Seesaw

by MintLynx

17: The Block

The streets would be silent for a moment, as the Solar S4 team lay collapsed on the road, the stern expressions held on their faced frozen as their bodies fell over like ragdolls. Many of the ponies hiding in the city also collapsed, causing many a pony to panic as well as they shook their limp loved ones. The screen boards would be flickering and flashing, glitching between showing the usual adds and showing vulgar messages such as "You are all bucked!" and "End is near!". The radius of which these effects alongside the power outage occurred only grew over time. One psychic Golden Street mare would come walking along, bored as her centaur arm bionics held her submachine guns. Taking out another pipe bomb the mare would look to one of the of the stopped autocarriages.

Before she could activate the fuse, something colored brown and black would come flying in her peripheral vision. Turing and aiming her gun she would find the side of her head grasped by dark blue bionic fingers, while one put its tip at her eye. In her sight she would see him, the brown bat stallion, brown eyes staring with a glare and bared fangs to haunt fillies' nightmares.

"Tell your bucking friends they better surrender, or they'll know what it's like for the civilians hiding away in this block!" before plunging one of his fingers in. Her eye would disappear in a splash of red, and her shrieking would echo to shatter the silence on the streets. Rapid gunfire would follow, as she frantically tried to shoot at her assailant. Yet her gun would rapidly click, it's magazine spent and not a bullet landing on him. Like a shadow, the bat disappeared into the night in a flash. Whimpering, the mare would clutch her eye socket as red would run down the side of her face.

A couple Golden street stallions would run up to her, having heard the screams. Hearing the sudden silence, faltering only with the ambient sound of DF-80 blades and jet boosters, be broken by a shriek sent a chill up their spine. Looking upon their once chipper and crazy friend who now on the ground, whimpering and clutching her face where a river of red flowed on one side.

"What the buck happened??" the pegasus of the two would say, aiming their black market assault rifle around, shooting off warning shots. "We'll find you, and you're gonna pay!"

"H-h-he.." the mare would say, drawing their attention to her. "......he said if we don't surrender he's going to....we're going to know what it is like for the civilians on this block..."

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Myriad would be watching the news, monitoring how the situation was presented from her apartment at the top of the EQUE-TECH HQ.

"Lunar and Solar forces are currently at work assessing the situation, but Chief Kevlar Vest assures you all that the situation will be dealt with and that the Golden Street Crime syndicate will answer for their actions. Specialized units have been sent to deal with the situation according to the RLG chief, and he is confident they can break their resolve. All civilians near and within this area are advised to stay in their homes until this situation is resolved.

Nodding the CEO mare would say "Good reporting as always, tell what is needed to be told, but don't tell too much. Don't tell them that the RLG is currently in the process of failing to deal with this swiftly."

"This is very concerning, these anarchists seem to be well equipped and good at planning. They've held back Lunar forces, and killed a number of them. The Solar S4 ponies have been lost in contact and are not responding." Golden would say, sitting on a leather chair nearby. "We can only hope Anomaly is helping deal with the cyberattack well."

"Fortunately I have a plan for if the guard fails too much." Myriad would say. "They are our gun after all, to shoot against the assailant that is disorder. When a gun jams once or twice it is not necessarily useless, though not totally reliable. If that gun suffers major malfunctions or failures in the worst of times, that gun needs parts replaced."

Golden would listen to the plan, understanding the metaphor she would ask. "What is your plan for Anomaly?"

"Anomaly is an asset to us, for now. She's the only one on our side capable of dealing with these Cyberattacks. That said you and I both know she is going to be an enemy to us at some point. We need to try to establish a system of monitoring on her, the few times we were able to track her she has rejected the upgrades offered."

"You should have known she would know we'd put in surveillance software into those. She is intelligent after all."

