Epilogue
Red knew nothing more important than his duty. Function was purpose, and purpose was all that mattered.
Centre was not the place of much labor anymore, not as it had once been. He remembered the very moment of transition, though it had been long ago. For years he had lived among others who were like him. They did things, they said things, and they wanted things... but he had understood little of it.
But Red knew some things, even then. He knew that he wanted to be useful. That was how he had come to be here, carefully examining the massive map before him, making careful marks of the tunnels he had tried. He added one more to the roll of unrotting fiber, tucked it into his satchel, and resumed his trek.
Purpose was everything. The Wizard had given him a most important purpose. A purpose that would sustain him even now, when Centre itself was lifeless.
He did not want to remember. But just like the maze of caverns he had traveled, just like the ancient alphabet he learned to warn him away from dangerous pathways, Red remembered.
Red could not forget the day the magic stopped. For numberless years he had functioned beside hundreds of others. He had not needed to understand what they did, or why. But they all felt the moment the magic ended.
"Listen to me, Red," his Wizard had said. Her words cut deep into the crystal of his body, far more than any other pony ever had. It just made sense—she was the wisest, most magically gifted of all creatures. Her spells had built their city, and kept them safe. "I'm glad you came. There's nopony else who could do this."
It only made sense she would be there to explain what had happened.
Her workshop was no longer bustling with activity anymore. Every one of her crystal apprentices sat lifeless and inert, surrounding a single crystal.
It wasn't large—a little blue rock, about the size of a hoof. Only it glowed brighter than anything he'd ever seen, so bright that it shone even while wrapped in black cloth.
Red glanced from her to the motionless ponies. There were dozens of them now. They hadn't collapsed in panic like many of the ponies outside, frozen in their final moments of terror. Despite their magical protection within her workshop, these were all settled on their haunches, at rest.
"What is different?" he had asked. "Why did all the ponies of Centre stop moving?"
She adjusted her wizardly hat, pointing off in the distance. "I do not know how, but the Spire has fallen. Even Sombra wouldn't go to these lengths to kill us. Without the Spire, Zircon will die. The ponies of Centre cannot continue to function without magic. Until we get more, we will deactivate."
Red continued his search. These tunnels were different than the ones he had searched for so long—he could see the space between them, even sometimes get a glimpse of paths he had taken before. His crystal did not have much life left, not compared to what he had first been given. But it was enough for him to keep moving.
He had a purpose. He needed to follow the Wizard's instructions. He needed to save them. Because following instructions was his purpose. That was the reason.
"This is all the magic we collected," the Wizard said. "In a moment, I will contribute mine as well. You must take this stone, and find your way to the surface. Find Equestria, and beg for asylum on our behalf. Just living in the same city as an Alicorn should be enough for us. We have much to offer in exchange, if they will take us."
"Me?" he asked. "Why not you, Wizard? You're the wisest and strongest pony in all of Centre. You know these tunnels better than anypony who ever lived. You built Centre; you could save it far better than I could."
She sighed, removing her wizardly hat. "Perhaps, Red... but the more magic a pony requires to live, the less time they have. You are unlike all the ponies of Centre. What would last me days, you can subsist on for centuries. Find a safe way to the surface, mark it carefully as you go. Travel south to Equestria, and beg for asylum. Tell them that the ancient rebels of the crystal empire come with their knees bent to Equestria."
He reached out with one hoof, though he didn't know why. There was no way to stop her. While the Wizard overflowed with magic, Red was different. He had none, his horn was a mere accessory.
"What if I can't find them?" he asked. "What if they say no?"
"Find magic for Centre," she said. "I know you can do it. You're the smartest pony I know."
He wasn't, of course. The Wizard might be the most magical of all the crystals of Centre, but she was not infallible. It was only her magic that was perfect. Her assessments of others, particularly Red, were prone to overestimates.
Red set out that same day, leaving behind a Centre that was silent and still. No water flowed, no music played, no inventions were being tested. It was wrong. He had to fix it.
The search continued. Travel to the surface was meant to be hard. It was the only reason Centre had survived as long as they had, hidden from the evil that wanted to destroy them. Maybe it was good that the trip to the surface took so long. The longer Red spent searching for a safe path, the more evil could die on his way.
