Freedom Through Harmony: Book II

by Electricut

Thirty-five

Chapter in color

Thirty-five

A rather well-built young unicorn snoozes in a corner in her workshop. There isn't really any proper bed for her to rest upon, but she has managed to fall asleep anyway, exhausted from staying up several nights in a row to work on her latest project. What will her name be?

Oh, that will never do. But... She's still asleep... You know what? We're just going to go into her dream and ask her. Sure we can.

The unicorn now stands in another room, a slightly altered version of her bedroom. All of the major furniture is still in place, such as her dresser and bed, are in the same place as they were, though they have been recolored a deep bronze, the same as the rest of the room. None of the minor details are in this room though, save for a pair of dolls at the foot of the bed.

Her name is QUICK FIX. As the name implies, she has a passion for FIXING SHIT, as well as building it in the first place and affixing it with upgrades. Normally, her room and workshop would both be littered with half-finished projects and countless tools, half of which she actually knows the intended purpose of, and about a third of which she actually ever uses. Right now, she don't even think she could access her workshop, and her bedroom is quite bare.

The only familiar features are the faces of the two stuffed animals on her bed. One is of SMARTY PANTS, an amazing gift from a great friend. The other is of RATCHET, of video game fame. Ratchet and Clank is pretty much THE ONLY VIDEO GAME SERIES SHE’S EVER PLAYED, and the one Doc has been geeking out about will be the second. To even play it, she had to get it translated from whatever language it was originally written in; attesting to how much she loves the series. As such, she made sure to get the proper memorabilia: This Ratchet doll, plus a homemade, fully functional CLANK. Unfortunately, as soon as she gave him an AI, he ran away and hid somewhere in the house, and she still hasn't found him.

Right now, she has no idea what is going on. While it looks similar, this is most certainly NOT her room. She also seems to be wearing some manner of purple night gown, though she can't remember ever owning such an article of clothing. Looking out the window, she sees a quite unfamiliar cityscape, all a deep violet. There seem to be some manner of living things moving about on the streets, but she is too far away to see them clearly. In the distance in the sky, there is a sphere of blue, looking almost like a moon in the otherwise black sky.

Quick Fix takes another look out the window, searching for a ladder or something with which she can leave this room. There is no door, only this viewing portal, and it doesn't seem to offer an easy way down. She leans a little further out to look around the bottom, since the wall rounds out just below, but her hooves slip and she can feel herself falling. She squeezes her eyes shut, awaiting impact with the ground, but it never comes.

With a start, she realizes she is floating in midair, just below her window, even without the aid of a pair of wings. She gives a small chuckle, not understanding why, but thankful for still being alive, and floats around for a few minutes to get a feel for flight, then sets off to explore the city.

Quick Fix aligns with the ground with just a little space to keep hovering, and looks around. Walking around are countless strange, alien forms, taking little to no notice of her. They all walk on two legs, with their front hooves dangling at their sides or carrying things against their chests. They have some kind of shiny black shell covering their skins instead of a fur coat, and none have manes or tails. They all wear nondescript grey clothing and see with beady white eyes.

While they certainly look strange, at least they seem to be acting mostly like a pony. Quick Fix says a few words of greeting to them, but gets no response, only a few glances at best. Most just keep walking, eyes staring out into the distance or at their feet. She frowns, but decides to try again elsewhere.

She next floats over to a busy plaza, where a much greater congregation of the odd people is. Once again, a few glance her way as they pass, but none stop to talk to her. Quick Fix tries to speak to them, or at least grab their attention so that they'll tell her where she is or what is happening, but they seem quite unwilling to acknowledge her; At least, until a rather distinguished looking gentleman approaches her from across the plaza. He is slightly thinner than the others around him, and wears a neat black suit emblazoned with a red DIAMOND at the lapel. His calculating white eyes are locked on Quick Fix, unlike any of the other residents of the city, and his approach catches several interested looks.

He stops a few feet from Quick Fix, and the two lock gazes. She briefly considers inquiring to him about her predicament, but something about his demeanor tells her this wouldn't be a great idea. This guy means business, and probably doesn't have time for her bullshit.

He lifts one of his front hooves, broken up into five at the tip and looking extremely painful, and points in the direction of the tower from which Quick Fix came. His steely gaze remains on her, and his message seems to be along the lines of 'Go to your room'. Seeing the sharp dagger at his belt, she feels motivated to do as he wishes, and floats all the way back home. In the distance behind her tower, she thinks she can see the top of another tower, but decides to save that for another day.