"An intelligent one alright, an intelligent rebel. Intelligent rebels are the enemies of the kingdom, they are smart enough to pose a threat that is not so easy to deal with. Thugs on the streets can be easily dealt with by local law enforcement, and psycho's bent on mass killing can be made short work of by Lunar S4, solar S4 if they are a cyborg. Yet the intelligent ones are clever, able to escape force and circumvent security. They are proof that intelligence and knowledge are best kept to those in control or those who can be controlled. it is the only way to ensure the security and function of society."

"If we can get the PRS system into proper workings, and bring the hardware to all ponies we could ameliorate that problem."

"Yes, though judging by witness testimony from the Diamond Plaza incident it is being exploited by these intelligent rebels. Apparently their minds are getting uploaded, meaning somepony has managed to complete that function before even we could."

"That is true..."

"And the threat they pose is more than just safety, they could scare ponies away from brain augmentations as well. We cannot let that happen, or the PRS system will be either delayed severely or rendered impossible to fully implement. Anomaly will be just as much of a threat to this system as these 'Freedom Fighters', she will likely find and try to destroy it if not reveal it to the populace. It is for that reason that I regret to say that we may need to take drastic measures against her."

Grimacing, Golden would look to Myriad and say "Are you suggesting we.....have her eliminated..?"

"If that is necessary, though there is another option to us. If we can manage to gain coding from that virus, then perhaps we could fashion our own net to swipe her mind from her body. Given the Virus hasn't struck her up to know we would need to make something different. I am tasking the Cyberguard's head and best with trying to recover parts of this virus. Cypher Code is snooping around right now, and is also keeping watch on the wrist computers of I&I officers Owl Talon, Night Vision, and Data Miner, given at least one of them have been communicated with by Anomaly."

____________________________________________________________________________

Metal Heart would suddenly find herself taken out into a whole new code realm, nearly driven insane by the unknown and unanswered questions of her situation. Blindly she would form up text in the code, desperate for something, anything other than the enigmatic nothingness that was before her.

"WHERE AM I!? ANYPONY!!! ANYTHING!!! HELP ME!! WHAT IS GOING ON!!!"

Suddenly, a text would come back to reply to her, and she would be brought into a custom chat interface. The text would say.

"You have been uploaded, just like the ponies at the Diamond Plaza. I've intercepted the upload and managed to snatch you and your friends out. Give me one moment and I will connect you with your friends, and a number of other ponies."

"Oh thank bucking Celestia, who are you??"

"I am the one who is trying to help Equestria in these trying times, both against these maniacs and the corrupt powers that rule it."

"Corrupt powers? You talking about the princesses?"

"They are but two cogs in a larger machine, two lines of code in a program. But know that they, to control the populace, have created the system the maniacs are now using to steal ponies minds now. That is all I can say for now, I'll connect you with your friends, but then I have to go out to fight this virus."

Connecting Metal with the other Solar S4 ponies, Anomaly would go back to managing her fighting with GAI-7. The DJ and friends would struggle in fighting against the virus, even with her distracting the AI.

"Nommie! We're struggling here! You gotta smash that AI so you can help us! They're snatching ponies minds! I saw the Guard's big guns drop like dolls!" the DJ would say through their call.

"They are safe, I have them in my storage. I've tried to help as many of the ponies getting uploaded as I can, but my ability to multitask is getting strained."

"You know if we manage to pull through this it could be a perfect moment to fight the government propaganda. Further our message though bringing it straight to the screen boards they broadcast it in."

"Is that really what matters right now?" Anomaly would reply.

"This whole thing was caused by the Royal Government, or rather the whole Harmonize Crew's attempt to control the ponies' minds! We need to fight back against that, and let the populace know so they can fight back as well!"

Suddenly two more ponies would come along into the battle of code, using her best tricks and programs to hit the virus as well. Not recognizing the IP present the DJ have some suspicions, but would accept the help.

As Anomaly prepared her backdoor she would suddenly get a message.

