Val strode onto the bridge, casting a gaze around those hateful and worried faces around her. The ponies of the OASIS all avoided her gaze, looking down or going back to work. Val grinned- this was the kind of atmosphere she liked.
"Supreme Leader." Spitfire said, turning around slowly and choosing her words carefully.
"Captain. Nothing but a chat with you." Val said, not even waiting for Spitfire to catch up and heading straight for the ship's bar.
Spitfire followed her, taking long steady strides.
The bar was full of activity, ponies cheering and talking loudly- but it all was abruptly cut short as they spotted Val enter the bar. Val stood, casting an expressionless gaze across the ponies. Slowly, one by one; they all left without an order to do so- verbally, anyway.
"Take a seat, captain." Val said without even looking at Spitfire.
Spitfire thought about not doing so- this was her ship, after all- but decided against it. Whatever she could take as a disadvantage emotionally might account for as an advantage later on. She sat down, however quite relaxedly.
"Supreme Leader." she said, keeping an eye on Val while still wary of her guards. One of the guards looked at her emotionlessly, those softly glowing red eyes reflecting the all of hell silently in its reflection. The guard pony's crimson red mane dangled by her side, her dark grey skin shaded even darker under the shadows. Unlike the other guard, she seemed to look down on Spitfire like she was some inferior insect.
"Please, captain. Just call me Val." Val said, finally turning around to face her and taking her attention off the guard. There was an eery screeching noise as she dragged a chair out from under the table, and took a seat.
Spitfire tensed. She'll need to choose her moves and words very carefully from now on- you never know when you might reveal something. Val tilted her head to one side, her glowing light blue robotic eye narrowing. Spitfire shuddered, however not visibly as the gaze from that eye seemed to pierce her straight to the heart.
"I believe you know what I'm here for." Val said, leaning forward and scanning Spitfire's face for the barest hint of a flinch. "But ofcourse, you're going to pretend that you don't."
If there was any discomfort in Spitfire, she suppressed it well.
"That may be because I don't. The possibilities are infinite." Spitfire said, leaning back into her chair and making some distance between herself and Val's scary eyes.
"You think I don't know about your little plans? In fact, I should execute a termination order on the OASIS right now..." Val said slowly, letting out one word at a time.
"I'm afraid I don't understand you." Spitfire said, keeping on a straight face even though her heart was pounding at a thousand miles an hour. She hid that by folding her arms in front of her chest.
"I'm sure you're familiar with history, yes? Being a certainly knowledgable captain..." Val said, also leaning back into her own chair.
Spitfire was about to let out a sigh of relief when she realized this was part of Val's plan. She held that sigh in, not showing any sort of emotional change what so ever.
"I am." she said.
"Then you'll know the story of the Magic Faction, and how they were utterly smothered by Science." Val said, standing up- her chair making a screeching noise that echoed in the silence as it slid away. "Many ponies died from those wars... Those rebellions. And now... They live underground, slaves of a superior kind." she paused, casting a sideways glance at Spitfire. "Most of them, anyway."
The conversation was really getting on Spitfire's nerves now- but she did her best to keep a straight face.
"Twice, they thought they could win against us. And they failed in vain." Val turned around, placing her robotic hands down by either side of the table and leaning forward, her face sliding behind the shadows. "And I heard there's a third time coming."
"Wouldn't you want to address the general of the COLOSSUS instead-" Spitfire started, but Val cut her short.
"Captain Spitfire." Val said quietly, but clearly. "You know why I'm addressing you, not the captain of a much more powerful cruiser. The OASIS is rogue."
Spitfire ground her teeth together behind her tightly closed lips. She just stared at the far wall as Val stood up, slowly walking around the table.
"What, you thought I wouldn't know?" Val said, and Spitfire could hear her voice constantly changing position as she walked around her. "I could order the assault on your secret fleet right now. But I won't- what difference does it make? The result will be the same, regardless of who strikes first- because I'll be ready. So here's what I'm going to do." Val leaned down, her lips barely a few centimeters away from Spitfire's still ears. She felt her hot breath run down the side of her face, and restrained herself from flinching. "I'm going to let you run wild with your plans to overthrow me. Because it wouldn't matter. Let's see what you can do, captain." Val grinned, standing up. She laughed, amused at Spitfire's attempts at hiding the truth. "Surprised? I should think so.
But you're not the only one with those extra memories. Memories of an alternate universe where I had lost- but it's different now. I have won, and I know how to keep it that way."
Val tapped the side of her head, her robotic figure making a light but solid clunk against the metal plating on one side of her face.
"You think I don't know you fought for the Magic Faction- Captain of the Wonderbolts? Equestria's top aerial defense team?" she grinned, scanning Spitfire's face for any signs of weakness. "Do whatever you want, keeping in mind I'll always be ready when the crap does hit the fan."
This was it- Val was right here right now, and if she doesn't take the chance to kill her- who knows when there'll be a second chance?
