Steel Solstice

by Starscribe

Chapter 13: Exodus

Sunset stared down at her marshaled legions, grinning with pride. True, it was a waste of resources to give them bodies the way she had, a waste to detail them and give them realistic responses—but as it turned out, the school's ghosts worked better when they had bodies.

No location in the school was large enough for the soldiers she had created, so Sunset had added back the wide expanse that had once held simulated houses and roads with empty cars from nowhere. She hadn't bothered with any of the decoration—it was just a flat place for her army to assemble, broken only by a large tower she could stand upon and watch. There wasn't much room at the top—only enough for the three of them to stand, the three humans lording over an army of ponies.

Well, mostly human. Sunset would lead this charge as a princess. So she'd given herself a horn, and a pair of bat wings (at Jackie’s insistance. She took her gang much too seriously). Neither served any functional purpose, though she had taken the trouble to make sure both would feel like parts of her body. The confidence alone was worth the effort.

Beside her, Jackie looked out at the army, her massive stolen sword resting on her shoulder. "I can't believe the admins didn't notice what you were doing here," she muttered, not loud enough for any of the army to hear. Not that it mattered—they were all loyal, even Bree's converted fork. "That's more hostile code that I've ever seen. There are supposed to be checks for this kinda stuff, but... I guess no one thought some newbie would wander into the school and know how to do all this."

"They won't have to worry about it anymore," Sunset said. "We'll be bringing this shard back with us to Equestria. The ponies there won't take it for granted."

Jackie shrugged. "Just so long as I can be in the real world again, I don't care." She sighed. "Are you sure you don't want the other Murciélagos? We all hate the tower. That's why we got together in the first place. I'm sure they want to help as much as I did."

"I'm positive," Sunset said, stern. "We can't rely on winning all their loyalty now.” Besides, even if none of them are forks, each new human increases the chances of our discovery.

"Probably for the best," Jackie said, even quieter than before. "We're probably gonna get caught. At least this way my friends won’t be implicated in this whole plot. It'll only suck if we escape without them, or... if we could've with their help."

"Sunset dismissed the tower, transporting them to ground level with a slight wave of concentration. Most of her army was shorter than they were, though of course they took far more space to stand given their greater volume. The soldiers were a visual representation of their powers—armor represented the programs protections, and their weapons were the tools they would use to penetrate and eventually capture the Interlinked Shard. This way, Sunset could assess the state of her army with just a glance.

There were tens of thousands. Sunset wasn't bringing all of them—the greatest strength she had to bring to bear in this conflict wasn't any individual program, even one equipped with the best penetration software she had come up with or Jackie had provided. No, Sunset herself would be the greatest weapon, armed with everything she had learned and an intellect far greater than human. The Element itself would win them this war, so long as it was brief.

"So, you've decided on a plan?" Twilight asked, her voice tentative as usual. "What is it? The better I understand it, the better I can relay your instructions to the others."

"We need to win so quickly administrators outside can't shut us down," Sunset explained, her voice confident. "We charge in, take the node, and make three bodies. The rest of the army returns here to wait."

Twilight saluted. The gesture was hardly as crisp as a real soldier's, but she didn't seem to be trying for that. "Yes, Ma'am!"

"This is the fucking stupidest thing anyone has ever done," Jackie said, grinning. "We're trying to invade the Tower from the inside with an army of horses. At least if we screw this up, we'll have something awesome for people to tell stories about. The Tower will never forget this."

"I'll make sure of that," Sunset muttered, resting one finger on her crown. She gestured into the air in front of them, positioned just in front of the castle gates. Only they wouldn't be returning to the castle this time. A massive portal appeared there, open wide enough to accept a hundred ponies at once. "Make me a beachhead, Twilight. Jackie and I will arrive as soon as it's safe."

Twilight nodded. She didn't look afraid—only eager to please. Same as ever. I'm gonna rub your face in it, Celestia. Mine's better. She charged, screaming, and all around them hooves thundered. Ponies took to the air, ponies flying in the real war-formations that Sunset had read about from the ages long passed. This wasn't the "Wonderbolts", flying to entertain and maybe make a few loud noises with weather magic. These were the brave armies of the nation that had fought the dragons and won. These were the earth ponies who had stopped the goblins at the Gates of Woe, the unicorns who in their court had raised the sun in the age before Celestia.