"I managed to listen in on that call. Not gonna go and rat you out but you shouldn't let them exploit this for their cause, they won't be responsible with whatever they have and could worsen the panic."

"You remind me of somepony I've had message me once."

"I am that pony, and I am trying to keep you from going reckless with this. If you wanna protect the populace take the assistance of these Hacktivists all you want. But don't let their reckless cause draw you in, it will do more harm than whatever supposed good." The Cyberguard would type out. "Me and and a friend you might have worked with before are going to help out here."

The DJ would then say "Hold on some bucker is trying to spy in!" cutting off the monitoring program she would then say. "You really should consider, we need to take definitive action to be able to prevent things like this from happening again! And to prevent those in power from furthering their power!"

Anomaly would find herself at yet another crossroad as she nearly finished her backdoor. She was by no means on the Cyberguard's side, yet there was some reason in what she said. Was it really a good idea to hit the ponies of that block with such a bombshell, and at this time when panic was high enough? Yet the DJ had a point as well, at some point the populace needed to be definitively brought against this system.

The mare would ponder on the decision, before setting it aside to focus on her real objective. Activating the backdoor she would move quickly, going into the belly of the beast.

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A scream was heard in an alleyway, cut short by faint sounds of gurgling. A couple Golden Street ponies would rush in, finding one of their own leaned to the alley and bleeding from the neck. He would point behind them faintly, and before they could react one of them would find fanged jaws clamping on the side of his neck. His hooves would flail in a panic as his friend turned and fired, putting a slug through his shoulder. The predator behind him would dash forward, grabbing the hoof that held the pump of the GS-12-4 shotgun. As another shot rang out and missed the bionic fingers would tighten on the stallion's hoof before swiftly breaking it like a twig. The stallion would then find himself swing and his head slammed into the corner of a metal garbage dumpster.

Hearing the gunshot two Gunmares would aim into the alley, seeing the sight before them and gasping in horror. They clutched their guns and held them close like a filly would her teddy bear. Being both earth ponies they would do tactical rolls around while standing bipedal to aim their weapon. One would hold a mouth gripped pistol in her mouth as backup, while the other shouted. "Come on out and fight coward!"

Before something large and heavy dropped on her head, a worn out bowling ball smashing into her head. Hearing the sickening crunch the other mare would look, her scream faltering into a whimper as she aimlessly unloaded her weapon upward. "Where the buck are you!?"

From behind the mare would feel bionic fingers grasping her throat, making her gasp and choke some. She would try to hold the weapon over her shoulder and fire it. Her heart would skip a beat as she heard rapid clicking, and the bionic fingers tightened their grip.

"Feeling helpless, huh? Scared for your life?" when she didn't answer him for a few seconds he would whisper harshly into her ear. "Well???" his fangs pressing against it as he said so. Shakily the mare would nod her head slowly, and to that he would reply "Think about what it is like for the innocent ponies you're terrifying here." Hearing rapid hoofsteps he would bite into her ear, making her scream before half of it was torn off. Her friends would come in to find her scared and on her knees, blood flowing from her ear.

____________________________________________________

Anomaly would burst into the AI's system, activating a shotgun program to hit it hard before going into a coding equivalent of wrestling with it. It would be forced to cease any and all attacks to try to focus on defending itself. The Virus would notably seem to cease it's spreading and go into its normal functions, randomly using the CCS commands. The DJ and friends would take advantage of this along with other Digital Hoof hackers.

With their combined efforts they were having some strong progress, cutting down the Virus and ceasing its effects. Before long more and more parts were having their malfunctions ceased, and just left with the power off.

Tazen High would look over cameras, watching as Owl brought terror and fear to the Golden Street Syndicate's operation. She would grimace at what she saw, on the one hoof he was fighting against the ponies terrorizing the populace. On the other hoof, he was bringing law and order through fear and terror. "I-i-it's not like him to do this. What's happening to him?"

