12. Neostar (Epilogue)
At precisely midnight on the seventh day of May nine years after the return of Princess Luna, a large group of hackers launched a massive attack on Conglomerate and other assets on the Dream Web. The scale of this attack was unprecedented, causing whole sectors to shut down. Thousands of users experienced significant Web problems, including severe lag and connection difficulty during the event. According to some sources, over twenty thousand ponies alone were locked out, having to wait hours until services were fully restored.
I closed the aether window. The Conglomerate's PR department was good — way too good. Not a word about the Multi Run, or that Prince Luna, Princess Twilight and Zecora had been present, or even about the questionable Web practices that had been uncovered as a result. In the large scale of things it was all explained away, as a splinter group of rogue employees who wanted to further their personal gain. A few dozen employees were fired, and the ice factories were opened to public scrutiny, and an apology ‘to all concerned’ was issued.
I, however, knew the truth. I had been there during the run, as we breached our way through firewalls, rock, and any type of ICE the Conglomerate had thrown at us. It was bucking awesome — the stuff of legends unfolding before my eyes. I could live to be a hundred, and I still doubt I would see anything of the sort ever again.
"Dink?" I heard somepony say behind me. "Really sorry for bothering, but it's almost time."
"It's fine, DD," I closed the aether window. "Nothing but trash to read anyway. Is everypony there?"
"No," she replied, her crystal avatar glowing a bright pink. Usually I didn't like effects, but right now I thought it was cool. Hay, this was a special occasion, after all! Not everyday did one get to see the making of a new Princess.
"Anypony we know?" I went beside her as we trotted towards the mountain.
"Some. MaDster is there, along with the Boomdrops, most of the big names too..."
And some rising stars like us. I added mentally. Actually, that wasn't a bad name. The Rising Stars. Had a ring to it, and also clearly showed what we had done. By helping rescue a Star Pony we had become just that. Or maybe Star Risers would be better?
The mountain we were heading to — until recently — had been Arête's prison. With the ICE disabled by the Web goddess, princess Luna had used used a considerable amount of power to literally split the mountain in two. Of course, it had also helped that the sector had somehow become marked for collapsing. How that happened remained a mystery. After the ceremony I was going to ask Derpy about it. Knowing her, she would probably treat me to a bowl of muffins instead.
"Will you be alright at school?" DD asked. "Want me to give you a hoof there?"
"Web and real life don't mix." I tried sounding cool, but deep inside was screaming in agony. Two days absent, one after the other. Cheerilee was going to flip. Then she would tell my sis and she would flip, then I would lose my Web privileges for a month and will have to... Actually, buck it! Everything was going to be fine. If Derpy could convince my sister that she had allowed me to spend a night with my ex-foalsitter, then I certainly could come up with some explanation for Cheerilee.
"If you say so," DD shrugged.
Arête’s 'throne room' was impressive if nothing else — the hollowed chamber of an ICE factory, with nothing but sky above. At the distant end I could see a crystal dais glowing in a soft electric light. Very techno.
"I heard Princess Celestia might be here," DD whispered as we approached our benches.
"I doubt it," I glanced about. "The Web never was her thing. It'll probably just be Luna and Twilight, possibly Zecora — actually, Zecora for certain. Maybe some minor nobility as well — Canterlot ponies, a Crystal or two. Possibly..." Several shushes made me stop. Thankful that my avatar hid my blushing, I sat quietly on my bench.
Moments later, the ceremony started. This was possibly the polar opposite of Twilight's coronation. No huge crowds, no flashy ceremonies, just a few cool hackers whose real life identities I had no idea about, and a... Buck it to the moon! DD turned out to be right! Five figures had appeared above us — five shining beings against the magenta sky. Unlike us, they didn't have any avatars — they didn't need them. Their power alone was enough to allow them to enter the Dream Web.
"Told you," DD whispered smugly. I kicked her hoof.
Princess Celestia was there! And not only her. All four Princesses were descending gracefully towards the four corners of the dais. Between them was a fifth alicorn, her magenta coat and mane making her almost invisible against the Web sky. So that was her, the creature we had busted out flanks to rescue? She looked quite different outside the web of dream strands. Sort of similar to Luna, but also different. Her body frame was sort of similar to the Princess', but her face, hooves and mane were nothing alike.
Arête — the pony of the stars, that had helped Luna escape her imprisonment. I still wasn't certain whether that made her good or evil. Maybe she was neither? Still, the Princesses had gone through a lot to free her, so that had to count for something. Also, she was no friend of the Conglomerate, so that was always a plus.
