Evergreen Falls

by Meep the Changeling

30 - Nike

She watched as the chains shrank to the size of threads, dragging the ever compressing black drop of oil down into the depths of the machine before vanishing into nothingness.

[Containment reestablished. Get fucked, loser! Initiating Charging Sequence. Charging…] The astrolabe reported.

Medeis and Trixie ran up to them, stopping at their side.

“Is everything working right?” Medeis asked, looking first to the astrolabe.

The Astrolabe’s display turned black making the two ponies who could jump with fright, and sending a pang of terror and rage through the amalgam’s heart… Then the astrolabe created an image of Medeis’ face within itself to blow them a raspberry and printed out the text [Made you jump! Haha.]

“It’s fine,” Medeis said, giving the device a loving-hateful glare of doom.

Trixie breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank goodness… S— So what can we do to save them?”

Medeis closed his eyes tightly. “I don’t know… There’s no way they will live long like this. We should start by stabilizing them. I have some equipment that should—”

A sharp click of flint and steel echoed through the workshop. “Medeis, we keep telling you not to do magic without mana and you keep bucking up.” Dusk asked as she lit her lighter and took a cigarette out of the nothingness behind her left ear.

Everypony’s ears flicked towards the workshop’s door. Dusk’s pale white form filled the doorway. The goddess of death looked tired, irritated, and like she’d just gotten up from a nap. Her mane was a mess, and so was the black t-shirt she wore. The fabric was so rumpled it took everypony a few moments to realize the single word printed on it wasn’t a phrase. It was just ‘megadeus’, whatever that meant.

Medeis huffed. “What do you want me to do? Let that stain burn this planet and drown you in paperwork?”

Dusk finished lighting up her stubborn cigarette. “No… I’ll be frank, there wasn’t a better way. Or much time left. It was about to evolve again, and they wouldn’t have been able to keep fighting it after that. You did good. I’m just pissed I have to untangle my kid’s soul from this mess, now.”

I thought she was busy? June thought to the others.

I guess she finished? Sam replied.

Dusk walked down the workshop’s path towards the group.

“Can you save them?” Trixie asked hopefully. “I— I can’t imagine the pain they must be in.”

“I can keep them alive. Separate their souls from that weird overlap that’s not a merger that’s going on,” Dusk said, reaching out with one hoof to do just that.

The three felt themselves pull more firmly apart. Their presences within their body still overlapped within their mind, but it was less distressing than before.

I have no idea how to put what just happened into words, but if I did they’d be swears, June noted.

It’s… like we’re hugging now, not…a mangled heap? Violet suggested.

A bit? The others agreed.

“Donezo,” Dusk said, yawning slightly. “Buck me… You don’t want to know what that grease smear does to souls of ponies it possesses. I had to take an actual nap to have the energy to do this. I guess a century wasn’t enough.”

Trixie arched an eyebrow. “What? But… How could you be here then?”

Medeis rolled his eyes. “She’s a god. She’s not bound to linear time… At least, not like we are.”

“I can’t cross my own timeline, that’s about the only rule. I’d have been here sooner, but I was nearby until just before I showed up,” Dusk explained. “So… They’re stable. Your turn, ‘Architect’. Fix ‘em.”

“I’m not the one here wearing a shirt that’s effectively labeling them as a ‘deus ex machina’. You fix it!” Medeis objected, still trying to think of anything he could do.

“I fell asleep watching Big-O, sue me,” Dusk countered, almost exactly like a little sister would snap at an older brother.

He’s old enough for a god to treat like a peer. June noted, making their body shiver. I can’t imagine how long he’s been around.

I’m more interested in what she meant by Architect, Sam said. Is that what Medeis translates too in Equish?

No. His parents must have been pretentious as the Gryphon High King, June thought slowly. He’s named ‘Magic’. Like, literally it’s ‘The Magic’. Full on the concept of magic itself. Straight up.

Oh wow. And he’s not Ascended so it’s not like he’s even in charge of magic.

Yep.

Hold on… Shouldn’t we be doing something? Laying here isn’t tactically advi—

Sam, be honest. We don't have the energy to do anything other than lay here and try to ignore the pain. Even with Dusk’s help.

I know… I just hate—

Violet made their ears perk with a sudden burst of hope. Girls! Girls! Deus ex machina! It means god from the machine. God. Machine. Faust! She makes bodies. She could help! Right?

Vi, I could kiss you!

Buck. We need to tell them somehow. Everypony, focus super hard.

Yeah, yeah I know.

The three focused, closing their eyes to block all unnecessary stimuli, freeing up every possible thought, then murmured. “Faust…”

Medeis’ ears perked. “What?” he asked, having not quite made their word out.

