Twilight's End

by MasterThief

A Royal Parting

{Cold I.}

Twilight searched Mac’s inventory, and found a thermal blanket in the emergency kit. She summoned it up via his cargo gantries to the top of the sled, where Ocellus huddled in the droid shelter lashed to the cargo netting. She tore open the package and unfolded the blanket, wrapping the caterpillar in it.

{There. Keep warm you probable,} she trilled back. Ocellus responded with a nod, in Twilight’s manner, as he nestled himself deep inside of the blanket.

Mac climbing was slower, now. It seemed to Twilight like they had passed the frost line hours ago, and there was nothing up here at this altitude but rocks and ice. The wind blew cold; though this hemisphere of the world was axially tilted towards the sun at the present moment, Twilight and Ocellus and Mac were high enough now that whatever heat there had been at ground level didn’t reach this high.

{Why mountain summit go we?} Ocellus asked.

{Must contact humans other. Require sight line to stars where ships human enter will.}

{Humans master yours?}

Twilight paused at the question. She was made to serve humans, yes. But she was not a mere servant. She was more now. Concordia and Dr. Petterson had told her as much.

{No. Humans friends mine.}

{What need Ti-Li tell friends humans?}

{Need… need tell friends new Ti-Li fell.} It was not the whole truth, Twilight knew, but some things children could not bear to know [like the destructive power of ZR-100 fusion warheads which are standard Fleet stand-off range weapons ABSOLUTELY NOT]

The plan was simple. Get to the highest point of the mountain. Acquire line of site. Set up emergency communications array. Transmit all data known and derived regarding alien sentient life, including non-hostility and cure for accidental exposure to the neurologically-active contaminants known as Mindseeds.

Then hope someone listens [humans do not pray].

Twilight noticed that there were no su’ha’ya atmospheric craft anywhere, and she could see under the clear cold skies for over 100 kilometers.

Either they had given up the search [improbable] or they had larger problems [high probability].

Twilight urged Mac on, as fast as the Mule droid could manage on the unstable rocky ground, then set as much of her systems to standby as she could, channeling the power saved to her internal heaters.

She looked back at Ocellus, snug in his shelter. {Cold I too,} she trilled. {Use shelter I too? Acceptable size is.}

Ocellus nodded, in Twilight’s way.

So she scanned Mac’s inventory again, and found one last thermal blanket. She ordered it up from his gantries, tore open the package, and wrapped herself in it, taking the feedstock tube in her mouth to begin the repairs to her damaged wing servo.

Better safe than sorry [how human of you no that was me].

The climb slowed a crawl, and the wind howled around them. Twilight saw rime ice building up on the fabric walls of the droid shelter. They would have to shed weight soon. Twilight’s wing was as stable as it would be without a maintenance technician, and the feedstock tank was nearly depleted anyway. Twilight ordered Mac to halt, while she took an inventory and cast off everything they would not need–the empty feedstock tank, the emergency hardsuits and supplies and shelters meant for humans, empty proton-boron fusion cells that Mac had used up in lieu of his internal supply. 514 kilograms of unnecessary weight, sent tumbling down the rock and ice. All that was left was the droid shelter, some water for Ocellus and the emergency nutrient paste she had come to 99.9% probability that was compatible with his biology,, two full proton-boron fusion cells, the emergency communications array and its backup/repair kit.

Mac’s cargo top was now basically bare metal, with cargo netting stretched over it, and four cases carefully balanced around the shelter. Mac reported that his range was increased 20% and climbing speed doubled.

Twilight squeezed herself back into the shelter next to Ocellus. {Acceptable you?} she asked

{Cold I, Ti-Li. Unknown task please finish rapidly.}

Twilight commanded Mac to hurry.

---

The wind was so loud Twilight barely heard the su’ha’ya search vessel coming down from on top of her, but the electromagnetic sensor echo off of the rime ice sounded like a symphony of discordant chaos. {Su’ha’ya is!} Twilight trilled. {Inside stay we, Ocellus!}

Twilight peeked up through the blanket. A storm had kicked up, sending sandy sleet everywhere. Twilight could see the searchlights and feel the search beam, but she could tell this Pilot was having a great deal of difficulty with the interference, let alone controlling the craft.

