Obsolescence
Chapter 2.0:
The default setting on transmutation magic was a tingling sensation that spread throughout your body. However, like almost everything else about Transmutation Booths, this sensation was customizable. You could feel everything from a pleasant warmth to sedate numbness to even a tickling sensation as the magic went about its work.
There was even an option for, disgustingly enough, arousal, but I preferred to reserve intimate romance for an actual pony rather than a machine. Not that anypony had ever actually looked at me with any such thoughts, mind you. Aside from the dangers a relationship would pose to my hacking career, I’d be creeped out if somepony actually did take an interest in me. After all, who wouldn’t be creeped out by a stallion who’s attracted to a mare with the equivalent of an older foal’s body?
Of course, it would be nice to be seen as something other than a child. However, I’d learned to file that away with ‘trustworthy governments’ and over myths.
As the tingles settled, I looked at my reflection in the chrome of the booth. My flesh wasn't still shifting, so the changes were set for the time being. I observed what the spawn of a dragon and a pony might look like. For all anypony knew, I might as well have been a genetic engineering project smuggled in from New Everfree. Given with how that wasn't exactly an uncommon sight in Canterlot Proper, I didn't think that would cause too much of a problem.
I must admit, there was a certain sort of flair to the exotic look of lavender scales on a pony’s body, dragon-green eyes looking out from where those of a lunar pegasus’ would normally peer. If I didn’t have to remain random, I might like to try this disguise again sometime.
Now, however, came the tricky part. Taking a deep breath and bracing myself, I pressed the ‘open’ button on the booth’s door and stepped out into the rain. It sizzled off my scaly hide, but despite the heat it was akin to little more than standing under an unpleasantly hot shower. I’d prefer that to getting eaten alive bit by bit by acid any day.
I grinned in spite of myself; I could get used to this.
Trotting out into the street, I wove my way through the crowded sidewalks, careful not to venture near any of the puddles near the main road. I may have been resistant to the drops of acid raining from the sky, but that didn’t mean I would be immune to small tsunamis of the stuff splashed up by passing motor wagons. Days like this really made you thankful for healing spells, even if they were expensive as Tartarus. At least it didn’t rain this heavily all the time.
Thankfully, I only received a few odd stares as I hurried block by block towards my destination. I needed to get there as quickly as possible. Genetic modifications didn’t last long, and I really didn’t want to be caught in this downpour far from any more booths.
My destination wasn't all that far from my apartment complex, really, but the old buildings out on the Rim were little better than a labyrinth. I remembered how many times I’d gotten lost in the maze when I first moved to the Rim. Back then, I’d just dropped out of school (or rather, escaped school), deciding I’d rather be a hacker full-time. Better that than a Council-approved computer technician like the school system had planned.
You'd think flying would have been faster, and without the downpour of acid rain it normally would have been. However, most buildings were tall enough that for the most part it wouldn't matter. The towers striking up into the poisonous clouds above made Canterlot Proper just as much a labyrinth in the air as it was on the ground. Besides, on the ground my thinner, less-protected wings wouldn’t get as much exposure. Furthermore, I wouldn't have to worry about the insanely fast aerial vehicles.
The plus side to the twists and turns of bustling bodies and chipped, nearly-crumbling stone and steel towers, though, was that it gave me plenty of time to think. Then again, thinking too much would allow me to come to my senses and flee back to the relative safety of my apartment, so perhaps it was a bit of a paradox rather than a straight plus. I somehow had to think of anything besides where I was going, except when I needed to in order to remember how to get there...
Ugh, why does a simple food run have to be so complicated?!
Well, at least I could preoccupy myself with what I was going to eat. Food chips were definitely out of the question. Chaos Cola, as much as it helped me through all-nighters, was also off the menu. There was only so much caffeine a girl could take, after all.
