Everfree Bus lines, station 707, 7:28 pm. A light amber and red would be the only remaining daytime light in the sky as the stars, moon, and city lights took over. A single dented taxi would pull up to the station, which remained closed in the wake of the ensuing chaos. Many of the street lights were out, leaving many an area shrouded in darkness. A few wrecked autocarriages could be seen around the streets. Doctor Freemane would step out of the vehicle, watching as the door closed up and it sped away. The streets were mostly quiet, as most of the city were indoors to voice their panic and falling faith in the establishment. Some of the screen boards would suddenly go white, with the text 'This is a Message from the Equestrian Diarchy and Harmony Council'.
The Zebra would take a moment to watch, as the faces of the princesses came to the screen, Celestia saying "My little ponies, we both deeply apologize for the events that have occurred over these past few days. We have done our best to ensure your safety, but the denizens with no belonging in our society have clearly struck a blow to us. We plan to make sure that this doesn't happen again, which is why we are taking steps to improve our law enforcement system."
The lunar princess would say "New laws will be made to better watch over you, better police forces will be established to eliminate any threats to the piece. This will include equipping all police forces to the degree in which the Sector 4 units of the RLG and RSG are equipped. Any denizens who threaten the peace will be spared no mercy. The guard forces themselves are being rearranged and improved to account for these changes. We are also working with third-party technology companies to help improve the safety of the CCS and develop technologies to help maintain the social order.
Celestia would finish it with. "We ask for full cooperation from the populace in these times, please maintain silence online so as to prevent any further panic. We are working tirelessly to take the steps needed to ensure a better future, even in these times. Sleep well, my little ponies, let us see a better tomorrow."
Freemane would think to himself "You are too late to gain back the power you once had, the veil is torn, eyes are opened. Your only hope for existence will be those who run to your broken system for the safety they once had. The leaked data and evidence once scoffed at as conspiracy theories and crazy posts are now being seen for the truth they carry. They know of the brutality the guard has carried out, the dissolution of rights for order, the corrupt corporate manipulation of the government, Corporate slavery in faraway lands. Corporate favoritism in lawmaking, shady destruction of activist groups who oppose the status quo." he would walk into the parking area, toward one of the parked buses as he followed a waypoint. It was the place where he tracked Anomaly before her signal was lost.
"Now they know, most importantly, that you can't protect them from everything anymore. There are dangers, dangers that can bypass the law and take advantage of the weak. The hysteria from this revelation further helps the cause of Digital Hoof, who can finally dispel the propaganda and open up the truth." Walking up to the door of the bus, bus 1407, he would access his wrist computer. Tapping away he would activate the door, opening it up. Walking into the bus he would look along the seats, until he finally reached a seat where he would find who he was looking for.
Anomaly would lay, slumped and limp to the side with eyes open yet unmoving. No projections to be seen, and no reaction to his coming. The zebra would pick the mare up, slumping her on his back as he thought. "You have had quite the journey, Anomaly. Discovered the corruption of a system you once worked for through betrayal, escaped through their underestimation of you, and attempted to make something better. Tried to bring forth a better path, and for all the risks you might have been able to do some good. Sadly....it seems you may not be able to carry out your ambitions nor learn from your errors."
He would walk out of the bus station, the mare on his back as he looked around. Calling another taxi he would wait, before one would arrive and open its doors. Setting the mare down gently in the back seat, he would take his own before the doors closed and the vehicle sped off into the distance. It would disappear from the CCS, untracked as it made its way toward its destination.
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Owl would walk into a nightclub, a place far more bustling than the place he previously frequented in Battania. Lights flashing, electronica music playing, and ponies dancing. He would take a look to his wrist computer, before following the waypoint he was given. Walking up to a door in the back, he would see it activate and open leading into another room. The bat would walk up some stairs, before reaching the top and looking into a room strewn with neon signs and posters of various media franchises and music artists. What caught his attention, and made him freeze in place for a moment was who sat in the couch in the back of the room.
Night Haze would be sitting on the couch, almost just like he remembered last seeing her. Sitting next to her was Bug Byte, the filly wide-eyed and grinning before she took flight and flew into him shouting "Daddy!" and embracing the bat. She would notice the metal leg, and say to him "Oooooh, you have a bionic, cool! Bet you can lift a carriage!"
Owl would slowly smile, hugging the filly back as he said: "I don't think so, but I can smash baddies heads with bowling balls." He would look to Night Haze, who would fly up and join in with their hug.
"I could never stop loving you, even when I thought I could, even when you seemed like a slave to the system..." She would nuzzle into his chest, humming pleasurably as she felt his warmth. She would look back up, seeing three pronounced scars on his cheek. "You've been through a lot haven't you."
"You're Celestia cursed right, I've been through so much. I've seen my whole world collapse before me, but at least I have you both left. Now I know my world was not but a facade, artificial, generated from lies and propaganda. My eyes are open now, and what I see scares me..."
Night would nuzzle into his chest once more, saying. "I fear the future too, but we must have courage. Now that the system is damaged and broken there is a lot we can do. It won't be easy, but we will need to push forward if we want to help make a better world. We can make it better, not through institutions and propaganda, not through terror, but through the efforts of individuals to create individuals. Make ponies that can think for themselves, and challenge the status quo, we need to turn ponies toward that way and protect them. Protect them from the forces that might try to force them back into the mind control."
"And from the meanies that might try to hurt them, and their computers!" Bug would say with a grin.
Owl would smile, looking to Bug before looking back to Haze, sharing a long kiss with her. The slightly open door out to the DJ booth in the room would open fully, prompting them all to look as the DJ looked in at them. Audio would smile, looking at them and saying.
"Reunited at last, a stallion once blinded by the system now broken free and back with his awakened family. You're in good company bro, together we can make a difference in the world. Learn from all the mistakes that have been made and help create a better society. As individuals, not a hivemind."
Owl would share the night with Haze and Bug, hanging out around the gorge and its many cyberculture strewn levels. Come the morning when Bug slept he would share passionate lovemaking with Haze, the two married once more not through official records and documents of remarriage, but through their love and will. As he lay back on the bed, Haze held close, he would ponder on his life from the mall incident to now. Ponder on all that had happened and all that had transpired, before pondering on the future. It remained scary, uncertain, ambiguous and looming forth into the present. What would become of society, and what lengths the Royal Government would go to try and repair its broken system, all would be questions that could only be fully answered with the passage of time.
Though he was left with the uncertainty, as well as some mysteries as to the events leading up to the fall, he had something that could help him along. No matter how scary or uncertain of a future there was, he still had those he loved, and with them, he could take on the world.