Spitfire sprung up, her pistol already drawn and her chair skidding away into the background- but Val was faster. She had a firm grip on Spitfire's wrist, keeping the gun pointed well away from her. She even had one arm tucked behind her back, for her own enjoyment.
"Buck-" Spitfire cursed, trying to free herself- but she couldn't do anything.
"Magic is weak." Val said in a hushed tone. Spitfire gritted her teeth, growling at Val. "It will never defeat science."
Val twisted, and Spitfire grunted. She was slowly being forced to her knees, and she could hear her arm click as Val kept twisting. She was forced to drop the pistol- her arm wasn't listening to her anymore.
Then Val launched a backwards kick into her chest, sending her flying back and hitting the far wall. Her back cracked against the cold metal, and she slumped down onto the floor; her vision blurring. She quickly shook it off, scrambling to her hooves and whipping out a small knife from behind her back. She swung it at the approaching Val.
Val blocked the knife with her metal palm, closing her fingers around the blade. She yanked it out of Spitfire's grip, then pinned her to the wall with her spare hand.
"Weak." Val said, tightening her grip on Spitfire's neck.
Spitfire screamed as Val stabbed the knife into her right shoulder, the blade sliding through her joint and lodging itself into the wall behind her.
"Gah! Son of a... AH!" she spat through gritted teeth as Val twisted the knife.
"You know what..." Val said, letting go and leaving Spitfire pinned to the wall. "I'm going to let you live- so you can suffer." she said, yanking the knife out. Spitfire screamed again, the knife clunking loudly onto the ground. She slumped down, leaving a bloody smear on the wall behind her as Val turned to leave.
"Good day, captain." she said, arms folded behind her back and walking out of the bar; her guards that did nothing throughout the process following her out and throwing pitiful glances her way.
*
"There should be a floating platform somewhere to your east. I'll mark it out on your HUDs." Team 1's technician said, and with a few beeps a new location appeared on Magnum's HUD.
"Good work. Keep it online." Magnum said, leading her team towards the marked location. "Alright. Eyes and ears sharp when we get on that platform- look out for other ones too. There might be ghosts on them. Check your we-" she immediately fell still as the door in front of her opened, leading into a room filled with ponies.
"Buck!" Storm cursed, quickly taking cover.
Magnum dived behind the wall, but there wasn't a sound coming from the other room- just the shuffling of hooves as the ponies slowly walked around. She looked at Storm, who returned her blank expression. Slowly she stood up, and walked into the other room. Still those ponies ignored her- hundreds of them lined up and slowly limping towards a machine that took up a quarter of the room. The room itself had to be more than twenty meters wide- it was really more of a large hall.
There was something wrong with the ponies. Their eyes stared lifelessly at the ponies in front of them, glassy and unmoving. They also all seemed to be marching too- all their movements were in unison. Nopony was unique. There also seemed to be small devices implanted on the back of all their necks, a green light indicating they're online.
"What the hell is this...?" Magnum waved a hoof right in front of a pony's face, and as expected- she didn't respond.
"Assembly line." Bluefyre said, pointing at the end of the room; at the machine.
Magnum looked at her questioningly, then slowly started heading for the machine. There was a door in the side of it, old and rusted and untouched for decades.
She stood on one side, while Storm took the other. Bluefyre placed a small detonation charge on the door, and quickly moved to join Magnum.
"Breach and clear. Three... Two... One... Go!" Magnum yelled, and Bluefyre pressed the big red button.
The door blew in, and they heard it tumble across the floor. They swung in, rifles pointing this way and that in search of hostiles.
"Clear." Storm said finally, lowering his rifle.
They seemed to be in a control room of some sort, and the hall earlier connected to an even larger one behind the machine. This control room acted as a small connector on the side, and monitored both halls and the interiors of the machine as well.
"What the hell..." Magnum whispered, slowly walking towards one of the glass walls that look into the machine.
It was like the suiting room on the OASIS. Except Bluefyre described it more effectively- it was an assembly line. Ponies walked into the machine, and the robots start putting pieces on. Magnum followed the pony she waved her hoof in front of earlier, as the robots placed the shoulder plates and chest plates down then screwed them in place with a loud buzz. Then the rest went on slowly, piece by piece- until finally, the helmet was attached.
"What are these?" Magnum asked Bluefyre.
"New units. Never seen them before." Bluefyre said.
"Go back and take a DNA sample from one of the ponies and analyze it. I want an identity match. Then scan one of the new units and see what it might be for." Magnum said, still following the pony.
The next hall was just a large gathering ground. All the fresh units were moved here via conveyer belts and robotic arms- all the units seemed dead. Or at least, they weren't online. Magnum didn't like this one bit- somepony could easily turn them all on and they'd be screwed.
Bluefyre took a small cylinder out from behind her back, and stabbed one end lightly into a stallion's neck. A few droplets of blood were sucked into the small cylinder, and she took it out. With a click and a hiss she plugged it into a socket on her arm, and immediately the computer began working away. She frowned at the result, then her eyes widened as she realized what this meant.
She quickly ran back to Magnum, already tapping away at the screen and throwing up a holographic profile.