In a cafe, heavily guarded by Lunar guards, Data would be sitting on her computer and carrying on the fight against the virus. Sitting next to her was none other than Cypher Code, head of the Cyberguard and the best hacker out of all of them. A dark grey colored bat mare with a red mane and green stripes, heterochromic green and red eyes. She was nicknamed "H'warming Mare" after the common shorthand for the holiday hearts warming. The mare was not only fighting to eliminate the virus, but also trying to get bits and pieces of it.

"Dang are we glad Anomaly seems to be doing well against who or whatever's controlling this thing. We're whooping them now on the web!" Data would say. "I can only hope she can get the minds of those ponies back."

"She seems to have already been helping, managing to capture the minds of the S4 team. That said I can only hope the Hacktivists don't convince her to further their cause. I managed to intercept a call between her and some ponies who I suspect are of Digital Hoof. They want her to take advantage of the down security to spread their message through the screen boards."

Looking to Cypher Data would ask "What if sides with them? What if she decides to help them? What will we do then, take her on along with the Digital Hoof ponies?"

"Yes, I'm afraid, but I am seeking to make a little weapon that can help us deal with her. I'm getting bits and pieces off of this virus to do so."

"You're not suggesting you'll brain jack her are you?" Data would ask. "Seems a bit wrong to do that, given how much she's helped with the brain jacking problem."

"She is clearly out to help like I was back when I was a renegade. A vigilante on the web, a reckless bringer of justice. It was only after my sister in the force caught me, and let me see the damage I caused that I decided to accept the offer to join the Cyberguard."

"What damages? Letting loose a few wild viruses?" Data would ask, to which Cypher would reply.

"That and worse, my blind illusion of justice resulted in thugs being sent to an innocent stallion's house, after the alleged rumors of him owning filly porn turned out to be slander done by some enemies. To tell of just one thing I did to buck things up, if it wasn't for my sister I would have caused more grief and destruction despite my intentions."

Data would listen, and frown as she replied. "Oh my, so the rumors of you being an ex-renegade are true. You're saying that Anomaly could end up like you, a well-intentioned mare causing a lotta damage."

"Anomaly poses a much larger potential threat if she can take on something the Cyberguard can't fight that makes her a formidable force online. She could do a lot worse than me, and very well might." Cypher replied. "Unless she chooses not to turn Hacktivist.."

Anomaly would keep her upper hoof, cracking into the AI's code. Soon enough she would take control over it, keeping the center mind contained. With that control, she would find herself in control over the Virus and its area of effect.

"Whoooooeee! That's what I'm talking about, seems like you have got that program by the ropes!" the DJ would say. "I think now is a good opportunity to take things over, take over the screen board and television lines! We can spread our message, open their eyes!"

Cypher would look into the system through her screen, waiting for the choice that Anomaly might make. She didn't personally know the mare, only what was told about her by the Chief. From what she was told, her predictions seemed to lean toward Anomaly helping the side of Digital Hoof. Her hooves would be at it with the keys, quickly looking over and trying to piece together parts of the Virus to make her own.

"What are you waiting for???" The DJ would say, frustrated with Anomaly's silence and apprehensive for time. She wanted a message sent as soon as possible. The Cyberguard and local CSS admins would eventually come and start taking things over again, and she didn't want that chance to be lost.

____________________________________________________

The Golden Street ponies would be searching the whole block for the assailant, keeping their weapons ready and keeping alert. However more and more brief bouts of screams and gunfire would be heard, with ponies left dead with vicious bites on the side of their neck. Fear would grow more and more as more of the Golden Street ponies died one by one, the ones spared and injured the only ones able to see more than an occasional silhouette flashing by the moon. The S4 Lunar units would stand by, waiting outside and watching some of the fighting occurs. A few would be cheering out, shouting as they sat and waited.

"Go get em!"

"You street trash better run and hide! He's coming for you!"