What I was craving was something organic. Something pure, fresh, unsynthesized. In most places in Canterlot Proper, such a foodstuff was just as mythical as me getting a date. However, the mare I was going to see was one of the few capable of making that a reality. The food, I mean. Not the date.
I could just imagine it now—being able to sink my teeth into a hooffull of crisp carrots or a bouquet of flowers. I was salivating just thinking about it, and my stomach let out another rumble.
“Shut up, will you!” I demanded with a groan. “We’re almost there.”
I felt a shudder as I passed under the archway that marked the unofficial boundaries to ‘her’ small kingdom. Truth be told, it didn’t look that different from any other place out in the Rim—rain-soaked pre-Crash buildings that would never be renovated, gruff and grim ponies avoiding making eye contact, and bunch of neon signs broadcasting everything from robotic augmentation clinics to memory depositories.
Nevertheless, I could feel the stares of ponies on the back of my neck, and they weren’t staring at me because of my draconic appearance. In this neighborhood, you either paid tribute to the local gang lord or you were an outsider.
Despite the wary, warning eyes of the populace, I couldn't resist enjoying the smells wafting out of homes and restaurants along the way. Here was a small bastion of refuse from the Council, so long as you recognized the absolute authority of the mare I was going to see. Thus, as long as the Council didn’t come down on it full-force, it could enjoy delicious genetically-pure produce without having to worry about the Enforcers snatching it away for the organic tax.
May the Goddesses have mercy on these poor ponies’ souls should the Council ever take a less lax approach to governing the Rim than they did the rest of the District, however.
At long last, I met the remains of what, in its prime, must have been a beautiful building. It still served as a Harmonist temple, at least on the above-ground levels. Its basement had long ago been converted into something a little less legal than a place of worship for the District’s dominant faith.
I half-smiled at the statues of the Goddesses themselves as I trotted up the steps. Even with almost a century of wear and tear from acid rain, they still looked as regal, as confident, as...happy...as ever. If they really did exist and had once walked Equestria, I envied the ponies who had been able to live in their presence.
Pushing my way through the temple’s large double doors, I walked into a huge, dark, empty room...and heard a click as a gun was pressed to my skull.
“Password?” inquired a stallion’s voice.
“I’m not local,” I said, trying my best to keep my voice even. “I came to see Daisy May. I’m an...old friend?”
“Oh, really?” the stallion chuckled. I started to look at at him, only to have my head shoved with the gun. “Don't turn ‘round. I might believe you about ol’ Daisy...if’n she had any friends. Seein’ as nopony told me you was comin’, I figures you might be an undercover Enforcer!”
“I’m not one of those pigs,” I asserted, adding a bit of anger into my voice. Despite my best efforts, though, a cold sweat began seeping out between my scales. This wasn't right—Daisy always personally inspected anypony brave enough or foalish enough to enter her abode. Did I just have the dumb luck to stumble in on a new recruit? “Daisy will want to see me. That’s her policy. You don’t want to find out what happens to ponies who break her policy, do you?”
“Policy’s changed,” he said. “New orders are ta’, as we say, dispose of anypony nosy.”
“You aren't going to shoot me in a temple, are you?” I chuckled. The cold sweat had to be visible now. “There’s a special circle of Tartarus reserved for those who desecrate holy ground.”
“Funny thing about that,” the stallion said. “I never was the religious type. Though seein’ as we is in a temple, why don’t you make yer final words a nice little prayer?”
This didn’t look good. I was not about to overpower him in a fight or flee him before he could shoot me, but I was getting pretty close to trying anyway. Desperation was making however slim a chance I had of clocking him with a well-placed buck all the more attractive.
“Well, uh...” I said, racking my brain for the longest prayer I knew to stall him while I thought of a better idea. “Twilight, Goddess of Magic, I pray to thee—”
“Too late!” the stallion laughed. “BANG!”
I jumped in fright before a raucous guffawing assaulted my ears, and it was not coming from the stallion.
