//------------------------------// // Fresh Start // Story: Magic Gear Solid: Broken Balance // by Barrobroadcaster //------------------------------// Rainbow Dash didn't know where she was. Something was covering her eyes and mouth, forcing oxygen into her lungs. She felt cold and her body ached but she wasn't in that much pain or discomfort. The last thing she remembered was trying to save Twilight and the princess from the monster and then... nothing. She heard the sound of a door opening somewhere behind her. She tried to turn her head but then the pain returned. She could only just barely feel her limbs and wings spread out. She moved her right hoof and it felt like something was pulling back on it. A beeping sound filled the room from somewhere off to the side. "How do we start?", a voice asked. She heard the voice walking toward her. Rainbow Dash heard a series of beeps and she felt herself raised slightly. She could feel a heat source on her from somewhere above, a light she guessed. "Let's see what we've got to work with first. Condition's stable... heart rate, BP, breathing all normal. Won't look all that bad cleaned up. Tech's did a pretty good job considering how much blood she lost.", a second voice said. "There were plenty of 'donors' so I'm not really surprised. Basic implantation and reinforcement are already done, we're just here for the final combat exoskeleton.", the first one remarked. Rainbow Dash didn't recognize whoever they were and tried to get up, say something, do anything. "Woah, woah woah! She's looking lively! Got some fight in her!", the voice approached her and she felt cold, metallic arms on her legs. This only made her struggle more. She tried to headbutt whoever was grabbing her but couldn't. The beeping of the machine nearby grew faster. For a moment, she felt tubes connected to her limbs, needles hooked into her. "Relax now. Razor, give me a hand here.", the voice holding her said. She quickly felt her limbs being tied by some sort of bandage to the cushioned operating table she was on. Slowly, she ended her struggle. "Relax. You're sure we shouldn't sedate her?", the voice holding her asked again. "It'll take too long to take affect. Let's just get started.", the second voice replied. The headwraps covering Rainbow Dash's face were removed but only the right half of the room appeared before her. She stared up and into a bright light above her and blinked her left eyelid. She felt nothing; her left eye was gone. She began to panic as her vision didn't return. Tears began to form in the corner of her right eye. The beeping in the room grew loud and fast again. "You're sure a sedative isn't a good idea? Is she going to be able to remember any of this?", the voice asked in a concerned tone. "No, we're taking care of that. Hold on, get the headlock around her and... there we go. Okay, gently, now the helmet." The tubes in her mouth were removed. She opened her mouth to scream but instead coughed up hardened chunks that tasted like ash. A mask covered Rainbow Dash's face. He head was propped up and two pieces collided in the back and snapped shut. She continued coughing as the mask was placed over her and became more mechanical sounding as the mask closed. "All right, now the eye." A sphere was inserted into Rainbow Dash's eye socket where her left eyeball should've been. Rainbow Dash heard a loud click somewhere in her head. The left side of the room exploded into view with two pops. At first that side of the room seemed a dull pink color but slowly resolved to match the rest of the room. She looked around and blinked a couple times. Text scrawled up the room in front of her eye, systems diagnostics. "What have you done to me?! Where are my friends?!", Rainbow Dash yelled in pure rage. Her voice was absorbed and reproduced by a filter inside the mask just in front of her mouth. The table she was on rotated her up and brought her to almost a standing position. The tubes that were hooked to her slowly detatched and recoiled to the ceiling. "What have you done with the princess?!! If I find out you've hurt any of us-", something in the side of her helmet clicked and her voice fell silent. "All right then, that's over with. Let's go get him and move on to the others. It's going to be a long day.", one of the voices said. Rainbow Dash heard two sets of footsteps exit the room and the door close. Her limbs were still strapped to the table but her wings weren't strapped to anything. She tried to flex them. They felt normal but she heard some sort of mechanical buzz when she did. She tried to turn her head to look at them but she couldn't. The door opened again and something else entered. "Very nice, very nice. My boys did a good job didn't they?", Rainbow Dash recognized it as the voice she'd heard at the castle, the voice that came from the machine that had attacked them. A brown stallion quite literally walked into her view on two legs. He put a prosthetic hand to his chin as he examined Rainbow Dash. "You and your little friends did quite a number on my Magic Gear RAM young lady. As I can see it did to you.", the stallion said. Rainbow Dash screamed at him inside her helmet but the voice didn't care past her own mouth. Not even a muffled response was conveyed to the upright stallion in the room with her. "Strong, fast, powerful. You and your friends impressed me, especially you. Sonic Rainboom? Incredible. Unfortunately, you weren't quite fast enough.", the stallion pulled down a circular mirror hanging from above and Rainbow Dash finally caught a glimpse of herself. It took a moment to realize that what she was looking at was her. Her entire body was covered in metallic grey armor. Her wings looked like sharpened knives spread out behind her. Her face was obscured by the helmet she wore but her mane, apart from a single blackened streak on the side remained the same as it was. "Your speed is incredible. You will be loyal to a new king from now on and be a powerful asset to my army. But first, you need a bit of a... fresh start.", the stallion said as he approached a terminal off to the side. More text began to crawl upward over Rainbow Dash's left view: "You have so much potential hidden underneath that gruff exterior. It's best to just start with a blank slate and move on from there.", the stallion said in a casual voice. Rainbow Dash realized now what he meant: he was erasing her memories. The word DELETE flashed in front of her eye rapidly and she started to panic. Tears streamed down the front of the mask from her right eye. A slideshow of memories flashed before her: The day she met Twilight Sparkle, clearing the sky in ten seconds flat. Going to the Grand Galloping Gala, Rarity asking about her dress she was making her for the Grand Galloping Gala. DELETE DELETE DELETE, the word flashed. Dropping out of flight school, joining Wonderbolt Academy, performing a Sonic Rainboom. DELETE DELETE DELETE Defeating Nightmare Moon, defeating Discord, rehabilitating Discord, her friends Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, Spike, the princesses. DELETE DELETE DELETE, although it was covered in armor, the cutie mark on her flank faded away completely. Rainbow Dash closed her eyes and screamed, "NOOOOOOOOOOO!!", she tossed her head back and fourth as tears flowed from her right eye. Each picture in her head played for a fraction of a second before being lost forever to nothingness, replaced only by the feeling of overwhelming loss and confusion. The scream echoed in her own head. Who's voice was it? Her heart raced but slowly calmed down. She felt so many things, confusion, loss, sorrow... but why? Soon, those feelings evaporated. In the quiet of the strange, underground room, Rainbow Dash died. Lord Vize walked over to the pegasus hanging from the ceiling. "Awaken.", he spoke. The creature's eyes opened though he knew only one of those eyes was actually alive. "Your name is Raider. From now on, you will answer to this designation only and you will respond only to my voice." The creature said nothing but looked at him. The clasps holding her in place disengaged and she dropped to the floor. Her limbs and wings clicked and buzzed as she struggled to stand. Lord Vize smiled. He had given her a fresh start. His two Diamond Dog assitants entered the room. "The procedure was a success. Take her to the training center and begin education and evaluation immediately. We have a schedule to keep.", Lord Vice ordered. He turned off the lights and equipment in the room and left.