The Timepony’s Journal

by Penny_Shavins109

Chapter 35 - Heist

Radiance sighed and held her head in her hooves. She was trapped in a high security prison on Cerius-7, one of the larger prisons in this sector of the galaxy. It was a massive concrete pyramid the size of Manehattan and over forty miles high. Very few windows were inlaid into the thick walls and the only way out was through a long concrete tunnel, heavily guarded of course. Her cell was on one of the upper levels, though she considered that to be a bit overkill. Today was most certainly not her day. She watched as the guards to her cell changed shifts, letting her out and guiding her to the dining area after the process. All day she was shuffled around from one dull grey room to another. It was boring and exhausting, probably what the prison was designed for.

Her company in the dining hall wasn’t much pleasant either, the slop they served her not helping anyone’s mood. She could barely even eat this mass even if she wanted to. The silverware they provided was made of some metal with an incredibly low melting point, practically turning into mush when she dipped it into the slop. It was probably safer just to eat with her hooves than with whatever her spoon was made of drizzled over her meal. Somepony sat down next to her, at least she thought it was a pony. What did they do in the prison movies, beat up the strongest or the weakest in the yard? That wasn’t really her style, those movies weren’t very realistic anyway.

“First time in a place like this?” the pony-like thing asked.

“Would you be surprised if I said no?”

“A little, you don’t see Celans around her often.”

“I’m not from Equus.”

“Oh. Er, you had me fooled?”

“Is this your first time in a place like this?”

They paused nervously, taken aback by Radiance’s bluntness.

“...yes.”

“That was rude of me, sorry about that. I haven’t even introduced myself, my name’s Radiance.”

“I’m 0||”-x°△:). Nice to meet you.”

“So, what are you in here for, if you don’t mind me asking?”

---

The both of them were doubling over in laughter. 0|| could barely breath long enough to keep telling their story.

“And then, and then I was stuck panicking because half the ship’s turned upside down while the other is flung to the other side of the galaxy!”

0|| put their head in their tendrils in embarrassment. Everyone was looking at them weirdly, but Radiance didn’t care. Several guards came over to see what the “commotion” was but they paid them no mind.

“Oof. I don’t think I’ve laughed that hard in centuries.

“Yeah…what about you then? I crashed my boss’s ship against an asteroid belt, couldn’t be more embarrassing than that.”

“Most don’t consider what lands them in prison as ‘embarrassing’.”

“Oh…right. You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. I just want to know what your story is.”

Radiance looked down at her meal, trying to think of the right words to say. She was a lot better at talking to others, becoming a lot more confident since she remembered…since she remembered. Her smile started to fade and she started to feel tired again. The weight on her shoulders was always heavier when she realised that it was there. She took a sip of her water, her mouth feeling incredibly dry. A little bit of that energy returned when 0|| snapped her out of her headspace.

“It’s a rather long story.”

“Well we certainly have all the time in the world.”

“Heh, I guess you’re right.”

---

I was in my ship, searching the galaxy for a rare treasure that meant a lot to me. Unfortunately everyone else seemed to have the same sentiment for it, though for a rather different reason. The Helvetica Collection, the biggest private collection of data from across the galaxy, that’s where it was held. The main problem? Let’s just say that I wasn’t exactly a member of this library and had a few too many overdue books on my account. The velvet carpet was slightly warm beneath her hooves. Thankfully the mass media center had a garden for a waiting area. No one batted an eye when a bright pink gazebo randomly appeared out of nowhere.

She was dressed to the nines in the best dress that her ship had to offer. Radiance was practically frothing at the mouth just looking at this place. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw all the levels of displays and databases. I took in a deep breath to calm my nerves, trying to stay focused on the task at hoof. The files she was looking for were store on one of the upper levels. The main obstacle wasn’t how to get there, but rather which route to take. Doors were no obstacle, it was whomever was watching them that was the issue. Approaching one of the terminals I decided to do a little self research. You’d be surprised who has data on who these days.

Name:
Gender: F
Race: Null
Birthdate: Unknown
Deathdate: 5.18.2098

Well known as a small-time mechanic residing in the town of Enceladus.
No registered parents
No registered siblings
No registered offspring

Please inquire level [721] staff for further records.

Small time? I fixed the chronometers for the town hall and this is the recognition I get? Anyway, level 721 was a few hundred floors above me and a bit above the restricted access line. A little red tape never stopped me, so I took the elevator up to floor 599. That’s as far as visitors could travel, 600 and above were limited to staff. It took a little finesse but I managed to make my way in. Inserting my diagnostics tool into the e-reader caused a slight short circuit. No alarm bells were ringing but I was still on borrowed time. Floor 600 was a mix of an employee lounge and a few offices, a sort of midway point between the two sections. From now on getting any higher wasn’t going to be easy.