“You should see your face!” chortled the voice of a mare. I recognized it all too well. “Priceless!”
“Hello, Daisy May,” I grumbled. Turning around, I beheld the sunny-yellow unicorn herself wiping tears from her eyes with the same gun she’d almost used to give me a lead lobotomy. Purple scales for protection or not, I couldn't have survived a shot at point-blank range. The bullet would have gone straight through my spiny mane and out through my draconic eyes.
When it came to Daisy, my disguise didn’t matter in more ways than just being useless against bullets. Likely the only reason she’d messed with me at all was because she knew it was me. Though thankfully this wasn't a common occurrence, Daisy could pick me out of a crowd no matter what skin I wore. Most would all it a keen eye or a sophisticated detection spell. I just called it creepy.
Daisy’s laugh rose and fell a few octaves as she chortled on. I saw the touchscreen amulet she was wearing, a homemade version by the looks of it, that must have created the illusion of her male voice.
After telekinetically holstering her gun in a pouch strapped to her foreleg and turning her voice-illusion off for good, the middle-aged mare threw a hoof over my shoulders and yanked me close for a noogie.
“Neverwas!” she said. I’ll never know how she could always see through my disguises, but at least with her I didn’t have to worry about being turned into the Enforcers. She hated them even more than I did. At least, I hoped I didn’t have to worry about that... “There never was a mare I wanted to see more! Though first, I gotta’ ask, what brings you to my humble abode? No, wait, lemme’ guess—you’re here for drugs. Feel the need for some Rewind? Maybe a snort of Stardust? Or do you want sex? We've got some new gigolo programs in the VR pods downstairs. Or maybe—”
“No, thank you, Daisy May,” I interrupted, pulling away from her and shaking my head to get my mane back in order. “You know I’m not interested in becoming one of your junkies or playing ‘plot twist’ with a virtual stallion. I’m here for food, same as always.”
“You’re no fun, you know that?” Daisy said, trotting towards the back of the room. In its prime, it must have been a worship area. According to my understanding, Daisy still kept the temple stocked with Harmonist ministers, but the sanctuary had fallen into disarray decades ago. Even most of the stained glass windows were cracked. “Even I love me some simulated nasty now and again. Were else are you going to find the perfect stallion than in virtual reality?”
“I’d prefer somepony who isn't made up of ones and zeroes, thank you,” I said as I followed her, trying not to let my voice sound too scoffing. Daisy May might have acted like a prankster teenager, but I’d learned the hard way that you couldn't let her act fool you. I knew not to press her too far.
“The only hot tail on the Rim free of Enforcers and you turn it down,” Daisy muttered as we headed through a door at the back of the sanctuary. “Whatever. Besides, I’m glad you’re here. I've been waiting for you for a few days now. I’d have sent somepony to fetch you, but you never let me know where you’re staying.”
“Do you blame me?” I asked with a nervous chuckle. What in the world could she need that required me specifically? I had done hacking for her before, but surely there were plenty of other hackers she could use?
Daisy merely laughed again before her horn lit up. She pulled the lever on the wall of the small room we’d entered, and with a lurching motion the elevator began descending. I tried not to show my discomfort. Despite being a lunar pegasus, I’d never much liked it underground, especially when I’d be in close quarters with the likes of Daisy and her gangbangers. I don’t know how my ancestors handled it in their caves during Equestria’s ancient period.
“What exactly is it you want me to do?” I asked as we descended, both fearing and eager to hear her answer. On the one hoof, I wasn't so keen on learning what kind of favors Daisy May would ask. On the other, if I played my cards right, I might just walk out of here with a cartload of my very own fresh, natural produce.
“You’ll see,” she replied with a toothy grin. I tried not to shiver.
With another lurch, we arrived in what amounted to a palace in Daisy May’s kingdom. Fine Neighponese rugs covered the metal floors of the temple’s basement while silk drapes hung from the walls. Glowsprites chittered as they chased each other down the halls. None of it could really cover up the smell of dank metal and drugs, though.