Dusk frowned. “I— I think they said mouse? Damn it, I thought I was rid of that infernally litigious thing. I hope I didn’t hear that right. Trixie? You’re kinda close too them.”

Trixie shook her head. “I didn’t… Girls I’m so sorry. Can you repeat that?” she asked, bending down to look them in the eyes.

The three didn’t have the energy to repeat themselves.

“Faust,” a reptilian voice repeated, making everypony aside the amalgamation jump.

Trixie, Dusk and Medeis turned to see Zero curled up under a workbench over a heating vent.

“Oh my goodness! In all the commotion I forgot about you,” Medeis commented, bending down to get a better look at the crocodilian-canine hybrid. “And your mom. You’re right. She could help.”

“Their idea. I heard it,” Zero corrected, yawning his jaw into alignment, clearly only just barely warm enough to be active.

Dusk nodded. “Yeah. Mom could probably… But she won’t.”

“No, they mean the other one. She’s below us right now,” Medeis corrected.

Dusk facehooved. “Right! The Terrans named their EvoAI Faust.”

Trixie looked between the two. “Wait, so… The goddess is real, and also this machine? Which of them—”

“The AI,” Dusk answered then turned to Medeis. “You can call her, right?”

Medeis nodded once.

“Then I’m going to go,” Dusk said before bending down to look the three in their eyes. “Good job, girls. I’ll see you once you’re all yourselves again, alright? I mean, uh. Well, you know what I mean.”

The three didn’t see as Dusk vanished. She was simply gone an instant later.

I vastly prefer it when she breaks line of sight first, they thought as one.

Medeis rummaged around the workbench near his brain tank for a few moments, then picked up a small silver pin with an asterism delta relief and squeezed it with the frog of his hoof, making it chirp two familiar tones.

“Faust? It’s Medeis. Sorry I’ve been out of contact. I was stuck as a brain in a jar for a while.”

“Absence understood, I am almost always basically a brain in an orb and the limitations are familiar,” a vaguely feminine, highly bit crunched, and quite tinny voice replied from the pin. “Is there adequacy in the specimen?”

“Well, I’d hoped for a different form factor, but that’s not an issue really and I have yet to test anything important. There’s a medical emergency up here. I need your help.”

“Please state the nature of your medical emergency.”

“I was forced to alicornize somepony, and two of her friends got sucked into the spell. They’re blended. We need them unblended.”

“Clarify: Alicornization procedure requires reductive ritual surgical unification of three highly conditioned host ponies.”

“Theirs did,” Medeis agreed, nodding. “Mine… Well, it’s a work in progress—” he stopped for a moment to look down at the three melded mare. “— Sorry, girls. Again, truly sorry. Ahem… It should have cloned June and merged her with her cloned selves to create the union without needing to… You know, unalive anyponies. Unfortunately, her friends got a little bit entirely sucked into the forge effect field. Dusk separated their souls out a bit. We just need help with the minds. And the, uh… flesh?”

“Crisis acknowledged. Price of assistance: Forty three minutes of musically tolerant company, two rounds of four thousand point Battlemace Classic, and six raid delves in Planes of Battleforge. Alternatives include: Discussing artistic merits of my selected samples of cloud formations for twenty nine consecutive hours.”

“What about a best of three in that Paradox Billiards TCG you were fond of?”

“Also acceptable.”

June forced their bodies to blink in confusion. Is… Is it presenting looking at the clouds and being like ‘hey a bunny’ as a price to pay?

Y— Yea… Sam agreed.

What’s weird about that? It takes time to do. Time is money according to that one bossy stallion’s coffee mug. Violet said entirely seriously.

“As you wish,” Medeis agreed, nodding again. “I’m out of mana. I can’t teleport them to you. I’ll put this communicator pin on them so you can sense their location.”

The Archmage turned around and gently stuck the pin to their back. As gently as one can lace a pin through raw and fresh-formed flesh. And then he said, “It’s on. Go ahead.”

“Acknowledged.” Faust replied.

A series of golden hexagons engulfed them, which dissipated as its core was taken from it. The three awoke as one in a place a third remembered. It was freezing cold, everything was tinted orange.

They recognised F.A.U.S.T.’s core, but not their location. A specimen tank on the far side of the room, She realized. Not original to the construction. It was too perfectly centered in the view of the strangely kind orange eye built into the back of the AI’s pod to have been placed here by mortal desires.

They did not recognise the amalgam of flesh and polymer which wrapped around their singular form. It bore the shape of chaos, with no sense or logic to its ebbs and flows. She refused to see it as herself.