"That's what you get for killing my friend tailholes!"

"Attention citizens! Those screams are the criminals getting what they deserve!"

One of the Golden Street ponies would walk out from an apartment, a unicorn mare colored pale blue and dressed in a unique black and gold attire. A black trench coat made up of nylon and fancy leather, a cyberculture style waistcoat underneath and a top hat decorated with wires and flash drives. Her raven mane was brushed away to one side and shaved on the other, long and curly as it extended. A tattoo was inked around her left eye of tribal style patterns, while the eyes themselves were bionic with yellow lights glowing in the pupils. On the shaved side of her head was an almost cutie mark like tattoo of a magic wand, colored black and grey.

"Seems the operation isn't exactly going to plan, somepony is bucking with us." looking around the mare would think, saying. "Lunar Guards aren't coming for us, it seems they have this set up. Trapping us in a cage while they stealthily slaughter us. I'll admit..." she would say, her tone laid-back yet youthful. "...I never expected them to have such a sadistic plan."

One of the Golden Street henchmares would say. "Captain this is serious, we're getting hunted and slaughtered by what I can only assume is some rabid bat pony if not a creature released from Tartarus!!!"

Snickering the Captain would say. "Now now, they wouldn't dare open the concrete and steel reinforced gates of Tartarus just to deal with us. No, we got an especially skilled team of ponies sent after us. Our plan was not exactly built with this form of unconventional warfare used, full on counter-terrorism at its finest. True counter-terrorism, because they are terrorizing the terrorists, terrorception~"

"Captain that's not exactly something to speak lightly about." a stallion would say nervously.

"I'm sorry, it's just fascinating and rather.....exciting~ Things have not gone to plan, and our plan is having serious problems. Normally we plan things well to the point where almost nothing can go wrong. Yet here we are, with things going wrong with a horror film twist."

A couple more screams would be heard, and the captain would say. "I'll try and draw this terror to me, maybe spare you all some scary deaths. YOOOOO HOOOOO! SCARY POLICE BAT PONY! I AM HEEEEERE~" the mare would say walking out along the street.

"She's crazy! And gonna get killed!" one would say, following behind.

"Relaaaax~ Have you forgotten that I have some tricks up my sleeve?" the mare would say. "Group up with the others, you'll be most likely to survive the more eyes you have to watch your back."

The Captain would walk along the street, mostly silent with the ambient condemning cries of the Lunar forces just outside the block as the only sound. Everything was covered in a layer of dark shade in the absence of city lights and screen board advertisements, only kept from being pitch black by the surrounding lights of the megacity. The autocarriages would stand dormant, occupants ducking down and not daring to look and see what was going on outside.

Walking along the mare would wait, giving out a mocking whistle in another attempt to draw out the killer bat. Soon enough she would feel a brief shift in the air, and would find herself grabbed swiftly by bionic fingers. Before the fangs of her assailant could tear into her throat her horn would glow and, in a flash, she would be some distance away. Snickering she would look to the bat as he looked around before spotting her.

"Bet you'd never see a pony do the teleport. Your oppressive government almost killed the traditional art of the arcane. Almost, but even with its hyper-regulation and assimilation into technological applications some still defiantly keep the old arts alive."

Quickly Owl would move, darting towards her with intent to enact code red protocol. His face would end up smashing into a magical shield, glowing purple with the aura of the unicorn behind it.

"Restricting the magic arts from the lawful masses has had the unintended side effect of making magic a thing only some who will oppose you will use. How long before it grows enough that you encounter more like me? There's something else you will have to fear in time, if you survive that is." Charging her horn she would suddenly shoot a flamethrower like spell at Owl, one which he barely escaped. The Bat would dart in between cars to disappear from sight, and the mare would casually walk around to look for him. "It is interesting how you are using terrorism to fight terrorism, true counter-terrorism. Given the fact I'm occasionally hearing the derogatory 'street trash' from some of the guards in the distance it seems you all look down on us."