Even so, there was still the succulent smell of ripe tomatoes...
“This way,” Daisy instructed jovially, though I knew her command was just that—a command. Disobedience would not be met well.
We strolled through the halls, passing fine holographic art prints and whatever else Daisy had managed to acquire from her various clients in the neighborhood. As much as I felt disgusted by the means through which Daisy had achieved such status, I had to admit that it must feel good to have everypony looking up to you like that.
I mentally sighed in relief as we entered Daisy’s computer room, a large space that had probably once been the temple’s crypt. I’d seen it plenty of times, since as a hacker I’d only ever really been able to purchase food here through deleting a few Enforcer files on Daisy’s operation. It seemed that that favor was going to be just another hack, which was something that made me infinitely more comfortable. Hacking I could deal with. It was the other businesses Daisy dealt with that I didn’t want to get involved in.
“Beauty, isn't she?” Daisy said proudly. As a computer enthusiast, I had to agree. Consoles were everywhere, but nothing in the room compared to the massive console in the center. Just beside it was a VR pod, though thankfully this one wasn't a part of Daisy’s digital brothel. Due to the overstuffed cushions and various other customizations, I knew this to be Daisy’s personal interface system. “I want you to pilot it for a while.”
“What?” I gasped, turning to face her, one eyebrow raised despite the guarded look I wore. Daisy had never let me use her personal pod. If she wanted me to hack something, it was always through one of her standard computers. “Why? What’s the catch?”
“No catch,” she said, though I trusted that statement about as far as I could throw her. Given my size and her average girth, I’m sure you can guess how far that would be. “This hack is just a little more...involved than most. You in?”
“What’s the job?” I asked warily.
“Council maneframe,” she said with a smirk. My eyes darted to the pod and then to the door. I should have simply bolted, but in the split second of my hesitation Daisy had drawn her gun again. “Don’t even think about it, Neverwas. I need this job done, and you’re the only pony with a windigo’s chance in Tartarus of pulling it off.”
“I’m just a hacker!” I protested. “I’m not a bloody supercomputer. It would take me years just to get past the preliminary firewalls, and that’d be after the failsafes fry my brain with dark magic!”
“Normally, you’d be right,” she chuckled, holstering her gun again before withdrawing a jump drive. “But you’ll have a little help this time.”
“What’s that?” I scoffed. “Some sort of ‘super’ virus? The Council’s got the best software in the District. Whatever second-rate hacker sold that to you robbed you blind. No virus has ever been able to get into the Council maneframe.”
“Will you just shut up and try it?” she asked evenly. “Odds are, you’re probably right. If you can’t get past the firewalls with this thing’s help, you’re free to go. I’ll even give you free pick of my garden, as much as you can carry. All I’m asking is that you try. Refuse, however...”
Her horn lit up again, her ironically cheery-golden aura settling on her holster.
“Fine,” I grumbled. If I was sweating before, I was all but pissing myself now. “But don’t blame me when all your systems are fried.”
As I walked over to the VR pod, I chuckled mirthlessly to myself. Seeing Daisy’s face when her computers exploded from the Council’s counter-viruses would have been a sight to see. Too bad I might not get to see it, seeing as how it was very likely my brain could suffer the same fate.
All I had come here for was some breakfast, and now my life was on the line. I wanted to cook some veggies, not have my brain cooked!
Maybe I could just make it look like I was hacking the maneframe. If I set up an illusory program, I could give the impression that I simply couldn't get in. That’d be nice...if I had a few extra hours to set it up.
Don’t worry about it now, I thought frantically to myself. Just concentrate on a way out of this, and you’ll be fine.
Yeah, right. But what other choice did I have?
The pod door slid open with a hiss and I climbed in, almost getting swallowed alive by the cushions. If this pod wasn't about to become my casket, I might have rather enjoyed such luxury.
