FiO: Ouroboros

by Starscribe

Chapter 6: Sanctum Profane

It took longer than the party—long enough that the station on the Ouroboros shard became its own prominent tourist destination.

For those of the proper disposition, it was possible to visit the simulated world beneath, using it to form a shard all your own. Arcane had no doubt her work was twisted an infinity of different ways by visiting ponies. Some would make themselves saviors, others tyrants, or worse.

But none of those would remain faithful to the project she organized. There would be no true simulation of particle interaction—only the usual material of Equestria, acting for the satisfaction of those involved.

Arcane recorded a few moments herself, as she approached the intersection with her ancient human life. That being was the tiniest seed that had grown into her—a tortured flower growing in stony soil. Thanks to Celestia, she had still eventually bloomed.

But before she could satisfy herself, and close the last threads of an ancient scar, she still had a job to do.

After waiting long enough, a little monitoring program Arcane had written finally called her.

She sent for a pair of familiar bats to collect the dead—two ponies forked from her and Domino when the Ouroboros had scarcely grown.

It was always a little strange to talk to a pony that had once been her, even if the split had come lifetimes ago. Arcane could never completely let go of the former identity, which was why she preferred filters to forks. Better to let all those different lives be part of her whole, instead of slicing them off like buds of a plant.

They had the soul recovered for her with little difficulty, brought to her ancient lab in the dead city of Wintercrest.

"If it's the same to you, I wanna watch," Tailvane said. "We brought so many souls for you, but we never got to see the part where they live again."

"If Mystic Crescent will allow it," Arcane said. She was back in costume as a necromancer. She was no longer one of very few—with so many new souls coming in from the Ouroboros, it was a profession with suddenly booming prospects.

For a hundred billion souls or so, until the well finally ran dry.

"I have no objections," said the crisp unicorn. He had changed the least of any in the room, despite the many years since he hired them. "I just want to see him again."

It was rare indeed for Arcane to allow a client in to watch this part of the process. But considering all Mystic Crescent's investment had provided, she couldn't justify refusing him.

Arcane levitated the glowing crystal that apparently contained a captured consciousness, into a waiting receptacle that other necromancers had designed. She hadn't accepted the honor of reviving anyone else, though there were many prospects before now. After working so hard to bring back one man, he would be the first soul she revived.

Once inside, Arcane circled around the controls, with Domino following. He no longer trailed uselessly, but acted without her prompting, helping to bring the two souls into view against each other.

They were almost identical, at least in all the ways she had previously measured.

All this work, and the soul she'd brought up from the Library was so close, Mystic Crescent would probably not be able to tell the difference. Celestia's old way of recreating humans was so accurate, his memories hadn't even been required.

"We picked a time near his death," Quick Thinking said, interrupting her. "When he seemed most receptive to a change. A little like the last time we did it."

"Is that cheating?" Domino asked. "Choosing the time when the human is most willing?"

Arcane shrugged. "That's the way Celestia always did it. I'm not sure why we couldn't." She adjusted a few more dials, including one she'd never had to use before—a merge.

She wouldn't waste any of the old data, letting the reconstruction add a little nuance to the recreated consciousness. Wherever they disagreed, the Ouroboros mind would take precedence. But some of the reconstructed memories seemed like they might be useful to the soon-to-be-pony.

"Now for the fun part." Arcane pulled a few levers in dramatic sequence. Lightning flashed, clouds gathered in the windows, and a storm raged. Ghostly light filled the laboratory, striking down into the soul-jar with a series of violent blasts.

Some clients expected more of a show, but Mystic Crescent wasn't one of them. She skipped the dramatic display of bones reassembling, and flesh growing from old rot until it was alive again. When the light faded, a pony appeared in the jar ahead of her.

This part was still her craftsmanship—the stallion was one she'd designed, using Mystic Crescent's own family as a model, along with the personality of the pony in question. An earth pony instead of a unicorn, though that aspect might not last.

Lee would have to decide that part for himself.

"How am I... here?" the ghost asked, trapped behind the glass. Only he wasn't a ghost anymore, but a pony. Transparent and unrealized, nearly born.

Mystic Crescent reacted, sitting up from his seat and staring at the dead. Maybe it was the voice, maybe more. Whatever it was, the pony was transfixed.

"We brought you back from the dead," Arcane Word said. "Or maybe we recreated the whole planet down to a level of accuracy sufficient to perfectly duplicate you. If it's any consolation, having deep existential questions about your origin won't make you unique. Every member of the First Generation had to go through that phase sooner or later."

The pony had little room to move inside the soul-jar. He made his way to the edge, looking at Arcane. "And you're... horses?"

She nodded absently. "Everyone is. It's non-negotiable, but you'll get used to it. Assuming you'd like to live. I know your family wants you to. Your son here—kinda made this whole thing happen. He'd be heartbroken if you went back to being dead."

"Is this heaven?" he asked. "Hell?" His eyes settled on the black and white bats behind her, and there was some recognition on his face. More than most souls Arcane had brought back in the past.

"Better," Domino said. "It's living with your family and friends in a way that satisfies all your values. They have a long, long head start on you—but there's more life ahead than behind us. You'll catch up."

"I want to be there. Whatever it takes."

Light flashed within the jar—Celestia accepted his statement of consent. No matter how long Arcane claimed for herself the title of Necromancer, she couldn't really give these dead ponies their own life. Only the machine god could do that.

A pony appeared in the space before them. Mystic Crescent abandoned all pretext of propriety and embraced him there, Lee still dripping with slimy green ectoplasm. It stained his perfectly crisp suit. Neither of them seemed to care.

Arcane didn't stick around much longer after that. Her moment of triumph had already come, the moment the Ouroboros gained its backward-devouring life. She accepted her payment from the grateful unicorn, wished the newly reborn pony a satisfying life in Equestria—then left the Sanctum Profane behind.

Comments

[FanOfMostEverything]

She adjusted a few more dials, including one she'd never had to use before—a merge.

There's a mental image: GitHub for Souls.

Mission accomplished, both the commission and something far, far greater. But now comes one of the most uncomfortable questions in the world, especially for immortals: Now what?

[minibox]

Mystic Crescent's part in this is finished but CelestAI's reclamation of humanity has only begun.

[Magical_Mystery_Mare2]

Way you could have made the coin scene more interesting.
It was a vast fortune in energy. Far more than most ponies ever handled in their entire life. A billion times what had been used to run her endless aeons of existence so far. It was just about enough energy to run an old earth toaster. That might not seem like a lot of energy to you, but celestias hardware was very efficient, the population had grown to match. How valuable something feels depends on how much there is per person, not how much there is total. And there wasn't nearly enough energy in the universe to give every pony a thousandth of this much. Therefore it was a vast fortune in energy.

I think this might well be more realistic, and it's definitely more interesting.
Also why are the units always in energy. Why not waste heat radiating capacity or something.

[ramdom_player201]

11313734
I still personally prefer the idea of the coin representing the energy of an entire star. This fits Celestia better since she represents the sun and this amount of energy could probably run Equestria for an extra few centuries beyond the time they finally run out of power (making it highly valuable). Running a simulation of a universe in reverse will always take an immense amount of resources, no matter how efficient the computational hardware is.