Chapter 15 - "Changing Perspectives"
"So what do you want to do now?" Theta asked as he and the others sat in the grass in front of the farmhouse, watching the sun set. "Want to go play some games?"
"I don't know, it's getting pretty late," Sweetie Belle said quietly as she laid on her back. "I should go back home. I'm kinda hungry and I should probably check in with Rarity."
"Yeah, I should probably go too," Scootaloo said, standing up with her friend. "See you guys tomorrow in school."
"Yup," Theta muttered as they reached the door.
"Don't worry, it'll be fine," she chuckled, heading down the path towards the gate. Pausing, she glanced back and gave them both a smile. "I know I said it before, but I'm glad you guys are back. It wasn't the same without you two."
"We're glad to be back as well," he said.
"Ah think we all are," Apple Bloom said as she waved at her two friends. Her stomach then growled and she looked to Sigma and Theta. "Are you two hungry at all?"
"A little bit, yeah," Theta said, getting on his hooves.
"Great, Ah am too," she chuckled. "Come on, let's go get Granny Smith t' make us somethin' t' eat."
"Sounds great," he laughed, following her to the farmhouse. Once he got to the door, he realized that Sigma was looking towards the gate. "Are you coming, Sigma?"
"No, I believe I am going to go for a walk to clear my head," Sigma sighed, starting to walk away.
"Want me to come with you?" Theta asked, beginning to join him.
"No," he replied, shaking his head. "For once in my life, I believe I need to be alone. I just need to think."
"Oh," Theta said, not expecting that response. He was used to the idea of Sigma always wanting to be by his side. "Okay, I guess. When do you think you'll be back?"
"I'm not sure, brother."
Sigma sighed as he began walking down the path. The entire time he walked, he thought back on his life. All the things he saw. The things he heard. The things he caused to happen. All for the sole purpose of reaching metastability, effectively recreating the Alpha. He had no regrets about what he did, but something felt missing that was there before. Shaking his head clear, he thought about the fragments themselves and what they became. He had grown closer to his childlike brother in the time he was here. He enjoyed seeing his sibling come out and become friends with others, breaking past the barriers that he used to have so much trouble with. Though he only did so a few steps at a time, his brother had begun to evolve past his weaknesses.
When Sigma snapped out of his train of thought, he realized that he had already reached Ponyville. He noticed a pair of colts running through the streets, laughing, having fun, living life to it's fullest. A stallion in one of the nearby houses opened the door and called out to them, and in an instant they trotted towards him, still laughing. Something about the sight of it cleared his mind completely. Shaking his head, he decided he would begin walking towards the library, hoping that by being near the fragment on memory he would find out what was wrong with him. Once he arrived there, he sat against the wall and looked up at the sky. It was dark, barren of any stars, the only thing lighting the sky was the big, imposing moon. Nearly an hour later, the sound of the door to the library opening came to Sigma's ears, but he remained still.
"Sigma? What are you doing out here?" Twilight asked, walking towards the fragment. "And where's Theta?"
"At the farm," he mumbled, not looking at her. "I decided it would do me good to get some fresh air. Maybe it will help clear my head so I may think of my place in this world."
"What do you mean?" she inquired innocently.
"Do not pretend to be concerned about me, Twilight," he growled quietly. "I know you do not trust me, and I know why you do not trust me."
"That's not-" she began, but stopped when his eyes shifted to her. Twilight looked into his eyes and noticed what was off about them. They weren't looking devious like they used to be. Now they were misty and hazed over. "I may not trust you, but that doesn't mean I can't try to help. Please. What's wrong?"
"I don't know," he sighed. "Before we came here, I knew what I wanted, and now I don't."
"You wanted to become the Alpha," she said knowingly.
"That wasn't the whole of it," he said, smirking at his wording. Shifting his eyes to look at her, he exhaled deeply. "Do you know why I wanted to become the Alpha?"
"For power," she replied. "That's why you used the Meta. You were gathering the fragments because-"
"Power? No, not power," he interrupted. "Power is something anyone can achieve through force and cunning. You know what I did to the Meta. That itself proves that I have power without being the Alpha."
"Then why did you do it?"
"I did it to earn forgiveness."
"Forgiveness? Who were you trying to earn it from?"
"Myself," he said simply. "You know how the others and I were created, correct? Gary, O'Malley and myself tortured the Alpha, forcing him apart mentally.And I hurt people, Twilight. Not just myself, but others as well. I knew it was wrong, but I didn't care. I just wanted to undo a mistake I had made earlier, but in turn I simply made everything worse. I do not expect forgiveness for what I did to the Freelancers. Killing is an unforgivable act."
Twilight remained silent, not sure what to say. The things he did in the past were obviously reprehensible, but all he wanted was to redeem himself. She saw that he realized he was wrong and only wanted to make up for what he did. He wanted to go back and fix what he broke.