---

Radiance sighed as a buzzer signalled that her lunchtime was over. The story would have to wait until tomorrow. Getting pushed back into her cell wasn’t getting any more comfortable than the last dozen or so times. Another sigh as she dumped a half melted spoon and another keycard into a pile beneath her bed. The keycards were no use to her, not only was this place too heavily guarded but there was no way off world for her. Though she was surprised that they still kept letting her snag them, the fact that she scratched them beyond recognition is probably why they didn’t want them back. Tossing herself onto the dingy cot in her cell she looked up at the ceiling, wondering where her TARDIS was now.

It was probably in some compound or warehouse far far away from here. She’d get back to it eventually. Then she thought about Prism. Thinking about her was strange, like she was watching a movie about somepony else’s life. It almost didn’t feel real to her, forgetting the life she used to live. Radiance wished that she could see her smile, reach out and touch her just to confirm that her memories weren’t lying. She could have looked her up in the archives at the Helvetica Collection, though wasn’t sure that she really wanted to know. Maybe Prism hated her for abandoning her, maybe she was still waiting for her, maybe she wasn’t around anymore at all. Radiance was afraid that the hole in her hearts would never be full again. Closing her eyes again she drifted off to sleep, dreaming of the life she could’ve lived.

She was woken up the next morning by the buzz of her cell being opened. Another morning inspection, the usual reaction to seeing her “collection’s” growth, and another immense feeling of boredom. The grey walls weren’t getting any more interesting and what little she saw of the outside world was just the same. When being escorted to the dining hall again for breakfast she found more Equinoid creatures awaiting her. It seemed that 0|| had spread the word of her little story, intentionally or unintentionally. The last thing she needed was more eyes watching her, but it was better than nobody at all.

“Hey…guys?”

“Hey uh, so they overheard us yesterday and wanted in on…whatever this is. And I couldn’t really say no, y’know?”

The others around them looked as if they could snap 0|| like a pencil.

“Yeah uh, I guess I’ll just keep going where I left off?” Radiance nervously chuckled.

---

Upper floors 601 onwards were locked behind a specific pass. Quickly I looked around, grabbing a random cart of whatever. Blend in, look busy, nopony suspects you if you act like you belong. I got into an elevator behind somepony else, they even held the door open for me. I watched as they swiped their keycard through the slot to access the higher floors. This all felt too easy, so I got off when the stranger got off. I still pressed the button for floor 721 so it would still go there. The elevators were an easy target and were probably being staked out already.

In fact the second after stepping out of the elevator the lockdown alarms went off. Everyone groaned as they got out of their seats for inspection. Quickly I ran my multi-tool through the card reader in the elevator, copying the data of the last user. The emergency stairwell door on this level was no problem, but it only got worse from there. After the tenth flight of stairs I was really wishing I was a pegasus this time around. Didn’t help that the security was also on my tail. They were coming from above and below, so I brute forced it.

The door opened long enough for me to get in before it deadlocked. Nopony could get in, and nopony could get out. I wasn’t stuck per se, I had an emergency Stattenheim Remote on me for sticky situations like this. It’s unhealthy for my TARDIS, the ol thing, but needs must. I was in a large server room, the walls lined with hundreds of data crystals. I summoned my ship before looking around. I knew the sorting system so it was easy to find it. I plugged a data crystal into an adjacent terminal, but it was already too late. I’d gotten what I’d needed, but security used an override code on the door. I couldn’t get back to my ship and I’d run out of time.

---

“...and?”

“That’s it, the rest is history. Got arrested, thrown in here given my record, and that’s that. No glorious escape, no witty plans, it just didn’t work out. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.”

“So…everything you did was for nothing?”

“Eh…I wouldn’t exactly say that.”

Radiance clicked a small remote she’d been holding onto for a while. Meticulously over the past week she’d cobbled together a remote out of easily melted down silverware and chips from stolen security cards. Her TARDIS struggled to materialise due to the prison’s force fields, but it was slowly breaking through. It was like a great wind was howling around her, the sound of her ship slowly forming around her piercing the air. The guards surrounded her but there was nothing they could do. The TARDIS force fields would protect her even if she weren’t immediately inside the console room.

“A little excessive, though I do love a little flare” Radiance said, raising her voice over the wheezing of the TARDIS.

“Always know where you’re going to materialise 0||, helps you avoid those asteroid fields.”

“But Radiance, where are you going? What did you find?”

“The place where I’m going, and technically where I’ve been. It’s the one place a traveller like me should never go and honestly, I’m terrified. I’m going to my grave, and to my home.”