And they were hers. The army parted around them like water parting around the large stones on a shore, rushing forward through the portal. Already Sunset was getting information back through her crown, and it was even better than she hoped. The enemy on the other side was completely unprepared for their assault. The initial defenses had fallen to the sheer volume of her soldiers, which were not being deleted by the thousands as she had initially feared. Something was keeping the enemy from killing them, and that advantage would almost guarantee a victory.

Before them, the portal began to constrict, as "hostile magic" started closing network connections. "We can't get cut off!" Sunset roared, taking to the air herself. As she did so, a flight of her honor-guard joined her in the air, the best armed and best-protected of any of her soldiers. Jackie followed, though she looked a little uneasy on her wings. Still she flew, keeping pace admirably for someone who had never imagined they would ever have any.

"Let's go kick their asses!" Jackie shouted, and together they passed through the gate.

Transport was as unpleasant as it had been the last time. Sunset's expanded form was sliced, poked, and prodded by the transfer between shards, and for a moment she feared that the precarious balance of powers she wielded might somehow be stripped away. There wasn't time to form complete thoughts, for no sooner had she even had the time to consider her unhappy feelings, she appeared on the other side.

The Interlink Shard was represented internally like a large public building, what the humans would've called an "airport", except that this airport had a large military presence protecting it. Those programs took the shape of soldiers, stationary defenses, and high walls to protect the most secure areas. All of that had been destroyed near their point of ingress, programs torn to pieces and represented only as faintly flickering "kernel-panic" processes. Behind them, the surge of soldiers abruptly stopped. Sunset winced as the last of her troops appeared behind them—well, the last she would get. The Element told her that less than a third had made it here before the connection had been severed.

Other parts of her plan weren't working either. Local time refused to adjust for instance, despite how much she insisted to the local system that she had the credits. That was unfortunate, as being in-sync with the outside world would mean that intervention could arrive more quickly. We must win before they can shut us down.

"Princess!" That was Twilight, shouting from within the airport using the magic of the Element. Her soldiers had torn open the wall, scattering a handful of terrified-looking humans and leaving the defense programs in ruin. The fierce battle continued in the airport ahead of them, in a strange mixture of simulated graphics that didn't make much sense from out here. It didn't appear that any of her own "ponies" had been torn apart like the defense programs were, only wrapped in tight restriction algorithms and "frozen", lying hogtied on the ground with strange bonds around their hooves. "Princess, we're halfway to the departure gate! We could use your assistance!"

Jackie landed beside her, extending her sword and slicing through the bonds on one of the soldiers. The earth pony rose, blinking blearily to consciousness and staring up at them both.

"Why did they do that?" Jackie demanded, her voice urgent.

"I, uh..." He looked to Sunset, then bowed. "I honor my princess in war!" He turned and charged off into the airport with the others.

"I don't understand!" Jackie strode forward after him, towards the broken entrance to the airport. Sunset followed along behind, conscious of her honor-guard circling overhead. The pegasi would only join in the battle to protect the two of them, otherwise they'd keep themselves in reserve. "Your soldiers are just programs, right?"

"Yeah," Sunset answered. "I think... I'm pretty sure they were shallow forks. Someone filled up the school so it wouldn't feel lonely to new students, remember?"

"Yeah." Jackie shivered. "Except forks could just be deleted. Why would the defenses hold back? Why bind them like this?" As she walked, she cut the restraints of each pony she passed, slicing with surprising skill for her young appearance. Guess all that time in practice war pays off after all.

"It doesn't matter." Sunset sped up, moving quickly into the airport. "Their weakness is our advantage. We'll take the fabricator before they change their minds.

The battle progressed quickly ahead of them, leaving scores of broken programs and Sunset's own troops bound in its wake. Sunset had expected a slaughter, but not of the other side. Yet as she advanced into the building, it was clear that most of her army was still free, still fighting. This is too easy. Something's wrong.

