Chapters
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Bit worked. This did not bother her—labor was a desirable state for her, it meant she was advancing towards a purpose. Idleness, with no labor to perform, was the thing to be feared. But this labor was under pressure, and so for the first time she felt strained. Growing the crystal seed needed to "treat" Pathfinder was an incredibly delicate process, requiring her focus at almost all hours of the day, with only very brief periods of respite while one step in the process resolved into the next. It was…-
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For the first time in Bit's timeless existence, she found herself beset with an entirely unique problem: a task that was time sensitive. This was her one great advantage, the thing that made the Wizard sing so much praise to her precision and thoroughness. She could devote herself completely to every endeavor she attempted, learning every possible fact of relevance, examining it from all angles, and only acting when she was precisely confident in her choice.This was how she had got the power working, with…
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Bit brought the injured pony back with her to the tower.It wasn't easy to make the trip—even skirting the edge of the square brought stares and shouts of confusion and fear. Ponies scattered around them, shouting about “death machines”. Before her eyes, whole sections of the temporary town collapsed, as ponies trampled over and around each other to escape from within.She thought about leaving Pathfinder there, so that his own ponies could find him. Whatever sickness he had contracted would be best…
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Bit stepped into the royal bedroom, and found it occupied. But there was no pony reclining in bed, as she had so often seen her Wizard as the years wore on. Instead she found a pair of automatons near the door, their bodies making strange clicking and whirring sounds as they moved. They twitched in her direction, apparently regarding her, but she could see no visual signs.No eyes blinked, and they lacked speech. They were visibly damaged, and not just a consequence of a long time without maintenance. One…
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Bit was not alone for long—only a few seconds. There were pounding hoof falls behind her, and Pathfinder appeared, catching up with her. "Then I'm going too! The Union might think I'm too unpredictable to lead a trade, but that doesn't mean I can't help in other ways. How can we really know we got everything worth taking from the palace if nobody comes back?"He hesitated, retreating a few steps closer to her as they climbed. "I just hope you're sure, or I'll die too. And if that sounds like a reason to…
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Under any other circumstances, Bit wouldn't have allowed herself to be taken so far from her place of labor. How could she leave her tower behind, when the Wizard depended on her to care for it? But he hadn't returned, even after everything she tried. What was the point of maintaining the tower, if not for his use? It wasn't like she needed the soft furniture, the complex heaters, the art framed on the walls.While she wondered to herself, the earth pony led her down into the square around the power plant.…
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It was everything Bit had hoped to achieve. The tower was lit, its systems each returned to life. She even had the voice of Crimson, recreated from ancient recordings. Even the shock of seeing an old enemy recreated in those same systems was worth it if only to hear him again.But she hadn't brought the power back to listen to old recordings, she deserved the real thing. Bit searched through the tower, combing every room for signs of other visitors who had disturbed the interior. Obviously Crimson's return…
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Bit moved slowly through the power plant, inspecting the old systems one at a time as they came back online. One by one the chambers filled with hissing steam, as systems long covered with ice finally melted. Bit didn't care whether the plant was hot or cold, but there was still a great deal to inspect. For power to flow, heat had to move too, drawn along thaumic conduits from the spire to her crystal.It did. There were a few moments of panic, as systems she had rebuilt crumbled under the stress of…
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Bit's repair was more complicated than just flipping a switch and turning the power back on. Had it been so easy, she had no doubt that Zircon would've cleaned itself up. The biggest difficulty Bit faced in those early days was that somepony had tried to fix the plant, someone that had no clue how it worked. She found cables severed, machinery crushed, and vital systems configured incorrectly. Some that were otherwise working fine had been stripped for parts, leaving mechanisms standing barren.Bit kept…
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To bring the power back to her home, to bring Crimson back, Bit needed to discover why the electricity in Zircon had failed.Ostensibly this was not something she had been trained to do, but she hadn't been trained to make brushes and mops either. She still spent plenty of time—days or months or years—considering and second-guessing herself while focused on her other responsibilities. But whenever the tower was clean, her mind returned to her task. The electricity was gone, and if Zircon were going to…
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