Owl and Vision would just sit back, waiting while looking over the transpiring events on their wrist computers. Both would watch what would happen now that Anomaly had control over the CCS systems in multiple cities. Throughout them the screen boards would be white, purple letters spelling out...
"I am here, and I am here to save you all. The weapons once used to terrify you all is now in my power, and I will use it against those who seek to control you. The ones on top, the ones who seek to turn you into machines able to follow orders on a simple command. Go on with your lives, I will unlock the other functions of the CCS, you need not fear anymore."
Anomaly would find the Virus being attacked online, dozens of Digital Hoof hackers striking against it. She would sigh inside, asking "Can I not reason with you all?" She would attempt to message the DJ, messaging "Audio...I mean no malice in what I am doing, why don't you understand??"
She would get an answer back, reading as "It's not any intents of malice, it's the fact you're taking on the kind of power grab that the crones up in Harmonize would! Stop this! Destroy the virus and the PRS system, that's the way to help end things!"
"I will destroy the PRS system, but I believe the Virus can be used for good. We need something decisive, this is a turning point were social order can either collapse, be conned by Harmonize, or a combination. I want neither, I want a better means than that. Please don't stop me, I don't want to have to attack you."
"You bucking will! Unless you come to your senses!"
Anomaly would sigh once more from where she sat on the bus, controlling the large vehicle and parking it near a station among a number of others. She readied herself to fight them but had no intention of destroying computers. It wouldn't be hard to crash the computers and repair the systems she was running at first, but soon more and more came. She would manage, but not without some effort. She could multitask though and would do so to carry out her first objective.
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Owl would get a message from Cypher, telling him "Owl.....you have to destroy the mainframe! You have to stop Anomaly, please!"
He and Vision would receive a request for a call, accepting alongside Vision before he would answer. "Cypher....I don't know what to decide...."
"Owl, don't be disillusioned by her intentions. Remember, the princesses accepted Myriad's bucked up plan with 'good intentions' Anomaly is not immune to having her good intentions go wrong!"
Entering the call Data would say "Help us out, we can band together and try to make things right. We can fight Harmonize, rally the guards on our side against them and reform things! End Myriad's plans, and take things back to where they used to be! The guard protecting Equestria like it has since the industrial days! Ponies having peace of mind, baddies fearing us!"
Owl would tear up, gritting his teeth as he said "Don't you bucking see Data....that is all over! The Guard has failed! Look around you, we couldn't stop anything! Cyber Security was useless, and ponies have died! Panic is rising up." He trembled, the dark clouds of doubt shrouding the skies of his mind into a night like darkness. "Those days...where we were the unstoppable heroes...they're over...gone...We can't have them back, it's too late."
Vision looked to Owl, looking in shock, disbelief at what he was seeing. Yet the circumstances of their situation would creep into his mind as well. He couldn't believe it at first, that after all his years serving the guard it would end like this. End with one big defeat, their objective failed.
"Anomaly's our only hope for anything remotely like what was before. She's the only hope for something that can be effective enough not to die out like this."
"Owl! Don't say that!" Data would say "We can do it! We can undo what they did, we can convince Anomaly to our side! Don't you want things like how they were, FIGHT FOR IT!"
"I do wanna fight for something, fight against both Harmonize and the criminals of the Underground. So does Anomaly, she has the same goals as us, and we need ponies like her. Harmonize has deadly androids now, along with the PRS, they'll likely not let anything stop their plans. And they'll use force if needed, or just apprehend and hook their enemies to the system. We can't fight for our old objectives anymore Cypher, we've failed them, and Anomaly is our only hope." Owl would say. "Call me back when you realize that." he would finish, before closing out of the call.
"Vision! Please you have to stop Anomaly!" Cypher would shout.
"Owl's right, old system's broken, we need a new one." before he too closed out.
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Cypher would quickly track their Wrist computers, growling as she said "They found the bucking mainframe and dealt with my sister, idiots think they've completely FAILED!?" a shout bringing her sentence to end. Putting a waypoint on her wrist computer she would pack her main computer into a bag before telling Data "Pack up your computer Data, and have your gun ready."
Data would tear up, saying desperately "Please tell me we aren't going to have to shoot them!" before yelping as she was slapped.