"Arête of the Stars!" Luna's voice boomed throughout the entire zone. I had almost forgotten she could do that. My ears didn't appreciate it rather. "Centuries ago, you were one those who agreed to free me. I then made a promise that you and the other stars would share my rule of Equestria. And although my nature has changed since then, I shall keep my word. I may no longer have the desire to cast eternal night over Equestria, but I give you this world — a place where neither my Moon, not the Sun of my sister will bother you. This is to be your domain, to rule if you wish, a domain of Dreams and Logic that you can help shape as you desire."
There was a slight pause. I could hear DD clapping her hooves nervously. This time I couldn't blame her. Starstruck by a literal star was one cool combo.
"Henceforth you shall be known as Arête, Princess of the—"
"No," Arête interrupted. Everypony fell silent. Whispers emerged. What was she thinking? I felt a slight chill pass through me. Had I made a huge mistake?
"I already have a name!" the magenta alicorn said. Her horn lit up in an incandescent blue, sending bolts of energy towards the sky.
I readied my escape protocols. The deep magenta became a shade lighter. Scores of tiny blue dots burned their way through the smooth surface, like fire sparks through silk. For the first time since its creation the Web had stars. So very different from the real thing, and yet so beautiful.
"I am Arête!" the alicorn proclaimed, her horn returning to normal. "Princess Alicorn of Hackers!"
What the buck?! Did you just steal my phrase, goddess?
And as the crowd around me exploded, filling the air with cheers and stomping, I continued to sit silently, staring straight above me. I doubt that anypony else even noticed. I doubt they could.
There were letters under one of the stars — letters I and a few others were able to see.
Buck it all! I smiled. I just got my very own star...
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You ended that well!
Excellent Story.
6655412 Thank you :)
Very glad you enjoyed :)
6655673 :D
Knowing the people we hang out with, is only natural ;)
6661153 it gets better :P
6662910 :) Each post seems to have less words :D
Be strong! It's almost guaranteed to work out fine... Somehow... For someone O:)
6664337 :))) I still can't believe you are commenting on this :D
Thank you, thank you! :) Means so much, especially since you are one of the main forces who inspired this.
Hope you enjoy :)
/dead
6667935 Err... Oops? O:)
6688945 Thankee, Hobbess :)
I promise there won't be too many tears in this one :D
6689104 only implied. I imagine them high school seniors, thus around 18-ish
Silver Spoon for president :)
6689218 it was written literally during the episode :(
Did not split the, up exactly... You'll see soon :)
This is a fantastic story. Why did I not read this earlier?
6717694 :) Thank you. Very glad you enjoyed it :D
6739269
Will do.
And yeah, I'm thoroughly enjoying this. The best part are all the little references that I half-recognize and I'm not sure how intentional they are. Fairlight. Razor. Were you around for Myth, when they still existed?
6739292 Some of the references are intentional :) Mostly influenced my Gibson, Tron, System Shock, Shadowrun and a bit of Lain :)
In short - the cyberpunk I would have liked, but with ponies :))
By Myth do you mean an expansion of sorts or a novel? At this point, it doesn't wring a bell :(
6739323
I approve of your sources, though. You can really see the Neuromancer in this. I suppose that doesn't make them intentional in the sense I meant it, though. Shame, I would've loved to reminisce a bit, haha.
No, Fairlight, Razor1911 and Myth are actual real-life cracker groups. They mostly do circumvention of software and game copy protections, but there's a lot of people connected to their distribution and supply networks. Myth was taken down by Interpol a number of years ago. I'm told they hit hundreds of people for that all over Europe and the States. Literal metric tons of hardware confiscated, stuff like that. I was an IRCer for a while, but I never really got involved with the supply side of things.
6739334 Ah :) Well there might be something taken from Hackers and Hackers 2, though that's it :)
Used to chat in mIRC a bit a long time ago, though. Only things I remember are "Alt-F4 for op" and "Socks or Teardrop" :) and a lot of midnight giggles :D
6739354
Haha, ok, different crowd, then. I used to be a commercial programmer before I went back to college, so I was a bit more into the esoteric and shady side of things.
I'm already sad this story is so short, by the way. This is some of the most fun and unique stuff I've read here yet. You really could make something epic out of that.
6739375 Well, hopefully will turn it into a verse with several stories. Already working on a sidequel (no idea what its length would be), as well as plans a direct sequel :)
6739393
I'll be looking very much forward to that, then.