But there was something different about this path. It wasn't just the clear crystal, with the constant reminders of where he had been before. He didn't need those—his memory was perfect, and he had a map to record the path in case he needed to communicate it with other creatures.
But he could hear something—voices, drifting down from above? No, it wasn't just sound. For the first time in a meaninglessly extended duration, Red felt magic come from somewhere other than his satchel.
Maybe he wouldn't have to go all the way to Equestria to beg for asylum after all.
He did not speed up, despite the temptation. The map must be perfect, and that meant carefully eliminating the areas that rescuers could not use. Arguably this was the most important section of the map—if nopony could get back to Centre, they might not even believe it existed.
For some time, Red considered his instructions as he worked. The wizard had said to go to Equestria, and only allowed for improvisation if that first mission failed. But what if there was magic waiting just on the surface, would she still want him to go?
She would want Centre to return to normal as quickly as possible. Walking to another country I know nothing about and have never been to would mean Centre waits for even longer.
As he worked, Red's crystal grew brighter. It could absorb the magic streaming in from above, just as his body could. How long would it take to glow as brightly as the moment he left?
He continued for another several pages of map area, until he finally came to a shut door. The writing carved into the crystal provided simple instructions, and with a faint touch, it slid out of the way.
A new light streamed in from nearby, bright enough to instantly overwhelm the glow from his satchel. He raised a hoof to shelter his eyes—and found he couldn't remember what the point of that was. His legs were transparent, and his eyes could tolerate anything short of directed lasers.
A warm breeze drifted out from around him, carrying with it the heat of the ancient caverns he had traversed. The first part of my mission is complete. I have reached the surface.
He stumbled out through the open doorway, which emerged from the side of an old crystal bridge over an aqueduct. Water actually flowed beneath him.
More importantly, there were other creatures. Ponies, not far away. They gathered in the streets, passing between brightly colored tents. The Crystal Faire. He knew what they were celebrating. The Wizard must've taught him the name.
I can't defy her instructions. But if I make an effort to follow them, that should be good enough to redirect based on new facts.
A few ponies turned as he neared the edge of the street. Zircon Street, leading all the way to the central palace. It was a fitting place for the Crystal Faire, big enough for thousands of ponies to gather and celebrate.
Shouldn't there be great evil here? The ponies on the surface want to shatter us.
These ponies didn't look like they wanted to shatter him. They wore familiar costumes, chatting and playing together. Nearby, a silver horn filled the ear with music. The tune was new to him, but the sound called back to someplace old. He'd heard it, but not in Centre. Where else had he ever been?
"Excuse me," he said, approaching the nearest pony who wasn't otherwise engaged. A mare about his own age, eating a pastry filled with crystal berries. It smelled delicious, particularly with that little curtain of steam rising from it.
That couldn't be right—Red could smell, but he didn't use the scent. He didn't need to eat.
This pony didn't need to either. Her body shimmered with pink crystal instead of his own dark red. But she was like him. Many of these surface creatures were. Not all, though.
"Yes?" she asked. There was no anger in her voice, just politeness. "Buffet table is that way, if that's what you're asking."
He shook his head. "I am in search of an Equestrian. I must plead for asylum on behalf of those who sleep. Please direct me so I may make an attempt."
Her smile vanished, though he could not identify the expression that took its place. She spoke more slowly, and pointed with one crystal wing. "If you want to talk to the princess, you might be able to catch her."
Princess. He knew that word, it meant alicorn. It meant the thing that Centre needed. The ponies needed to live nearby, in lieu of the Zircon Spire.
He hurried off in the indicated direction without so much as a word. The crowd here was thick, and he tightened his satchel close to his side as he walked, just in case. The crystal battery was just a construct, it could be replaced. But the map and its knowledge was utterly priceless. He couldn't take the chance somepony in this group would run off with it by mistake.
As he walked, Red found himself searching the skyline for the familiar outline of the Spire, a way to orient himself. Yet he couldn't see it—the tallest building was the palace now, lording over the city not far away.