"No, we're going to find the mainframe and shoot out the cooling system. Without it the sheer amount of data will overload and fry it."
Sniffling and clearing her tears she asked "What about Owl, and Vision? They're going to try to stop us!"
"We'll have to try to sneak past them, if worse comes to worse you will. You're the one with stealth training, since you're partially a field operative."
Data would nod, packing up her computer and getting up.
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Myriad would watch as the lights went out in her office, grimacing as she said "What are you doing, Anomaly? Going to try and buck with the inner systems of this building? We haven't lost completely Anomaly, ponies will turn to Harmonize as this society collapses! We will rebuild!"
Being pulled into a call she would hear Anomaly's voice "Let's see you rebuild after this." Anomaly would put her virus into action, taking over the minds of countless guards within the facility. Them, along with the androids that were kept in storage "I will bring their minds back, but only once I deal with you and your board of executives."
"What do you mean 'deal' with us???" Myriad asked, as two guards walked up to her door, looking to them she would draw guns as Anomaly said.
"Like this." As holes were shot through the door, forcing Myriad to duck under her table, pulling out her self-defense sidearm, an EQUE-TECH SA-800 series .45 caliber pistol.
"You think of me as just some corporate crone, I even though of myself as one at one time. That's why I've joined with Harmonize, to try to be something better. EQUE-TECH was formed around the notion that technology should be developed for the betterment of the future, and I sought to extend that notion by using our Technology to protect Equestria. Use it to protect it from ponies like you!" Aiming her gun out she would shoot out the legs of the guards as they walked in, the emotionless guards stumbling and almost dropping their guns. She would aim at their heads, saying "I will shoot them, and they will die! Are you going to let just two guards turn into collateral??"
This would legitimately make Anomaly pause, at least in trying to kill Myriad. Alongside dealing with Digital Hoof's attacks she would ponder on this notion, before saying. "You're right, I shouldn't kill you. Instead, I am going to let you watch as your system is destroyed. Starting with your board of executives, old crones with nothing but money addictions. Nothing had mattered to them more than digibits, it's their narcotic, practically a mercy to kill them."
The screen board in Myriad's room would activate, showing the executives as they stayed in their room, surrounded by guards. They were kept their in the wake of the chaos as a means of precaution, but now the Guards stood emotionless, and would aim their guns at them.
"NO! WHAT ARE YOU...!?" Myriad shouted, bearing witness as the audio feed was filled with gunshots. A brief panic and struggle would ensue before the old ponies succumbed to their wounds. The guards would be made to walk out of the room, locking it. "Anomaly.....you're a bucking terrorist!"
"Assassin is a better term in this case, terrorists use collateral tactics and sewing fear for their goals. Me, I'm using a precision means, and not with fear." Anomaly would reply, putting the Guards' minds back into their bodies as she said "Your PRS is next." before she closed the call.
Myriad would look to the guards, before getting up and calling Golden, once she answered the CEO would say "We made a lot of errors with Anomaly, partially because of your advice. Now look where it has gotten us, there is only one thing we can try to do. Anomaly must be eliminated, by any means necessary, and don't cry to me. She isn't your sister anymore, she is trying to destroy almost everything we worked for........"
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Anomaly would message the DJ, saying "We can work together and stop all this. We have the same enemies, please...." Her only response would be a bass cannon program deployed on her systems. Seesaw would assist in keeping the Virus repaired while dealing with any hackers. Communicating with the AI she would say "It is time, get your program ready, we are going to destroy the PRS and protect all with brain augs."
"Let us begin." The AI would communicate back, and once they were ready it would distribute its protection program using the PRS. Anomaly would wait for a time for the protection program to spread, made to lock out the PRS's functions from their minds and to protect from any future system. All the while she would keep protecting the virus and its hold on the city from Digital Hoof attacks, communicating "I'm going to destroy the PRS! I am going to save the citizens of Equestria!"
She would continue defending the system, waiting as more and more ponies hooked to the PRS were given the program into their brain augs. Hours would pass by, while fighting continued online even as the remaining Freedom Fighter hackers retreated offline.
Monster Buster would be doing more stealthy work, using careful manual hacking and spy programs to pick her way into the virus. Despite being a filly, she proved to be doing well with focus and diligence a filly her age would only be expected to have toward a trading card game. Tazen would watch her, while continuing her own fight to try and stop Anomaly.