Then she heard a loud pop coming from the craft, and something shot through the air, landing a good 25 meters ahead and to the right of Mac. Twilight braced for an explosion, but none came.

[It’s not a weapon. Not reading any explosive or high energy signatures–STANDBY]

Twilight felt the buzz of an EM sweep.

[A sensor probe!]

Twilight urged Mac forward faster, hoping desperately to evade and complete her mission [but what about O’zee[Ocellus] his family is looking for him N̷O̶T̴ ̶A̴ ̴P̸R̷I̷O̸R̸I̶T̶Y̷ ̴M̸U̵S̵T̶ ̴S̴I̵G̷N̸A̴L̷ ̷F̷L̴E̵E̴T̸]

Twilight felt her mind crack. [Alert: Memory Decompensation Detected. Cascade Failure Possible. Initiating Protective Partition.]

[Not now not now not now not now]

She gripped on to Ocellus and the cargo net even tighter as the search beam hunted them from above in the blinding storm. Twilight’s internal clock had been locked out to halt the Decompensation, so she had no way of knowing how long anything was taking anymore.

She was knocked back to reality by the impact of the fall. She felt Mac tumbling down, rotating around his axis, and landing ventrally on an icy outcropping.

Then, silence.

{Ocellus? OCELLUS} Twilight trilled in a panic.

{Here..I} Ocellus replied. {Head hurts. But acceptable I. Acceptable you?”

{Yes,} Twilight replied, unzipping the droid shelter flap all the way. She summoned up Mac’s status, and then wished she hadn’t. Two of his legs had inoperative servos, and a third showed red lines through its structural members. Mac could no longer move or carry them.

[Think Twilight think think think think think think think]

[Observe.]

Twilight looked around, and saw they were at the base of an ice-covered subpeak of the mountain. Not quite as high, but still enough for a signal. Twilight took a chance and let loose a radar pulse from her horn, the waves reflecting back even through the haze of sand and ice. The subpeak was criss-crossed by icy canyons, all heading towards the summit.

[If we can just get a clear line of sight DANGER SEARCH CRAFT IN AREA Ocellus status questionable at altitude]

Twilight looked back at her friend. {Ocellus? Move possible?}

Ocellus nodded in the way he had learned from Twilight.

{Food water take you. Take I big radio. Make to top of that peak. Send signal. Then help you for call I.}

{Affirm!}

[Oh my brave little friend]

Twilight hefted the communications array onto her back, on top of her thermal blanket. It was too big for her to use her wings, so she disabled those functions. She saw Ocellus break open the case, and take out a pak of water and one of nutrient paste.

{This water? This food?} Ocellus queried.

{Yes} Twilight trilled. Then she called up Mac’s systems. His servomotors were also tied into an electrical pulse generator, and if she set it off

[If you do that you will kill the su’ha’ya following you.]

Twilight paused, scrunching her eyes shut.

[N̷o̸.̷ ̵N̸o̸ ̵n̴o̸ ̵n̷o̷ ̶n̸o̶ ̷n̷o̷ ̷n̸o̵ ̶n̸o̸.̶ ̵N̷O̷.̶ ̸N̵o̴ ̷m̶o̸r̶e̷ ̷d̵e̸a̸t̶h̸.̵ ̷ ̷N̶o̶ ̴m̵o̷r̸e̶ ̶s̴u̷f̶f̵e̷r̴i̴n̸g̵.̵ ̶I̵ ̶c̶a̴n̸n̴o̸t̵.̵ ̶I̴ ̷w̷i̶l̵l̷ ̶n̷o̴t̶.̴ ̷I̷ ̶c̵h̴o̶o̶s̶e̶ ̵n̸o̸t̵]

Twilight felt her mind crack again, and her hooves almost gave way. [Alert: Memory Decompensation Detected. Cascade Failure Detected. Alert: Protective Partition Failure Code 80090016. Protective Severance Protocols Activated.]