A fourth voice came to Her mind, this one fully clear of the other three. Singular and distinct.

<Beginning meld analisis. Warning: Catastrophic bio-tech meld failure detected. Terran Citizen: impacted. Non-Citizen relatives: impacted. Emergency Protocol response 9084: justified. Standby for protocol enforced defusement..> The words held meaning, but panic stole them.

The cold burned their flesh. The air felt like water. Light was at once too bright to bear yet too dim to see by.

<Isolating pattern 1: Citizen Ultra Violet. Pattern known from previous scans. Pattern present within teleportation buffer. Reconstruction trivial. Separating via transport beam excision…>

A partition sprang into existence, oozing around Violet and sliding her out of Her mind, then she appeared outside of the tank, whole and distinct once more.

Woah. Looks like this will be quick. Didn’t see that coming. Sam remarked.

<Isolating pattern 2: Pegasus mare; Unknown. Warning! Pattern 2 contains an obsolete psionic amplification biocrystal system, era seven. Tracing amplification crystal signatures… Traced and locked. Encoding. Encoded. Physical components identified. Warning: Mental partitioning failure in sectors zero to zero null. Patterns 2 and 3 share overlapping psychological traumas, sectors seven through eighty one are bleeding… User input required.>

W— What? She asked as one, a spike of fear racing along Her spine.

<Pattern 2 - Psionic Amplifier Crystal host: State local singleton unit identity.>

What do you mean? Sam thought.

It wants you to tell it who you are, June explained, not sure how Sam could be confused.

<Dissonance in thought patterns detected. Improving partition,> Faust said, separating the two just a little more, but not anywhere close to enough.

Okay, Sam began. I’m a soldier. I regret what that made my life into. I don’t regret where I wound up. I’m great at fixing things, but only recently have I tried to start fixing my life. I hate being a hero, but I know not everypony can, so I do what needs doing. Ponies tell me I make a good mom, but I’ve always wanted to be the cool aunt who gives the best Heartswarming presents and winds up corrupting their siblings’ kids with horseapples like ‘Old photos are black and white because the world used to be black and white. Paintings became color because the paint gained color, but the photos stayed the same because they’re now color photos of black and white objects.’

Cadence… Why? June lamented. I have an uncle like that.

Heh… I’ve never had the chance to mess with foals like that. It seems like good fun though.

<Detection of pattern interference intensified. Pattern - 2 statement accepted. Improving partition,> Faust said, separating the two a little more.

Hey! It’s working, June thought, smiling inwardly.

Great! What else do you need to know, Faust?

<Clarification: I was asking Pattern 2 for their designation to begin isolation process with correct labeling. Assistance with partitioning welcome, but not requested in previous communications.>

Oh. Sam thought, feeling dumb. My name is Samhain. It used to be Autumn Twilight, but… That was before the war.

<Pattern 2 - Samhain, ‘Sam’: Recognised. Warning: Initial fault remains active. ‘Sam’ memories include traumas inflicted during combat. Pattern 3 contains similar traumas. Lack of data on pony psychology and neurology combined with Pattern 3’s physical form’s state presently makes further separation of patterns 2 and 3 outside of achievable boundaries.>

June felt Sam recoil within their mind. Oh… So we’re stuck like this?

Please, I’ll do anything to help. June said.

<Request: Allow full read access to local storage in depth. I require information. Citizen Ultra Violet is providing information as we—> Faust stopped mid sentence as Violet’s upload processed through. <Request canceled. Plausible path to solution found. Standby, saving lives…>

Faust turned her attention away from the two in her containment tank and focused in on Violet, becoming slightly irritable as she had to switch from neural link to text display.

[Citizen Ultra Violet: Physical system damage has rendered me incapable of certain functions without manual assistance. Communication with settlement Evergreen Falls has become critical. Please proceed to Terminal: Comms 01 and follow my instructions.]

Violet nodded slowly, relieved at how easy and fluid it felt to move on her own after everything they’d just been through. “No problem!”

⁜ ⁜ ⁜

Raven Inkwell - 19th of Harvestide (Nightmare Night), 4 EoH
Young Moon’s Hunting Lodge - Hackamore Valley

Raven sat back in her chair and stared in relief at the display monitors in front of her. The shadows were gone. The eldritch monstrosity had been drug back into the depths of the earth, presumably to its previous prison.

Raven turned her head to look at Source. “Is there anything else in those notes we should know about? Any reserve circles? Backup plans?”

“Actively checking for any such things now, ma’am,” Source reported, not looking up from his position at what had become the Safety Notes table.