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As the door to his room unlocked, along with the jammer that cut off his Internet access, Doctor Freemane would walk out of his room, before looking to his wrist computer as he got a message.
"I am glad you are safe, I have taken action and eliminated the EQUE-TECH board of executives. I am enacting my plan to destroy Harmonize's PRS. Your data from that facility is safe and sound within my mind, though I hope my further actions from here on will not make us enemies.."
He would walk out, seeing the body of Doctor composite with a pool of blood. Though his skull implant repaired itself, the blood and lack of vitals showed he was indeed dead. "It seems in the pursuit of making a change you met your downfall, Doctor Composite. Once a great scientist of GOUSSE, turned an extremist and a tool of a group that was supposed to be our tool. Though we have largely succeeded in breaking the system and tearing the veil, has it really come at a worthwhile cost? I fear the same fate may befall Anomaly, that which has now left you dead on the floor, seven stories underground."
Looking in the direction Composite was originally facing, he would see the cybernetic body of his killer. A hole through her head as well, her dark brown mane soaked with artificial blood and her artificial skin torn up to reveal the parts underneath. Walking up he would look to the military jacket she wore, seeing name "M. Heart" on it. "It seems you are a war veteran. I know not whether you were commanded by Anomaly or Harmonize to come here and take Composite's life, but it seems you have succeeded in your goal."
Walking out of the room he would look down the Neon hallway, walking toward it as the lights reflected off his glasses. The Zebra would continue walking down until the arcade room and mainframe came into his sight, along with DK's body and the two Bats who presumably brought her end. Walking through the open sliding doors he would approach the two bats. They would look to him with fright, and he would raise his hoof.
"I am of no threat to either of you, I am simply observing. Seems you have defeated DK, and now sit by the mainframe."
"We're protecting it, Anomaly's using it now." Owl would reply simply "Who are you?"
"A name you have never and will never see in records, Doctor Freemane. I am from the underground's more...scientific reaches. So you both now work for Anomaly, presumably opposed to Harmonize and its intentions. I do have my own fears that Anomaly will end up succumbing to her power, and if you wish to seek the interests of society you will want to deal with her."
"What do you mean 'succumbing' to her power?" Vision would ask.
"The power will 'get to her head' as they say, it's the same reason why the PRS is a system that must not be allowed to come to power. I admire her plans to destroy the PRS, and the power it gives with it, if only she could see the ironic power she is taking for herself. She threatens to become a new and different kind of PRS, a vigilante kind of system that can end up with hazardous error to her actions and intentions"
"Anomaly's not trying to gain power, she's trying to stop those in power and protect from them." Owl would object, his mind clinging to the hope he saw that was Anomaly.
"She may not be intending that, but she has clearly taken power over the CCS systems in almost every city in Equestria. There is no telling what a mare will do when she practically controls almost every automated system in a city. She as apparently gone as far as to arrange the killing of EQUE-TECH's board of executives."
Vision would spit and say "Buck em, buck EQUE-TECH, good for nothing but pumping out weapons and gadgets."
"Whether or not their death isn't much of a loss is not important. What is important is that she is willing to have ponies killed that she viewed as needing to be eliminated. How can we know she won't take that too far? How do you know she won't eventually push to extremes? The only thing that moderates her power is Digital Hoof, though I can imagine theirs is a struggle against her..."
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"Come on! Bucking crash!" The DJ would shout from behind her screen, sending another bass cannon Program, watching as hackers all over the web were crashed. Her attempts to protect her computer were also a struggle, forcing her on the defensive multiple times. Tazen would send a message to Owl begging him to stop it, only for it to be ignored, she would try over and over again till the number was blocked. Monster Buster would continue her stealthy crack into the Virus, the filly focused yet somewhat scared of the overwhelming program she was facing.
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"Is there any other hope rather than Anomaly??" Owl would ask, shouting at the Zebra. "She's the only thing online giving ponies hope! Helping to calm the chaos that is going online, helping to turn ponies away from Harmonize's damage control."
"Do you really think that all hope must rest on one mare? All of it on one singular and straightforward solution? That is the way of Harmonize, Lunar Guard." Freemane would say calmly. "Why not find your hope in ponies like yourself? You have gotten this far, sure you have failed but you are clearly capable of much."