Forming a shield around herself she would see a ten-millimeter shot deflect off of it, smirking. "Not too scary when you can't go for the back." the mare would then fire off a bolt of lightning in the general direction from which the bullet came from. A cry of pain was heard, she would smirk. "There you are~" teleporting she would spot him darting away, shooting another bolt and leaving a nasty burn. As he slipped around a building's corner she would teleport again, not finding him as she mused. "Hmmmm, you're pretty good~"

From above Owl would send a punch with his bionic foreleg, trying to smash through the shield. It felt almost like punching steel, and he would feel a good portion of the impact on his shoulder. Though it would waver the shield would remain, and Owl would take yet another bolt as he fled. The Owl accelerated through the air as she teleported onto the building's roof, shooting more bolts at him. He would dive down into an alleyway, as the Captain teleported along toward it. Seeing him gone once more she would walk around and say. "I'd say I'm winning, got some hits on you and you haven't landed a scratch. You're possibly going to fail, like the guard you are so loyal to has been. If you all were such perfect and reliable protectors of Equestria this wouldn't have happened, you wouldn't have had your own field base found out and used as our stage. Face it bat, this is a sign of things to come that don't bode well for the Royal Guard. It has clearly been shown that we can do an attack like this, and you can't stop us until we've already roughened things up. It's only a matter of time and terrorism before the sheep civilians are broken free from your propaganda brain shackle, and their eyes are opened."

Owl dashed in, sending a buck toward the shield followed by a strike from his bionic limb. Flying away he would only barely escape another bolt as he turned a corner. Teleporting into his path she would jump forward and send a kick of her own, knocking him back and sending him tumbling back along the alley. "You can't stop the rise of the underground, we are ponies of progress, you are ponies who halt it in the lame name of security. Even using our own tactics will get you so far, and oh I wonder what would happen if the populace knew you were doing that."

Flying away he would take another bolt to the flank, and would only barely escape her next teleport. As he hid, behind one of the autocarriages, the void of doubt would start to creep into his mind like a growing mold. The fact they couldn't stop this, and that their own place of operations on the field was used as part of a stage for terrorism. Was this foe truly an unstoppable force of change that law and order couldn't stop. He pushed those thoughts away, not fighting them as he put his mind toward the objective. His sharp hearing allowed him to track the movements of the mare, even her teleports provided a noise that registered well in his auditory radar. He had to think of a way to deal with that shield, looking around he would pick up the shotgun of one of the dead Lunar S4's.

A UCS-1200H shotgun, a large pump action designed for use by cyborgs. Chambered in six gauge rounds, It was large enough that he could only handle it with the grip in his bionic hoof. It was there he felt just how much more efficient digits were in handling firearms. Trigger bands worked well to allow hooves to pull a trigger while holding the back of the grip, but the bionic fingers could hold it with a much stronger grip. He would continue to track her movements, waiting for his moment to strike at her.

Hearing her teleport, he would know he was now in her sight as he heard her teleport not far from his side of the car. "Found youuuu-OH!" Quickly he would aim the weapon, three and a half feet of smooth bore with glowing blue sights fixed at her head. A loud bang could be heard, echoing through the streets and leaving Owl's ears ringing. These kinds of weapons were normally used with some hearing protection, and Owl now knew very well why. The pain in his ears stunned him a bit, as did the recoil. The armor piercing slug would hit the shield, deforming under the impact but piercing through the magic like tough rubber. Still going near sonic speeds the slug would strike the side of the mare's face, tearing her cheek open and shattering some teeth.