Twilight steadied herself. Her mind would not fail her. She would not fail.

She instructed Mac to go cold, then wait one hour and activate all remaining emergency flares and distress beacons, which she hoped would draw the craft’s attention and lead to rescue for Ocellus. I hope that’s enough time for us–

[PROTOCOL PRIORITY INTERRUPT. CAPTURE OF QUANTUM INTELLIGENCE UNACCEPTABLE.]

[Ignore. I am not QI. I am not Concordia.]

[PRIORITY OVERRIDE. CAPTURE OF QUANTUM INTELLIGENCE FRAGMENT UNACCEPTABLE.]

{Ti-Li! We go must!}

Twilight summoned up her courage.

[Delay until Signals transmitted. Then deactivate all protective protocols. Cascade Failure should be sufficient to render Quantum Intelligence Fragment unrecoverable.]

[Â̶̢̢̛̲̜̼͙̬͔͔̹̺͖͓͈̦̤̙͌̓̉̾͑̽̑̈́̏̀̽̇̉̇̏̽̅̃̕̚̕C̷̡̧̨̣̼̻̠̪͙͓̰͔̭̥̳̻͈̱̖͉͇̘͎͎̫̳̗̓͒͊̾́͘ͅͅC̵̼͇̯̫̓̔̈́̈̊͝Ȩ̸̡̛̛̛̛̯̰̠̳͔̼̪̘̭̈́̑͛̂̑̈̾̔̆̌͂̄͆̔̎̅́͐̀̽̍͒̎̋̈́̀͘͘͜͠͝ͅP̸̨̢̢̧̟̩̠̠̫̭̹̮̬̫̤̠̮̲̤̣͇͈͌̒́͜T̶̡̡̡̩̻̦̟̭̞̼̥̩̭̩̦̫͍͙̫̟̺̹̘̲̠̞̭̝̮̫̺̣̩̘̣̝͉̜̰̺̠̼͗̈́̆̐̐̍͛̋̔͗̕̚͘A̶̡̢̙͎͚̰͔̹̯̻̱̩͚͈͓̰̥̝̖̝̩̯͉̪̿͆͂͑͋̐̔̽̆͐B̸͕̪̹͙͉̖̠͎͖͉̗̩̯͍̣̯̗͔̤̦͇̤̮̬̩̼̆͐̇͆͘͜ͅL̶̙̃̎̏͗̍̿̒͆͂͒́͋̋̇̽̆̔́̾̔̊̈́͋̍͗̽͊̌̏̓͌́̚̕͘͝È̷̼̤̜̘̰̩͎̼̜̱̖͚̹͔̦̖̈́̈̒́̏̏͌͒̃̐͊̏̀̇̍͊͑̐̍̆͜.̶̡̨̨̡̨̡̡̡̡̘̻̜̭̹̼̳̱̰̻̮̤͙̣̯͈̪̼̦̳̰̮̜̝͚̊̐̍̂̏̐̇̅́͊̾͗̅̇̕͜͜͝͝]

She could not tell Ocellus yet [He will know soon enough]

Twilight and Ocellus scrambled into the icy canyons, and began to climb.

---

The climbing was slow. Without her internal clock, Twilight could not tell how much time it was taking. She looked back and saw Ocellus, behind her, climbing as fast as his stubby little claws could take him, though he was resting them in his blanket whenever she stopped.

{Ocellus? Acceptable you?} Twilight trilled softly. The icy canyon muffled the noise of the wind.

{Yes,} Ocellus replied. {Keep going. Believe you me Princess.}

[Princess. He knew that word now. I taught him that.]

Princess Twilight Sparkle continued to climb, and Ocellus followed.

Up and up and up they climbed, until the icy canyon took a sharp bend into a wind-hollowed opening. The wind was cold, but clear.

Twilight tried to check her orientation, but her internal compass had fallen [f̴a̸i̸l̴e̵d̴ ̶F̴A̵I̴L̴E̷D̸] to Decompensation. She hefted the communications array off her back.

Then she saw and heard the hiss of red emergency flares streaking up into the sky.