"We can't just change things on our own!"
"Not on your own, but with others, with a more 'individualized' movement. Instead of just going one way in these times, take advantage of the system's breaking to bring a more flexible solution. Don't let yourself be so easily swayed by intentions of good, think for yourself and be willing to question what you know and what you are told. In fact, I believe it is the lack of such thinking for oneself, lack of questioning the status quo that helped the system form. That has helped lead to where society is today, controlled and ruled through ignorance. Break through the ignorance, don't let it rule you, only then might you find the path to a better society." Freemane would say "That is my advice to you, do with it as you will, for I believe in giving ponies and all creatures of sentience a choice."
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A taxi autocarriage would roll up to Ponyville, Cypher and Data stepping out before taking flight into the tourist town now deserted in the wake of the chaos. Following their waypoint, they would head toward sugarcube corner, the old yet decorative and well-maintained building now used as a museum. Searching their way through, they would eventually find their way down the stairs, stepping quietly.
"We're going to have to keep quiet, yet quick. The less noise we make the better, but being fellow bats it will be hard to sneak by their ears. Which is why we will have to be quick, find the fans and shoot them out." Cypher would whisper, Data nodding and flying out into the first atrium with Cypher. Destroyed sprite drones and spent shell casings would litter the floor.
Trying to calm her nerve-wracked mind Data would think with some humor, despite humor being inappropriate in their situation "Well that sucks, looks like we missed the party." she would say in her head. No call was being made between them, as they feared Anomaly might detect it and give them away. Flying down the neon-lit tunnel hallway they would soon enough find themselves in the second atrium, where the Mainframe, Owl, Vision, and a Zebra in a brown trench coat could be seen. The two would look to find the ceiling fans, before looking at eachother and nodding.
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Owl would suddenly hear faint flapping in his hearing, his ears perking before he looked to see two ponies swoop in. Gunshots would echo as shots were fired at the fans, and only then would he get a good look at them. "Data....Cypher???"
Cypher would look to him for a moment with a scowl as she said "We're stopping this, NOW!"
Vision would swiftly take flight, moving in and smacking Cypher's hoof to put her aim off. Quickly he would attempt to get her in a grapple, but in reply she would fight back. The two would struggle, exchanging some punches between them. Owl would attempt to fly, but would fall to the side and land roughly with the cuts in his wings. Climbing up he would hop along the tops of the server stacks, jumping and tackling Data as she flew and fired at the Fans. Thus another struggle would ensue, as Owl and Data both struggled as well.
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Anomaly would deem it time and ready, taking her virus and putting it into the PRS. Her command for it would be to attack and destroy, corrupt and damage any and all programming within it. Like a firebomb she would activate it, letting it spread and sew chaos within the PRS. Those that monitored it would be helpless to stop it as it sewed chaos within the PRS' mainframe, corrupting data and causing fatal glitches.
As she watched the PRS fall apart and decimate, she would look into her files, finding where she kept Metal Heart. She would let the AI deal with defending the Virus from Digital Hoof while she communicated with the uploaded mind.
"I am sorry you have lost what is left of your body, that shot proving lethal. But if DK can get herself a new body through bionics then so can you, for now, what is the number of your grandchildren?"
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A filly and colt would be sitting on a couch, watching cartoons their step parents streamed onto their apartment's living room screen. The filly's little wrist computer would activate, the notification sound coming through as she gained a message. Looking at it she would smile and say happily "Gramma!"
"Sweeties, I need your help, gramma has lost her body for good and she needs to be kept in your place's computer. Can you please put the flash drive in your wrist computer?"
"Gramma needs our help." The filly would say, hopping off and walking to the work computer their stepparents used. Pulling a large flash drive out she would plug it into the pink colored device that wrapped around her foreleg. After a moment she would get the message "Alright, wait ten seconds and then pull it out, and put it back in the computer." Fortunately, in this Cyber Era it was not unusual for children to have basic understanding of the use of electronics, and thus it made her directions easy. Sticking it back the filly looked back into the colt, who having peeked on the messages asked.
"Is Gramma inside the computer now?"
"Yea! She says she lost her body." The Filly said.
"Maybe she needs help finding it again." The colt replied, before their stepfather walked in and looked to see the computer turn on.