She passes out almost immediately once she enter, and awakens with a start in her workshop. Somewhat spooked by this strange dream, she decides to talk to somepony about it, and trots across the hall to her room.

She swings over to her custom-made, ridiculously overpowered laptop computer, and quickly punches in all her login information. She tends to keep everything logged out whenever she isn’t using it, as a precaution against her FATHER. If he ever got his hooves on any of her profiles, he would likely sabotage anything and everything he could, just to prove a point, though Celestia knows what that point might be.

Luckily, as soon as she accesses her chat profile, her kinda-sorta BROTHER Leeroy initiates a chat with her.

GuardianGuitarist began pestering techTitan at 9:41 A.M.
GG: Sis.
TT: bro.
TT: youre pretty lucky Im even awake right now
GG: I guess so, huh? You're usually asleep for a few more hours.
GG: /How I envy you./ -_-
GG: So what's the occasion?
TT: just woke up from a really weird dream
GG: Nightmare?
TT: nah, I wouldn't say it was a BAD dream
TT: just weird
TT: still feels really real even now
GG: What happened in it?
TT: well...
TT: Cheerilee or Derpy ever tell you about the ones with the golden planet and the two-leg things?

Once Quick Fix begins talking to him, she realizes that two other friends of hers has told her about similar dreams to hers; one starting long ago, one starting more recently. It is becoming less and less likely that this is a coincidence. Leeroy soon advises her to contact one of them about it and compare, and Quick Fix agrees wholeheartedly. However, just as she is about to leave, Leeroy inquires about Doc's game, and she informs him that her copy has not yet arrived. She glances out her window idly, and almost topples back in her chair when she sees something moving about just beyond the glass.

TT: wait a second what was that
GG: What?
TT: something outside
TT: hang on, Im gonna go investigate
TT: ttyl
techTitan ceased chatting with guardianGuitarist at 9:49 A.M.

She logs off of everything and rushes over to the window, peering out without opening the glass to see what she had seen. She can't seem to see anything anymore, but she KNOWS she saw something.

She digs through the raw technology littering her floor until she locates her sylladex and strife deck. As a skilled technician, she could build herself the easiest and most useful sylladex ever seen in a matter of hours, but as her father's daughter, she couldn't resist overcomplicating things. She uses the LOCKPICK modus, which sets up a lock without a key for every item stored within. The locks become more complex the more valuable the item is. Luckily, she is pretty decent at picking locks out of sheer necessity, since out of all the locks in the house, she doesn't think a single key is still in her possession.

Her strife deck is of the WRENCHKIND, a choice influenced in part by Ratchet. Plus, since she managed to find a wrench too large to do anything else with, it makes a perfect blunt weapon. She can't imagine what use this wrench could have possibly been designed for, since she doubts bolts that big even exist. She look around for things she might want to bring with her, since her sylladex is empty, but ends up only storing her laptop. She then trots carefully around the mess and through the door, in the direction of the foyer and exit to the house.

Just before she exits the hallway, she becomes aware of some noises of activity in the other room, and realizes her FATHER must be home. She'd rather avoid a confrontation with him, not because he would try to stop her or anything, but because he'd probably pull her over and regale her with one of his countless stories, keeping her from her investigation until it was far too late. No, avoiding him entirely would be best. Keeping this in mind, she moves instead through the kitchen and out the backdoor, successfully avoiding him.

Outside, she quickly scans the area for… whatever it was she saw, and upon seeing nothing, decides on a random direction and rolls with it. She breaks into a canter and sets off through the city streets, still searching for anything out of the ordinary. Still she finds not a single lead, and even the other ponies in the streets are clueless, having not seen even a glimpse as Quick Fix did. Her search brings her all the way to the other end of town, with still no results to speak of.

Something moves at the very edge of her vision, and she spins her head around to see it. It makes no effort to evade her this time, allowing her to see the sleek-furred white stallion standing to the side of the road. She is sure that from behind his sunglasses, he is just staring at her. A horn which shines slightly green in the sunlight juts from his forehead, and a pair of saddlebags sits on his back. From this angle, she cannot see a cutie mark.

Quick Fix doesn’t know how, but she is positive this is what she saw. She takes a step towards him, in hopes of asking what he was doing, but he takes off running through the streets again, with Quick Fix in pursuit. After a few sharp turns, the stallion barrels past the entrance to town, and she knows she can’t keep up with him. She watches him gallop away, defeated, and turns around to make her way back home. However, she spots something on the ground out of the corner of her eye, and pauses to examine it. It’s a large envelope with her initials written on it, and when she peeks inside, she sees the two game discs Doc was going to send her.

