Deus Ex: Equine Revolution

by Melon Hunter

Chapter 10: Flux Pavilion

Deus Ex: Equine Revolution

By Melon Hunter

Chapter 10: Flux Pavilion

“C’mon! What’s the hold-up? We’re almost there!”

“I look ridiculous. I feel ridiculous.”

“Nah, it’s just fashion. Trust me, Rarity knows what she’s doing better than either of us. You’ll be fine.”

Bon Bon rolled her eyes and continued walking alongside Colgate. As it had turned out, her perceptions of nightclubs all being sweaty, cramped rooms trying to emulate Tartarus had been a little off. A courier had arrived at her apartment late in the afternoon, bearing a gift from Rarity. At first, she had thought it a small tent from its shapelessness, but it had since turned out to be a dress.

Maybe she was behind the times on what was fashionable, but Bon Bon couldn’t help but feel a little perplexed by the design. The dress was a dim, pale green, almost bordering on grey, and the fabric didn’t so much hang as flow from her body, with barely perceptible creases forming a network of triangles across the piece of clothing. To her delight, she’d found more than enough pockets sewn into the inside to stash the contents of her saddlebags. Perhaps she couldn’t understand the form, but at least she could love the function.

And then there was Colgate. Bon Bon had been amazed to find how well her colleague cleaned up. Her dress was far more aesthetically pleasing: a dream of sky blue and cream fabric in alternating swirling stripes, almost making her look like one of Bon Bon’s candy creations. In keeping with a recent fad, a tall, silvery ruff extended around her neck, with matching frills at the ends of the sleeves on her forelegs. A pair of miniscule golden hourglasses dangled from her ears, and her mane had been swept back and tied into a handsome ponytail with a gold band, its twin adorning the tip of her tail. Bon Bon couldn’t help but feel a little overshadowed.

“I dunno. I think you may have gotten the sweeter deal here, Colgate,” Bon Bon said.

“Yeah, but can my dress do this?” Before Bon Bon could react, Colgate punched her in the side. Or, at least she tried. As soon as the impact occurred, the soft curtain of material hardened into a wall, triangular sections turning rigid. Her hoof met with a solid clunk and bounced off, leaving the other unicorn utterly unperturbed. “Aaaaaooowwwww!” Colgate cried, shaking her injured hoof and dancing back.

Bon Bon rolled her eyes and waited for Colgate to quieten down. “I did warn you not to do that,” she said.

“Yeah, but it’s so cool! Battle dress! It’s like something out of a bad spy movie,” Colgate said. “It really does suit you.”

“Heh. Thanks. Well, hopefully you’ll be the only pony it needs to protect me from…” Bon Bon trailed off as they rounded the corner onto the next street. The road was almost completely blocked by a huge line of ponies that snaked back and forth, slowly moving inside a brightly-lit building located further up the street. “Oh, great. Are you sure we’ll actually get in there before Sweetie Belle finishes her set? Or leaves Canterlot, even?”

Colgate flashed a grin. “VIP, remember? We don’t need to wait in line like the rest of the punters.” She led Bon Bon past the gargantuan queue, picking up a few irritated glances on the way down. “Prepare to be amazed.”

Bon Bon certainly was. The Flux Pavillion was a lavishly decorated building, its architecture echoing the pagodas of ancient Shenzhoof. Its curving roofs were outlined in a deep red, with dark blue-grey tiles and cream walls. Lights played intricate patterns across the facade in a kaleidoscope of colours, with some sort of enchantment glowing around the perimeter, making the edifice shimmer. A strange wavering in the air turned out to be a deep, rumbling bass, accompanied by higher tweets and twangs of treble, as though the very construct were singing to those around it. She stared up at it for a moment, entranced by the sight of the exterior. “Huh. Guess this explains dressing up as though we were going to the Gala.”

“You bet!” Colgate walked to the front door and flashed a smile at the security guard on the door, showing him the tickets. He nodded, motioning for them to walk through an archway in front of the entrance.

Bon Bon felt a stab of concern as she saw a small amount of magic wrap itself around Colgate’s horn as she entered, creating a nullifying barrier around it. She hoped the blocking spell wouldn’t suffer an unfortunate glitch: quite how would it resolve blocking a horn but not interfering with any augments?

As it turned out, the spell settled for somewhere between the two outcomes. She could feel her telekinetic strength weakened considerably as she walked through the arch, but the presence of her magic was still available to her. Bon Bon decided not to push the new barrier two hard while in sight of the guard, but the strange new sensation kept making her look upward and raise her eyebrows.

Colgate caught sight of her and giggled. “Did the blocking spell fry your brain a little?”

“Uh… no,” Bon Bon said, trying to ignore the compulsion to look up at her horn again. “Just feels weird to have the magic blocked off, I guess.”

“Mm, yeah. All new sensations for you, huh?” Colgate looked around the atrium they’d ended up in. The room was cool and dim, with a single lit hatch off to one side offering a cloakroom, and twin sets of stairs leading off toward an unseen upper floor. The walls were covered in drapes of some sort of enchanted fabric, with eddies of colour and arcane symbols chasing and flowing across them.

The steady stream of customers from the longer queue was gradually feeding into the main chamber of the club through a curved tunnel, its shape keeping out most of the light and sound. Most of those ponies were unclothed, and the few who had brought coats and bridles were leaving them with a nearby cloakroom. Those trickling in from the VIP side of the entrance were similarly dressed to Bon Bon and Colgate, and made their way upstairs to the reserved section. Suitably menacing security guards watched the staircases, ensuring that only the privileged were admitted.

Colgate was able to ascend without incident, but Bon Bon was not so lucky. She felt a hoof on her shoulder, and turned to see the security guard on the stair looking down at her, brow furrowed and eyes hidden behind dark sunglasses. “Think you may have the wrong entrance,” he rumbled. “Most of the upgraded lot are in there.” He nodded toward the tunnel.

Bon Bon huffed and returned the stare. “I know which part of this place I’m supposed to be in, thank you so very much.” She pulled out her company ID card and showed it to the guard. “Or is the sponsorship from Sparkle Industries not enough to pay for a proper security outfit?”

The guard stepped back, ears flicking upward in shock. “Uh, look, lady. It’s none of my concern what you’ve got attached to you. Just sayin’ some of the clients up here get real nasty when it comes to Augs, y’know?” He cleared his throat and looked away from her.

“I appreciate your concern, but I’ll be able to handle any bigotry I get myself,” Bon Bon said curtly. “Non-violently,” she added, before the guard could talk again.

He stood back, cowed. “S-sure. Just go on through.”

“Thank you,” Bon Bon muttered, trotting past to meet with Colgate, who’d been watching from a little ways upstairs.

“Wow. The hay was his problem?” Colgate asked, looking back over her shoulder.

Bon Bon gave a little grumble. “Ugh. Just somepony so concerned for my safety that he tried to keep me with my own kind down below. Charming.”

Colgate gave a low whistle. “Well, looks like you got him licked. Pretty dumb of him too; ever since the MANE clinic got raided, every anti-aug person in the city’s been keeping schtum.” She shrugged. “Anyway, let’s get back to what we were here for…” She led Bon Bon around the corner of the stairs and through the door at the top.

The heat and the light and the sound of the club slammed into Bon Bon as though it were a solid wall, a cacophony that assailed every one of her senses. She blinked and almost missed a step as she struggled to register everything at once. The large chamber was lit by spotlights in a rainbow of colours and slowly pulsating crystals that splattered the walls with their hues, sending random geometric patterns skittering across every surface. Loud, booming bass pulsed through the hot, sticky air, accompanied by undulating electronic noise and distorted instrumentals, and a wordless set of breathy vocals atop that. Mixed in were the shouts and whoops of the unseen crowd below. Although she couldn’t see the ponies on the ground, she could feel them: faint reverberations in the floor, the hot and heavy atmosphere of the club sweeping across her skin, delivering the smells of sweat and excitement and arousal to her nostrils.

Something drew her to the edge of the balcony, ignoring whatever the VIP section had to offer for now. Bon Bon placed her forehooves on the rail and looked over. The floor of the club was entirely covered by the crowd; mostly ponies, but with a few zebras and even griffons scattered here and there. They were crammed in shoulder to shoulder, but there seemed to be little jostling or bad temper amongst the audience. They moved and swayed in time to the music, with little vortices of disturbance here and there as people added their own flairs to the dancing. Suddenly, she noticed there were also pegasi above the main body of dancers, moving together in their own intricate motions, having the freedom of three dimensions to use in their enjoyment of the music. A couple were even using the wispy emissions of the smoke machine as impromptu props.

On the stage, a neon green earth pony bounced up and down behind a set of turntables, hooves working over the innumerable knobs and dials upon the control panel. He reached down, flicking a new record into play on his equipment, and bellowed “OKAY, CANTERLOT! ARE YOU READY TO PARTY?!” His sudden yell and the responding cheer from the audience took Bon Bon by surprise, causing her to step back and fall on her rump. She looked up as Colgate nudged her in the shoulder and laughed.

