PONY Legacy

by RBDash47


05 Networking

Celestia retired to her private room, returning to her meditation in an effort to recover from the emotional whiplash of the morning and the added strain on the life support spell of a second pony’s presence. Dash was too numb to sleep and sat in silence at the mouth of the cavern, Spark at her side, looking out over what she was reluctantly trying to think of as her new home.

“I’m sorry, Dash.”

Dash started and looked over at her new companion. Only in that moment did she realize she’d been waiting to hear those words in that voice for a long time. She blinked and shook her head to chase the thought away. Spark watched with obvious curiosity. “I—what?”

Her companion’s mouth twisted in an unhappy grimace. “I said I’m sorry. I can’t imagine what you must be going through.”

Dash blew out a breath, at once angry and mournful. “It’s been a weird morning. A few hours ago I was asleep at home, and now I’ll… probably never be home again.” Spark nodded softly, and they both turned back to the view. After a few moments, Dash frowned and shook her head. “I just don’t get it.”

“What?”

“Celestia said the Portal stays open for eight hours. That’s set in stone, nothing anypony… anyprogram can do to change it.”

“Right.”

“But it shut down early.” Dash’s eyes widened, hopeful excitement rising up inside her. “Nothing in here can do anything to the Portal, but somepony in the real world could!” She whirled, making Spark jump a little. “Twilight! Twilight and Luna are still in Celestia’s workshop! She’s the one who activated the thing in the first place, I bet she turned it off too!”

Spark frowned. “Why would she do that? She must want to get you and Celestia out of here.”

Dash pushed to her hooves and began pacing, trying to think everything through. “She does, she absolutely does. So either turning it off was a mistake, just like turning it on was, or she did it on purpose but didn’t get what it would mean for us.” She turned and stared intently into the distance, towards the Portal. “But either way… either way, she’s going to realize she screwed up, and the only way for us to get outta here is through that Portal.”

“Are you sure?” Spark said dubiously. “She’d have to be able to retrace and reverse-engineer how the System works. Even I don’t know if I could do it, were our positions reversed, and I’ve lived in here for the equivalent of a millennium.”

“I know you could do it, because I know she can do it,” Dash said, slowly but firmly. “Twilight would do anything to get Princess Celestia back home.”

Spark watched her expectantly for a moment before frowning and prompting, “And you.”

“Oh,” Dash said, taken aback. “Right. And me.”

“Well, okay.” Spark stood as well, glancing in the direction of the Portal. “So until then, we just have to keep you safe. RBD could still kill you between now and whenever Twilight realizes what she’s done and reactivates the Portal. You’ll stay here with us, obviously. RBD hasn’t found this place in a thousand cycles, she’s not going to any time soon.”

The thought of playing it safe made Dash wrinkle her nose a little, but she had to admit Spark had a point. “I… guess so.” She flopped back down, the excitement and adrenaline slowly ebbing out of her, and rubbed at her shoulder. “So what do you guys do for fun around here?”

“Read, mostly!” Spark said brightly and trotted over to one of the cavern’s walls. It was almost completely obscured by long shelves and the neatly-lined books they supported.

“Got any Daring Do? I never got around to anything past The Sapphire Stone.”

Spark paused and a sad look washed over her. “I’m afraid we don’t. I do miss them.” She gave Dash half a smile. “I’d started with the nonfiction section when I was attempting to transplant the contents of Books and Branches here, so…” Dash mock-gagged, but tried to do it with an apologetic look; Spark rolled her eyes. “So, no reading then.”

“Nah, no thanks. What about that game you were looking at earlier?”

“Oh!” Spark brightened again and moved over to the board. “It’s really fascinating. Two simple rules, and the rest of the gameplay is heuristic—”

She was interrupted by snores, and turned, incredulous, to find Dash curled up on the ground.

Dash opened an eye. “Oh. Must’ve nodded off. Sorry about that.”

Spark huffed.

“You know,” Dash said an hour later, “once the Portal’s back on, is there a better way to get there? The princess is never going to be able to teleport us, and whether or not we catch a passing train, she’s always going to be in danger once we leave your hideout.”

Spark looked up from the thick book she’d finally settled on, which had required multiple rounds of Dash reassuring her that she didn’t mind. Dash played idly with her identity disc as she waited for Spark to respond, spinning it like a top on the ground before tossing it up in the air and catching it.

“I’ve been thinking about that, actually, and…” Spark trailed off.

Dash raised an eyebrow, snatching her disc out of the air and locking it back on her flank. “And?”