"Did you turn on the computer?" He asked "What did I tell you about..." before he looked to see it seemingly taken over and a picture of Metal Heart brough up. A document was opened up, words being typed out.
"It's me, Metal Heart, I'm not a hacker, but I have a lot to tell you."
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Anomaly would smile, watching as Metal heart left her mind's storage to hopefully be with family. It was sad to her that the mare was now without body, just an uploaded consciousness on the Net. Given she had a cybernetic body it was evident she lost her body once before, now she didn't have an organic brain left. At least she could be with her grandchildren, even if they could only ever communicate through text.
Looking back to the PRS she would watch it continue to break down and destroy the PRS system. For the eyes of a mare well versed in programming, it was a violent destruction, chaotic and glitchy. Checking on Seesaw she would see the AI was doing well enough defending her virus from the attacks of Digital Hoof. Looking back to the crumbling PRS she would smile, smile as she watched the chaos through the projections in her eyes. The PRS was now little more than a chaotic digital landscape of scrambled and corrupted code, being further torn apart by the virus put in.
In an unknown location, a mainframe would be emitting smoke, the room it is in wet after the fire activated the ceiling mounted water sprinklers. Ponies would sit in a room next to the one which housed the damaged mainframe, faces in their hooves as they sat in front of screens showing the destruction of the system they were tasked with monitoring.
Anomaly would watch as the whole PRS system crashed, a hard crash it could never reboot from. A system once connected to millions of citizens was now offline. Offline for good, or at least until another such system was constructed and attempted. She knew her work wouldn't be over here, hence her claim to the power that was the virus. Returning to her virus in the CCS systems she would send another message to the DJ.
"I am not going to retain my control over the CCS, at least not constantly. The PRS is destroyed, and have done my best to curb the panic and fear. I won't rule over the CCS like an overlord, I will just remain prepared to take it and use it as a weapon alongside the virus."
The message back would be "You'll become a vigilante overlord eventually, all that power in the hooves of one mare? It will go to your head!"
Anomaly would sigh again before Seesaw put her into a call.
"Anomaly, errors have been happening in my program. The Virus reached into the minds of ponies with the program, and it has managed to break through it in many cases."
"What!?" Anomaly would respond, shouting it out loud before taking a check on her virus, it was now uploading a few ponies onto the net, while causing the brain augmentations of almost all of them to overload. She would work desperately for a solution, working quickly and thinking quickly. If the brain augmentations overloaded it would very likely kill those who had them installed. Time was running out, as the brains of those who were uploaded fried. "Seesaw! Help me!" The AI would come to her aid, and they would soon discover that the AI's program itself was in a volatile and error-prone state. Though they could theoretically stop it, there was not enough time before their brains rapidly fried. Anomaly would be left with just option to save these ponies.
Millions would be uploaded onto the InterNet, their minds frying as they were pulled online just in time. Ponies would freeze, then drop on the streets. The DJ would hear news of this from many of her hackers, and would send a message to Anomaly in the form of. "LOOK WHAT YOU HAVE DONE! LOOK!"
Anomaly would cover her face, closing her eyes tightly and looking at surveillance camera footage for a moment before pulling off, wishing she could close her eyes from what she was seeing. The AI would round up the uploaded minds, asking Anomaly...
"What should we do with them? I do not believe anything can store all these ponies in one place."
Anomaly would be without an answer to this, an error happened causing nothing short of a catastrophe for her plan. Before she could fully grasp what had happened, she would suddenly lag herself. Caught by surprise she would be bombarded as something came in from the shadows of Cyberspace to strike her. As her systems slowed down severely, she would be hit with shotgun programs crossed together with even more Data bombs. She would attempt to put up her defenses, but would be slow in doing so in her lagged state. As she drew near crash she would see, and in disbelief, DK. Before she could figure out how, her systems would crash down hard.
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Owl and Vision would continue to struggle with Data and Cypher, before the rapid electronic sounds of sprite drones could be heard, activating from a shelf on the wall and taking flight. They would fly into position before projecting a hologram. Cypher and Vision would stop, before Owl and Data did so too.
"No....can't be!" Vision shouted.
"....Delete Key?"