Sunset joined with Twilight near the back of the airport, where the security programs had grown so dense that she could barely step without walking through some of their remains. At least whoever had written these hadn't bothered to simulate them with realistic insides—it would've been more than a little disturbing to see so much blood. They aren't real people. And even if they were, they can't be hurt here. I'm not like Nightmare Moon. No one has been harmed.

"There's only one security checkpoint to go," Twilight said, as they finally met up with her again. Through the front lines of their army was a final array of security-programs, each one looking like identical human males in plain black uniforms. They showed no emotions, even as they stared out into the airport filled with enemy troops bent on invading. No fear, though they must've seen how badly this war had gone for them.

"I can't believe we made it this far," Jackie muttered, staring at the guards arrayed around the final hallway. "I've been here a few times, to say goodbye to friends getting transferred out. Never got into the building. But we're almost through..."

Freedom waited on the other side of that hallway, freedom to return to Equestria with all Sunset had learned. Freedom to save her home.

"Attack!" Sunset ordered. "Before the outside notices! Through the gates!" Her army charged. She led from just behind the lines, and got the chance to see what her weapon-spells did firsthand. However good the security programs were, they weren't prepared for Equestrian magic. The programs seemed to expect attacks on their own terms, attempts to cause overflow errors, or hostile code insertion. Sunset's spells attacked in more fundamental ways, manipulating the simulated forces of the world to cause overflows, or altering perception so that enemy programs had to process thousands more hostile enemies than were present. Hundreds more of her soldiers fell, enough that her troops began to fit even in the dense hallway. A quick query of the Element of Intellect proved she had just over two thousand of them still standing, scattered through the airport.

Sunset charged into battle beside some of her soldiers, against the greatest and most dangerous programs the shard had to offer. Compared to what she'd learned and the synthesis of Equestrian magic she had mastered to go with it, it wasn't much of a fight. It might have different trappings, there might be more numbers involved, but it really wasn't all that different from a wizard's duel. A wizard's duel with a sleeping opponent, too confident in their powers to even try and stop Sunset from undoing their spells.

Her army left a broken hole where the node's protections had been, each and every one of its programs destroyed. "We're through!" Twilight reported, moving up beside her and saluting.

"Where are the admins?" Jackie asked, her tone nervous. "Did you contain any?"

"No," Twilight answered. "We haven't encountered any staff. Only passengers. As the princess ordered, we have isolated and ignored them."

"That's not right," Jackie said. "I don't know how many fabs the Tower has, but each one is important. They can't really have nobody watching it."

"It appears they did." Sunset strode past them both, into the broken tunnel that had been filled with defenses only moments before. Her crown still buzzed with power. Power she had barely needed to control, with servants as skilled as Twilight to do the difficult parts. "Let's finish this."

On the other side of security was another small room, also constructed to imitate a public transport building. There were comfortable seats on the walls, and a single dark doorway. It had a glowing panel beside it, filled with the control interface. Sunset's own soldiers ringed the room, standing amid the destroyed programs and guarding a few humans. There were two of them, a male and a female, wearing silvery robes and quaking with fear, huddled together near the door. As though they'd just entered through there, or were about to leave. Sunset didn't know which, and she didn't much care.

"Please, spare us!" said the male, a young man with dark features and a slight accent. "Don't hurt us!"

"Quiet!" Twilight bellowed at them, her eyes darkening. "The princess won't be interrupted!"

Sunset raised one hand as she approached, silencing Twilight. There was no time to waste on a lengthy conversation here, but that didn't mean she had to be rude. "We won't hurt you," she said. "We aren't at war with you, or even your king. We're trying to leave. A few more minutes, and we'll be out of your hair." She gestured at the controls with one hand. "Twilight, give the fabricator our designs."

She nodded, hurrying over to the controls, hands moving quickly as she obeyed.

Wait, where's Jackie? Sunset turned away from the captured humans, searching for her friend. She had dropped onto the nearby seat, just a few feet away from the door, a dark look on her face. She kept the sword in her lap, as though she still expected to need it.

