldn't harm him. Not literally.)
Bit kept using all her tools until the very last brush broke.
If something in the polishing machine that maintained her had failed before the tools she uses to maintain the tower, she would have only found out after developing a crack herself to discover the machine hadn't worked.
If it was simply broken, it would be broken with no power to the tools needed to repair it as Bit would not have repaired the energy station, the only source of power being charged gems in the deepest parts of the tower, with Bit possibly being in a condition to retrieve some, but certainly in no condition to withstand the years worth of hard labor to get the main grid back online. All the while cracks steadily growing each time she moves, each time she applies pressure on a limb to move something.
And if it was broken in a more serious way, and Bit was still in autopilot, drifting rather than remembering what the meaning of it all is, wouldn't think to check. It could have sanded and sanded and sanded her to nothing.
10729496
ehh could be worse. Nice chapter. And yeah here's hoping the other ponies accept what happened.
I like this, tis very good. Also,
hehehe, he gonna be smaller.Can they physically feel? I've only heard her describe things as if she was numb. She barely felt the heat, she barely felt the cold. Can she smell, can she taste? The only real physical feeling she has said is that of pain. I'll be honest, hearing her spiel that this is an improvement with absolutely no knowledge of what might have been lost is kinda infuriating. Yeah, you're an immortal that cant taste fine food, smell the fragrance of the world, feel the warmth of a loved ones embrace, enjoy a cool night breeze, probably don't even have reproductive organs (for fun time) and who knows what else. There are positives and negatives. I get that in a hostile environment like this, the benefits may outweigh the negatives but her sheer cockiness is upsetting. She is beginning to feel like someone who thinks SHE knows what's best for everyone, their thoughts be damned (all the while being unable to cope with crimson's, most likely, death). It's like watching a rougue ai become self aware and immediately deciding everyone else's future.
10729770
Seeing there reactions earlier I won't expect it to be easy
10729820
Keep in mind that most of her "superiority spiel" are things she was told by Crimson, whom she trusts implicitly.
10729820
In fairness the only reason she did he operation without telling him and letting him choose is because he couldn't choose. He was past that point. I doubt we'll be seeing any more of that going forward.
10729820
Bit was created, Pathfinder was transformed. What's true for her, won't be entirely true for him. He may still have some things, like certain parts of his original biology. There's a chance that he has better senses of touch, taste and smell than she does. You just have to wait and see.
"That is easy. I made you survive. Jump out of the window and shatter on the ground below, and you'll be just as dead as you would've been if I hadn't done this."
The heck is "GI"?
She never said you turned you into one, ya doofus. Only that they'd mistake you for one
Not to mention she already said even the death machines feel no such urges; they just obey orders.
Mkay. That's a fair assessment. Bit may not understand that ponies may not like to be turned into machines, but at least you're not blaming her anymore.
You've seen what mobs can do, Bit. His fears are entirely justified
10729531
It seems like a pretty fragile kind of immortality, though. Longevity, sure, but still just as vulnerable to your basic tool shed hammer. And at the cost of removing most of the basic pleasures of organic existence, like food, mating, the general softness of bodies even.
Also, I wasn't sure about this at first, but it also does seem from her explanations that they are sterile, meaning they're not actually viable as pony race. They can't create more of themselves without non-crystal ponies. I think a lot of noble ponies wouldn't be so keen on ending their lineage like that. In fact, a child wish is also a fairly basic biological drive that ponies in general would not want to give up.
10730440
you be surprised what one would give up for the chance to live longer, beside flesh is in itself very fragile, and to nobles or those with power lineage is just a form of immortality in itself by passing down your genes and a part of you going on after your gone, who needs that if you live forever, and who to say they stay sterile, it not something bit consider relevant but her wizard might have, this is a new technology who to say it cant be improved.
my theory is Bit is either princess amore or she be her mother/creator that everything will lead to canon crystal empire
10730440
Likely Gastro Intestinal. So, mouth, esophagus, stomach and lower
Bit's probably jumping the gun in trying to sell the benefits of being a crystal pony to Pathfinder so much. Still, his reaction isn't the worst. Coping by focusing on the little things. Perhaps, he'll cool out a bit in the tank. Give him time to cope with the permanence of his situation.