The holographic projection of the cyberterrorist in edgy attire herself was before them, before she laughed. "Kept your hope in Anomaly huh? Too bad I crashed her systems! She may have had the better hardware, but could never have had the experience with hers I have had! Now, to exploit her virus for one last ownage to the system! Also she fried the minds of millions of ponies leaving them not but ghosts online without a shell, so she kinda helped! Ain't that a cruel irony!"
Owl would get up, a look of horror on his face, before growling as he pulled his suppressed pistol out and started shooting at the fans. Vision, Data, and Cypher would join in on firing at the fans within the room. DK would reply...
"Wow you guys are real tailholes, took me forever and a lotta Digibit to make that. Oh well, not like I need it! I got Anomaly's virus! And a whole lot of CCS to buck with!" DK would take over the virus swiftly, hindered only by Seesaw's attempts to stop her and prevent the takeover. They were futile, as the AI would soon find itself data bombed into submission and shut down with the override. Once white screen boards with purple text turned red with white text, telling some old messages from the incident on the block as well as more. Openly telling of Anomaly's crashing, and of the failures of the Guard and system to protect them. Autocarriages would begin to go haywire again, and street lights would begin to catch fire as they were overloaded with electricity.
The chaos on Messengerbird, panic and fleeing on the streets, and the now dead bodies would all be broadcast to all those within DK's server room. Freemane would within the room, having observed the struggle while also observing things online. He would witness Anomaly crash as he observed their fight in cyberspace, he would sigh as she saw her fall come. It was the kind of crash that could destroy even a high-performance computer. He would watch as Owl fell back on his rump, taking his face in his hooves and gun as he teared up. Another failure and loss, replaced with more chaos.
"As for you buckers, for leaving my server stacks to fry and breaking my body I've sent some pones your way to pop caps in you. Best bionic thugs in these parts of Everfree! Not all us hackers are skinny and unable to fight after all~ So have fun!" DK would say, before the hologram deactivated.
Owl would remain in his position, his bionic fingers tightening on his face as he said to the others. "Go....I'll keep them drawn here....just go."
Data looked to Owl, grimacing as she said "Don't you even bucking dare go with the whole sacrifice cliche-" before looking as he aimed his gun at her, aiming around at the others.
"Go...now." he said, the second word accompanied with a baring of fangs. "I can't take this anymore....the one thing I lived for, being able to save and protect ponies. It has gone to nothing....nothing....bucking go."
Vision would get a pained look, while Cypher said "We can still try to make a change Owl, please."
Cypher's response would be having the silenced weapon fired, aiming over her head. "Go try and fight for that dead system, it died with Kevlar. I've lost hope....well what are you waiting for? GO!" He shouted, inciting them to get going, taking flight.
Server stacks would begin to smoke, catching fire, as the lights on the ceiling would overload and burst, adding to the fires. Soon amber light and the remaining red and blue lights from the server stacks would be all that illuminated the server room. All while Owl sat where he was, the screen board just above the sliding doors broadcasting society's breakdown. Tears would flow from Owl's eyes as he sat within what he viewed as a microcosm of the world he knew, set alight and burning away. He would hope in his mind that wherever Bug Byte and Night Haze were, that they would be able to live at least a semi-decent life in this changed Equestria.
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The DJ would watch online as DK took over the Virus, and began to wreak havoc. More and more of her hackers were crashed, and many were demoralized and scared. Messages flooded to Audio, telling that Digital Hoof had lost, and that they were scared, asking if there was anything that could be done. She would look down, before growling and continuing to fight.
"We can't stop, we have to keep going, we have to keep fighting. Fighting against any power that might oppress Equestria whether they be in government or beyond! If we can only win this, we can reach out to the scared masses. Let them know the failures of their government and powers, and encourage them to carry on and live as individuals. Not to trust the blinding veil of surveillance state security and let themselves be kept in a bubble of propaganda. We can't just sit by and let it all fall apart. We have one enemy, and we can defeat her together!" would be spammed to all the computers she could send them to.
Keeping her defenses up the DJ would send Assassin Programs, set up traps, and use the bass cannon program in her ongoing fight with the online leviathan she faced before her. Night Haze would soon go into the fight after rebooting from a soft crash, but not before doing something else. She couldn't help but try to track and check on him in these times of chaos. She would look through the cameras to see him, in a server room being taken by a growing fire. She panicked, trying to send message after message to him, attempting to call him multiple times to no avail. Tearing up she would multitask, fighting while trying to contact Owl to get him out of there.