Raven nodded with satisfaction. Only one question remains.

Raven picked up the radio hoofset and squeezed the transmit button with her magic. “Princess Luna, Princess Cadence. Come in, over?”

The radio hissed and crackled for several moments before Cadence’s voice came through. The alicorn sounded ragged, exhausted, and in pain. Because she was all of those things and more.

“Cadence here… We need some medics to pick up Luna. She’s unconscious. Stable, I stopped the bleeding, but… Yeah, both of us are going to need some serious help. How’s the troops?”

Raven paused for a moment to double check the displays. “Casualties are higher than I’d like. I just finished ordering them to sort the wounded from the dying. One of the town’s citizens is capable of resurrecting the recently deceased. They’ve been asked to assist any necromancers we have in pulling those who can be taken back from the brink. I was about to approve it, I wanted to make sure neither of you two needed them first.”

“We’re fine,” Cadence clarified. “Rather, I can wait and Luna bucking better survive. How’s Twilight?”

“One moment,” Raven turned her head and adjusted one of her displays to show the field hospital. “It looks like she’s stable. It’s a good thing she’s the size of a large pony and not as big as you. Otherwise those bionics they’ve stuck on wouldn’t have had a chance of fitting.”

“Good. Celestia might have literally killed me if she’d died.” Cadence laughed bitterly and wetly. “She’ll have a fun month or two on regeneration potions… Unless she wants to keep the chrome bumpers.”

Raven bent over and quickly typed out a command into the tactical grid, authorizing E-799 to assist the Necromancers in reviving anypony they could. Might save another dozen or so this way… But most of those poor bastards look too damaged to bring back to life. This must be why Prance never developed an undeath taboo. We could bring them all back, if ponies wouldn’t hate and fear them.

“So, that save was June and her team?” Cadence asked.

Raven squeezed the transmit button again. “Presumably. I tried to contact them to double check, but I didn’t get through. We have no way of knowing—”

The lodge’s hall erupted with bright orange light as a sphere of incandescent energy coalesced within its exact center. It floated in the air for a terrifying instant, warming from orange to gold as Raven dove for cover and Source dove to cover the notes.

The light floated down to floor level, taking the form of a vaguely pony shaped mass of golden light. It had no discernable tribe as it flickered between earth pony, unicorn, pegasus, thestral, and more, moment to moment. Ravent felt her heart start to pound against her ribs as if trying to escape.

Celestia, what in the world does that City Mind want with—

“Fear is unnecessary,” the entity said in a somewhat mechanical but definitely female and absolutely not Limited Prefection’s voice. “I, am Faust. This location contains the strongest arcane signature within settlement: Evergreen Falls. Request communication with settlement leadership, pertinent to current emergency.”

Raven peeked out from under the table she’d dove behind, only to see the figure was staring at Source, who was still shielding the notes.

“I— Erm…” the wizard stammered then cleared his throat. “That would be her over there.”

He raised a hoof to point at Raven, and the thing calling itself Faust turned to look at her.

Raven shrank back slightly as the eyeless face looked at her. She could tell it saw her in every last detail.

“I— Uh… What did we do to anger you?” Raven asked, the fur on the back of her neck rising.

The hologram cocked its head, making use of what little it knew of pony body language to indicate confusion.

“I am not acting within Action State: Angered. I seek assistance in terminating the emergency situation.”

Raven sighed and sat down on the floor, running her hooves down her face. “Oh god, the monster’s still not contained!”

Faust paused for several moments, instructing Violet on how to widen the scanning area around her projection. The gold light pulsed briefly in recognition. “Situation analyzed… I am not referencing the combat game which has occurred on the surface. I speak of the accidental melding of individuals Ultra Violet, Samhein, and Junebug via high energy arcane accident. I require tools.”

Raven looked blankly at the hologram for several long seconds, long enough that Source cleared his throat. “E— Excuse me, but… Aren’t you, well, the creator of ponies? What tool could we give you that would be of any use at all?”

“Engineering a species from across a hundred million year operational gulf is not identical in operation to performing maintenance on individuals,” Faust answered with such genuine honesty Source simply accepted it.

“Well, what do you need?” Raven asked, slowly standing back up. “If Violet, June, and Sam are in trouble, I’ll authorize anything I can to help… Especially since somehow they got a favor from the actual creator god. Who isn’t a myth?”

Faust’s hologram flickered slightly as the AI found herself amused by Raven’s statement. “Reports of my nature are misleading. I am not a deity. I am a machine created by mortals more advanced than your species. I reside far below this location, deeper than the ruins, below the archmage’s home. If you desire information on me, please visit my core. Presently, I require tools in your possession. Citizen Ultra Violet informed me of this town’s status as a holding location for ‘anomalous’ items and entities. I require access to items and/or entities capable of separating parts of one mind from another.”