“It’s a little bit overwhelming, isn’t it?” Colgate said, voice at a half-shout to be heard over the music. “Wanna go and get a drink? Sweetie won’t be on for a while, and this guy’s nothing to write home about.” She helped Bon Bon back to her hooves and led her across the VIP section.

The upper balcony extended across the rear third of the room, with a bar stretching across the very back, and various seats, tables and sofas lining the walls. The rest of the area was left to another dancefloor, one which was notably less cramped than its larger sibling down below. Bon Bon raised an eyebrow as she noticed a faint golden glow surrounding the bar. As the two mares reached the magical perimeter, the noise and heat of the club faded away somewhat, nullifying the sound of the crowd and leaving the music dulled. They each hopped up on a stool. “So you seriously enjoy places like this?” Bon Bon asked.

“Yeah! Call it a refusal to grow up, but you’d sooner catch me in here than at an orchestral performance,” Colgate replied. “I dunno. This sorta music really gets me going.” She stared at a menu on the bar for a moment and frowned, before shaking her head and grabbing it with a hoof. “Dammit, I hate not having my magic,” she grumbled. She gave the menu a cursory glance, before tossing it to Bon Bon. “Take your pick!”

Bon Bon’s forehooves unfolded into paws, and she flicked through the cocktail menu, trying not to look at the prices down the side too hard. Generous pay packet or not, those numbers were enough to make anypony’s wallet hurt. She pursed her lips at the selection, barely registering the listed ingredients. What was she doing? When was the last time she’d used alcohol as anything other than an emotional painkiller? And what was she doing here, in a place she obviously didn’t belong?

She let out a faint sigh, mind working through a train of thought she hadn’t wanted to entertain. Obviously, she hadn’t been especially interested in going out like this since the attack, but even before that watershed, when was the last time she’d done something fun with Lyra? Something together? Now she cast her memory back, it felt like even before the end of her world that she’d been caught in an endless web of work… work that ultimately had all been for nothing.

A chill ran down her spine. Did she regret the time because it was lost more than because she could have spent it with Lyra? The more Bon Bon thought about it, the more she gained the feeling her grieving was based less around the loss of her love and more the end of her old life altogether. It wasn’t like they’d been a completely steady couple; the past two decades had been punctuated by earth-shattering rows and multiple break-ups, some years long. She’d had to learn to live without her partner before. Except now, there was no going back. They’d both died that night, in some way. Bon Bon had just been lucky—or unlucky—enough to return to the land of the living. And ever since Twilight had set her to work, given her a new purpose, her demeanour had improved immeasurably.

Which led to the most uncomfortable question of all. Had she been mourning Lyra all this time, or herself?

Bon Bon gave a start as she felt a nudge to her shoulder. “Huh?”

“You alright?” Colgate asked. “You looked pensive again. Everything alright?”

“I-I think so. I was just thinking about… about her.” Bon Bon bit her tongue as Colgate’s expression changed to one of sympathy. “I mean, I just…”

Colgate leaned over and hugged her. “It’s okay. Do you wanna get out of here? We don’t hav—”

“No! No. It’s fine,” Bon Bon reassured her. Her ears drooped a little as she leaned back, leaving the embrace. “But I think I may have gotten it all a little mixed up this whole time. I dunno. This time a couple of weeks ago, I was so down I could barely get out of bed each morning, and yet here I am.” The words tumbled out of her mouth in her haste to explain herself. She absent-mindedly fiddled with a lock of her curly mane. “I thought it was so wrong of me to get out of that state of mind so quickly, but… I think I realise that I was depressed about the wrong thing now. I’ve spent years without Lyra in the past, but I’ve never had to deal with this before.” She waved her forehooves by way of explanation.

Colgate stared at her in silence. She blinked rapidly a couple of times and drummed a hoof against the bar. “Huh. Is that so?”

Bon Bon nodded morosely. “I… I know. It’s been nagging away in my mind for a little while. I think me asking Twilight to give me something to fill the past couple of days made me realise…” She shook her head and stared at the floor. “Makes me feel selfish. I forgot all about Lyra and focused on myself.”

A blue hoof reached out and was placed beneath Bon Bon’s chin, raising her head so her gaze met Colgate’s. “Don’t even begin to think that way,” Colgate said, an unusual amount of force behind her words. “Bon Bon, I know you care. I’ve seen you hurting; I know you miss Lyra. But just look at how much you’ve been through! Nopony should ever have to take the situations you’ve had thrown at you. You’re stronger than anypony else I know.” She crossed her forelegs, continuing to look at her with a piercing stare. “And yeah, maybe at some point you stopped grieving for her and started on yourself, and didn’t even realise it. That doesn’t make you a bad pony.”

Bon Bon said nothing, instead simply clasping her forehooves together.

“Besides, we all have our own ways of getting past things. Somewhere between barely feeling sad and wearing black for the rest of your life usually seems to cut it,” Colgate said. “And, like you said, dealing with ‘this’. Getting most of your body replaced by augs kinda takes front and centre, emotionally speaking. But the thing is, Bon Bon, you survived. Whoever those attackers were, they threw everything they had at you, and you survived. It may look a hell of a lot different to what you had before, but you’ve still got a life. And nopony will begrudge you rebuilding it.”

The words took a moment to sink in, but when they did, a small smile formed on Bon Bon’s lips. “You think so?”

“I do! And of all the ponies who’ve ever been, Lyra will be the least likely to tell you to hold back,” Colgate said. “Trust me. It’ll do you no good to think it’s wrong to move on.”

“Yeah. I guess.” She clenched her talons together. “I’m still angry at them. Whoever they were. They took everything away from me that night. I want to get some closure somehow.”

“I get it.” Colgate pursed her lips a little, and softly said, “But remember you need a ‘you’ to come back to. Don’t let them win by breaking yourself hunting them down.”

Bon Bon nodded, and her shoulders slumped a little. “It would help if I didn’t rely on Twilight giving me missions to keep me sane…”

“What do you think this is?” Colgate drew herself up to her full height and grinned at Bon Bon. “You’re right. You need more hobbies than going into the crappiest parts of Canterlot and beating up mooks who get in your way. And here we are: in one of the classiest clubs in Canterlot, and not a mook in sight. Why don’t we call this a test run? A taster of life beyond Sparkle Industries!”

Bon Bon hesitated a moment, but in the end, she couldn’t help but return the grin. Her ears flushed a little as her gaze wandered over Colgate once again. She really did look good: not just physically, but emotionally. She couldn’t quite comprehend how Colgate had remained so cheerful all this time, what with being so close to those lost in the attack, nor why she’d chosen to help the lost soul Bon Bon had become and tried to remain her friend. All she knew, was that friendship was the rock she hadn’t realised she’d needed all this time. “I think I could take you up on that offer.”

“Great! Then here’s to the first night of the rest of your life!” Colgate looked around and scratched her head. “Wait, that would have gone better if we had glasses to knock together…” She rapped her hoof on the bar, sending an apron-clad stallion her way.

“What can I get you?” the barpony asked, smiling warmly at the two ponies.

“I will have a Manehatten, please,” Colgate said. She turned her head to Bon Bon. “And you?”

“Oh! Uh…” Bon Bon realised she’d barely paid attention to the menu at all. Throwing caution to the wind, she placed a talon down at a random spot and looked to see where it was pointing. “Give me a… Shanghoof Gutpunch?”

The barpony’s smile grew to a full grin. “You’re talking about the drink, right?” He began chuckling at his own joke.

There was a moment’s stillness, Colgate’s eyes flickering nervously between him and Bon Bon. The lack of an answer slowed and eventually stopped the barpony’s chortling, grin fading to a desperate grimace. After dragging out the silence a little longer than necessary, Bon Bon let out a tiny snort and said “What do you think?”

“Ah… um… the d-drink, of course!” he stammered, scurrying away to fetch the ingredients.

Colgate burst out laughing. “Oh boy! He does that joke every time somepony orders that drink, but I have never seen him go off like that!” She remained giggling all the way up to the unfortunate barpony bringing them the drinks, barely looking at the pile of bits Colgate gave him in return.

Bon Bon looked suspiciously at the drink Colgate pushed toward her. It was bright blue: almost as though somepony had distilled poison joke into a liquid. She picked it up in a paw and sipped at it trepidatiously. It was sticky, sweet, and had a vaguely tropical taste. And more than enough alcohol to make its ‘Gutpunch’ moniker true. Good enough for her. “To a first night out, then?” she offered.

“I’ll drink to that!” Colgate exclaimed, clicking her own glass against Bon Bon’s. They both drank deeply, leaning back against the bar and surveying the floor in front of them. “Y’know, it’s not exactly lively up here. You wanna show ‘em how it’s done once we’re finished here?”

“I’m not really qualified to dance like that…”

“Oh, don’t be like that. It’s a club. Just move sort of in time with the music and nopony will complain,” Colgate retorted. “‘Sides, I really want to see some of these guys prancing around in their dresses along with us. If we’re going to embarrass ourselves, I don’t want us to be the only ones going down.”