10730450
See, my issue with that is that at this point, according to Bit's explanations, Pathfinder is still really far removed from that. Nothing indicated that the crystal ponies in the series were immortal.
I think the final solution here will be different; a transmitting system (the Crystal Heart) which gives these crystal properties to resist the cold to ponies without the full set of far-reaching effects. And only prolonged exposure will make these effects permanent, as seen by its temporary effect on the Mane Six in the show.
10731115
he could end up the prototype for the future crystal ponies, also a thought that just occurred to me maybe bit is the crystal heart
I love the writing style
"What shall we call it, then? The De-itchinginator?"
"... we can rename it later."
10730450
It seems pretty clear that Bit was Crimson's attempt at saving the mind of Moss Flower. (Apparently wife or marefriend, since one flashback has her talking about making an heir with Crimson.) The flashback scenes include the king telling Crimson to give up the project, that all he's done is make a statue that looks like Moss Flower.
Unlike Pathfinder, who was turned into a crystal pony while still alive, it seems Moss Flower was subjected to the process after she died, and the result (Bit) didn't have Moss Flower's memories and was barely sentient at first (but is now growing sapient). However, some of Bit's flashbacks have been to events with Moss Flower when she was alive, suggesting that at least some of Moss Flower's memories are buried in Bit's mind, somewhere.
10732395
im aware of that, that doesn't discount she could end up leader of reformed city as princess amore with bit taking on a new name, after all at some point she have to stop living for the wizard aka living for a past that wont come back and look to the future for herself and Zircon
10732401
She would need a completely new body for that to be the case. Grey with green mane and tail and a normal pony size, vs pale pink with red mane and tail and plus-sized.
Also Starscribe generally ignores the comics, so unless the commissioner explicitly asked for Bit to be the pony that becomes Amore, it seems unlikely for Amore to make an appearance here in any fashion.
10732415
she basically a crystal machine she can add or grow new parts adding colors to appear less alien to ponies is easy, besides part of the fun here is to come up with theory see if they happen or not in time we have the answer, im leaning more really to the idea she become the crystal heart, instead of raining on my parade how about any ideas where you think the story gonna go?
10732420
There has been no indication that Bit is capable of simply replacing her body on a whim. The opposite, in fact, she is extremely careful to avoid damage.
As for where I expect the story to go, I expect the story to be about the creation of the crystal pony race (literally the story premise), not the leader of a nation. I expect some catastrophe to force Bit to put more ponies through the chrystalponyification process. Probably caused by the Secretary of Labor, who can't keep hold of his power without control of the heat (as implied in the Zircon lore article Starscribe posted).
2 days sandbladting... oi... thus will be fun xD
And Bit shows her naive attitude again. Even if she gambled wrong. (She threw the dice hoping Pathfinder would accept what he'd become, or just let him die. So made a choice an equine being would make rather than automaton.) There was always a chance she'd gamble wrong.
But she expected those reborn as her kind would be all rationalist- utilitarian like her, except that isn't how free will works. Crimson obviously went to a lot of trouble after he lost Moss Flower to make sure those transferred to their new forms WOULDN'T lose their sense of self like Bit had!
In spite of her being incredibly cautious in some matters, with matters regarding herself and her own kind, she's naive.
instead of computers and memories.
Except not. We know she was created via glorified necromancy. Though credit where it's due since she didn't end up a petrified corpse.
when she didn't have a potentially dangerous pony in front of her.
At least she realizes she could possible be in danger with a stallion that could shatter her.
Given her naive nature, I doubt Bit realized she might need to give Pathfinder an attitude adjustment to keep him from shattering her, and then himself.
Even if the Wizard never came back,
She can now accept that reality. Maybe because she can now carrying on his duty.
So why does Bit act like an automaton when she first awakened instead of say a child?
Bit nerds out and forget she has a potentially emotionally unstable hulking stallion on her hooves.
But why would you want to?"
From her point of view, this is normal.
I find it a shame of we don't get a peak at Pathfinder's mind during his buffering.