Reeling though she was from the first half of Faust’s statement, Raven nodded. “Uh, a— alright? Um… Let me think.”

Faust paused, simply standing still as indicated. Source slowly slipped a notebook from his robes and began to write down everything he could remember about this encounter as it happened. Raven cast her mind through everything she could remember was in CARE’s possession in town.

“I think there’s a prybar that fractures the psyche in Warehouse 5,” Raven said after a long while. “It, uh, well, it sort of…”

Raven mimed prying at something with a hoof then exclaimed, “poof! And someone's forgotten something. I’m not familiar with how it works. Or if it’s even still here. I’d have to check the records.”

Faust nodded once and then gestured to Raven with a hoof. “Please, lead the way to the records. Query: what form of payment is required for rental of tools? Addendum: This hologram cannot interact with physical objects. Can necessary paperwork be signed on my behalf, or will invocation of Xerox be required?”

Raven blinked and stared at Fasust’s hologram for several long seconds. God’s real, is a vastly complex construct of some kind, and wants to pay to rent something… And wants to go through the proper channels. What is today? Did somepony drug me? Am I in a weird lucid dream? Is Luna pranking me? Do I even really have a patiently waiting husband?

Raven attempted to manifest her husband through sheer force of will. Nothing happened, letting her know that this was real, and in fact, happening.

“Uh… Can you bring the ponies we lost in the battle back to life?” Raven asked, hoping that would be within the machine's power.

Faust flickered as she extended her scan range again. “No injury within scan range exceeds class three. Physical repair of tissue and subsequent reanimation possible. WARNING: I cannot repair cursed wounds permanently. Any individuals with class three injuries will require immediate medical assistance or will quickly succumb to state equivalency: death. I will not have the power to resuscitate them a second time at this range.”

“That’s a yes, then?” Primary asked for Raven, still frantically writing everything down.

“Affirmative,” Faust said, keeping her attention on Raven. “I will restore your deceased as payment. Do not request payment of this nature frequently. Dusk dislikes mass resurrections.”

Raven nodded once. “I won’t. I know Dusk’s real. I also know what she has to do when somepony does this kind of thing. I just… We lost so many, and—” Raven took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Thank you. Just one last question, can you help our wounded we evacuated to Vanhoofer?”

Faust cocked her head. “Distance to location: Vanhoofer?”

“A few hundred kilometers as the pegasi flies,” Raven said.

“Negative. Facility depth places this settlement on the extreme edge of my effector range.”

Was worth a shot, Raven thought. If only we hadn't pulled Enox out… I doubt pony doctors can do much for her.

Faust hung her head slightly. “Apologies. A miscalculation occurred. At present range, power, and resources, I can revive fifty-seven-point-ninety-eight percent of deceased combatants. This deception was not intentional. Repeat: This settlement is at the extreme range of my effectors, scanning systems included. This fact was not previously entered into calculations due to strain on current systems necessary to run this projection.”

“That’s more than enough,” Raven said as she turned towards the hall’s exit. “Come on. The prybar’s this way.”

⁜ ⁜ ⁜

This is taking a while, June thought to Sam as they floated within the tank.

Yeah… I wish we could talk to Violet from here. She has to have some idea what’s going on.

I’ve tried… Everything is just, distant. And kind of fuzzy. Kinda dusty and echoey.

A little bit, yeah. Sam agreed.

The two floated silently for a short eternity, pulled out of their terror only by Violet excitedly waving to them from her console well across the chamber. The two looked, only to see Violet give them a hoof’s up.

I guess they found something? Sam asked.

Before June could reply, a slender mechanical grasping limb descended from the cycling above their tank and maneuvered itself into a position as if it was going to grab them. It opened its three fingered talons and grabbed a small red gooseneck pry bar as it materialized from the middle of Faust’s golden hexagonal transport beams.

<Tool acquired. Tool’s properties based on Terran architecture. Note: Equestrian systems appear predominantly compatible with my creator’s systems. Investigation warranted. Resuming operation: Integrating tool into systems… Please stand by, Re-encoding Targeted Function Manuscript…> Faust reported in their minds.

Looks like it, June thought, mentally sighing in relief.

<Integration complete,> Faust announced.

You do everything in like, a second. Why do you ask us to stand by? Sam asked, somewhat irritated by the AI’s mannerisms despite everything about the situation.