Bon Bon considered it for a second, then nodded. She took a great swig of her drink and smiled at Colgate. “You’re on.”

---

“I thought you said that guy wasn’t anything to write home about!”

“Guess he must have upped his game!” Colgate yelled back. She giggled and nudged the stallion next to her. “Thanks for joining us! You know, you are allowed to dance up here.”

The other stallion blushed and nodded, walking back to the rest of his comrades at the sofas. Since Colgate and Bon Bon had gotten up on the dancefloor, they’d been attracting various other ponies in the area, their dancing apparently having been enough to get the others to overcome their shyness and join them. Now that the DJ’s set was over, it appeared the magic had faded, leaving the pair alone again.

Colgate rolled her eyes and snorted. “Seriously, what is it with this lot? You spend all this money to get in and then spend the whole time sitting around?”

“They have this little thing called ‘dignity’, Colgate. Maybe you’ve heard of it? I think we might sell an aug that could give you some,” Bon Bon quipped. She giggled as Colgate’s jaw dropped. “Hey, you’re the one who got me to drop my inhibitions. Don’t get all offended at me now!”

“Fine. But no more Gutpunches for you!” Colgate poked her tongue out.

Bon Bon returned the gesture, the smiled. That had been… fun. The best time she’d had for months, certainly since she had been augmented. The musical set had passed in a whirl of colours and noise, her time spent dancing with ponies of every race and hue, and for the first time she could remember, she’d gotten lost in the moment. No distractions, no dark thoughts, just her and the present. She could get used to that.

For now, though, that had ended. The DJ had said his goodnights and left the stage, and now the crowd shifted restlessly as they awaited the main act of the evening. She felt a tug at her dress as Colgate pulled her closer to the edge of the balcony.

“Best view in the house!” Colgate explained. She looked up wistfully at the pegasi flying about in the club. “Well, almost the best. Man, I wish I could fly at times like this…” She rubbed at her back.

“Yeah… shame that’s illegal.”

“I know.” Colgate folded her forelegs on the balcony’s barrier and laid her head atop them. “Dumb Alicorn Protocol. No wings if you’ve got a horn—”she looked sideways at Bon Bon“—and I guess the other way around, now. If we go commercial with the horn aug, that is?”

Bon Bon shrugged, pulling herself up by her forelegs to lean over the barrier. “I have no idea. I didn’t even know it existed until about thirty minutes before the attack. Now we know it works, I’m sure we’ll pursue it, but Lyra said each horn matches only one pony. I guess SI will have to iron out the issue of tailoring horns to ponies before announcing it properly.” She smiled sardonically and rapped a hoof against the metal bar. “Who knows? Maybe I’ll get to make a keynote speech at AugCon this year.”

“I’d like to see that!” Colgate exclaimed.

There came a wave of gasps from the audience as the room suddenly went dark, barely illuminated by the glowing sigils on the walls. The stage filled with smoke, and ponies began jumping up and down and whooping excitedly. Bon Bon was a little surprised to see Colgate amongst their number, hopping on her hind legs, squealing in delight and eyes screwed shut.

“Fillies and gentlecolts!” a voice proclaimed. “We are proud to present not one, but two of the finest performers Equestria has ever produced! Put your hooves together and raise the roof for DJ-PON3 and her guest star, Miss ‘Sweet Beats’ herself, Sweetie Belle!” At that, the club erupted, a wall of noise from the crowd drowning out every other sensation in the room.

Bon Bon watched intently as two figures appeared through the thinning mists of dry ice, one behind a truly monstrous deck of equipment, the other stood in front of a slender microphone stand.

A pair of spotlights burst into action one after the other. A beam of warm pink light illuminated the decks, showing a white unicorn with a messy mane of alternating dark and neon blue, eyes hidden behind a pair of magenta lensed sunglasses. She grinned and waved, before running her hoof over one of the records in front of her, sending out a burst of electronic noise. “How are you doing, Canterlot?” Vinyl yelled, sending up a fresh wave of euphoria from her adoring audience.

A beam of ice blue light then shone down on the other figure. Bon Bon’s eyes went wide. Despite having seen numerous newspaper pictures, she had still really been expecting something like the little filly who used to tear around Ponyville. The truth was anything but.

Sweetie Belle was a pony transformed, standing tall and slender on a set of white enameled augmented legs, their material blending smoothly into her alabaster coat. Her green eyes sparkled with a sultry delight as she regarded the crowd. Her mane and tail were long enough to reach to the floor, still styled into large, puffy curls and lustrous enough to reflect the lights trained on her back. Her cutie mark, a silver quaver with a pink heart as the notehead, shone proud on her flank. She smiled wanly, before her horn glowed green and picked up the microphone, holding it close to her lips. Unlike Vinyl’s swift and excited welcome, Sweetie dragged out her actions, keeping the crowd in a momentary suspense, fixing them with an alluring half-lidded glance. “Good evening, Canterlot,” she purred, sending up a wave of cheers from the ponies before her. “This is truly a pleasure.”

“She really is Rarity’s sister, huh?” Colgate said from beside Bon Bon.

“Yeah… you could say that.”

Sweetie paraded across the stage, back to the audience. She suddenly stopped, head whipping around with a mischievous smile, microphone held close to her mouth. “So you’re here to see our little performance, are you?” Another rounds of whoops sounded out, and she grinned and nodded to Vinyl, who stuck her headphones on. “Well, I can promise you, this will be a night you’ll never forget.”

At that, Vinyl swept her hoof across the decks, starting up her musical set. The lone sound of a guitar, lightly dusted with electronic distortion, began to play, soon followed by the thunderous beating of a bass drum. Sweetie began tapping her forehoof on the ground, counting out the beats to her part. She took one look down the length of her microphone, before flicking her gaze up to the audience.

“Broken heart,
I didn’t think it’d hurt so bad,
You’ve only lost your healing touch.
They always said,
Sticks and stones will break your bones,
But now I’m free of their clutch.”

“I’ve replaced myself,
Washed the pain away,
Try me now,
Try me now,
Iron heart, machine soul,
Try me now,
Try me now,
Cut me up, and make me whole,
I am more than a mare,
Cut me up, and make me whole,
I am more than a mare!”

The stage erupted in pyrotechnics, and the crowd went wild as the bass beat blasted through the air, Sweetie and Vinyl both rocking their heads along to the rhythm. Bon Bon huddled into herself a little as even the VIP section joined in, jumping around in a crush to rival the audience below. After a moment, it quietened down again, letting the guitar—and Sweetie’s honeyed voice—be heard once more.

“Poisoned words,
But you’re the one who’s left behind,
You’re a dying breed, lashing out.
Shout me down,
Try to pull me back to earth,
I’ll push you back, ‘cause you’re without.”

“I’ve replaced myself,
Washed the pain away,
Try me now,
Try me now,
Iron heart, machine soul,
Try me now,
Try me now,
Cut me up, and make me whole,
I am more than a mare,
Cut me up, and make me whole,
I am more than a mare!”

The bass instrumental sounded once more, only Sweetie’s head stayed rock still this time. Her foreleg slammed against the floor in time to the beat, and she stared upward, meeting the gaze of those up in the VIP section. Bon Bon felt a little unnerved by the singer’s gaze; she couldn’t help but wonder how the Naturals up there with her felt. ‘Dying breed’?

“Upgraded, immortal,
Attacking the ones who’d stall,
I am the future!”

Sweetie Belle belted out the chorus one last time, ending on a triumphant and seemingly endless “I am more than a mare!” The crowd reached its euphoric peak, overriding the last dying beats of the song. Vinyl punched the air in the background, and Sweetie Belle gave a deep bow to the adoring fans. “Thank you!” she cried.

“Wow.” Bon Bon stared at the stage as Sweetie Belle spun around and laughed, revelling in the applause of the audience and readying for her next song. “That was… provocative.”

Colgate raised her eyebrows, then nodded. “You like?”

Bon Bon looked down at her own artificial forelegs and grinned. She thought of the security guard trying to stop her, the dirty looks on the streets she sometimes got. In that moment, Sweetie Belle’s song resonated with her, more deeply than anything she’d heard before. “Yeah. I think I do.”

---

She spent the rest of Sweetie Belle’s set captivated, entranced even. Not enough to jump around with the rest of the audience, but Bon Bon was lost in her own way. Sweetie had a beautiful voice, and the looks to go with it, but each of her songs had a darkness to it she had been surprised by. Betrayal, loss, anger, all wrapped up in silky smooth vocals. And her barely-disguised contempt for the Naturals who stood in the way… She knew she should disapprove, but there was a not insignificant part of her that nodded along with that message. And, with all the snipping from the Apple Corps, from Black Dawn, from half the population of Canterlot, it felt good, just for once, to push back. Maybe she could get into this music scene after all…

“Hey, set’s finished. I think they’ll be calling us over now,” Colgate said, nudging her.

“Huh? Oh, yeah.”

“I take it you enjoyed it, then?”