“Well,” Spark said. “I’ve heard rumors of a transport system that can get a program from Canterlot out to the Badlands safely. Apparently during the Time of Contraction, some programs didn’t feel safe moving back to Canterlot and opted instead to form their own settlement outside RBD’s control.”

Dash jumped up. “That sounds perfect! Do you know how to use it?”

Spark shook her head. “I’ve only caught bits and pieces, things I’ve overheard from time to time when I venture out into the greater population, but I’ve eavesdropped on enough conversations to know someprogram named Diana runs it and she’s in Canterlot.”

“Alright, well, let’s find this Diana and have her show us how to use it! Then when the Portal’s back on, we can go straight there and get out to the Badlands.”

Spark looked shocked. “We can’t go to Canterlot! The Black Guard would catch us for sure.”

Dash groaned and stamped her hooves. “I can’t just sit here waiting who knows how long! I gotta get out and do something! Twilight and the princess are both depending on me now!”

Spark cast a worried glance toward the princess’ chambers. “Well, we can’t both go, and you would—”

“Just get into trouble?” Dash rolled her eyes.

“No offense, but the princess has told me a lot about you.” Spark gave her a long look up and down. “A lot about you.”

“The princess’s information’s ten years out of date, y’know. A mare can change.” Spark’s eyebrows went up and she looked like she was trying not to giggle. Dash sighed. “I’m faster than you.”

I’m faster than you. I can teleport.”

“If you go, that means I’ll be stuck here, bored outta my mind and more likely with each passing moment to do something stupid,” Dash pointed out.

Spark narrowed her eyes. “At least you’ve developed some sense of self-awareness.”

Dash grinned. “Like I said…”

“A mare can change, yes. Be that as it may, you have to be quiet and careful, Dash. You heard the princess—this isn’t Equestria. If you get caught, you’ll be killed.”

Dash almost snapped off a pithy response. She caught the concern in Spark’s eyes, almost outright fear, and forgot for a moment that this wasn’t Twilight looking imploringly at her. She sighed. “I know. I’ll be careful.” She turned to the cavern’s opening, already running through potential flight plans in her mind. “Make sure the princess stays safe while I’m gone.”

“Of course,” Spark responded immediately. As Dash shook out her wings, the unicorn called out, “Dash, wait! One more thing.” The pegasus turned back, snorting in impatience. “The programs talked about a password to access the transit system—it’s ‘forever.’”

Dash nodded. “‘Forever,’ got it. See you later.”

“Be safe,” she heard Spark whisper behind her.

Dash looked back long enough to wink at her before stepping out of the cavern, her wings tucked against her sides. She plummeted straight down the sheer cliff face beyond. Spark gasped and ran to the edge, peering over just in time to see the laughing pegasus flare her wings and shoot forward into the darkness, a prismatic rainbow trailing behind her.

Spark sighed. “Safer than usual, anyway.”

Dash peeked around a corner. More guards. Figured. She ducked back into the alleyway and waited for them to pass; they were too engrossed in their own conversation to notice her. She trotted out into the street and surveyed the area. The place seemed almost familiar, even in the odd perpetual evening light.

She’d never admit it to Spark, but as soon as she’d landed at the outskirts of the mountain city, she’d realized a few more minutes in the planning stage might not have gone awry. For starters, she had absolutely no idea who Diana was, or where to find her. She’d taken to wandering the streets, looking for a likely place to ask around, hiding when guards came too close for comfort. She suspected her blood pressure was a touch on the high side after an hour of this.

“I see you took my advice,” said a melodic voice to her right.

Dash did her absolute best to not jump and successfully contained a squeak of surprise. She spun and found herself nose-to-nose with not-Rarity. What was her name? Jewel. She’s “Jewel” here.

“Advice?” she managed in a reasonably confident tone.

“To survive! Of course, you did have to cheat a bit, didn’t you?” Jewel said with a conspiratorial grin. “I heard all about it, later. So sorry I missed it myself. A daring rescue by a rogue program, goodness! It’s like something out of an adventure story!”

“Yeah, well, you know, it all worked out in the end—”

“But what are you doing here? Surely RBD was less than pleased with your performance. The Black Guard must be on high alert searching for you.”

Dash glanced around. “I’ve been ducking ’em anytime I see ’em. And I’m looking for somepony. Er, someprogram.”

“Who?”

Dash hesitated. This program looked like Rarity, sounded like her… Could she be trusted? Celestia would have programmed her to behave just like Rarity, the Element of Generosity, but what if she’d corrupted like RBD? She’d been nice to Dash before, with no real reason to be. That didn’t seem to fit with a corrupt program. “Someone named Diana. She has information I need about how to get Pr— about a safe way out of the city.”

