//------------------------------// // Never Take It // Story: Scaled and Icy // by Dashie04 //------------------------------// Hello again, Lema citzens. It’s been driven into the ground, but We still feel like it’s important to emphasize that it’s Us and Them. Our connections make us weak, we need a divide between Them and Us. Prepare for war. If you can’t gain any ground on the rebels, you better be prepared to kill yourself to avoid giving them the satisfaction of doing it for you. We’ve got the head of the rebel movement, and we can handle the rest. They aren’t even properly armed. We are Lema. We are vialists, and we are Luna’s. We’ll never take it. “So! I wanted to say something before Iron Hide and I set out to collect scrap,” I said, prepared to let everypony in trench know I was going to be back. “You have to know that at this point, it’s Us or Them. We have to get Prancey back, and we’ll do anything in our power to do that. Whatever it takes, we’ll fight Lema to the death! “Who are we? We’re Trench! We’re the ones who will show Lema the error of their ways! We’re going to attack them, and paint the town our rebel colors! I didn’t really have much else to say, but we’ll be back, I can guarantee it!” The ponies enthusiastically cheered, and I decided that now was a good time to leave. So, me and Iron Hide decided to fly across Luna’s Moon and see what downed delivery ships we could find. “There’s absolutely no way that you’re—“ “Prancey, stop stammering for one second! Look at me closely.” I once again got another look at the pony that was in front of me. There was a scarlet red mane, sure, it was hanging over her face like it hadn’t been cut in years. Which, honestly, it probably hadn’t. She was dark blue, and quite thin, but her most distinctive feature was that she had no wings, at all. “Wingless! There’s no way you’re alive! I must be going crazy already!” I shouted. “Or you’re her twin sister, or something. Like, you being alive was something I hoped for, not something I actually assumed was happening!” “Well, yes, I’m Wingless. Prancey, you’re more expressive that when I last met you,” Wingless said. “Well, I have been leading a band of ponies for two years, and that’ll make a pony become a little more vocal,” I responded. “Really though, what happened to you?” “Well, they captured me, sure, but Lema didn’t actually want to kill me. They said I had done grievous wrongs, and that they couldn’t get rid of me temporarily. Apparently, this entire Lema city is built on some bullshit religion that Ocin thought up that states that the only way to die is to kill oneself. So, they threw me in this cell, either until I swore my undying allegiance to Lema or until I got so depressed I killed myself. Because I’m stubborn and because Lema is a city full of nothing but ponies who don’t have a moral compass, I decided to do neither,” Wingless stated. “They feed me once a day, and there’s absolutely nothing interesting in this cell, so I decided to take up a little side gig to mess with Lema.” “Okay, I’m inclined to believe you,” I said. “What did you take up?” “You see that computer?” Wingless said, pointing a hoof at the computer in my cell. “They only give you that because it’s loaded with propaganda and whatnot. However, it’s also direct access to every Lema server they have, including radio and video.” I booted up the computer and realized that Wingless was right. I must’ve been dumped in a super-cell because I don’t remember any of this from my stay in the Lema dungeons. The computer had a direct feed to radio and video servers, which is probably what Wingless was mentioning. “So, what’s so cool about this?” I asked. “Well, if you manage to breach the security, you can hack into the feeds and completely buck up the bullshit they’re talking about. I really hated all the things they’d say, so I’ve done it a couple of times. The problem is that they tighten the security with every hack, and I haven’t been able to do anything for a while.” “Perhaps if we did it together? Maybe then we could think up a way to break in for good,” I suggested. “That’s a great idea Prancey.,” Wingless responded. “I’ll just need to tell you how to hack into the systems, listen carefully...”