She would stagger a bit as the shot hit, focusing her shield from a dome into a front facing one as another shot hit. Her shield would break under the extreme strain, and she would duck before her hat was destroyed by yet another. Then came to Owl's ears a dreaded sound he would have preferred another ear-shattering bang to. "Click"

Smirking the mare would hit Owl with yet another bolt, before shooting another flamethrower spell at him. Using his bionic limb to cover himself he would roll away, dropping the weapon. "Well good hit, guess I will have to make better use of the teleport~" teleporting in front she would kick him again, before teleporting in his path of stagger and hitting him once more. She would do this repeatedly, knocking him around and evading his attempts to fight back. Owl's already gunshot racked mind would grow more dizzy with the repeated kicks. Gaining his bearings enough he would be able to grab her hooves as she sent a buck his way, flinging her overhead onto the ground before she teleported away. Flying off into cover, before moving to more cover he would hear her constantly teleport around in search for him.

The mare would stop, panting some a she looked around and let herself rest behind a car. Owl would pant as well where he sat, tired and with multiple burns which stung like Tartarus. Soon enough sprite drones would fly up, creating the projection of DK as she said. "Well well WELL! This has been quite the arena fight, seems both sides are at equal but who will be the winner?? And will the counter-terrorist ever realize that we have already gained a victory here? After all! We've terrified the populace and most likely done damage to their false sense of security so viciously rammed into their heads by you! It will only be a matter of time, Owl Talon!"

Owl would keep the doubts down, not fighting them as he put his focus towards fighting the fiend before him. "...Even if they are failing...I bucking won't." he would say venomously under his breath before spreading his wings. When she teleported behind him he would dodge the incoming bolt of lightning, leaving a burnt pattern shaped like tree roots on the concrete wall behind him. The bat would dart around, kicking and punching at her shield while avoiding fire and lightning bolts. The bat would refuse to let up as he flew around, trying to beat the mare's magical shield down.

His efforts would go in vain, as the mare burst her shield into a telekinetic shockwave, sending him tumbling away like a ragdoll hit by a strong wind.

".....gotta be a way to smash that shield and kick her bucking flank!" he would say in his head. "I will not fail." then he would look forward, and see what was left of the head of one of the first ponies he killed in his stealthy rampage. Suddenly the screen boards would come on, all showing white screens and cutting through the dark shade of night like large swords. The Captain would be blinded by the light for a moment, her eyes needing a moment to adjust to the darkness. Not wanting her shield to falter she would intensify its power, before seeing something flying down towards her.

Having flown up at least ten stories high, Owl dove down at high speed, a damaged and bloody bowling ball in his bionic fingers. Swinging his bionic limb with all of its strength he would fling the ball down onto the shield. It would depress and flex before breaking in a flash, hindering the momentum of the bowling ball only enough for it not to smash the Captain's skull.

The bowling ball would deflect off it, making her scream out in pain as her horn cracked. Braking with his wings Owl would swoop down and grab the mare in his flight, like his namesake catching a mouse. Holding her neck with his organic hoof, his bionic one would pull back for a punch. Pushing through the pain the mare tried to charge a teleport, but was too late. His hoof would impact her forehead, shattering the horn into pieces as the hit made its magic explode.

A shriek of pain would resonate throughout the block, and the mare would be thrown off onto the ground. Rolling she would get to her hooves as he stood before him. She attempted to deliver a punch, a punch which was caught in his bionic limb before it snapped her foreleg. Attempting another punch, she would have it deflected and before he threw her towards a car. Getting up she would attempt a buck towards him, before her hooves were grabbed and she was flung into a wall. The pain from feeling her damaged jaw snap, her shoulder break, and ribs crack made her pass out.

"Steeeeerike." Owl would say as he walked up to her, staring a comms call with the Chief before saying. "Code yellow executed on suspected leader, enemy morale is bucked, send them in."

The Golden Street ponies who banded together would be beset upon by supersonic lead as multiple S4 snipers aimed and fired, putting holes in the group faster than any of them could fully panic. On the screen boards, a message would appear in purple text. It would be accompanied by an EAS text to speech voice saying...