Sooooo glad you recommended this Lise! An amazing story! I hope you continue in this 'verse as it's phenomenal!!!
6798954 :)) Many thanks, Neon :) That's the plan :D
Glad you enjoyed :)
Wow! What a ride!
6807926 :D Very glad you enjoyed it :) There will be more by the end of the month.
So is she really an alicorn or not and is it fair that she should remain 'locked' inside the Dream Web?
I think that should be Princess, yes?
You mean imprisoned, right?
P.S.
I'm not sure I get the point of loading a virus up with an eject protocol. Did she eject Arete from the web somehow? What's Dinky being thanked for?
6993962 :) I've been putting back doing a massive rewrite of this. Hopefully, when the Sombra chronicles are over.
And yes, Dinky used Conglomerate code to let her eject from (virus was used only as a carrier :))
6998273 :D Maybe... Who knows? :D
Sigh
Alright. This is gonna... Be a thing that happened I guess.
This story. It's one of the few this year I've been so enthralled in, I couldn't stop reading. I literally read it in one sitting. And while I felt it was severely too short, I couldn't be happier with the tone and the talent put into this, even considering the length and errors I spotted throughout it.
While reading this, I could feel the sentiment Dinky had for the Dream Web, reminding me of my younger days on the internet. Granted, I've never been a hacker, or even really touched on it at this point, it definitely left me with some thoughts. I feel a sense of belonging in this world you crafted for this AU, it sings a tone to me that seems to resonate with a part of me I didn't know even existed. I can barely think of the words to describe how this story made me feel, the only two being, 'home sick'.
Just... I cannot thank you enough for writing this story. It's not the most elegantly written by far, nor is it immune to the bane of grammar/spelling errors. But it touched me, so for that alone, this earned it's spot in my Absolute Favorites, and on my profile page.
7145902 :D Wow! Happy you enjoyed :) Huge thank you for the very kind words :))
In truth, this begs a massive rewrite, but I've been putting it off while I still practice and experiment with my writing :D I've jotted down two sequels (working on one of them right now, actually :)) Hoping that would be better, longer and slight different :D (from a Starswirl Conglomerate perspective )
Remember, "there are no stallions in the Web" :D
7146021 Simply amazing story. No thanks are necessary.
I am really looking forward to a rewrite of this. And sequels too. I hope I see that in my feed when that happens, because I never check my feed.
I wish I could set up a feed for stuff I REALLY want to follow in a feed like manner. Alas... Tis not the way things work.
...Also, FLT was totally Fluttershy right?
7146438 Oops, I missed this :(
I can just say that FLT isn't Fluttershy :)
7651763 :D Thanks.
Well, I guess it should be magicspace? Deospace? Dreamspace? Something something space! :P
7652537 :) Go catch up on Mr Robot!
Hmm, I think you're right. This is definitely more punk than Ghost in the shell/Matrix and more space than Gibson. And now because of your comment I'll never look at Dinky the same way...
7655128 It's always the conglomerate! Have you learned nothing? :P
7655328 ...What has Rarity have to do with anything? :P
Also, I'm sure Scoots and DD are just fine... O:)
7653201 Then I'm so lost. XD
7659938 :) I'll have you know that Harpy inspires legions of gamers! :P
And yes, Web grabs are dangerous stuff :)
... I have no idea to respond to the rest of the huge post without spoiling things O:)
7660155 :D All the assumptions! Well, the signs were there. Scoots was just too enthusiastic. :P
And bits are bits. Derpy is just a professional :P
7661314 Err... I don't think so? Guess you'll have to find out ;)
Hmm. Well, MaDster doesn't need to be visible to mentor them. She was guiding things behind the scenes :)
Wow! Your comments are longer than my chapters :)))
7663461 Always sympathize with Dinky. :)
webtrax.hu/myfacewhen/faces/my-little-pony-friendship-is-magic/omg-oh-my-gosh-rainbow-dash.jpg 7666344
Awesome. A really thrilling read! :D
7940487 ooooooh~ that explain something x'P
I should've read this story sooner. Loved it and this could be a promising universe. Great job.
Absolutely loved this story to bits. Easily makes my All Time Top 10 ponyfics.
7946633 :D Thanks. Hopefully, will get back to it round August :)
7966723 :D Glad you enjoyed. Cyberpunk is a weakness of mine O:)
Well. That was one hell of a story. definitely have to spread the word of its existence
7981817 :D Thank you.