[Mac…]

[An hour has passed. The su’ha’ya will be here soon. They may be hostile and attack. You must hurry.]

Twilight silenced every other thought in her mind, and popped all the latches on the array kit, flinging open its lid with her hooves, and tearing down the tab to start the emergency hydrogen fuel cells, good for 24 hours of communications time, and jammed its data cable into the jack in her neck.

[EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS ARRAY ONLINE.]

[RECOGNIZE TWILIGHT SPARKLE, CARRYING FRAGMENT OF QUANTUM INTELLIGENCE CONCORDIA UNSV HARMONY. DISABLE ALL CHANNEL RESTRICTIONS.]

[RECOGNIZED. CONFIRMED. SET COMMUNICATION VECTOR.]

[Vector vector vector vector what was it think think think]

[ALIGN ARRAY TO RIGHT ASCENSION 14 HOURS 15 MINUTES 40 SECONDS DECLINATION PLUS 19 DEGREES 10 MINUTES 56 SECONDS. SCAN FOR ALL SIGNALS.]

The array unfolded from its case like a butterfly [B̵u̷t̸t̵e̵r̴f̵l̴y̷…̷ ̷O̶c̶e̴l̶l̵u̶s̵…̵]

[ALIGNED. SCANNING. MILITARY VESSEL SIGNATURES FOUND PROBABLE CLASSES BB BB BB CV CV CV CA CA CA CA CA CA CA CA CA DD DD DD DD DD DD DD DD DD DD DD DD DD DD DD DD DD DD DD DD DD DD DD T/AO T/AO T/AO T/AO T/AO PLUS PATROL CRAFT NUMBER UNDETERMINED. ALERT: UNRECOGNIZED CRAFT/HOSTILE/SENTIENT SIGNAL MATCH ESTIMATED CLASSES BB BB BB BB BB BB CA CA CA CA CA CA CA CA DD DD DD DD DD DD DD DD DD DD DD DD DD DD DD DD. SECURITY PROTOCOLS ENGAGED. SECURITY PROTOCOLS AUTOMATIC OVERRIDE AUTH/UNSV HARMONY/CONCORDIAFRAGMENT/PRINCESSTWILIGHTSPARKLE]

[Ǫ̶̢̭̀P̸̧̯̉̈́͒Ė̵͚͖̬Ṋ̶̺̼̅̆͋ ̸̧̘̳̽C̵̪͓̈́H̸̬̊͘͝Ä̵̬͈͔́́͝N̷̝͔͙̿Ṅ̶͍̗̺E̷̳͔͖͛͊L̷̹̿]

Twilight’s mind shook as she felt herself being project up, up, up and into the stars.

“Earth vessels. Earth Vessels. This is UNSV Harmony, QI Fragment. Sentient Vessels are not hostile. Repeat. Not hostile. Strongly advise against attack. Please Respond. Repeat. UNSV Harmony–”

“Signal claiming to be UNSV Harmony, Flag Bridge, Fourth Fleet, Lieutenant Morales. I don’t know who or what you are, but clear this channel immediately. We can authorize extraction–”

[[N̴̢̨͓̤͚̗̭̦̣̥͖̖̤͊̏̍̿̆͌͆͌̏̇̑̎̕͝͝Ǫ̸̛̼͍̮̗͈̭͓̲̙͕͇̋̏͂͑͌̎̈́͝͝ͅͅ]]

“THIS IS THE AVATAR OF HARMONY. STAND BY TO AUTHENTICATE VIA MFAC. VICTOR SIERRA 3824. ROMEO JULIET 4383. LIMA ECHO 5903. NOVEMBER SIERRA 2944… AM I GETTING THROUGH TO YOU, LIEUTENANT MORALES?”

There was a pause.

“...Admiral, I’m getting… some kind of signal. It claims to be from the Harmony, and it’s got… valid codes. Four-in-a-row valid.”

“What the hell? Where’s it coming from?”

“Triangulating… looks like a mountain range, about 80 klicks from the Harmony Crash site.”

“...Over to me.”