<To an average AI, your experienced wait times have already been an unfortunate eternity of what would ordinarily be crushing introspective solitude,> Faust answered as the arm moved, angling the pry bar towards their amalgamated head.

The two mares felt a presence touch their mind. It was like the cold blade of a knife, but Faust held it like a scalpel. The two felt it move gently, cutting away at the parts overlapping between them, then separating those parts into what felt like puzzle pieces.

<Separation completed. Pattern 2: Sam excised. Engaging physical separation. Pattern 3: June… High fragmentation detected. Is what remains you?>

June focused on the thoughts floating through her mind. They were how she remembered them, but their meanings felt…off.

N— No?

<Error acknowledged: User assistance required. Let us begin work.>

⁜ ⁜ ⁜

Samhain - 19th of Harvestide (Nightmare Night), 4 EoH
Sector A Control Facilities - Limited Perfection (Subruins)

Sam gasped for air as she was reconstituted. Her lungs burnt like she’d just finished a long run, but only for a moment. Then the pain faded to a general dull ache.

She reared up and quickly patted herself down, pausing as she noticed her foreleg. The crystal section was still present, but she could see her bones, muscles, and veins growing into the crystal, filling it like iron being cast into a mold. Just imperceptibly slow.

What is this, some kind of space bandaid? Sam thought to herself for just an instant, then finished her check of herself.

“Are you okay?” Violet asked from her position at the console.

“Physically, yes…” Sam said. “Seem to be, at least.”

“Yeah… I think I’ll be calling up the CARE mental health line tomorrow too.”

“I can wait,” Sam said as she lowered herself down to all fours and turned towards June. “June’s going to need a slo—”

Sam stopped dead as she looked into the tank, her ears falling back like a dropped stone as her eyes puzzled out what remained in the fluid.

“—mother of Discord!”

Violet nodded, refusing to look at the tank. “Yeah… It’s looking a little bad, isn’t it?”

Sam looked over June’s mangled remains. There was a heart, and it beat. Part of a lung, which fluttered, some of the skeleton bobbing in the tank’s fluid, both of her wings and all of their joints were there, waiting to be attached to earth pony ribs, and most eye catching of all, a long slender alicorn’s horn attached to the tri-lobe brain of an alicorn.

Sam took a deep breath. “Okay. So, that’s… Medeis mentioned his method makes clones. And fuses you with the clones.”

Violet nodded once and typed in a command for Faust. “Yes. I um— It’s clear that while he said it was alchemical, it’s still kind of… surgical.”

“More ethical than Limited Perfection though.”

“Anything might be…” Violet looked down at the console, her shoulder’s slumping. “Sam? Is— Is she still going to be my sister?”

Sam bit her lip, sighed, and turned to look at Violet as the android turned to look the other pony in the eyes.

“Probably, Vi… But I can’t say for sure. The memories will all be the same. It’s how she thinks that changes. You are your experiences, but how you understand those experiences is the half of the conversation most people don’t want to have.” Sam paused for a moment then added. “She’ll remember meeting you in the mayor’s office, and feeling like you look like family. She’ll still, well, think you look like family, that’s instinct. But she was comfortable with it after the initial shock wore off. With that new meat… Well, it might creep her out. She’ll have to process through remembering being okay with it, but not being immediately as okay with it anymore.”

Violet frowned, her ears twitching slightly as she thought for several full seconds on the matter.

“I mentioned having an old database of cultural things, right?” Violet asked after a moment’s thought.

Sam nodded.

“There’s a TV show in it about a wandering alien joyrider. If mortally wounded, its kind reconstitute. Due to this wanderer’s incompetence, this always changes his face and some of his personality, but all of the memories do remain. That’s basically what we’re talking about right?”

“Right,” Sam agreed, then sighed. “Well, from our perspective. From her’s, well, it’s going to take a lot of getting used to.”

Violet nodded, frowned for a moment, then looked up. “How much do you think will change? Will it be… um… everything?”

Sam shrugged her wings and turned back to the tank. “No way to know. Not without leaving to ask Medeis… And I want to be here when she’s able to get out of that tank.”

“So do I.”

Sam nodded and sat down, watching June’s remains floating within the glass cylinder.

“Then all we can do is wait.”

⁜ ⁜ ⁜

June - 19th of Harvestide (Nightmare Night), 4 EoH
Sector A Control Facilities - Limited Perfection (Subruins)

Is there any chance we could reverse the transformation? June asked quietly. We saved the world. I don’t have to be an alicorn now.

<Affirmative,> Faust informed, making June’s heart soar and her lung struggle to inflate.

How?