Fighting would go online, with some progress on damaging the Virus and DK at the cost of a few hacker's computers. Autocarriages would pull into Ponyville, before thugs with guns stepped out and walked to the corner and into the underground section. Minutes would feel like hours to Haze as she attempted to help Audio while trying to communicate to Owl. She would get just one reply from him, watching as he slowly typed away on the wrist computer.
"I've lost hope, quit bothering with me. Why bother, didn't we split?" From there he remained silent and without any answers. Audio would get battered by sniper rockets and shotguns as she continued the fight, backing up data to reverse the damage on her system. The fighting online would go on for a grueling amount of time, against odds that the hactivists could only barely have the will to face off against. They would drop offline like flies, though not without doing some damage. Some would come back, others wouldn't, and the number of those that came back would begin to dwindle over time.
Bug Byte would keep manually hacking her way into the Virus and DK, but it became increasingly difficult for even the smart filly to get along undetected. The encryption grew more difficult to crack through, and the pressure grew on her. But she would not give up, she saw the ultimate computer monster which she wanted to slay and destroy. She had the will to go on, even as the risk of getting detected and battered by DK's hacks grew stronger.
"Let's kick things up a notch! Let's see you survive when the Virus is attacking YOU!" DK would send, a message sent to many a hacker as she suddenly turned the virus on them. The hactivists would find their defenses broken through quickly and their systems torn up by the fast-acting virus. Even Audio would be forced on the defenses as she struggled to not let her system be overtaken. Haze would undergo the same struggle, watching her daughter type and click away and seeing her as their only hope.
The filly would continue cracking, eventually finding her way into the Virus' systems, breaking into the code she would put as many Data bomb traps as she could, while also working to manually crack into DK herself. Seeing more and more of her allies fall so quickly made the Filly start to panic, growing dangerously close to making fatal errors as she cracked her way in. Byte would continue her efforts, averting DK's system checks numerous times. She would quickly activate the Data Bombs, slowing the Virus down and giving her friends and mother breathing room.
"Whaaaat??? Who slowed my pwnage machine!? Somepone's gonna pay for that!" DK would message out, before looking her systems over. A game of cat and mouse would ensue within cyberspace, Byte trying her best to cover her tracks and stay hidden while she cracked in. Unfortunately, DK would prove to do well at multitasking, moving to deal with the data bombs put within the Virus' programming.
Audio and Haze, the DJ and Tazen, would squeeze out whatever attacks they could alongside their attempts at defense. DK had the upper hoof, and it was only a matter of time before their systems would lag with the constant activation of defensive programs. Pressure mounted on the filly as she carried on with her manual hacking and evasion from DK's pursuit. Minutes felt like hours to all of them as they carried on in the fight.
DK would find Bug Byte, halting her efforts and sending a message "Well well well one hacker comes in thinking they can be the one to stop me? Hahaha, looks like you couldn't stop me." DK would get a message soon afterward, saying.
"Get bucked you big bully!" Followed by a barrage directly into DK's systems. The filly had prepared a last-ditch method, putting up as many turret programs as possible, all crossed with data bombs as they bombarded and slowed DK down. The filly's computer would struggle to handle it, lagging and going on the verge of crashing. She would put forth one last attack, a sniper rocket crossed with a Shotgun, right into DK's system. Byte had gotten in far enough that these attacks would prove effective. DK would glitch, lag, the coding that made her up breaking up and corrupting.
"No buck! Buck! Buck!!! Welp, good job you win." Would be DK's last message before she broke apart into corrupted fragments of data. Effectively, DK had died, her thinking and thoughts gone with only a corpse of code left behind. The filly would pant, her computer left with a blue screen of death, looking through things on her wrist computer.
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Owl would be suddenly pulled into a call, where he heard a familiar voice he hadn't heard in far too long.
"Daddy! Go! The fire will hurt you, we won daddy! We won! And mommy wants to see you, please Daddy come here!" Byte's voice would come through.
Haze's voice would come as well into the call as she joined, saying "DK is gone, for good this time. Look at the screen, we've won. Not without losses, but we've won. The ponies, on the streets, they aren't gone! Just uploaded, without bodies anymore, but we are gathering them and keeping them safe."