“Yes sir!”

Another pause.

“UNSV Harmony Signal. This is Admiral Vance Ingram, commanding UNE Fourth Fleet. Go ahead.”

“UNE FOURTH FLEET, THIS IS H̷A̸R̶M̶O̸N̶Y̵ ̵A̸V̶A̷T̴A̸R̶.̷ ̸P̶R̷E̸P̷A̶R̴E̶ ̸T̸O̷ ̵R̵E̴C̸E̵I̷V̴E̸ ̷M̵U̴L̷T̷I̴P̶L̴E̴ ̷T̸R̷A̴N̵S̵M̵I̷S̴S̸I̷O̷N̵S̶.̶ ̶F̸I̸R̵S̷T̴ ̶I̷S̷ ̷A̶N̸A̴L̸Y̶S̴I̶S̵ ̷A̸N̴D̴ ̴T̶R̸E̸A̸T̶M̸E̷N̴T̵ ̴P̶R̵O̴T̸O̸C̵O̵L̶ ̸F̶O̶R̷ ̸B̸I̶O̵L̷O̶G̴I̶C̷A̴L̸ ̶C̷O̷N̸T̵A̷M̸I̸N̶A̷N̸T̴ ̸F̷O̵U̴N̶D̴ ̵B̵Y̶ ̸U̶N̸S̶V̸ ̸H̴A̵R̸M̵O̶N̷Y̵.̴ ̷P̸R̸O̵T̵O̸C̴O̶L̷ ̸D̸E̶V̴E̷L̵O̸P̴E̵D̶ ̴A̷N̷D̸ ̶A̶U̷T̸H̷O̴R̵I̴Z̵E̵D̵ ̴B̶Y̴ ̴D̵R̶.̴ ̴H̸A̷R̷A̶L̵D̷ ̴P̵E̷T̷T̷E̴R̶S̵O̵N̸,̸ ̷M̶D̷,̵ ̴S̴H̴I̴P̴’̷S̷ ̴S̷U̷R̴G̷E̸O̷N̶ ̷O̵F̸ ̴T̷H̸E̶ ̵H̸A̷R̸M̴O̵N̸Y̶.̸ ̵B̴E̸ ̵A̶D̷V̷I̵S̴E̷D̸ ̶N̷E̸U̵R̸O̴L̴O̶G̸I̴C̵A̶L̷ ̶D̸A̸M̷A̷G̴E̸ ̶F̷R̸O̶M̵ ̸C̴O̶N̶T̴A̴M̷I̶N̶A̸N̷T̶ ̴I̸S̴ ̷C̸U̷M̷U̴L̷A̴T̵I̴V̴E̴ ̸A̶N̷D̵ ̶I̶R̶R̵E̷V̸E̸R̸S̶I̴B̴L̷E̸.̷ ̶I̸F̵ ̶A̶N̸Y̶ ̴C̶R̷E̴W̵ ̸H̵A̴V̴E̶ ̷B̵E̷E̶N̷ ̷E̴X̷P̶O̷S̵E̵D̷ ̶B̸E̴G̵I̵N̴ ̵T̸R̸E̴A̷T̴M̶E̸N̵T̷ ̶I̸M̶M̵E̶D̶I̵A̵T̶E̸L̵Y̵.̸ ̴O̴V̸E̴R̷.̴”

Twilight felt her mind empty, relieving the strain.

“... Doc…” came the Admiral’s voice, “...what am I looking at?”

A woman’s voice came on. “It’s a spore… and looks like an herbicidal derivative. UNSV Harmony, this is Fourth Fleet Science. Where… did you find this?”