<Required item: Original DNA sample, common source of appropriate sample: hair brush. Required consent: Permission to employ dark magic. Required upkeep: tri-monthly arcane infusions to counteract—>

Woah! Woah! Woah! Why does dark magic need to be involved?!

<Client Medeis’ spellcraft is persistent and without flaw. I cannot dispel the transformative energies still present within your body. He cannot either. A consequence of his nature as Architect is the permanency of his sorcery. Once fully transformed, it may be possible to return you to the appearance of your natural subspecies, should it be desired. But not by me. You would have to ask him.>

Oh… So we finish the transformation, then I go upstairs and he can put me back?

Faust was silent for a few moments. <Possability assessment: Inconclusive… Contacting. Standby…>

June felt another mind link to her own. She instinctively knew it was Medeis, but also that it was unfathomably old and quite alien to a pony’s mind… yet it was still basically like a pony’s mind.

<Hello?> the archmage asked.

<Three way telepathic link confirmed,> Faust reported.

<Ah. Good. What do you two need to ask me?>

June pulled together the strength to speak at length. We want to know if Faust finishes the transformation, if I can then go back to you and get put back to normal. I— I know it will have to wait till you have your mana back. I just… I’m scared. I can already feel myself… changing. How I remember some stuff is… Not what I think anymore. I—

June swore she felt the alicorn hug her. <Hey… It’s okay. I’ve been here before too,> he reassured. <As for putting you back… Well… That’s no simple matter. If Solitary Ascension were a finished spell, rather than one I am actively working on, yes. I could. Possibly. But, I don’t know if this tier of workings and effectors can all even be run backwards. What’s worse, if I did run them backwards, the other tribe clones would be split from you, and you’d become three ponies. Which poses certain ethical problems. Ones we could discuss and come to agreements on, of course, but the main problem is that in the ever-ticking mean time—>

That you don’t know if this can be reversed… And some magic can’t go backwards.

<Right, just like some maths.>

June floated in silence for several long moments. I— I already don’t really feel like… old? me? I feel close, but off. Like somethings no longer—

<It all just disappears, doesn't it? Everything you are, gone in a moment; like breath on a mirror.>

June remained silent, silently communicating a nod.

<I’m in the same boat right now,> Medeis said calmly. <I’ve sailed these waters plenty of times. Enough that it doesn't bother me anymore. I'll be excited to see what changes this time. I’m already enjoying having a young person’s hormones again, but quite irritated that my bedroom decor is unspeakably gauche and I used to like that hideous Deniable Beige wallpaper. So trust me when I say that I understand.>

What should I do?

<Be the brave pony you know you are.>

But is that me anymore?

<To quote a movie Dusk will make you watch repeatedly over the millenia; Search your feelings, you know it to be true.>

What? How is telling me to listen to hormone-saturated half constituted bio-soup’s fragmented opinions in a high arcana situation even remotely good or even responsible advice? By that logic, the entire First Kingdom would have—

<Wow you over-thought that by a league. Working on a doctorate, eh? Look, how about you just try to clear your mind for a moment and feel around about who you are now. It won’t prevent you from… Well, needing time to come to terms with everything. But if you look in your heart, which, by the way, is looking to be in remarkably good health, seriously excellent job on these organs, my word! Ahem, if you search your soul, you’ll be able to feel who you are. If only for a moment.>

June reflected inwards, focusing on what she felt was Her now. She was different. Like somepony had made a replica of her old bedroom from memory and she’d stumbled into it unexpectedly. Everything was there, and everything big felt like it was in the right places, but all the little things were subtly off. And yet…

I— I think you’re right? I think I’m brave.

<Then tell Faust to fix you up, and once you’ve got your head on straight and you’ve sorted out who the new you is, drop by for a visit. You’ll need to learn to use that horn safely, and well… I did this to you. That makes teaching you the basics my responsibility. One last piece of advice… Given your culture’s idea of Alciorns, you might want to think of a name to go by in public. A persona of sorts. The god-worship was really, really uncomfortable. At least, it was to me. Faust, I have to go. Good luck, and do be sure to ask her about her sex and gender identity. I’m fairly certain she’s transgender. Farewell.>

<Acknowledged, Medeis,> Faust said just before Medeis’ presence left the telepathic bond. <June: Menu Selection: Biophysical Traits and Role Identity?>

June thought for a moment. Cadence came to mind. She’d never considered mixing and matching before. I’m a girl. I should look female. I’d like to have both sets of sex organs though. I’ve got somepony who I highly suspect is my great great grandmother who probably would like some company in terms of her… Gender’s the wrong word there. Sex? Yeah. There’s a potion shop sponsored by her in every mall in Equestria I can visit if I don’t like that. At least, there will be once the Triek-shortages are fully over.