“Why didn’t you say so, dear? Follow me!” And Jewel trotted down the street without waiting for a response. 

That was easy. Too easy?

Dash galloped to catch up, looking around furtively for any sign of more guards. Random programs strolled down the street to either side of them, apparently unconcerned by the presence of the two mares. “You know Diana?”

“Why but of course! Everyprogram who’s anyprogram knows Diana, darling.” Dash saw they were headed into a more populated area of the city. The buildings towered higher above them, and there were lines of eager programs outside some of them. The road they were following dead-ended at the tallest building of them all, with a line outside twice as long as any of the others.

“Are these all—”

“Clubs, of course, the place to be if you’re looking for some fun. Music, dancing, drinks! What more could a program ask for?” Jewel led Dash straight for the entrance, bypassing that long, long line, with many an envious and irritated glance thrown their way. A particularly large pegasus stallion in all black nodded at Jewel, who blew him a kiss as they stepped inside.

Dash had been to a few of the more popular nightlife establishments of Canterlot in her time, and thought she’d known what to expect. She was surprised by the featureless hallway beyond the front door. A set of double doors at the end slid open as they approached. These programs really love their elevators. Jewel pressed the only button set into the wall. Immediately the small room hummed to life, and there was a distinct sensation of upward movement.

“So Diana spends a lot of time at this club?”

“I should say so,” Jewel said with a hint of laughter. At Dash’s blank look, she added, “She runs it! Best place in town, I wouldn’t be caught derezzed anywhere else—though I may be a touch biased.” She giggled. “Welcome, my dear, to—”

The elevator halted and the doors hissed open, revealing a huge room packed to bursting with shouting, laughing, gyrating programs. The orange and blue of their suits cast strange, exciting shadows over everything. A circular bar in the middle of the chamber had several programs scurrying back and forth behind it, distributing drinks to their shouting patrons. Above, a raised platform supported a DJ and her sound system, turntables spinning a pounding beat. The brilliant neon blue shades of her mane contrasted with the bright electric-pink sign mounted in front of her, proudly proclaiming—

“—The Elements!”

Dash nursed her drink, warily inspecting the programs around her. None of them gave her a second glance. She wasn’t exactly sure what her drink actually was, but it tasted good and also it was glowing—pretty awesome—so she kept sipping.

Jewel had deposited her at the bar and gone off in search of Diana, promising to return with her.

She was just starting to wonder if Twilight had figured out her Portal mistake yet when there was a huge explosion behind her. She jumped and whirled and stared at the massive cloud of confetti and streamers spinning wildly through the air, as everyprogram around her screamed excitedly.

At the epicenter of the blast, a pink mare in a white bodysuit with glowing blue lines cheered along with everyone else, her darker pink mane bouncing wildly. “How’s the party, everyprogram?!” A roar greeted her and she beamed before bounding into the crowd. It turned out Jewel had been standing behind her, the faintest touch of irritation on her face as she shook brightly colored scraps of paper from her mane.

Dash tried not to smile as she turned back to her drink. “I shoulda known it was Pinkie—”

“Hi, I’m Pie!” The pink mare stood behind the bar, wiping it down with a balloon-patterned rag. Dash almost knocked her drink over.

“Pinkie!”

“Pinkie? What’s that?” Pie cocked her head, her blue eyes gazing intently at Dash.

“It’s—I mean—no one, it’s no one.” Dash sighed and downed the rest of her drink in one gulp. “Nice to meet you, Pie.”

“Nice to meet you too, Rainbow Dash!”

Dash eyed her. “Don’t you mean RBD?”

“Naw, RBD’s a big Meanie McMeanieface! You can tell ’cause her suit’s orange! Yours is blue!”

Jewel pushed her way between dancing programs to reach them at the bar, managing to maintain her perfect poise. “She’s an absolute terror. Anyone could tell at a glance that you are not she.”

Dash wasn’t so sure; she didn’t think she would have been able to tell the two of them apart at a glance, but let it slide. “Jewel, where’s Diana?”

Jewel nodded towards Pie, who beamed. “I can help you with that one, Rainbow Dash!”

“Just call me Dash, Pie.”

“Okie-dokie-Dashie!”

“So,” Dash tried again, “where is Diana?”

Pie looked shiftily left and right before leaning in close. Dash unconsciously mirrored her movement. Pie bit her lip. Dash held her breath.

Pie bounced back up. “Come with me!”

Dash sighed.