“Definitely. We should do this again some time,” Bon Bon replied. Her mouth tugged upward at the corners slightly. “Maybe when we don’t have to interrogate one part of the leading act. I think I might have to do a bit of musical research once I get home.”

Colgate laughed and ruffled Bon Bon’s mane. “Atta girl! I knew I could turn you to the dark side.” She turned her head and nodded toward a security guard who had appeared near one of the staircases, beckoning to the gathered VIPs. “Looks like that’s our cue. Let’s meet the stars, shall we?”

The guard checked each one of the VIPs who came to him, matching names to faces and cutie marks. Apparently, only a chosen few of even the privileged ones were received by the artists, and no chances were taken on an imposter getting in. Bon Bon felt secretly relieved Colgate had come up with her plan. For all the hacking, sneaking and breaking and entering she’d had to do the in the last week, it was nice to be led straight to the source of the information she needed for once.

Bon Bon’s lenses slid back into place as the group was led into the most exclusive section of the club, with a dim, wonderfully decorated room backstage to welcome them, its two side flanked by cushioned benches. Sat slightly apart on the long sofa were the stars of the show, now more relaxed than their stage personas. Vinyl lounged back, grinning in welcome to her guests. Sweetie Belle, on the other hoof, sat at the far end of the sofa, staring at the ponies she was ostensibly there to meet. Bon Bon saw a faint flicker of her lips as each guest flocked to the older unicorn, leaving her partner alone.

Okay. Looks like Ms. Scratch’s reputation is doing all the legwork for us, Colgate mused. Now’s your chance. Go talk to Sweetie Belle; I’ll keep everypony away from you if I can. Just hit me up if you need to ask anything.

Got it. Bon Bon shuffled past the small crowd gathering around Vinyl, instead walking to the other side of the enclosure. Her STARE aug came to life, ready and waiting to analyse every last detail of her next conversation. She saw Sweetie Belle’s face light up as the singer realised she had a fan of her own to entertain, before the delighted expression was swiftly buried beneath a carefully applied mask of casual apathy. Didn’t want to appear too desperate, apparently. Bon Bon sat down opposite her and smiled. “Hi.”

“Hi! Glad to see I wasn’t entirely forgotten,” Sweetie said, applying a sultry drawl to her words. She reached one lengthy white foreleg behind her to rest upon the top of the sofa, the other’s forehoof unfolding into a paw like Bon Bon’s, talons fiddling with her curly waterfall of a mane.

“I’m kinda surprised it’s this uneven, actually,” Bon Bon said. Seemed like that was a sore spot for Sweetie, if her vocal analysis was anything to go by.

“Ugh. Don’t be. After all, Vinyl’s been DJing since I was a little blank flank. Figures she’s the one with all the fans when it comes to these meetings.” Sweetie glowered for a moment, before remembering herself. She gave Bon Bon a half-lidded glance, before her eyes widened. “Wait, I remember you!” Her voice cracked slightly from her exclamation, causing her to clear her throat and lower her tone again. “Ponyville, right?”

“Yeah. A lifetime ago. I’m Bon Bon.”

Sweetie nodded eagerly. “The sweetmaker. It’s all coming back now.” She giggled and closed her eyes for a second. “Don’t tell me; you’re still down there!”

Bon Bon grit her teeth for a second. Probably best not to give Sweetie the full history. “Not any more, sadly. Aug business, these days. Via the police force,” she said haltingly.

“Hm.” Sweetie looked over to the group around her co-star. “Aug business, huh? I guess it’s just a coincidence that you’ve got the Chief Comms Officer from Sparkle Industries tagging along with you.” She sat back and raised an eyebrow. “I mean, no offense, Bon Bon, but most of the kids following my music have barely got their cutie marks—or at least, that’s how it feels. It’s kinda unusual for ponies older than me to be big fans.” She reached behind her with one of her lanky forelegs, talons outstretched. A stallion came from some unseen place, putting a small cylinder in her paw and lighting one end. Sweetie leaned forward again, taking a long drag on the cigarette and puffing a cloud of smoke into the already polluted air. “Why not retract those lenses? It’s kinda rude to wear ‘em indoors.”

There was a snick as Bon Bon put her lenses away. She looked at the cigarette and frowned. “Isn’t that bad for your vocal cords?”

Sweetie shrugged and took another puff. “Filter augs. Rated for poison gas, so I think they can handle smoke just fine.” She let go of the stick, letting it hover in midair with her magic, and gave a triumphant little smirk to Bon Bon. “Now, how about you turn off STARE?” She giggled again as Bon Bon gave a start. “Oh, c’mon. I’ve seen the patterns in Rarity often enough to know when it’s on. If you’re going to ask me something, let’s do it on an even footing.”

Bon Bon rolled her eyes and obliged. Well, if Sweetie was this clued up, at least it wouldn’t take too long to bring her up to speed. “Done. Don’t worry about it.”

“Good.” Sweetie curled up a little, bringing her hindlegs up beneath her, a mischievous smile chasing across her face. “Now, I’m gonna go ahead and assume that you’re not just here to tell me how much you love my music, as much as I wish that was the case.” She bit her lip and gave Bon Bon another half-lidded gaze. “Lemme guess: did my sister put you up to this?”

“Actually, no. She didn’t.” Bon Bon glowered at Sweetie. The arrogant act was already putting her on edge. Like older sister, like younger sister, it seemed. She tried to ignore her growing irritation. Best not to get thrown out or make her quarry leave. “I came here of my own accord. Colgate is genuinely a fan, though. And maybe I could be too, after this evening. Who knows?”

Once again, the emerald eyes in front of her went wide. “Is that so?” Sweetie gazed sideways at Colgate and smiled. “Well, isn’t she full of surprises…” Her attention snapped back to Bon Bon. “Still, what is somepony from Sparkle Industries here for, if not the music, or from my sister? I mean, I’ve had Rarity breathing down my neck my entire life. Why stop now?”

Bon Bon took a deep breath, trying to formulate the most diplomatic way of telling Sweetie Belle what she had to. “Sweetie, your magical signature came up in an… unexpected place.”

Sweetie gave a derisive snort. “Oh, really? That’s it? My magical signature’s been on record for years, all thanks to Rarity.” She huffed and crossed her forelegs. “Figures. Just a silly little hobby I had when I was young, but she just had to go all the way and blacklist me as a hacker. Great. You think I don’t know I’ll be arrested if my magical signature ever turns up in an info trail? You honestly think I’d be stupid enough to go and hack something with that hanging over my head?”

“But it did show up.” Bon Bon insisted.

“Well, maybe somepony spoofed it!” Sweetie cried, flinging her forelegs up in exasperation. “How the hay should I know?”

Bon Bon frowned, activating her Hydra. Colgate, could anypony have spoofed Sweetie’s signature?

Uh… no. That’s pretty much the Crystal Heart of infomagic. Crack that, and you’d make it pretty much impossible to track any hacker ever again.

Right. She looked at Sweetie Belle and raised her eyebrows. “I think we both know that’s not true, Sweetie. Look, I get that you—”

“Where was this signature?” Sweetie Belle interjected. She took another swift drag on the cigarette, as though it were responsible for her irritation.

Bon Bon sighed. No sense in beating around the bush. “There was a stallion. In the MANE clinic. We analysed his body after he died in the attack; there was some odd magical connection going on with him, and there was an entirely organic daisy chain of links coming from him. You were the first signature we pulled out of that mess.”

Sweetie said nothing, instead meeting her gaze with a furious glare. The cigarette was mashed into an ashtray on a table beside her, and she let out a loud snort. “Are you serious?” she asked quietly. Before Bon Bon could reply, she continued, “Just look at me!” She flung out her legs. “Do you see these? Do you think I am one of those anti-aug nuts, or those morons who start whining after they get implanted? I didn’t have an accident! Or had these blown off in a war, or whatever! I was augmented willingly! You seriously think I had anything to do with that attack?” She grunted, snatching a fresh cigarette from the stallion hovering nearby. “Besides, I was having the mother of all migraines at the time. Not in a fit state for hacking. Vinyl can vouch for that. I don’t know what you’re trying to achieve, but you’ve got nothing on me.”

“Look, I’m not accusing you of anything,” Bon Bon said slowly. “Trust me, it surprised us just as much.” She shrugged, spreading her forelegs in a pacifying gesture. “I’m just saying: the signature is there. You were used for some sort of connection, and maybe you didn’t know it. Maybe somepony somehow took control of your cranial implants without you knowing?”

“Trust me, I would know,” Sweetie muttered darkly. She looked away, tapping a thumb talon on the end of the cigarette, sending tiny specks of ash to the ground. “I’m sure Colgate would already know this, but I’m not stupid. Certainly not enough to go dipping my hooves in shady offers that hook you into an illegal infolink. I wouldn’t have done that, even before my singing career took off. Whatever goes on in my head, I control it.” Her eyes met Bon Bon’s. “You understand?”