Quick Fix looks out into the distance, where the stallion had escaped. She curses under her breath when she realizes that he might still have some of her friends’ copies. After all, hadn’t Leeroy said Doc was asking around about it?

She decides to try and talk to somepony about it and make sure she’s still on the same page as everypony else. She makes short work of the lock guarding her laptop, then starts up a chat session.

techTitan began chatting with aboriginalAlmanac at 10:09 A.M.

TT: Cherilee
TT: come on pick up
TT: I had a dream and chased a guy and found the game
TT: alright, I guess I’ll talk to you later

techTitan ceased chatting with aboriginalAlmanac at 10:14 A.M.

She frowns slightly, her first choice in ponies to talk to not answering. Still, she ought to talk to someone, so she tries Derpy instead.

techTitan began chatting with cross-eyedAngel at 10:14 A.M.

TT: Deeeeerrrrrrrpaaaay
TT: where are you
TT: oh man, did you already get your phone buried under a bunch of stuff
TT: I told AT that would happen
CA: i'm here!
CA: sorry, yeah, my phone is under a muffin. but i'm still at home, so i'm using my computer instead.
TT: just a muffin?
TT: alright, no big deal then
TT: you'll probably eat it clear before you get another message
CA: probably XD
Continued previously

Quick Fix nods purposefully, Derpy’s words helping her put some of the pieces together. Right now, the best thing she can do is get back home and ready herself to play the game, though Doc said specifically not to start either version until he gave the OK. Still, she’s sure there’s something she can do to pass the time and ready herself, like play a bit of Ratchet and Clank to make sure her reflexes are as fast as possible.

She collects her laptop, and her thoughts, and begins trotting back to her home. She half expects to find something else strange on her way back, but finds herself at home without further incident. Unfortunately, frazzled as she is by the whole situation, she carelessly enters through the front door, and is immediately waylaid by your FATHER. She sighs to herself, but not so loudly that her dad will notice. This is bound to take a while.

Leeroy

Leeroy drops down the remaining distance, his hooves clacking against the dusty steel floor. The light from his phone illuminates the few spots of rust, but he is surprised to see that most of the metal in his line of sight has not succumbed heavily to age. It would be something of a stretch to call the space he now occupies a room, as it is no wider than the tunnel that led to it. However, there is something that resembles a door across the tunnel from the ladder, with three symbols on its screen-like surface, all nonsense to him.

GG: Alright bro, I hit the bottom. I got a door with three symbols on it. Might be like glyphs or something.
GA: oh man, i know this. textbook dungeon element.
GA: when you touch one of them, it’s going to open the door to the room that corresponds to that symbol.
GA: so, theres three different rooms you can get to through that door.
GG: Not sure I get the physics behind that, but whatever. That’s not the point right now, is it?
GG: Okay, one of the symbols is the same as the logo for the game. Seems to be coming up a lot lately. That one’s up top.
GG: The other two are side by side underneath it.
GG: One on the left’s another spirograph, like the one on the hatch. The one on the right… It’s like three six-sided stars, overlapping at their corners.
GA: got it. give me a sec…
GA: alright. since the one with the game logo is up top, that’s probably what the door leads to now. just tap that and see what’s around through that room.

Leeroy taps his hoof against the icon, and the door slides up, revealing a much more spacious room. All too glad to get out of the cramped tunnel, he steps inside. The room is filled with a green glow, emanating from the grid-like floor at the direct center of the room. It’s hard to see all the way across, but Leeroy thinks he can see a large computer terminal against the far wall. On the walls to either side is a pair of counters that seem to be counting down to something. They both have the same time: 8:20.