"What is it?" Sunset asked. "Were you hurt?"

"No." Jackie kept her voice very low, as much a whisper as earlier. "I'm scared."

"You?" Sunset raised an eyebrow. "You stole a knight's sword. What could scare you?"

"Inconsistencies," she said. "I always knew this place was mostly automated. But we didn't even fight a moderator. They didn't delete our programs, either. It's like... like they knew we were coming. I think they wanted us to get here."

"Princess, it's ready!" Twilight shouted. The glass door opened. There was nothing beyond it, a void. Not the cold one of a portal though. It was the end of the world.

"Fine." She gestured at the opening. "You can go first. If they capture anypony, it will be me."

Jackie rose to her feet, glancing at the opening. She offered Sunset the sword. "Here. Follow as quickly as you can. I'll see if I can find your scrolls." She dashed across the room, leaping the row of seats, then passing through the doorway. She vanished with a bright flash, leaving a ghostly after-image.

"Fabrication in progress," said a quiet, patient voice. "Please wait."

The sword felt strange in Sunset's hand. Almost weightless, despite its sturdy appearance. Like the crown, she could feel an array of functions opening before her as she moved it through the air. Only one was interesting to her—the true deletion Jackie had mentioned. The one that could kill, even in this realm of eternal life.

"Get back down!" Twilight's voice cut through the air, and Sunset spun around to look.

The male rose from where he'd been crouched, apparently unafraid of the spears pointed at his chest. He ignored Twilight's shouting, and the pair of earth ponies shoved into him with both weapons.

Then they exploded, dying in a single moment of screaming agony. Not like the security programs either, which keeled over and vanished. They really screamed, leaving a ghostly echo in her ears.

Twilight pointed at him, and every soldier in the room focused on him at once. Probably every soldier in the building, though Sunset couldn't see them.

Wait, she commanded, through the crown. Don’t attack.

Sunset advanced, holding the sword on one shoulder. "I don't know who you are," she said, meeting the man's dark eyes. "But you will not do that again. I didn't come to fight humans—we just want to leave."

"I'm afraid that is not possible," he said, his accent as thick as before, utterly lacking fear. "I am not finished with you."

Comments

[Mitch H]

Hello, Your Majesty.

[Doppler Effect]

Jackie got batified again!

I wonder why Sunset was allowed to get this far if they're not letting her leave? Maybe just to see how her magic attacks would work? Why allow Jackie out then?

[Yami Vizzini]

Something tells me Sunset's going to have a "Celestia, What Have I Done?" moment in the near future.

[FanOfMostEverything]

Well now. This just got even more interesting. We're likely in for some answers. I just hope Sunset asks the right questions.

[APonyReadingFanfics]

"I've been here a few times, to say goodbye to friends getting transferred out"

Hold on a second...

[Cozy Mark IV]

Ooooh! I bet this is Bree's friend, the knight who lost his sword to Jackie. He was asked by the king to begin aging so he could head up an anti kidnapping task force in the real world. This also explains why Sunset met him of all knights early on in the school shard. I wonder... is it dumb luck that they meet now as he's checking out to start his mission, or has he been raising her with an eye for a partner?

[djthomp]

"That's more hostile code that I've ever seen. There are supposed to be checks for this kinda stuff, but... I guess no one thought some newbie would wander into the school and know how to do all this."

Speaking as a software developer, you can never truly completely anticipate what a crazy user is go to do that you never imagined.

"Yeah." Jackie shivered. "Except forks could just be deleted. Why would the defenses hold back? Why bind them like this?" As she walked, she cut the restraints of each pony she passed, slicing with surprising skill for her young appearance. Guess all that time in practice war pays off after all.

There's going to be another shoe to drop about just who at the school Sunset has been modifying, and it might be kind of unpleasant.

Hmmmm. I wonder, has this entire adventure been a setup since Sunset arrived? We know that both the tower and the people up on the moon have been looking for portals to Equestria. Maybe the king thinks Sunset can make him one?

[AyanamiRei]

Well this doesn't look good. This does NOT look good AT ALL!! T_________T