Red would've sensed the princess even without knowledge of what she was, or what her office meant. Yet the purple pony had an escort. The crowd was so thick around her it was almost solid.
It took supreme patience and singleness of purpose to penetrate that group. But he worked, and over hours, he found his way to the center.
There, the alicorn who was called princess rested beside a crystal fence. Down below, a ceremonial jousting bout would soon begin. Not a single pony in the paddock was wearing their armor correctly, and those colors were all wrong. How could this festival be so close, and yet so incorrect?
Shame the Wizard hadn't been able to accompany him. Moss Flower would know what all this meant.
All the more reason he needed to accomplish his mission. "Excuse me," Red said, from just behind the princess now. There were at least three armored guards around her, and now at least one of them was watching him. Not that they needed to—an alicorn was far more dangerous than any weapon.
The princess turned. She smiled politely, and he found himself confused. He knew both princesses that had ever existed. This one had the wings, she had the horn, but she wasn't either of them.
"Yes, pony? Is there something I can do for you?" Her eyes lingered briefly on his chest, and the metallic computer core within. Not a single other crystal pony in this crowd had anything like it. So far as he knew, there were only two other ponies who did.
"Yes," he said. He would have to imitate the Wizard's confidence now, since he spoke on her behalf. "I am the emissary of an ancient city sheltering deep beneath Zircon. Since the Zircon Spire fell, magic could not reach us. I am the last survivor, sent to beg for asylum. Please."
The princess looked a little like the first pony he had tried to speak with. Without saying anything, both guards straightened, moving towards them from the crowd.
She doesn't believe me.
Something snapped. Red levitated his bag open, spreading the map wide in front of the princess. Fully extended, it was like a banner, both sides covered in intricate notes and crystal directions. But the path that mattered, the one that actually led down, was a single unbroken line of green through a maze of black.
"Centre doesn't need much from you, Equestrian Princess. Please."
One of the guards reached him. They shoved up against him, bracing one shoulder on his, and pushing him away from the princess. The map faltered, and his fleeting magic went out. It clattered to the ground, crumpling awkwardly. It didn't tear—the ageless fabric-paper could not do that. But that didn't mean it would survive being trampled.
"No! Please, Princess! I need—"
"Wait, Flash." The princess extended one wing, and the pressure on Red's shoulders vanished. He stumbled towards the princess.
She caught the map, spreading it back out with her magic. She stared; eyes intent as she went over the words. "This is my language. I thought it was dead. There's nopony who can write it, even here."
He winced, ears flattening. Red knew the name of this feeling now—shame. "Apologies. The Wizard always asked me to use another language... but this is the language of the world. It was simpler to write in the same tongue used all around Centre."
A little lizard-creature slipped out of the crowd, nudging the princess. "Twi, the joust is about to start! Do you wanna miss it again this year?"
She ignored him, at least for the moment. "Who are you, pony? Where did you come from?"
"My name is—" He hesitated. But only for a second. "My name is Prince Crimson Zircon. I was the Archmage of the Zircon Magisterium once, but... we have a better one now. She sent me to find somepony to help us."
The princess nodded. "You've found her."
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Holy time skip Batman!
A riddle wrapped in an enigma tucked into a conundrum. Will help come to Center?
WWTD?
I really hope you have a sequel planned for this epilogue, because seeing the meeting (or at least the process of change following it) is what I enjoy most and you cut off just before the "reaction to the revelation" part I crave.
As for the rest, while I did enjoy the main body of the story, ending it like this reminds me of how I felt when I read Sundiver by David Brin... an entire book which whizzed by because I misjudged what it was supposed to be about and what felt like "when the introduction finally ends" was crammed into the last few pages... though, granted, in Sundiver, it's because I was expecting an adventurous story centred around "there are apparently creatures living in the sun" and, instead, trying to find them was just used as a backdrop for political intrigue.
I think it's because it felt like the story's arc was supposed to be about Bit's development into a full person, and that arc never felt like it got properly resolved. (From that vantage point, it feels like you took Act 1 and called it a full story.)
Wait wut, did I miss something, where did Crimson Zircon come ???