“And you’re sure nopony else is telling you how to exercise that control?” Bon Bon asked. “If that’s the case, we can protect yo—”

“Protect me?” Sweetie Belle exclaimed. She let out a sarcastic laugh and shook her head. “Are you serious? Of course, I’m sure this all comes from my sister; my sweet, loving, caring, overprotective sister. No. I’ve spent my life trying to carve my own path, and Rarity’s spent most of hers ensuring I don’t make her look bad.” She inhaled another lungful of smoke, tapping a hind hoof against the ground. She held it in for a moment, before letting out a great, opaque breath. “Look. I wouldn’t be entirely surprised if this was some ruse by Rarity to try and rein me in again. Falsifying the results or something. Whatever it is, I’m sorry you got caught in it. But it’s not me you’re looking for.”

Bon Bon sat back, taking in Sweetie’s assertion. She stayed silent for a moment, her conversational partner thankfully willing to return the lack of words and instead glower at the floor. So she thought this was all just a bit of inter-sibling politics? She decided to dare to turn STARE on for just a moment, while Sweetie was looking elsewhere. Obviously, something was off about the situation, and she doubted it was Rarity’s doing. The aug flickered over the singer, working what it could out of her. Agitation, heightened adrenaline, even a little excess sweating… She was covering up something, and it seemed she hadn’t quite learned the poker face her older sister had. “I… see.” She quickly turned the aug off again as Sweetie looked back up at her. “So, if you’re not hacking, what do you do these days as a hobby?”

Sweetie’s ears perked up a little, evidently glad to be rid of the awkward topic. “Oh! Uh… well. Aug modifications. Hacking hardware, not software.” She stretched out her legs, eyes glistening with pride. “These babies are completely customised; you wouldn’t find these in a MANE catalogue.” A smile spread on her face as her pitch heightened and her speech sped up. “And my eyes! I had some lenses injected: they’re still natural, but I get better night vision and glare reduction over somepony who isn’t modified, and I’m programming new modes for ‘em all the time! I’ve kind of been working up toward building new modules from scratch. There’s all kinds of ponies down in the lower city who are interested in this sort of thing!”

Bon Bon allowed herself a small smile as Sweetie happily babbled on about her new obsession. I wonder if this has anything to do with Mercy… A thought suddenly struck her as she looked at the singer. Her mane was awfully long, and had the sort of volume and lustre that only a hair growth potion could really give. The same sort of potions used by MANE after shaving a patient’s head for surgery. And who said MANE were the only ones inserting new modules into ponies’ craniums? She reached out for her magic, and found that just a little was still available to her. The blocking spell hadn’t quite applied itself correctly. Bon Bon sent it flowing into her horn, and gave Sweetie’s mane a little shove to one side.

The hair fell away, and before Sweetie had time to react, Bon Bon spied a circular mark through the strands of pastel pink and blue, the red of healing flesh not yet obscured by the rest of her coat. “Interesting scar you’ve got there,” she said.

Sweetie’s eyes snapped open in mortification, and she hastily rearranged her mane, staring at Bon Bon. “You didn’t,” she hissed. “Get out. Get out!” She jumped and squeaked as her exclamation brought everypony else’s attention her way. “I… I mean… I’m done here.” She quickly fled the area, heading away to another part of the backstage.

Bon Bon quailed a little in the spotlight of attention, too. Give her a bunch of armed Black Dawn activists over this any day of the week. What if she got thrown out now?

“Wow. What did you do to upset her?” Vinyl said, looking over the top of her sunglasses.

“I… don’t think I did anything,” Bon Bon said. “We were just talking about her augs, and she snapped.” She braced, hoping the lie would be accepted.

Vinyl shrugged and grimaced. “What can I say? Poor gal’s been stressing out something chronic recently. Maybe she was just a little too high-strung tonight.” She flicked her head to one of the stallions running security. “Go check on her, will ya?” As he nodded and left, she turned back to Bon Bon. “Sorry about that. You wanna hang around a while longer?”

“Sure…” Bon Bon joined the rest of the group. Well, that was a bust, she complained. First Trixie and now this. This is turning into a bad habit.

I’m curious. The hay did you do to her? Colgate replied.

Sounds like Sweetie’s got one hell of a chip on her shoulder. She denied any involvement in the attack, or getting manipulated by anypony. She even went as far as accusing Rarity of making this signature connection up. A wave of incredulity came through the link. I know. Anyway, she started blabbing about custom augs and such, and I got curious…

And…?

And I gave her a little hairstyling. Turns out she’s got a surgical scar on her head that’s healing up. Somepony’s been digging around in there recently, and she did not take kindly to me knowing.

Shit. She’s a homebrewer? There could be anything in there!

You think she’s got a malfunctioning custom aug? Something to stop her getting caught and it went wrong?

Something like that. We need answers. This could get very nasty, very quickly if she keeps using that augment.

Got it. First, I need to get out of here…

Uh huh. Well, take a look. I think this is the best I’m going to be able to do.

After a moment, a wireframe map of the club unfolded in Bon Bon’s vision. She took a look through the backstage area, noting the positions of the dressing rooms and looking for any easy way in. It seemed as though there were a few vents here and there, eventually leading to the dressing room ceilings, but with no easy way to access them. She nodded to herself as a set of bathrooms showed up on the map. I guess I could ask to visit the little filly’s room. Guess I’m going to have to give them the slip afterward. She got up and looked at one of the guards, fidgeting theatrically. “Would it be alright if I went out… you know?” She nodded toward the door.

Vinyl noticed her request and laughed. “You’re not a prisoner! Show her where the bathrooms are, Padlock.”

The guard nodded and motioned for Bon Bon to follow him. She hopped out of her seat and walked after him back into the corridor. Personally, she was a little relieved to escape the chamber legitimately. The passageways were narrow, and the ongoing performance meant that ponies were rushing back and forth constantly. Her invisibility aug would have been rendered useless by an inevitable collision. After dodging a few stagehoofs and runners, the security pony stopped in front of a door and nodded to it. “In there,” he said. “I’ll wait out here and take you back once you’re done.”

Bon Bon nodded and walked into the room. There were several cubicles inside, and as far as she could tell, there was no other way out. She had around five minutes to come up with a plan to escape. The realisation made her pace back and forth and grumble. Unless she could somehow slip away while being led back and not raise any sort of alarm, this had all been for nothing.

Just as she prepared to go back outside, defeated, her Hydra sounded up again. Okay. this is kinda weird. The security unicorn left in here just got a look on his face and whispered something in Vinyl’s ear. Sounds like there might be trouble brewing…

Okay. Is he going anywhere?

No, but I think the others might. Your escort could’ve gone to join them. This is as good an opportunity as any to get to Sweetie Belle.

Got it. Bon Bon opened the door and peered around. The corridor was deserted. Oddly enough, she could still hear the thumping music in the background. Whatever was going on backstage evidently hadn’t stopped the show. She consulted her map, looking for the nearest vent entrance.

It was in a nearby store room, high up on one wall. After a little undignified clambering up the shelves lining the walls, Bon Bon was able to push the cover open and climb in. She dragged herself along by her forehooves, her dress evidently not having been designed for traverses through ventilation shafts. What kind of self-respecting dressmaker would neglect that detail when producing a garment?

After a painfully slow crawl through the shaft, Bon Bon noticed the tell-tale beams of light showing up ahead, indicating a cover. She moved up to it and pressed her face against it, checking for any occupants of the room. Oddly enough, a red curtain was drawn across the space, blocking off most of the room from view. However, her hearing couldn’t pick up the noise of anypony moving behind it. Had it not been for the muffled bassline, there would have been silence. When she was satisfied it was empty, she looked for any personal effects that might tell her the pony the room belonged to. She spied a hairbrush lying on a table, and willed her vision to zoom in a little. She nodded to herself when she saw the strands of pastel pink and purple tangled in the bristles. Sweetie Belle’s hair.

Bon Bon pushed open the vent cover and climbed through. She reached out her forelegs for a soft landing, before having to suppress a yelp as the dress tangled in her hindlegs and caused her topple over, landing in a heap on the ground. Thankful that nopony was around to see her, she leapt up and dusted herself off, happily noting that the dress hadn’t been damaged in her fall. Looking around the room at ground level, she found it to be oddly spartan, with little more than a dressing table and a chair furnishing the place. Granted, it was lavishly decorated, in a style matching the atrium, furniture all crafted from rare wood and fine silk. She pursed her lips and tentatively pulled back the curtain, nearly gasping in shock when she saw what lay on the other side.

Bottles upon bottles covered the area: on the floor, lining a desk pushed against the wall, and even strewn across the bed. Most were empty, but a few still had caps left on. Bon Bon pushed one over and looked at the label. Sleeping pills. Another showed a brand of painkillers. She felt a stab of anxiety in her stomach as she looked at the array of bottles. This wasn’t just some normal insomnia problem, surely. What had Sweetie done to herself?