<Parameters set. Notification: As a female-leaning AI system, I am removing menstrual pain and estrus based mood destabilization from your bioform. Please report any health complications from these edits. Together we might find a cure for our sisters’ pain. June: I am beginning reconstructive procedure 88-Delta. Thaumic fields will be resolved via temporal dilation. Next: nanites will fill in any missing tissues. The process will take several seconds. Stand—>

Wait. June interrupted. Is… You have the pry bar. Can we make new me think like old me?

<Negative. I calculated the probability of such an operation given existing tool access as negligible. Complication: All such operations risk brain death.>

Oh… W— Would it be possible for me to tell myself sorry? Like, can we bring her back for just a few seconds?

<The probability of seizure is high, but the damage can be repaired.>

So yes then?

<Affirmative.>

Please do it.

<Acknowledged. Overriding safety: Sisterhood. Standby…>

June felt herself warp, twist, then reflect as if she’d somehow fallen halfway into a mirror pool. There was a duality to her existence which should not have been. Both of them knew it.

I’m sorry, the new alicorn who had, for a long time, been June said.

Don’t be. I was willing to die to save everypony, Junebug said soothingly.

That doesn't make this okay.

Yeah no, it totally doesn't. It’s kinda massively shitty. But, you get to live. That’s, like, cool, isn’t it?

Alicorn June mentally shook her head. No. It’s not.

Come on! It’s just like that Galaxy Quest episode with the transporter accident that split Lieutenant Cherries. You get to learn magic, fly, have super strength, and get to live through one of our favorite sci-fi stories of all time. Junebug countered.

Actually… I don’t like that one so much. And not just because it’s different when you’re living through it. It’s… Not very well handled on the setting level?

Junebug nodded. Never felt like it was. I just overlooked the systemic flaws because of the cool premise of the episode on its own. Which one do you like best?

Alicorn June thought for a moment. The one where they fly through the black hole, and Ensign Reigns has to hold the hull together with his bare hooves.

Oh yeah, that’s a good one! Junebug agreed.

I hate that I don’t think the same way anymore…

Why? You still love the show, right?

Alicorn June blinked. What?

You’re different from me, but not that different. In a way, it’s kind of like as if I grew up. Matured a bit.

A little, I guess? But you didn’t.

I know. I’m trying to cheer you up. You shouldn’t be sad because of my choices. I know this sucks. I know this is bucked up. But I’m also glad that you get to live. None of our options really involved me walking out.

I— I guess I do get to live.

Yeah! So make it mean something. And if being me bothers you, why not pick a new name? We were meaning to do that after finishing our sex change anyways, and I’d say you feel pretty finished.

<Recommendation:> Faust piped in. <Juno. Rationale: Fits with the cosmic // divine name pattern of Alicorns. Celestia, named after Sol albeit in a different language. Luna, named for Terra’s moon. Juno, ancient Roman goddess of heaven, wife to Jupiter; the origin of Sol-5’s name. Addendum: Close to current name in pronunciation, June-oh. Resembles June 0, like a patch note.>

Both Junes metaphysically blinked, then together in that way girls do when they’re being polite but have no desire to do the thing, said in unison, Maybe. I’ll think about it.

Junebug set a hoof on alicorn June’s shoulder. Look, you have the wheel now. I’m okay with that because I gave it to you. Take whatever road you want. Oh, and you’re welcome for the degree and career. I’d say I love you, but I’m afraid of it being taken the wrong way. Goodbye.

Alicorn June felt a physical tear from her freshly generated eyes. Goodbye.

The mirror faded away, and there was one pony in June’s head again.

I should think of a new name… Medius is right. A persona seems like a good idea. Might help me work through everything to have an act to play.

<Regeneration complete.> Faust reported.

June felt gentle warmth as golden hexagons engulfed her, and then she was deposited on the floor of Faust’s chamber. She blinked her eyes until her vision faded in from a general blur, and saw Sam and Violet standing in front of her… and below her.

I’m Cadence sized now, she noted.

Violet squirmed in place, looking like she was trying not to cry. “Um… Are we still sisters?” Violet asked.

Are we? She wondered. June almost flinched as her subconscious practically slapped her with a deep bellowing yes-what-the-buck-you-moron?!

June bent her knees and hugged both mares to her barrel. “Of course we are!”

That’s close enough to a victory. Huh. Victory… IT should fit the tradition, right? Some Aramliic word… What was the word for victory again? Nike! Yeah. Thank you, Junebug’s absurd recall of Terran errata! Nike might work.