An unexpected skip, but I have to love the cyclical nature of things here. The Wizard revives the Wizard revives the Wizard...
This leaves a lot of questions unanswered, and raises a few more. How did the diarchs learn about Sombra's ambitions? What happened to the Spire? Why Twilight and not Cadence, and what did she mean by "my language"? What even is the Crystal Heart? That all falls outside the scope of the subject matter... but really, if there were ever a story that should grow beyond its intended role...
Eh, I can't force you to write more of Bit's story. Your cybersecurity's too good for that.
Thank you for what's here. I do hope you revisit this Equestria. Seeing Twilight's reaction to so much forgotten history should be exquisite.
Yeeeesss literary symmetry I love it!!
Also yay for happy ending!
sad to see the story over kinda makes me want a sequel, so much unanswered, what happened to Pathfinder, did sombra turn the entire population into crystal ponies, how did he lose, what happened to all the technology, why does Crimson Zircon act like a child what went wrong with his resurrection that he became his own creation apprentice, what did she mean by "my language"?
What did Twilight mean by 'my language?'
So Bit managed to resurrect, or rather recreate her mentor, but the guy is much like Bit was at the start of the story, nice touch.
Surprising way to end the story. But be proud that you gave it a proper finale.
10892810
It was nice to reach a story on fimfiction.net again that didn't make me bristle.
10884242
It's still more personality and origin that he was ever given in the prime material where he had all the personality and backstory of a video game boss.
The epilogue left way too many unanswered questions for my taste. I hope it's one massive sequel hook, because the hell happened here?
That's some timeskip whiplash there.
Sequel?
I think Twilight means it’s in nerd. Like true nerd.
A disappointing epilogue, tbh
If I could upvote this story again, I would. Wonderful work.
10892806
There were strong hints that Crimson recorded his... personality (or maybe a "spark" or something) with the machines below the floor of his room prior to his death and I assume that Bit worked to restore it. In a way his nature looks to be closer to Beta than to Bit or Pathfinder.
Really love the story Starscribe, hope there will be more about this universe in the future :)
10892898
It's one of this authors common tropes.
This one was only maybe a thousand years? Not that bad all things considered.
Continents have not even changed.
:)
Argh! How do you even write endings both that frustrating and that warmly complete at the same time? : )
Great story, to the favs bookshelf you go.
Dope
I don't need a whole sequel, but I feel like the epilogue is missing both its start and its end. I'd want just a little more at the start; a couple of paragraphs might be enough. And the end feels like it should be half as long again as the current epilogue.
10893313
Give me a week.
That one line... it looks like she finally figured it out.
It comes full circle. Welcome to the future.
Well what can you expect from an imperfect dump. The mind is very complex, it doesn't surprise the full thing wasn't saved.
Time to reactivate a dead civilization!
Your time skips might need some more work; it's great when they work, but sometimes it feels very jarring. The sad part is that I can totally believe it took Red centuries to find a way up to the surface even with the most "advanced" AI they had.
Also Twilight's language? 🤔
Anyways, now that there's a robot that can last centuries alone, I can't wait for that space sequel where they're sent to some old, remote moon base or something.
Well this was nice until the end. As others have stated this epilogue needs a bit more meat at the start and a lot more at the end unless you are sequel-baiting.
Oh, woah. This is the actual Wizard - but he was only stored with the same level of technology that created Bit. It could take years, decades, centuries before he gets a real personality.
I see. The moment Sombra made the Empire disappear. He took the Spire with him, of course.
Ahh. She built more assistants, but they were all powered by the Zircon Spire?
Oof, so it's the whole population. And yet, Red and Bit are still active. I'm guessing that's what the shiny crystal is for?
Wait, does that mean crystal ponies in MLP physically can't live outside the Crystal Empire? Hmmm.
A newer model, I'm assuming. Got some upgrades.
Ah, nice. Already considering different approaches.
Still wondering what the exact situation is, though. Is this after the Empire was freed? And if so, why didn't the Zircon Spire reappear? Did Sombra somehow sacrifice it when he made it all vanish?
"Yea, she's over there if you wanna chat." Ahh, the lack of pompous decorum is delightful
Yea, there's something odd about that. I really wonder what happened to the Spire.