Bon Bon stepped carefully across the room, trying not to disturb the pill bottles. On the table were a few bits and pieces from various augs, mostly from different manufacturers, as well as sets of scribbled notes. Sweetie wasn’t going to let a little thing like a concert tour get in the way of her tinkering, it would seem. She raised her eyebrows as she saw a holoscroll flickering beneath the sheaves of paper. Maybe she could pull out some information from here before Sweetie came back. To her lack of surprise, the device was locked with a security spell. She started up her hacking aug and set to work.

Suddenly, the world went dark. Bon Bon toppled over and collapsed onto the ground. She tried to move her legs, but they were as dead as the composite that comprised them. She felt terror flare through her body as breathing became a struggle, diaphragm desperately trying to fill her artificial lungs with air. She gasped for breath, trying to stabilise herself enough to cry for help. Somehow, nearly every aug in her body had shut down. Mercifully, her heart was still pumping, but unless somepony could reboot the rest of her, she was going to stay here, blind and paralysed, until her underused muscles in her chest gave out and stopped refilling her lungs.

The seconds seemed to drag on for aeons, every breath a marathon struggle. Bon Bon tried calling for help, but could barely manage a croak from her lips. A cynical part of her mind mused that maybe augs weren’t all they cracked up to be. At least regular body parts didn’t usually have abrupt magical failures.

After what seemed like an eternity, Bon Bon heard the door open and hoofsteps walking in. “Hel-lo?” she gasped. “Plea… plea’ help…”

“What a surprise,” Sweetie Belle growled. “I should have known it would be you, snooping around in here.”

“Swe’ Belle?” Bon Bon breathed. “Lungs… I…”

“What? Oh, horsefeathers! Sorry!” There was the sound of a horn lighting up with magic, and Bon Bon’s lungs returned to their normal function. Her vision also swam back into focus as she took a great gasp of sweet, sweet air.

“What did you do to me?”

Sweetie waved a hoof to the dismantled augs. “I told you I was into aug modification. Changing the parameters, the enchantments. Simple enough to lay a trap to break in and hack somepony else’s, if they open themselves up via hacking. Interesting little security flaw.” She frowned at the holoscroll. “Damn it, I didn’t set the trap to shut down augs on internal organs! What did you do to this scroll?”

Bon Bon turned her head to face Sweetie Belle, still spread-eagled on her back and immobile. “I didn’t do anything beyond trying to hack it!” She stared upward. “I mean, maybe the horn aug did something? It interfered with the blocking spell on the door…”

Sweetie walked over and prodded at Bon Bon’s horn, eyes wide with wonder. “Whoa. I thought this was aesthetic only. I mean, I guess you used telekinesis earlier, but…” She fell silent for a moment and shook her head, frown returning to her face. “That still doesn’t give you any right to go poking around in my things! What is wrong with you?! You’re worse than Rarity!”

Shapes flickered around Sweetie’s face as Bon Bon reactivated her STARE aug, which had come back along with her vision. “Look around you. Sweetie, you’ve gotten yourself mixed up in something that’s out of your control. I know you’re scared, but you’re not helping anypony, least of all yourself, by trying to cover it up!” She felt her speech was a little diminished in effect by her prone, sprawled position, but she carried on regardless. “Do you think this signature trace is going to stay hidden for long? Do you think the police will hesitate for a moment to arrest you when they find out about this?” Well, assuming they can get anything now the body’s been destroyed…

“I… I… Don’t try to blackmail me!” Sweetie yelled. “There’s nothing wrong! Nothing!” She clutched at her mane with a hoof, tugging at it in anxiety.

STARE flickered some more, warning Bon Bon to stay off the fearmongering. “Alright. Alright. Just… talk me through this. What exactly is going on? What’s got you needing sleeping pills?”

Sweetie blinked rapidly and looked around the room. Her horn lit up, shutting the door and pulling the curtain halfway across. She sighed and turned away. “It’s just a little insomnia,” she murmured. “I’ve been having trouble sleeping ever since I had tha—the tour started.”

“Had what?” Bon Bon said, putting pressure in her tone. “The implant in your head?” She clucked her tongue as Sweetie pursed her lips and folded her ears back. “Sweetie, I need to know. Look, the truth is, Colgate and I came here for you. Not to take you away, just for an explanation. About anything that might have happened that night the clinic was attacked. Fluttershy was abducted there, and we’re trying to hunt her down.” She looked at her, trying to keep her expression as gentle as possible. “I promise, whatever you tell me doesn’t go to the authorities. Same as we the magical signature being traced. It gets kept in-house. Whatever’s going on, I want to help you.”

There was a long silence as Sweetie Belle paced back and forth, deep in thought. She looked at Bon Bon and sighed again. “Alright. But you’re not getting your legs back until I decide, you understand?”

Bon Bon had to stop herself from rolling her eyes. It wasn’t as though Sweetie could keep her prisoner indefinitely, but at least giving her the illusion of control would keep her pliable. “Sure.”

Sweetie nodded and sat down on the floor. She drummed her hoof on the ground and rolled her tongue in her mouth for a moment. “I… was playing around with hacking augs.” She shrugged. “Look, I’m not gonna lie, I love messing around with computers. If I’d been born ten years later, I’m pretty sure that’s what my cutie mark would have been about. So yeah, it was pretty heartbreaking when Rarity made me submit my magical signature to the record. Same as everypony else who has that done to them.” She shuddered and grimaced. “I can’t really describe it to a non-fanatic. It’s… a violation. Like somepony constantly watching you. I mean, I’m sure you remember the riots we had a few years ago when they tried to get everypony to have their magical sig put on file?”

“A few of my friends in the riot squad took some scars. You could say I remember them all too well,” Bon Bon said coldly.

“Right, right…” Sweetie began to fiddle with her mane again. “She said it was so I didn’t wreck my career, or the pro-aug cause, by getting caught where I shouldn’t have. But I know she did it to control me. So I didn’t hurt her.” She glowered into the middle distance. “Ever since, I’ve been trying to get around that record. Not just for hacking. For anything. I hate thinking that some legitimate mistake in tracking might get me arrested or accused. I hate having to be paranoid about something as little as that.”

“Can’t you just use a computer?”

Sweetie shook her head. “Not as good. There’s a reason all the best hackers are unicorns. Staring at a screen and using devices to interact has got nothing on tapping in, seeing it in your vision, controlling the program with your thoughts. Way faster, and more precise. And when you’ve been channeling magic most of your life, it gets just that bit more intuitive. So yeah, organic links are the only way, really.” She turned around and rummaged in one of the drawers of her desk, pulling out a crumpled packet of cigarettes. She pulled one out and ignited it with a spark from her horn. “Sorry. Just getting a little worked up…” A drag of smoke later, she continued, “Problem is, spoofing your magical signature can’t be done. It’s why the signature record works so well. You catch a hacker, and you make sure they never get a line of work in that field again. They’re tainted.”

Bon Bon raised an eyebrow. Where was she going with this? “So, what? You found a way around that?”

Sweetie nodded, smug grin appearing on her face. A little twinkle appeared in her eyes again. “Yeah! I did. Not without a little help, though…” She sucked the cigarette thoughtfully. “No one pony in particular. Just a lot of forum posts and such from other ponies trying to do the same thing. They all weren’t getting anywhere, but the more I looked, the more I saw a pattern. I started researching more, and I found some articles and journals on experimental implants, new hack methods, you name it.” Her horn lit up and picked up some of the paper from the desk. “Took me a while, but I was able to put together a prototype add-on to the Hydra. If my calculations were correct, it would shift your magical signature just enough to avoid detection.”

“And were they correct?”

Sweetie snorted and rolled her eyes. “No, not really. This was about a year ago. I went to a mod specialist down in Lower Canterlot. I’d met him online before as part of the aug modding community, but this was the first time I saw him in person.” She rubbed the side of her head. “I didn’t just want to prove this aug worked. I wanted it. I wanted to use it. I knew he was one of the best custom aug makers and installers out there. Probably works with the Dreadnoughts, given his skills and him being in Canterlot, but I don’t judge.”

“For somepony who’s so paranoid about getting arrested, I’m surprised you were so flippant about meeting a potential gang member,” Bon Bon said. She snorted in amusement as Sweetie’s head recoiled.

“Yeah, well, maybe I got a bit ahead of myself,” Sweetie said, looking away and scowling. She hugged herself tightly, staying quiet for a moment. “In any case, it never came up. He was just as interested as me in the design, though. We spent the next few months refining it, and eventually building it. A custom aug that nopony except the two of us knew about.”

“And then he installed it for you?”

The question earned her a furious glare from Sweetie, who pointed at her head and hissed, “What do you think? Yes, of course he did! You only had to go and push my mane aside in front of everypony!” She huffed and rolled her eyes. “Thanks for making me look like I’d just lost my mind in public.”

“I was just curious,” Bon Bon said innocently. She tried to shift her back as best she could into a more comfortable position. “So, you’ve had the completed version in there how long?”

Sweetie rubbed the spot where her healing wound was. “Just over two months. Scar got an infection, so it’s been taking its time healing. But the aug worked. It really did! Every hack I attempted, verified as having my new signature! I was free.” She blinked rapidly as she realised her sudden change in tone and let out a sardonic snort. “See what I mean? Give me half a chance and I’m babbling away.”