“What am I even looking for?” I asked.
“An old military file from before the Crash,” Daisy instructed. “Something called the ‘Old Soldiers Project’.”
“Before the Crash? That’s ancient history,” I observed. “Why would something like that be secret?”
“Because it led to the Crash,” Daisy explained. “As I understand it, this file is from the Corporate War.”
The Corporate War?!
“Happy hunting!” Daisy chortled before I could make any further inquiries or objections. She mashed a button on the side of the pod and the egg-like structure closed. A gentle humming began filling the enclosure, and the crystalline filaments lacing the interior of the pod began lighting up. Already, I could feel the gentle tug as the magic pulled at my consciousness. I knew resistance was futile, so I simply sighed and let it pluck me from my body, hurtling my mind into the Net.
. . .
For a few moments, I wasn't anywhere, and I wasn't anything. I didn’t exist, at least not in the conventional sense. There was nothingness as far as the nonexistent eye couldn't see.
Then, slowly but with rapidly increasing speed, ones and zeroes began falling from whatever passed for ‘up’ in this un-space. The drizzle of code quickly escalated into a rainstorm of digital complexity, and wherever the code fell, it formulated.
Data began piling up and fading in on itself, constructing a virtual ground, a virtual sky, and a virtual everything in between. Mountains of megabytes rose above lakes of logarithms and valleys of virtuality. Forests, villages, and cities fell into place byte by byte, as did the ponies and other such beings who inhabited them.
Finally, a virtual me formed, though ‘me’ was putting it lightly. I was little more than a dress mannequin, a blank white shape with vaguely equine features. I didn’t even have a mane or tail, much less any discernible features that would define me as male or female.
Most ponies had their avatars synchronized with their DNA, but understandably I tried to keep mine as random as my disguises. I had to design a new avatar every time I accessed the Net directly. With a few thought commands, my avatar melted and morphed into a doppelganger of my current disguise.
Now that that was settled, I only had to—gulp—break into the most heavily fortified databank in the history of Equestria. First, though, where was I?
Looking around, I beheld something straight out of a history textbook. Cottages, actual cottages with thatch roofs and plaster over brick walls and everything, surrounded me. I was even standing on cobblestones rather than asphalt and concrete.
“I sometimes almost forget how peaceful everything looked back then,” I murmured to myself. “I haven’t logged into the Ponyville server in ages.”
A bright orb that was supposed to be the sun shone down from a blue sky overhead, and all around me birdsong filled the fresh, sweet air. I took a deep breath, reminded why I had spent so many credits at the VR stations when I was younger. It was nice for a while, but knowing it wasn't real was the clincher that killed it.
The first thing I would need to do would be to find a port station and upload myself to the Council’s public access system. I began trotting down Ponyville’s Manestreet, noting the various other avatars. Many were just as unique and modern as I was, but quite a few bore old world, pre-Crash charm. It was always interesting to see the users who tried to match their environment.
Finally I reached Ponyville library, a recreation of the supposed home of the Goddess of Magic during her time in Equestria. I reached a hoof towards the door, but right before I could push it open there was a flash of light.
I gasped and jumped back. I had thought teleportation was banned from this server, but the pony standing before me apparently thought otherwise. She also apparently thought otherwise on a lot of the bans programmed into this server.
Standing before me was the spitting image of Twilight Sparkle, the Goddess of Magic herself.
“What the—” I almost swore before the avatar in front of me held up a hoof.
“Now, now,” she chided, smiling smugly. “Would you really want to curse in the presence of a Goddess?”
“You’re not—hold on a minute,” I demanded. “How are you doing that? Alicorn mods are banned, and besides, nopony can override the filter against Goddess lookalikes! Even I—”
I stopped myself just in time.
“Even you what?” she grinned. “Does it involve your favorite pastime? Does it start with h and end with ack?”