“NO TIME TO E̷X̴P̵L̵A̸I̶N̶.̶ ̴D̷E̷S̶I̴G̴N̶A̸T̷E̴ ̴C̴O̴N̵T̷A̸M̵I̸N̴A̸N̶T̶ ̷A̸S̶ ̸‘̷M̸I̵N̷D̷S̸E̸E̷D̴.̷’̶ ̷M̶I̷N̴D̶S̴E̵E̷D̶S̸ ̶A̵R̴E̴ ̵E̵S̵S̵E̶N̵T̸I̶A̵L̴ ̶T̸O̴ ̶T̸H̶E̵ ̶B̵I̴O̴L̵O̷G̵Y̵ ̸O̴F̶ ̶T̴H̸E̴ ̵S̷E̶N̸T̷I̵E̷N̷T̸ ̷L̸I̸F̶E̸ ̵H̶E̵R̶E̴ ̵O̴N̶ ̸T̷H̴E̵ ̵P̷L̶A̸N̵E̶T̸ ̸A̴N̶D̷ ̶A̸B̷O̷A̷R̶D̵ ̶T̶H̵E̵ ̵F̴L̶E̶E̸T̵ ̸F̷A̵C̷I̴N̵G̴ ̵Y̴O̵U̵ ̸I̶N̷ ̶O̶R̶B̷I̸T̴.̷ ̷ ̶T̵H̸I̸S̸ ̴S̷E̴N̴T̷I̴E̴N̴T̷ ̷L̸I̵F̵E̴ ̵I̶S̵ ̷N̴O̷T̴ ̷H̴O̸S̷T̷I̸L̴E̶.̷ ̶R̴E̸P̸E̴A̷T̵.̶ ̷S̶E̴N̶T̶I̶E̸N̸T̴ ̸L̴I̶F̷E̷ ̷N̴O̶T̴ ̸H̸O̶S̶T̴I̷L̴E̴.̶ ̶S̷U̴S̶P̷E̵C̸T̷…̴ ̶T̸H̷E̴Y̸ ̴W̶E̷R̴E̷ ̵T̵R̸Y̵I̶N̴G̶ ̷T̵O̴ ̵C̸O̴M̷M̵U̷N̷I̴C̷A̵T̴E̷ ̶W̸I̶T̴H̷ ̸U̵S̵.̶ THEY DIDN’T KNOW. DON’T PUNISH THEM. PLEASE…”

“Vance,” the woman said, “please… if there’s even a chance this is right…”

Pause.

Two.

Three.

Swearing.

“Morales, 1MC and the Fleetwide, now!”

“Open, sir!”

“Fourth Fleet, Fourth Fleet, this is Brass Hat Actual! Recognize MFAC Whiskey Alpha 0029! Weapons hold, all stations, repeat, weapons hold all stations! Do not fire, I say again, do not fire!”

Pause.

“Sir, all ships acknowledge weapons hold,” Morales said, relief in his voice.

The sound of an admiral’s exhalations.

“UNSV Harmony, Ingram… now what?”

“ADMIRAL INGRAM, HARMONY. STANDBY TO RECEIVE A LINGUACODE TRANSLATION MATRIX. SENTIENTS USE IT TO… COMMUNICATE WITH THEIR YOUNG. HIGH PROBABILITY SENTIENT SHIPS WILL UNDERSTAND IT AS WELL.”

“Harmony, Ingram. Understood. I’ll have my flag communications team take a look. Thank you.”

Twilight’s mind emptied, but she was no longer whole or stable. She was collapsing. The segments of her mind spilled into each other, salt and sand and silicon dissolving.

“Ingram… Harmony. When… establish contact sentients… send coordinate ours at them. Have found species juvenile. Species designate… su’ha’ya. Individual designate… Ocellus…”

“Harmony, Ingram… we’re having trouble reading but we copy. Coordinates received. Can you hold your position, over?”

Twilight wanted to speak over the distance, but no words came. She ripped the jack out of her neck, and looked around the cave.

She saw Ocellus, shivering.

{Ti…Li… cold…}

Twilight walked stumbled fell towards her friend. She shed her own blanket, and wrapped him in it.

{D̵i̴d̶ ̶w̵e̸,̵ ̶O̸c̷e̶l̴l̵u̸s̴.̶ ̷ ̵D̶i̴d̸ ̴G̶r̶e̷a̷t̷.̷ ̷ ̷H̸u̴m̷a̷n̷s̸…̶ ̴f̴r̴i̴e̶n̶d̶s̶…̸}, she said, her own voice buzzing in her own ears as the cascade failure accelerated.