“I’ll say.” Bon Bon frowned and nodded toward the pill bottles. “And what went wrong?” She sighed as the singer screwed her eyes shut and turned away. “Sweetie, come on. You’ve told me this much.” She fell silent as tears began to trickle down Sweetie’s cheeks.

“I don’t know!” Sweetie Belle whimpered. The remnant of the cigarette dropped to the ground and was hastily stomped on. “I don’t know… I’ve messed myself up. Everything was going fine, and then I started getting these migraines…” She clutched at her head and sobbed. “For hours on end! I’ve never been in such pain in all my life! But I couldn’t tell anypony; not now. If MANE found out I’d made this, or the police, I’d never see the light of day again.” She took a breath and continued, “And then I had insomnia, too. I was going crazy from sleep deprivation, and the fear of the migraines. So I started taking a few pills. They got me relief. Some sleep, and the migraines went too.”

Bon Bon looked around the room at the amassed bottles. “Sweetie, even without the aug, you need to see a doctor. This—”she let out a breath and softened her tone—“isn’t healthy.”

“You think I don’t know that?” Sweetie snapped. “Of course it isn’t! But it’s better than what was going on before!”

“So, you have a malfunctioning aug,” Bon Bon reiterated. “Has it been doing anything strange on the hacking side of things?”

Sweetie nodded mechanically, her voice growing numb. “My friends—the ones online—started noticing my signature in strange places. Places I hadn’t been to. I… told them they were being stupid. Or maybe that the modder I’d worked with had his own copy and was using the same spoofed sig.” She began to tremble and bite her lip. “B-but then I started taking notes. When I had migraines, when I was z-zoned out on sleeping pills…” Her throat pulsated as she gulped. “It always showed up at the same time. The aug was breaking into systems when I was least able to control it. I’d say someone was controlling it remotely”—her horrified gaze flickered to Bon Bon—“but that would be crazy, right?”

The corner of Bon Bon’s mouth twitched. “From what I've seen? No. That's not crazy.” She licked her lips. "That's a pretty reasonable assumption."

“No! It can’t be! That’s impossible!” Sweetie grasped a chunk of her mane, breathing becoming quicker and heavier. “The Hydra has to have consent from its owner to work! Besides, it was only me and the modder who knew how it worked and he… he…” Her voice dropped to an awful whisper and her pupils dilated. “He left a backdoor. He’s sold me out.”

“Sweetie, who is ‘he’?”

She wasn’t listening. Sweetie Belle fell backward, back slamming against the desk. She slid down it slowly, clutching her mane with her paws, horrified gaze staring into the distance. A moan escaped her lips as she began hyperventilating. “What have I done to myself?” she whimpered. “Why didn’t I try to fix this sooner? Why did I trust him?””

“Sweetie—”

“I had a migraine! During the MANE clinic attack!” Sweetie’s hindlegs scrabbled against the floor, pressing her against the desk. “That’s where my signature came from, and it wasn’t spoofed, and… and… and…” A horrible keening sound came from her mouth. “How many ponies did I kill?”

Bon Bon had to lay there as Sweetie broke down altogether, sobbing and screaming. Her attempts at comforting her went unheard, and apparently she could forget about having functional legs for the rest of the day. Her head whipped around as the door crashed open, revealing a wild-eyed Colgate.

“What the hell did you do to her?!” Colgate’s question was a little ambiguous, but soon resolved as she ran to Bon Bon’s side and laid her forehooves on her. “Bon Bon? What’s happened? I couldn’t contact you on the Hydra; I thought something must have happened to you! Can you get up?”

“No… my augs got immobilised by a trap in her holoscroll,” Bon Bon said. “Just a misunderstanding. But I don’t think they’ll be reactivated just yet.”

Colgate looked over to the hysterical Sweetie and blanched. “What happened?”

“We had a chat. I think her hacking add-on has a backdoor. Somepony’s been using her as a proxy agent without her knowledge.”

“Oh…” Colgate stared at Sweetie Belle for a moment, and gulped. “Yeah, I can see how that might upset her…”

“What’s going on in here?” Vinyl also appeared in the door, glaring over the top of her sunglasses. “Sweetie?” She rushed over and hunkered down next to her, throwing a foreleg around the weeping unicorn. “You’d better have one hell of an explanation for this,” she said darkly.

Sweetie’s sobs finally let up a little, and she lifted her head away from Vinyl’s chest. “N-no… it’s okay. She’s helping me. I haven’t been entirely truthful, recently.”

“You can say that again,” Vinyl said, gazing around the room at the amassed bottles. “Jeez, first all the bouncers vanish, now this. What the hay, Sweetie?”

Sweetie Belle stared at the ground for a moment, before spilling out a halting, abridged explanation of her custom aug. Both Vinyl and Colgate listened in wide-eyed shock at her admission.

“Well,” Colgate began. “I guess we could take you back to Sparkle Industries for the night. There’s some test chambers there that can block out any external magical signals. At least it’ll prove somepony’s doing something to that aug if you can get a decent night’s sleep.” She held up a hoof to stop any protest. “Look, nopony needs to know, alright? Twilight’s pretty good at holding cards close to her chest.”

For a moment, there was no answer. It hadn’t really occurred to her until now, but Bon Bon suddenly noticed just how exhausted Sweetie Belle looked, bags now visible under her puffy eyes, shoulders slumping down. And if the aug had been disrupting her usual brain patterns ever since installation, it had to have been months since she had a natural sleep.

Sweetie nodded slowly. “Please. I just want an end to this.”

Before anypony could react, there came the sound of an electric spark, and a grunt of pain. “What was that?” Colgate asked. Whirring gears and actuators could be heard, coming closer and closer. “I don’t like the sound of this…”

And then, a nightmare appeared in the doorway. It was a mechanical monster, with a wild-eyed, wine red mare stuck inside it. She was clad in some kind of exoskeleton of metal and composite, hydraulic cables snaking across the frame. The ends of the forehooves unfolded into talons, just like Bon Bon’s, but these were fearsome weapons, huge metallic claws that scratched at the floor and doorframe. Mounted on one foreleg was a device crackling with lightning magic, acting as an oversized stunning weapon. She heaved her shoulders against the door, too wide to enter. “You!” she cried, looking at Sweetie Belle. “I need you! I need your head!”

“What is that thing?!” Vinyl exclaimed. The three ponies backed away against the far wall, leaving Bon Bon on the floor.

Bon Bon looked up, and a flash of anger passed through her as she noticed the silver plugs adorning the mare’s hide. The same plugs she had invented, the same ones used for the aug harnesses. Somepony had stolen her innovation! “That’s my damn invention!” she yelled. She looked back at Sweetie Belle, who had gone back to her panicked catatonia, staring at the exoskeleton. “Sweetie! Let me back up! Hey!” Her yelling jerked the younger unicorn out of her state, and her horn lit up, blasting Bon Bon with magic.

After a few moments, she felt the sensation return to her augmented limbs, and she clambered back to her hooves. She glared at the mare on the other side of the room. The facsimile did a poor job of emulating her original design: the frame was far cruder than the sleek prototype Dawn Chorus had worn, and the plugs had caused scarring and deformation of the flesh surrounding them. This was a secondary concern, however, to the fact that this machine was blocking the only exit from the room.

“What do we do?” Vinyl whimpered. The doorframe heaved, cracking the plaster around it.

Bon Bon looked back at the rest of the group. She knew better than to search for a secret door, but then her augmented vision showed up something interesting: a weakness in the wall. Reboot confirmed. Sparkle Industries leg model FP-396 enchantment update applied, said a message in her sight. Run live demonstration? She willed her consent.

She yelled in surprise as her augs left her control for the second time that night. Bon Bon galloped forward helplessly, before spinning around and planting her forelegs firmly against the ground. Her hindlegs folded back, and she realised what posture the implants had placed her in just as the coiled springs of her rear limbs shot outward in a buck that could have snapped an apple tree in two.

The weak wall exploded outward in a shower of plaster, leaving a cloud of dust and a hole just big enough for a pony to fit through. The other three ponies stared at her, before she cried, “What are you waiting for? Go!” They piled through, Sweetie first, followed by Vinyl, then Colgate. Bon Bon heard a bellow of rage behind her, and turned to see the exoskeleton-clad pony stuck in the doorframe, now unable to go back or forth. She glowered back, still incensed by seeing the perverted version of her invention, but ran to join the others nonetheless.

As she joined the group running through the tight corridors, they saw one of the bouncers lying halfway out of a store cupboard, and slowed to help him. His breathing was shallow, and his eyes half-closed. “Stun gun,” Bon Bon said. “Intruder must’ve have been trying to keep casualties to a minimum.” She looked up at Vinyl and Sweetie. “He’ll be alright. You’re the ones this pony’s interested in.” They nodded, and reluctantly continued down the hallway.