“Shut up!” I shouted, causing a few of the other avatars to shoot me an odd look. Wait a minute...why weren’t they more interested in the Twilight avatar? I looked from them and then back to her. “They can’t see you?”
“I’m on an isolated channel,” she explained, gently kicking open the library door behind her. She backed up into it, and I hesitantly followed. “And before you express further bafflement and incredulity, yes, I am fully aware of the fact that such is banned by powerful prevention codes.”
“Who are you?” I asked, my brow furrowing. It was one thing to hack into the Ponyville server, which was little more than a free social area. I might even be able to do so if I had the time and the motivation, but why? However, it was another thing entirely to create a Twilight Sparkle avatar. The Council had banned that model with some of the highest codes for a reason. If the Harmonists ever caught wind of this, they’d be out for the blasphemer’s blood. Even if the Council didn’t necessarily sponsor the Harmonist faith, they were smart enough to recognize the kind of disruption they would cause if prompted to organize. “And how are you hacking through all this?”
“Don’t tell me you've already forgotten Daisy May’s little ‘help’ program?” the not-Twilight said, cocking her head. The gesture was made twice as annoying when she flipped upside down and hovered there with her oversized alicorn wings.
“You mean you’re...” I said, puzzling this over. “But that’s impossible! No artificial intelligence is that advanced. At least, no post-Crash AIs are, and I know Daisy could never get her hooves on pre-Crash tech. Who are you, really? Are you the one who sold Daisy that jump drive?”
“If it’ll make you feel better and get this over with faster, why not?” ‘Twilight’ shrugged.
“You’re going to help me try to...” I started, but then narrowed my gaze suspiciously. “What, are you an Enforcer or something? That’s it! You’re an agent of the Council—that’s the only reason you can bypass those codes!”
My eyes suddenly widened.
“You've been spying on Daisy, haven’t you? This is a sting!” I gasped, realizing all too well what that entailed. “But I’m innocent! I just came here to get some food! I wasn't actually going to try and hack the Council maneframe like she asked—I’m innocent! I’m a victim here!”
Despite it being warm out for the first time in a long time, even if that was all a digital lie, my blood was beginning to run cold. The stories Twitchy Tails told me in the forums came rushing back.
“Please, don’t arrest me!” I pleaded. “I’m innocent till proven guilty, aren't I?”
The inverted Twilight simply continued to stare at me with an amused, slightly bored expression.
“I suppose I could calculate how you’d formulate all that, even if it is wrong,” she said, finally turning back right-side-up and landing beside me. “I’m not a Council agent, but this is what you would call a ‘sting.’ Enforcers are hauling the virtual reality interface unit you’re currently plugged into to a Rim outpost as we communicate.”
“What?” I said. That couldn't be true...could it? Daisy hated the Enforcers. As much as I disliked her, I could trust that she wouldn’t sell me out...right?
“I can deduce from your facial expressions that you are contemplating my statement,” the Twilight said. “I understand that you have every reason to believe my claims false. Nevertheless, you wouldn’t disbelieve your own experiences, would you? Why don’t you try logging out?”
“Daisy would kill me—literally—if I just bailed on her,” I snorted. Then again, there was a difference between logging out and getting out of the pod... “Wait just a moment...”
“Feel free to waste as many parsecs as your cardiovascular organ desires,” the Twilight said.
Rolling my eyes, I mentally entered the codes that would let me wake up, but not turn the pod off entirely. I could log back in at a moment’s notice, before Daisy notice a thing.
I closed my eyes, and when I opened them again ever-so-slightly, I wasn't in Ponyville anymore.
I also wasn't in Daisy’s computer room.
My eyes opened all the way as I saw a low metal roof inches above the pod’s glass cover. I could also feel whatever second container I was in bump and shift, accompanied by the sensation of steady movement.
In a sudden rush of fear, I tried to open the pod, but it couldn't get past the cover above it.