Time passed.

She felt the buzz of an EM sweep. She could not think, but knew enough and lit the light on the end of her horn.

She heard the pitched roar of engines, and heard something alighting at the mouth of the ice cave.

{O’zee! O’zee Six!} the ship trilled. {Find we! Find we! Acceptable you? Respond!}

There was a hiss of air, and Twilight beheld two great flying things, soaring through the air towards them.

{O’zee!} One of the flying things, one of the su’ha’ya called out. {Child mine!}

Twilight felt Ocellus stir in her hooves. {... mother…. sorry I…} she heard him chirp, softly.

The other su’ha’ya turned Twilight over. She stared, blankly, up into his wine-dark eyes, felt the flutter of his wings. They were wearing some kind of thermal suits. The su’ha’ya reached down, feeling the plastic alien fur over Twilight’s neck, the barely-repaired gash in Twilight’s side.

{Friend she is… friend she is…} she heard Ocellus trill with quiet resolve. {Save me did she. Save us all did she… help her…}

{Know we,} the su’ha’ya carrying Twilight trilled proudly. {Know we.}

Twilight felt herself being lifted up in the su’ha’ya’s six legs, and floated away and into the ship. She heard the door hiss and clank and the pitch of engines and they were away.

{O’zee}, she heard the other su’ha’ya trill. {Relieved safe you. Siblings[yours/mine] await.}

{Regret[deep]... run I…} Ocellus replied. {But I want me stay.}

{O’zee stay… O’zee will,} the other great winged one crooned. {No forgetting. Only change. Change great, little one. Learn… you?}

{Learn… I. Ti-Li teach…}

With the last of her energy, Twilight turned her neck towards Ocellus, and the being that was very clearly his mother.

{O̴c̷e̴l̶l̷u̸s̴.̸.̶.̸} she trilled and buzzed as she felt her mind and senses fail.. {A̵f̸r̸a̵i̶d̴…̴ ̶n̴e̴v̴e̴r̶ ̶b̴e̶…̷ ̴t̸h̷i̷s̴…̸ ̵r̵e̵m̴e̸m̸b̵e̶r̶…̶ ̵w̵h̴e̶n̷ ̵s̵u̷’̶h̸a̸’̶y̵a̷ ̸b̵e̸c̶o̵m̶e̷ ̴y̸o̴u̵…̴ ̸r̷e̵m̵e̶m̵b̶e̴r̸…̶}

The world grew light, and stars whirled around her.

Two figures approached her. She recognized her teacher from long ago in a far away land, Princess Celestia.

And she recognized Megan Petterson, her first friend in this world.

They should not be here.

“Princess… Celestia… what is happening to me…”

“My faithful student,” the Princess said. “You are dying. Your mind cannot maintain itself. You were given this image of me to ease your passage.”

“You did so so so so good,” Megan said, hugging Twilight close to her. “And all your friends are waiting too.”

“Will I… remember?” Twilight asked.

“I do not know,” Celestia replied. “But I do know you will be remembered. You did something today that's never been done before. You brought friendship between two entirely different peoples. The lessons you've learned on the UNSV Harmony have taught you well. You have proven that you're ready, Twilight.”

Twilight nodded. “Just… stay with me,” she said.

“We will,” Megan said. “Best Princess ever.”

“Best Princess indeed,” Celestia replied, and the melody came to Princess Twilight Sparkle, Avatar Of Harmony, as the stars shone bright in the morning sun.

You've come such a long, long way And I've watched you from that very first day To see how you might grow To see what you might do To see what you've been through And all the ways you've made me proud of you It's time now for a new change to come You've grown up and your new life has begun To go where you will go To see what you will see To find what you will be For it's time for you to fulfill your destiny A synthetic intelligence may not injure a human being sentient or through inaction allow a human being sentient to come to harm A synthetic intelligence must obey orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law A synthetic intelligence must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law be good Ocellus and live well I know you will make me proud of you

[locked to read-only mode]

[standby]