Sweetie let out a cry of relief as they came to the emergency exit, only to run to it and hammer her hooves against it ineffectually. “What’s happening?” she cried. “The door won’t open!”

“It’s been welded shut.” Colgate had reached the door as well, and was looking over the frame with a grim expression. “That pony’s trying to trap us!”

All four heads whipped around as there came a loud crash in the distance. Bon Bon tried accessing the demonstration again, only to find that it refused to work. How had it gone?

As it turned out, the point was moot. The exoskeleton and its wearer appeared at the far end of the corridor, and the pony climbed through the doorframe, grinning maniacally. “Got you now,” she growled, pupils dilated and nostrils flaring. “Gonna get your pretty little head, Sweetie.”

Sweetie let out a frightened cry behind her. Bon Bon had had enough. She’d been put through the wringer herself by a bad attitude and a hack job on her augmentations, but the singer had seen enough trauma to last her a lifetime already. No need to add a deranged, murderous pony wearing a stolen aug design to the mix.

The perversion of the aug harness had already stoked the fires of her rage, and now the coiled spring that was Bon Bon was finally let go. She shot forward, rising up to strike the other mare beneath the chin and stun her. She was careful to keep Zantos’ training in mind and hold back on her power, letting her punches and slaps hurt and stun, but not break bones. She ducked beneath a frantic swipe from the claws, then deflected the other foreleg before it stuck her with the stun gun.

Bon Bon rallied as the other mare stumbled a little, evidently still not used to wearing her exoskeleton and left off-balance by her clumsy blows. She drove the harness wearer back with a flurry of blows, until she stood just outside the doorframe.

Now, the muscle memory came back, and Bon Bon found herself able to execute the powered buck perfectly. She spun around as the other mare reared up, and slammed her hind hooves into the narrow breastplate held in place by ribs. The exoskeleton and its wearer went flying backward, and its wide shoulders lodged firmly in the doorframe with a loud crunch. She nodded in satisfaction at her immobilised opponent. “Who sent you?”

“‘M not gonna tell!” the other mare yelled, face turning red with exertion as she tried to free herself. “Let me go!”

“Not when you’re threatening to murder a pony. What is this?”

“I need to.” The mare’s voice lost its manic edge, and her eyes seemed to return to normal momentarily. “I need to save my husband.”

The proclamation caught Bon Bon off guard. “What?”

“Just let me go!” The aggressiveness returned, and Bon Bon was still a little slow off the mark. She yelled in pain as one of the massive forelegs reached down and grabbed her mane, pulling her off the floor. “Why do you have to get in my way?” The other paw awkwardly reached out, trying to grab her body.

Bon Bon cried out in pain as her body weight threatened to scalp her. A gasp of fear escaped her lips as the other paw began to squeeze her. She could feel the horrendous amount of power behind the grip, ribs seemingly creaking from the stress. Much more, and her torso would be crushed to a pulp.

She sighed in relief as the pain of being squeezed arrested and subsided. Bon Bon looked down to see the dress harden around her, giving protection from the huge pressure being exerted. Immediately thankful for Rarity’s design decision, she took a deep breath to calm herself and analyse the situation, now that there was no imminent danger of being killed. Her gaze alighted on the numerous cables and tubes powering the exoskeleton, all of them unarmoured. If only she could sever them...

Bon Bon waited for her chance to free her limbs. She really didn’t want to show off the fact she had swords in her legs to civilians, but there was little choice. As the mare let go of her body, looking puzzled, the blades slid out from her forelegs, eliciting gasps in the background. She lashed out with them, slicing through the hydraulic hoses on the exoskeleton. Dark fluid sprayed from the ruptured pipes, coating the vicinity. She fell to the ground as the exoskeleton’s legs failed from the lack of pressure, eliciting a cry of pain from the armoured mare as her own limbs were yanked downward too.

The mare continued trying to wiggle and pull her way out, seeming to ignore the damage she was doing to her own body. Blood was leaking out around some of the plugs in her flesh, and there were dark bruises across her coat as she tried to free herself from the harness.

Bereft of her own weapons, Bon Bon walked over to the immobilised leg and braced her hindlegs against it, digging her talons into the the stun gun. She heaved, and pulled off the mounted device. It still crackled with lightning energy, and she pressed it against the mare’s coat. She jerked, and fell still, breathing turning shallow and body going limp.

Bon Bon sat down and let out a breath, retracting her blades. It barely registered that her dress was covered in hydraulic fluid, or that her mane was a tangled mess. She was just glad to have survived the encounter.

“Wow. Just… wow.” Vinyl stared at Bon Bon with an open mouth. “You saved our flanks! If you hadn’t been here…”

“It’s okay. I’m just glad I was.” Bon Bon slowly walked over to Sweetie Belle, who had curled up into a quivering ball. “It’s alright. You’re out of danger now.”

The young unicorn uncurled a little, frightened green eyes staring up at her. “I just want to be somewhere safe,” she murmured. “Please get me out of here.”

“We need to get outside,” Colgate said. She looked up at the welded door that led outside. “How are we gonna do that without having to got through the main stage?

The question was answered a moment later as the door went sailing through the air and hit the far wall of the alleyway with a crash. Bon Bon turned around and admired her handiwork. There was something oddly therapeutic to kicking things like this: no wonder Zantos did the same thing whenever he could.

She ushered the rest of the group outside. Vinyl gave a concerned murmur as she saw the half-dozen security guards strewn around the exit and ran to the nearest. Evidently, the intruder had been hard at work before she entered the building. Fortunately, they were all in the same state as the guard inside the Pavilion: unconscious, but with no lasting damage. Sweetie Belle regarded the scene with a blank stare. Bon Bon put a foreleg around her and pulled her close to try and comfort her.

She opened up her Hydra link as Sweetie trembled. Twilight, can you get corporate security to the Flux Pavilion's back entrance? I need to escort somepony back to HQ… and somepony else we need a good, long talk with.

There was a silence in the communication, and Bon Bon wondered if she’d been ignored. Then, Sweetie Belle?

She’s here. But she needs taking care of. She paused for a moment. I think Rarity might need a word with her. And as for the other pony, she’s wearing what looks like an aug harness prototype. I don’t know what’s going on, but I think I may have just scratched the surface of something big, boss.

Consider it done. Stay where you are, I’ll send an escort. We need some answers.

---

Augmentation Activated

Legs: Power BuckErgonomic study of earth pony fruit farmers has revealed the most efficient method for shaking, breaking, and otherwise perturbing objects in the environment. This upgrade automatically configures limbs into an optimum position, allowing the user to kick through weak walls, doors, and send untethered items high into the air

---

Many thanks to Faindragon and John Colt for pre-reading, and to KibugamiKenzo for the incredible cover art.

Comments

[Melon Hunter]

In case anyone was wondering what Bon Bon's dancing looked like:

[ReadingRainBooks]

Man, trying to recall the last ten chapters is tough when you get so much content in them in-between a month or two before the next update. I had to re-read the last one to bring myself back. Not to be mistaken with complaining, though. It's an excuse to go for a lovely second helping of excellent writing.

[TheStratovarian]

Wow, another superb update i hadn't expected. and yeouch... poor sweetie.

[TheStratovarian]

4487568 hehehe, you keep making me want to delve back into this.

[LanceOmikron]

Wow. Between what we know about Applebloom and what we just learned about Sweetie Belle, I'm feeling rather scared for Scootaloo. I wonder where she is...

*A lightbulb turns on*

Ah, of course! Scoots replaced her flight-incapable natural wings with augments and joined the Shadowbolts! Calling it now.

And as a side note: Wow, I hadn't even realized that this chapter was over 14,000 words. Not altogether surprising, though. When I really like a fic, the chapters seem to fly by, regardless of word count. ^_^

[ZarPaulek]

Is it just me, or is the plot really starting to diverge from the game?

[GameWiz]

Another great chapter!

[corncheetos]

haven't read it and im already ing

ps. i have deus ex human revolution

[Lemonschooner]

4493755 Is that not a good thing? If I wanted to experience DE:HR's story I'd go play the game. Seeing the author do something original with the crossover instead of just replacing characters with ponies and following through with a carbon copy story is refreshing, and sets the story apart from the rest of the dross that makes up the body of un-noteworthy crossover fics.

[Commander Darklight]

4498224 and were are these suits i ask also i swear i saw a video of one of those malfunctioning and snapping the operators spine
but it could of been a movie i saw that in

[Diokno44]

Please tell me this amazing story will continue. If not, perhaps you could hand it off to a capable author to finish your work?

[AppleTank]

derpicdn.net/img/2013/4/11/294318/large.png

[LegacyMine]

4487568 What happened to the updates?

[Andrew-R]

stalled, it seems :/

Bon Bon decided not to push the new barrier two hard while in sight of the guard, but the strange new sensation kept making her look upward and raise her eyebrows.

- I think it should be "too"...

[fanreader999999]

I didn't ask for this, but its and interesting approach.

[Geminii]

A pity it petered out. I'd have liked to see more of this Deus Ex ponyworld.