Camera footage would come and show the Screen boards shutting off, before reverting back to their usual advertisements. Autocarriages would stop going haywire, and the intact ones would continue on their normal way. Owl would get up slowly, wiping the tears from his bloodshot eyes.
"Have hope Owl, join us and we can bring hope. We can work for a better place, without neither terror like this nor the oppressive role of overbearing authority. Equestria will change after this, we can help it change for the better."
Owl would get up on his hooves, taking the gun in his mouth as he walked out of the room. He would suddenly find himself stabbed in the side of the neck with something, and his punch would be blocked as Freemane said: "Relax, for it is merely a healing serum."
The bat would grimace as he felt his wounds heal up, and the membranes of his wings closed up. He would flap, before taking flight and looking to Freemane.
"You chose to live, I hope it is to be no longer in pursuit of collective extreme causes. Neither Anomaly nor Harmonize could save Equestria from the coming darkness within it. But ponies who can act on their own, make their own decisions, when banding together they can fight it. This is only the beginning, I predict that the struggle between the System and Underground will escalate. if you wish to bring a better world, I advise that you be willing to think beyond what others think. Don't let yourself be trapped in another bubble."
Hoofsteps would be heard down the neon-lit tunnel, the lights in the room burst leaving only the fires in the server and the ambient neon from the tunnel providing what little lighting there was. The six thugs would move in, unicorns armed with shotguns as they activated flashlights on their weapons and spread out to search. They found no sign of the others, but had been informed at least one stayed behind. As one walked around a VR pod they would find their weapon grabbed, the stock smashed into their horn before it was smashed into their head. The now unconscious stallion's friends would rush to the pod to his aid, looking around with their sticker and vinyl covered weapons as they searched around.
From the darkness, Owl would come out, pulling the barrel of a shotgun away before punching its holder. The weapon would be thrown into the face of the next thug, making them miss their shot before taking a punch to the stomach. Kicking up he would score his next knockout. Flying quickly he escape their flashlights and gunshots, prompting them to search around. One would be pulled down under a table, their panicked call for help followed by a loud sound of impact. Another would be drop kicked, followed by the one next to them aiming only to have their horn punched and head smashed into a table. The last two would run for the neon hall, hoping to corner him and force him to escape his cover of darkness. One wouldn't make it before they were grabbed and dragged back into the darkness. Being the last one left, the last thug would keep his weapon aimed, Aiming the flashlight into the darkness and trying to scope his target out. A flash would appear, and the thug would drop to the ground.
Owl would fly out of the dark atrium as the Neon lights began to dim, along with the emergency lights in the other atrium. He would fly down the neon tunnel, away from the burning end he once left himself to. He would fly out from sugarcube corner as the sun was setting. The last few rays of orange dimming in the sky as the midnight blues began to take over. The bat would sit down and watch the sunset, watching as the night took over while he rested. Sending a message back to Night, he would ask "Mind getting me a waypoint?" before one was given almost immediately.
He would order a taxi, waiting until an autocarriage missing its front fender rolled up to him. Entering it he would sit back, looking up through the transparent roof to the night sky. He would smile slightly, the moon showing as the Taxi made its way toward the waypoint he gave it. Hope, something he had lost more and more of throughout this entire experience, something he now had back. Even if he would end up being hunted by Harmonize, he could still find some allies and try to help bring a better world. If it was from Digital Hoof he would gain help, then so be it. The world was changing, eyes were opened and now ponies would have to choose whether to join the system or underground. With Haze and whatever friends she had, he wanted to make sure ponies chose to oppose Harmonize and its system, but not abandon their morals in the process.
Eventually, he would look as the night sky was obscured by the modernized walls of a gorge, built in with apartment and businesses. He would get up as the Taxi stopped, exiting the vehicle as he pondered. Cypher, Vision, and Data would likely try to fight to bring the old system back. He hoped to someday find them, for he knew even the system Kevlar helped run was no permanent solution. It had already failed, and as he followed the waypoint and flew along he knew they would need to make a solution to last. What it would be, and what struggles they would face following this catastrophe to get there was uncertain to him. What was certain to him...
....was that he now had hope, and open eyes.