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// Tron: Pony Legacy: Chapter 1 
// Story: Tron: Pony Legacy 
// by Sharp-Shadow69 
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		"All right kid, someone has bailed you out" said an officer, as he trotted down the hall towards my cell. Almost dazed from the horrific smell of the prison, I finally replied "Oh well that's a surprise." As I heard the lock click, and the rusty cell door opened with a grinding sensation, I looked out the barred window into the starry sky, and I just wondered to myself Where are you dad...? I used my magic to place my belongings in my bag and I left my cell without a word. As I finally left the station, all I did was look back and think how many times this old building must've held me. I just then realized, that each time I was in there, I could have used my magic to pick the cell lock, and bust out using my alicorn wings. "I hope this will be the last time I get put in there. I wonder how many times I've been into the prison in the past twenty years." I asked myself with a chuckle. As I pondered my mind aimlessly for countless things, I readied my wings and blasted off the concrete towards my house. The view along the way was tremendous and the night sky was beautiful. I thought of how much my dad would say something about how the moon reminds him of the Grid. 
After passing constant amount of buildings and large portions of street lights, I finally arrived at my house. I safely land in front of my house, and as I landed, I pulled on the lever with my magic grip that allowed my run-down garage house's door to rise open. The door to the house opened slowly, but surely. As I waited, I noticed how beautiful the shimmering water had looked and how the moon just reflected off it. It was mesmerizing, and it felt nice. It felt like I was in some sort of trance, until my dog Apollo barked at me, and my mind snapped to reality. I go in and grab a drink from the fridge. The smell of home kept me at ease. As much as it wasn’t very clean, or smell nice, knowing I was home made me feel warm and peaceful inside. I took a few sips as I pondered, but then my trance of peace broke as I heard a knock.
“Hello Shadow. So this is what you’ve been up to? Sabotaging your father’s work?” said the familiar pegasus. “*chuckle* Ok what is it now?” I snapped coldly. This pegasus was none other than mine and my father's best friend, Smoky Hooves. Smoky sat down directly next to me on the ruined chair. “I received a page last night” he said sternly. I gave him a look of disbelief. I laughed a little as well, until I finally spoke up “I’m surprised you still use that thing Old man. So what’s so important about the page--“. “It came from your father Shadow.” Smoky said abruptly cutting me off. There was a moment of brief silence until the breeze hitting my face broke it. “Funny, because the page came from the arcade. That place has been closed for fifteen years.” He said with a light chuckle along with a smile of disbelief. “If I were you, I would go to the arcade. See what’s going on in there. You might find him there, if you're lucky” He explained to me. All I did was just look at the pegasus hesitantly. I just thought to myself, after all this time, was he at the arcade? Where was he?, so out of curiosity, I nod with re-assurance that I would check it out. "All right, I'll go check it out tomorrow night." I told the old pegasus. "All right then, Goodnight Shadow" he said as he walked out of the house. He walked off, leaving me there, with the thought that my dad was at the arcade. I slowly drifted to sleep with the same thought that rang around in my head.
The next night, I snuck down the street to the Arcade, since I'm pretty much wanted these days. I arrived at the entrance to the twenty-five year old arcade, and I smiled as I remember how the sign used to shine so brightly, but now the sign was covered in webs and dust. The lights broke, so only two lights flickered, and one worked... I enter the store and the dim ring of the bell echoed through my head. I looked around for the fuse box, and there it was, right next to me in plain sight. All I could do is give myself a facehoof. I flipped the fuse switch and in an instant, all the game consoles lit up, and music could be heard everywhere in the building. In the room, I saw all the games my dad and I used to play in here. This place brought back some good memories. I look for any signs of my dad, so I flew up to the window of his office, but sadly, as I expected, nothing. I trotted around the Arcade, when I noticed one game that caught my eye, at the very end of the hall was the game Tron. It was old and dusty like all the other games, but it shined the brightest of them all. Admiring the challenge, from the intimidating console, I use my magic grip to get my quarter and walk towards it. In instinct, I placed the quarter in the slot. All I heard was the clinking of the coin falling out of the return chute. “What the hell?” I said out of sheer surprise. I lean over to pick up the coin with my magic, when I notice cuffs and sliding on the ground. I look at the machine, I notice hoofprints on the side of the machine. So, out of curiosity, I used my magic grip and pushed the machine aside. I noticed a door behind it. I opened the door and I walked in. Like most mysterious doors, behind them was a pitch black room with stairs moving downward. Suddenly, I heard a grinding motion as I closed the door, so I only assumed the Tron console is sitting in front of the door again.
Inside was dark, so I used a light spell and the stairway was instantly illuminated. I walked down carefully, noticing a blue light. I lean over around the corner and looked for a switch. I flipped the switch, the light turns on and what I saw was a dusty room entrenched by a nasty smell. I look in front of me to see a machine, this construction looked like if it shot something, it would probably obliterate them, so I took caution and walked around it. After I moved around the machine, I noticed something that sort of looked like a of monitor. I walk towards it, but like the rest of the arcade, it was covered in dust and cobwebs. So I brushed it off, and this high quality retina display asks a question. 'Do you wish to log in?' So reluctantly, I signed in, but when I did, I noticed something. I heard something charging, like a machine. Its whirring made it sound like it was moving too. I could hear it getting somewhat closer too. I wanted to think it was just the air vent, but it definitely wasn't. I turn around, but by the time I moved, it was too late. The machine's energy beam had finished charging and the light engulfed me. I felt like screaming but my mouth wouldn’t open. I felt like I was falling. I felt like my whole body was being ripped in half and formed back together. Finally, after that, I returned back to where I was, but what I noticed is that the room was spotless. Everything was almost brand new and pristine. I thought it was my eyes messing with me, so I walked out of the room. I notice the arcade was completely empty, but the room was also brand new. I thought I was dreaming, so I nipped myself, and sure enough, I wasn't dreaming. I rushed outside and I saw it all. Oh, but I couldn’t believe what I saw. I saw it, the ground, the buildings, the lights… they were all retro and sleek. I didn’t want to believe it, but it was all so real. “ Oh… my Celestia! There’s no way… He did it! I’m in the Grid.” I said before I realized how much danger I was in. All I heard was a whir and a light flashed right above me. I couldn't believe this was all happening.