"What do you have?" Magnum turned around.
Bluefyre just gestured at the profile. Magnum squinted her eyes at the holographic words.
"Blah blah blah blah... Age 23... Male.... Presumed dead in the second Magic-Science war?" Magnum's eyes widened. "What the hell?"
"Do you know what this means, squad leader?" Bluefyre asked.
"I do." Magnum said, trying to work out additional details in her head.
"They captured ponies to use as meat puppets... I think that's what those devices are for." Bluefyre pointed at the metal boxes on the back of their necks.
"Is there anyway to safely free them?" Magnum asked.
"From what I'm seeing... Those devices are connected directly to the central spine, and may or may not be acting as the brain. The entire nervous system might even be redirected into the device, hell knows what. But until we further research the device- I don't think we can." Bluefyre said, shaking her head slowly.
Magnum sighed frustratedly. "This is just bucking great. Got a bunch of hostages that we need to kill." she paused, weighing the few options they have. Then she closed her eyes, calming her insides. "Rig the place with charges. I want it brought down."
"Magnum?" Bluefyre looked surprised, staring at her with wide eyes.
"Do it." Magnum said, storming out of the control room.
*
The night had found its way through to the Crystal Mountains. Vinyl Scratch leant on the railings of the broadcast building, the dark skies and shimmering engines of the barricade seemingly stretching onwards forever high above.
The broadcast station was the highest building in the whole of Haven, concealed only by the huge mirage spell that covered the entire city, relayed and amplified by the Crystal Tower.
The radio DJ gazed up at the sky, the stars shimmering in the dark. Some patches were visible, where spaceships slowly cruised through space. The moon hung on one edge tonight, brighter than even the engines of the barricade.
It was such a different world. The night was so silent, that she could hear her own watch ticking away; and was so still that she could feel the gentle taps the second hand made as it slowly cruised along the rim of the watch. The difference is extreme between the normal party-filled nights of the previous reality and this new cold one. Maybe the new DJ-PON3 liked silence and stillness better, she'll never know.
There were no parties in his new world. She didn't have any equipment she used to have. All she had was her mic, and some old and worn headphones. All she could broadcast were messages and news for anypony that might still have a magic-operated radio lying around. And in most cases, that was nopony. Vinyl sighed, looking down at her own shadow; stretched across the floor by the bright moon.
What will the new world offer? Less opportunities, probably. She was going nowhere in this new world, with no direction to advance in. She had no idea what the date was- nopony did after the war. Nopony kept a calendar- there was no point. Everyday simply slipped past like countless others, as they wait for their eventual death- whether natural, or enforced by their enemies.
Vinyl held out a hoof, and with a light buzz and a bright flash; a twirling disc of orange light appeared and hovered over her outstretched hoof. She had implants in her arm now, so she didn't need to carry those dumb discs from the previous reality around. She gently sizzled the edge of the disc against her arm, drawing a drop of blood- although she felt nothing but the warmth of the disc of energy. So is this a fake reality? Was she dreaming? It seemed too well-constructed to be one. She'll save killing herself for later- when there's firm enough evidence.
"Vinyl..." she heard a soft voice behind her, a gentle night breeze rustling her mane.
"Hey." she said, lowering her head and looking down at the Haven below. The streets were empty, all lights were off. It was just darkness, lit dimly by the moon.
"Up here again?" Noteworthy asked, stepping up next to her by the railings.
"Yeah." Vinyl said, ruby red eyes lowered.
That was accompanied by silence as the night carried on, not stopping for anypony left behind. Time is a cruel thing- it simply moves onwards, and doesn't consider who would be left behind or ground under its wheels- all ponies could hope for was to keep up.
"You okay?" Noteworthy asked as Vinyl's eyes were lost in the night skies once again. He put an arm around her shoulder, hugging her close and warming her up with his body heat.
"Maybe." Vinyl nodded, leaning her head on his shoulder.
"Come on." Noteworthy said, looking at her lowered eyes and giving her a gentle rub on the arm. "What's wrong?"
Vinyl took in a deep breath, then let it out in the form of a large sigh. "What isn't?"
"You, for one."
Vinyl chuckled, snuggling up against him.
"And me." Noteworthy added.
"No. Just me." Vinyl said, annoying Noteworthy on purpose. That flash of annoyance quickly dispersed when she gently nuzzled him on the cheek.
Noteworthy knows what Vinyl means- there was no telling what was right and what was wrong- their sense of judgement had long left them after being thrown into a reality of opposites.
There was a loud bang in the distance, and they both looked up to see a bright spot on the horizon, slowly dropping from the barricade; its engines propelling it towards Haven.
"Shuck..." he whispered, hugging Vinyl close as the nuke entered the mirage field.
Author: I noticed how you guys are reading it from the views- and I'm very glad you gusy have the will to keep reading. Although- is there really nothing to talk about? I mean, I'm kinda going blind with this story since I don't get any feedback... So, to please the crowd: what would you like to see happen? I'll try integrate that in should it fit the basic frame of the story