Huh, not Cadance? Well, I guess she'll do
Ha. does he realise what he just thought there?
Aaand another step. He can use magic now. He's progressing fast!
"my language"? Huh? Why does Twilight call it "my language"?
Hahaa. He's back!
questions on top of questions. Why is Twilight's language a dead one, if flash- presumably flash sentry- is around? If spike is a small dragon? What world is this in?
Hopefully you'll give us some answers?
10892952
She assumed it was a giant DnD map.
Ha, that was fun. Nice tie up
10894176
Lol.
That’s it...-shakes empty box -
Yeah, this epilogue is quite confusing, leaving several questions. So apparently there are two kinds of crystal ponies, then? And what language could Twilight Sparkle be talking about if she was born a modern unicorn?
10895747
My best guess, I think there are three different types of crystal ponies; Moss flower and Crimson, the ones Bit and Sombra converted, and natural borne ones. Maybe the last two are the same, I'm just spit balling here.
It wouldn't make sense for Sombra to be an overt tyrant after Bit and company left. So after every one was converted, he'd control the ones that he needed to stay in power while he built up the empire. Possible second golden age, and maybe the advent of the crystal heart. Whether it helps the crystal ponies reproduce or not is up to interpretation, it could just be a giant thermostat for the city.
Everyone has PTSD from Sombra's rule, so they block out pretty much all memory from Sombra's rule and the time before they were converted. Whether or not they are still immortal or if they ever were is again, open for interpretation.
I'm also guessing this takes place sometime after Celestia and Luna retire, just based one how much magic Twilight's putting off.
Interesting, so we've had a pretty big timeskip.
So much for the idea that the Zircon Spire was unlimited and forever.
Definitely not a crystal conversion that has fully woken up, which shouldn't be the case for anyone who was alive while converted. Crimson?
Convenient for later if need be.
If they're having a Crystal Faire this is probably post-Sombra, which is also really convenient.
Purple alicorn, eh? That narrows down the timeline a bit more, assuming we've arrived at canon and this isn't some alt timeline.
Such a brute, Flash. Though now that I think about, there's a couple possible Flashes this could be. Sentry is probably nearly everyone's first assumption as a named guard for Twilight, but if it's Magnus that's another interesting connection from the deep past. The internal monologue of what is presumably Crimson mentioned knowing the elder princesses, there's a lesser but nonzero chance he had interaction with the Pillars.
Her language? Weird.
Smol Spike locks down the timeline even more.
Nice.
Sequel, follow up, this screams for more story. Though I can see the narrative choice of leaving it here.
I- What? This feels vary jarring and abrupt. I loved this story up to this point, kinda lost here.
10897035
If its not setting up to a book 2 ima riot
10897675
Here here
Very nice conclusion : )
Thanks for writing this!
Absolutely loved this story!
As with many others, I'm very confused about Twilight's response of "This is my language". I can't figure out how this makes sense without a serious deviation from canon... BUT I want to know!
Really hoping for more in this world, and involving Bit/Moss Flower
A sudden end, but such a strong story! Always love reading your work Starscribe. Bit is one of the best fleshed out characters you've ever done, and I loved seeing her gradually evolve.
10892806
Bit spent a lot of time and effort into resurrecting Crimson as a crystal pony, much like Crimson spent time and effort into resurrecting Moss Flower as Bit.
10929534
Yes but he didnt left anything that could enable ressurection of him like he did with his wife.
10929761
He's the body she had been growing when she escaped Zircon.
10938623
True, I suppose. I guess I'm less annoyed at the story and more at the other readers who don't seem to get that.
I loved this story.
Only part that I do not understand is Twilight's language, I believe that went over my head, but it was a great story anyways.
I really hope for a book 2, but I think this is awesome as it is, so great job!
Thank you for writting this!
That is plain confusing. Why would you end it like that?
That renders entire story meaningless.
Everything that happened had no effect on anything. Nothing was learned, nothing achieved. Main character wasn't even the one to finish the story. You didn't even dealt with her past in any way. Just ignored it.
Hugely unsatisfying.