"HELP IS HERE! FROM CYBERSPACE TO SOCIETY! There are ponies out there who seek to help and protect you from those who threaten your lives and livelihoods. Be wary, for there are enemies that you might not suspect, but there are also allies you might not suspect as well. I am one, and I will do what I need to neutralize all the enemies you face, so that this might not happen again!

Owl would look up to this message as the Lunar S4's swarmed into the city, searching for any remaining Syndicate henchponies. Any who might be found hiding in buildings were neutralized, while all the apartments were being searched as well. He would suddenly get pulled into a Comms call, and in his mind, he would hear a voice.

"You have done well here, I need ponies like you." Anomaly's voice would come through the call, as the lights would come back on in the city.

"Need me? What for, what are you planning? To make yourself out to be a hero?"

"I'm not here to be a hero, I'm here to use what I have been given to fight not only the Freedom Fighters, but the corrupt institution that rules over everything. They may be of good intentions, but their methods only serve to mentally enslave and weaken the populace. It is by one such method that ponies are having their minds taken, the Terrorists are using a network which Harmonize is seeking to control ponies with. All brain augmentations are connected, they are seeking to control Equestria's very minds. All for a bastardized notion of 'safety', but ironically it has resulted in the ultimate compromise of safety. The Lunar Guard is not going to be able to stop this alone, they haven't been able to stop this and won't be able to stop any other attacks. But I can, and what matters to me are the ponies here who have been mentally enslaved and thus rendered vulnerable to the terror of the Freedom Fighters."

"This Harmonize....they've opened things up for this to happen....???" Owl would reply in disbelief.

"How else would brain augmentations not even advertised as being computers be able to be hacked? Think about it, the Freedom Fighters can't just magically hack bionic limbs, and normally Brain augmentations are no more connected to the InterNet than them."

Owl's doubts would come again, only they would start to seem less like a dark corrupting doubt and more like an opening to a terrifying realm of truth he would never want to see. "I-i-i can't believe this...but I can't believe this as lies....the Chief told me about them. I told him about what you told me, and he was open, I thought this Harmonize were the good guys..."

"Good ponies with a good basic cause, but with methods that are not the way forward. Methods that only drag us deeper and deeper into the dystopia we live in. Look around Owl, do you not notice how much the Corporate powers control ponies through advertisement everywhere? And how the news stations always glorify those in power to keep the populace looking up to them? This is not the way forward, their methods will only lead to eventual disaster. In the end, their veil will tear and the populace's eyes will burn when the light of Equestria's darkness shines on them."

"Do you have any way to do it better? Are Harmonize not able to be steered to a better path....?"

"I have a plan, a plan to help save ponies from themselves. Save them in a way the princesses have been failing for decades if not longer. I want to make a world that's safer but free with stronger minded ponies, free minds limited only by morals and values. It won't be perfect, but I seek to built it off learning from the mistakes we see here. Help me, work with me in secret and we will build up to a better world."

"Will I...have to turn on the Guard?"

"Only those you can't bring on our side, you can stay with them and help them for now. They are an asset to us, and can help us in our goal. But we will need to deal with them at some point as well. Will you join me, try to seek out a new way to a better world?"

"I......I want to keep ponies safe and happy, to stick up for them. I'll help you.."

______________________________________________

Cypher would look to the camera footage and listen to the audio of the message, and she would look slowly to Data.

"So.....has she turned to Digital Hoof's side? Should we try to lay the smack on this??" Data would say.

"I don't think so, in some way she is helping us while in others she is making them skeptical. Unpredictable mare she is, that is what makes her scary.."

____________________________________

Owl would fly out towards the edge of the block, leaving the S4's to do their work. He would be deep in thought, and hoping he wouldn't have to turn to betrayals, as he still had some faith in them. Owl, however, couldn't hold his faith in the Guard fully anymore, so he sought out a new source of hope.

Author's Note:

Fun fact, I have gone through three titles for this chapter before settling on this one.