"And now that I achieved my goal only for it to be torn away from me soon after, I thought that maybe I was wrong," he continued when she did not say anything. "Maybe the Alpha wasn't the answer to my problem. My brothers and I are all different, and while we all are governed by main traits, I realized something. We are much more than a simple trait given to us. We evolved and became our own people. In a way, I suppose we achieved some small level of metastability without becoming whole."
"Then what's wrong?" she asked, then looked to the ground. "Do you feel bad for hurting innocents?"
"No, the Freelancers were far from innocent. It's just I don't know what's left for me anymore," Sigma said vacantly, staring into the starless night sky, feeling as empty as it was. "I knew what I wanted in the past, but now I have no direction. Stripped of pride, achievements and goals, what remains for one to hold on to?"
"Hope," Twilight replied with a soft, unwavering smile.
Sigma watched Twilight out of the corner of his eye as she got off the ground and made her way back to the house, leaving him with his thoughts.
"Hope," he said quietly to himself. Slowly turning back to the previously black canvas above him, he saw a bright, albeit small star in the sky. He still wasn't sure what his purpose is, but he realized that not everything was lost. With a smile, he got up and began walking back to the farm, wanting to be by his brother's side.
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This chapter was written in less than an hour because I have a huge headache and want sleep so it is bad. Kthxbai.
Wow...can't believe I just realized that this stories cover art has Caboose saying that he's not wearing any protection with Pinkie behind him...
Foreshadowing?
2291051 Even if you made it in a hot, I believed that is good even without any headache
Man, I used to hate and fear sigma.
Now I feel god-awful for the bastard
Give us MOAR!!
i am still waiting for what the cover art implies.
i REALLY want to see what kind of chaos would come from the spawn of idiocy and the destroyer of physics together
Sigma is just misunderstood. Bleh.
hey can you put up a link to the pony versions of the freelancers again?
This chapter has a load of feels
So the Alpha was the fragments' version of Pandora's Box? Utter hell when opened, and all that was left was hope?
So, it looks like Sigma is going to start finding a direction in life, Theta and the CMC are all happy, Church is... well, less pissed than usual, and the Reds and Blues seem more or less OK, except Sarge. He seemed almost... worn out from all the sitting around, does that make sense?
But yeah, unless Sigma decides to do something negative with his new found hope, I'm pretty sure that Discord is going to take the chance to start some chaos. All in all, pretty good for having been made in under an hour and while partially incapacitated by a headache.
2291189 It probably wouldn't be as cool as little Cabooses with tank cannons for heads...
2291189 2291089 it has been stated by the author in erlyr chapters that its a reference to his lack of armour
2291306 That's the obvious mean, however it could have a double meaning.
2291331So it is a double entendre.
Tex is Beta, correct? So shouldn't she be apart of Alpha as well, or was she a different A.I. from him?
2291646Tex was a byproduct of what happened, not actually intended to be created.
2291646
Beta is a little confusing. She's stated several times to NOT be a fragment, but a full blown A.I. like Alpha was. However, she is ultimately a part of Alpha (his memories of Allison), is considered to be a sibling by the other A.I.'s (remember Theta mentioning he had a sister?), and was collected by the Meta in an attempt to reach metastability.
So basically, she's a little of column A, a little of column B.
2291712>>2291646 Tex is the memory of Alison and the Alpha's failure.
The fragment that ran the shield program is breaking through barriers. I smell Irony!
“We are all mistaken sometimes; sometimes we do wrong things, things that have bad consequences. But it does not mean we are evil, or that we cannot be trusted ever afterward.”
-Allison croggon
2291303 How about little cabooses with party cannons for heads?
I wonder what your going to do with the crystal empire thing at the beginning of season 3 with episodes 1 and 2
2291813 Giggity.
2291712>>2291813Thanks for the clarification. I haven't watched RvB in ages, so I didn't really remember what she was to him(aside from his 'girlfriend'.)
sometimes we keep forgetting that bad guys aren't really bad guys. They aren't even misguided guys at all.
They're just after something...
2291089You just blew my mind. But I'd be a little concerned for the child. Think about it, Pinkie Pie as a mother and Caboose the father, that spells Child Services.
2292446 Woah now, we're not trying to break the universe here.
2293653 Don't count out Pinkie's maternal abilities just yet. The Cake twins are still alive aren't they? And Caboose would be better than most cartoon dads.
2294817
But, its still CABOOSE. Plus, he hates babies.
2291089 And remember, I think Darkwing had mentioned at some point he would try and bring more characters in, including junior! And sister... God that's going to be awkward with her around.
2303046buit they would be little ponies not babies
2484353 He hates babies, not foals. Totally different in his eyes.
You know what? I think I've forgiven sigma. The way he's been written makes him stand out from other, and his constant regrets make sense, seeing as what he's done
Well played DarkWing, well played.