“That—that nag!” I swore. “She sold me out!”
My heart began racing. If I wasn't in Daisy’s lair, then that could only mean the Twilight impostor had been telling the truth. I was in the custody of Enforcers, and soon I would be at their mercy in an interrogation room. I could almost see Twitchy Tails shaking his head sadly.
I was under arrest. Every cyber crime I’d ever committed was going to be extracted from my brain bit by bit with dark magic. If they didn’t just kill me after that, I’d spend the rest of my life in a prison pod, slowly rotting away as my broken mind feebly tried to piece itself back together.
I was breathing far more quickly now, on the verge of hyperventilating. A few more seconds and I’d be suffering from a full-blown panic attack.
No.
I was not giving up that easily.
“Come on, Neverwas,” I whispered to myself. “You've hacked circles around these guys. There has to be some flaw in their security you can exploit. You are not getting brain-raped by dark magic.”
Taking a deep breath, I accessed the Net again.
“Welcome back!” ‘Twilight’ greeted cheerily. “Have a nice trip to reality?”
“What do you know about what’s going on?” I asked, nearly pleading despite trying to keep my voice level. “Anything you know could save me. I can repay you—”
“No debts,” the Twilight interrupted, sounding serious for the first time. “Why don’t we settle for a symbiotic relationship? We’ll assist each other out of common interest, not an exchange of favors. Call it friendship. Besides, whatever the crime lord known as 'Daisy May' thinks, I'm not here to help her. I'm here to help you.”
“Friendship?” I echoed. The Twilight nodded. I’d never had a friend, but now wasn't really the time to get into that, much less question what whoever this was really wanted. “Friendship it is, then.”
“Excellent!” the Twilight exclaimed. “I’m decoding the locks on your holding container. As soon as it pops, you can exit the transport vessel. I can do nothing concerning the Enforcers themselves, but I have it on moderately benevolent authority that help is headed your way from another front. I advise you to stay alive as best you can until they arrive.”
“Thank you,” I said sincerely, despite the fact that that ‘stay alive as best you can’ bit wasn't all that comforting.
“Think nothing of it, friend.” the Twilight smiled cheerily again, though I couldn't tell if it was at least partially cheeky. At this point, I didn’t really care.
I closed my eyes again and opened them back in reality. With a hiss, the metal ceiling split in two and slid open. The pod’s cover followed shortly after, and with a deep breath, I crawled out of it.
Thankfully, I’d never actually seen the inside of an Enforcer detainment vehicle, but it was pretty much exactly as I’d pictured it: a dark metal box. The Enforcers’ logo, three orbs representing the Sun, Moon, and the planet lined up vertically in order of size, was emblazoned across the two longer walls.
There were two doors. The smaller I assumed led to the cockpit, but despite its shaking and the cursing from the other side, it wasn't opening. I silently thanked whoever the Twilight really was and jumped down to the larger exit door. With a click, it swung open to reveal—
A pair of metal horseshoes met my face as an Enforcer pegasus slammed into the cell. I was knocked back into the side of the pod container, the breath knocked out of me. The pegasus landed before me, side-mounted guns trained on me as if daring me to make a move. I couldn't see through the pitch-black visor of the pegasus’ helmet, but I could see my own warped reflection, a trickle of blood leaking from my lip.
What was beyond the Enforcer was far more troubling, however. The rushing, rainy skies were full of aerial Enforcer vehicles, several armed pegasi flying beside them. Why in the world were there so many?! I was just a hacker, for Goddesses’ sakes!
“I've got the subject detained,” said the pegasus, a mare judging by her voice. “Do I shoot?”
Thank the Goddesses whoever was on the other end of her radio said ‘no.’ At least, it appeared that they partially said ‘no.’
“Don’t make any sudden moves, Old Soldier,” the Enforcer spat at me. “Or we’ll see just how ‘special’ you really are.”
. . .