He checks his phone for further messages, and is surprised to see an abundance of strong Wi-Fi signals in the vicinity. Most are locked, but at least one of them is accessible without a password. They must be coming from this room, but he is unsure exactly where, or why. As he ponders this, a second chat request pops up.

techTitan began chatting with guardianGuitarist at 11:29 A.M.
TT: hey bro
TT: I got my copy of the game
TT: can’t speak for anyone elses though
GG: Really? What happened? Where’d you find it?
TT: that thing I saw was like a thief or something
TT: dropped my copy as he ran away
TT: probably still has yours and GAs and Derpys though
TT: this was actually like an hour ago, but I couldnt get away from dad
GG: Ah. Well, we’ll catch up with him. Can’t run forever.
GG: I found something too. It’s like… an old lab, underneath Cloudsdale.
GG: There are at least three rooms, and just the one I’ve seen so far is huge.
GG: There are a lot of familiar logos around, so call me crazy, but I think this has something to do with the game. GA’s guiding me through as best he can.
TT: man, that sounds fun
TT: I wanna see, Im gonna see if I can teleport over
GG: Wait, what?
GG: NO. DON’T DO THAT. SIS, YOU KNOW HOW MUCH THINGS EXPLODE WHEN YOU TELEPORT.
TT: chillax bro, Ive been practicing. I got this
GG: WAIT.

Before Leeroy can give his kinda-sorta sister any further warning, a loud but mostly contained explosion bursts behind him. There is a fair amount of smoke, and the POP left his ears ringing, but thankfully the damage is minimal. As the smoke clears, he can see Quick Fix standing in its wake, looking admittedly pretty badass.

TT: hey bro
TT: told you Ive been practicing
TT: Im only missing a little bit of tail
GG: Ah… I guess so.
GG: It’s good to see you, sis.

She trots out of the blast zone, and the two embrace in a big, tight hug. She then takes a few moments to examine her new surroundings, while Leeroy returns to chatting with GA.

GG: Hey bro, just letting you know that Quick Fix is here now too.
GG: She even managed to not break anything.
GA: oh, sweet!
GA: hey, does she have her camera phone on her?
GG: Hang on, I’ll ask.
GG: Yeah, she does. You want some live video feed of this thing?
GA: hell yeah! that’ll make guiding a lot easier.

Leeroy turns and instructs his sister to send a video-call to GA, so that he can see the lab too, and speak with both of them at once. She says she needs a signal for that, and Leeroy promptly informs her of the unlocked one somewhere in the room. Soon, a third voice is added to the conversation, though without video feed, as GA only has a gaming headset, and no camera.

GA: hey QF, what’s up?
TT: not much, just got here
TT: cool place though, right?
GA: sure is! if we’re getting stuff like this before we even begin the game, i can only imagine what cool places we’ll get inside!
GG: So, now that we’ve got the team together, let’s see what else is around. I want to check out that mess of computer terminals across the room.
GA: as good a place to start as any.

With his companion and a half in tow, Leeroy practically gallops across the huge room, and comes to a stop at the large setup at the opposite side. At the center is one huge screen, surrounded on all sides by other smaller ones, almost all simply an incomprehensible readout of serial numbers, charts and logos. On the central screen is a massive map, dotted with green, blue, yellow and red marks.

GG: Anyone making anything of this?
TT: yeah I got nothin
GA: hang on, is there a search function? i think that may be a map of game sessions, but i have to be sure.
GG: Sure thing bro. Uh…
TT: let me
TT: of the two of us, I computer more than you
TT: lets see here
GG: …
GA: …
TT: yep, cloudsdale comes right up
TT: its a green marker
TT: GA, yours is blue
TT: ohshit, Derpys is yellow
TT: thats probably not good
GA: see if you can get some information out of it! what do the colors mean?
GG: Let me at it. There’s two keypads.
GG: The colors have got to be a measure of time. That screen over there shows progression from blue to red, and they’re all moving towards red, at different rates.
GG: But what happens when it reaches the end?
GA: try finding one that’s about to run out?
TT: heres one
TT: lemmie see if I can make it zoom in to where we can see what happens

His sister quickly reigns in control of the terminals, then zooms in on one of the nearly-red dots until it becomes a house. To Leeroy’s surprise, one of the side screens switches from an inactive logo to a view of what seems to be a meteor, hurtling towards the ground. The house on the main screen seems strangely distorted, several walls seeming distended and out of place, and an unusual round device visible on one of the balconies.

A frantic pony rushes out, a strange green cylinder under his wing, and he attaches it firmly to a part of the device. He looks up, and Leeroy can see in his expression nothing but pure terror, and a light in his eyes that could only have come from the meteor. The three watching all realize with a start that the meteor on the side screen is in fact rushing right for him. He yells into a headset, but the sound isn’t transmitted to the terminal. Leeroy watches as a green light glows at the center of the device, leaving behind a wilted tree bearing no fruit. The pony’s jaw drops in utter sadness and terror.

He closes his eyes and says something else into his headset, before the screen fades to red, then cuts to static. The dot on the map turns red.