PONY Legacy

by RBDash47

12 Resolution

The Portal was a massive structure, rising high above the Badlands. Its perfectly smooth base rose straight up from the sandy ground, impossible to climb. Several hundred feet up, the column ended abruptly in a flat platform about the size of Ponyville’s town square. At the center lay the Gateway itself, an arch leading into a small chamber roughly the size of an elevator car. High in the sky above the Gateway, the Portal’s activation indicator glowed, a brilliant blue pole star for any pony hoping to exit the System. The entire area pulsed with a powerful magical field centered on the Gateway.

In front of the arch, Spark paced back and forth, her glowing horn powering a force field surrounding both the Gateway and herself. Earlier, she had been standing stock still, watching a far-off battle with dragons through the shield, but unable to make out any real detail. Shortly after, she’d seen something like a meteor exploding amongst the dragons, opening up some kind of… hole in the sky that absorbed the behemoths.

She’d taken to pacing when she realized the hole was widening.

Just then she caught sight of shapes moving through the dark sky and braced herself for an attack, but she quickly recognized Celestia’s larger form, bracketed by two smaller ponies. Dash and Twilight! They’ve all made it!

So she was surprised when the trio landed on the platform ahead of her and she saw Celestia and Twilight were actually accompanied by…

“APP?” Spark whispered to herself. Then, louder, “APP, is that you?”

The blonde-maned program nodded, a smile on her face as she replied, “It sure is, Spark. It’s real good to see you.”

Spark looked to Celestia, who nodded in confirmation. She dropped the shield and ran out to greet them, throwing her forelegs around her old friend. “It’s so wonderful to see you! What happened—”

Celestia cleared her throat, and said gently, “I hate to interrupt such a reunion, but Twilight and I should prepare to exit. Hopefully Rainbow Dash isn’t far behind us. Spark, can you resume your shield spell with us all inside?”

“Oh! Of course; my apologies.” Spark led them all back to the Gateway. Celestia powered it up, then turned to Twilight and concentrated just long enough to cast a spell. Twilight jumped as sleek white material began materializing on her body. Spark turned back to APP, who was standing a little way off. “Come on, APP!”

“Actually, I’m thinkin’ I’ll be stayin’ out here. Last line of defense in case the worst should happen, you know?”

“Oh… right,” Spark said, deflating slightly. “That… that does make sense.” She powered her horn back up and reformed the shield around her, the ponies, and the Gateway. She caught Twilight’s new suit lighting up blue out of the corner of her eye.

APP nodded at her from outside the shield. “I feel better already, havin’ that between you all and what may be out there.” She gestured over the platform, out across the System.

Spark drew closer to the magical barrier. “What’s going on out there? I saw some kind of dragon fight, and then there’s that.” They both looked at the blackness spreading over the System.

APP sighed. “Dash sent us on ahead while she distracted the dragons, and when RBD caught up to us, I reminded her she needed Dash’s disc if she wanted to get out of the System.” At Spark’s shocked expression, she held up a hoof. “I know, I know, but…” She lowered her voice. “Dash made me promise to do whatever I needed to get Celestia and Twilight outta here, and I needed to buy us time. I don’t think I can take RBD on my own.”

Spark remembered what she’d been about to ask before. “Right, so what happened to you? Celestia thought you were derezzed trying to save her!”

“Well, you’re halfway there. I wasn’t so much derezzed as I was rerezzed—RBD cut up my code and stitched it back together, turnin’ me into the perfect leader for her Black Guard. Got wings out of the deal, but she sure messed up my voice somethin’ awful.”

Spark drew back, a horrified look on her face. “But you,” she sputtered, “you were Cracken?!”

APP grinned, though it was tainted with ghosts of pain and regret. “Sure was. But when I caught up to Dash, she managed to reset me. Lost the wings... got everythin’ else back. Pretty fair trade if’n you ask me, though I have been missin’ those wings somethin’ fierce, tryin’ to get here. O’ course, I don’t think any of it matters much more anyway, as long as the ponies get outta here before RBD shows up, or…” She looked back at the blackness spreading through the System.

Spark looked with her. It was definitely getting bigger. “Yeah… what exactly is that?”

APP kept staring for a moment, thoughtful. Then she said, “It’s probably what’s gonna end up derezzing you and me for good.” She turned back to Spark and grinned ruefully. “Celestia said the System wasn’t designed to handle somethin’ breakin’ the sound barrier, so when Dash did, the System didn’t know what to do with itself. Celestia called it a, uh… illegal somethin’.”

“An illegal operation?”

“Yeah, that. She explained this better than I can… ah, but she’s busy with Twilight.” They both turned to the princess, who had just split her identity disc in two and attached one half to Twilight’s flank, keeping the other for herself. The unicorn shivered as her eyes flashed white.

“So the physical point in the System where Dash rainboomed, that spot overloaded and cut right out, just straight disappearin’ from the simulation. Now, it ain’t possible to have a spot connected to nothin’, so all the surroundin’ spots overloaded and cut out too, and then, well, you get the idea. The failure is cascadin’ through the whole System, now. Can’t be stopped.”

Spark swallowed, desperately trying to process this new wrinkle and maintain her shield spell. “So… when the… the cascade failure reaches us?”

APP clicked her tongue. “Lights out, sugarcube.” She chuckled sadly. “Hopefully Dash survived and beats it here, ’cause otherwise, well, Celestia and Twilight are gonna have to go whether they want to or not. Sucks, don’t it?”

Spark closed her eyes, overwhelmed with the sudden, absolute knowledge she would derezz. Sometime in the next hour, judging from the failure’s expansion rate. She thought of the countless cycles she’d spent with Celestia in hiding, keeping her secret and safe, the long hours of conversation and reading, learning about both Equestria and the System.

She opened her eyes, and knew she’d sacrifice herself in a simulated heartbeat if it meant Celestia returned home, knew APP felt the same way. She blinked.

There was a streak in the sky behind APP, and she thought she caught a flash of rainbow-colored mane or tail through the wavering energy of her shield spell. “APP! Is that her?!”

APP whirled, the hope on her face quickly crumbling to gloom as her eyes focused on the incoming shape.

“Nope.”

RBD did a quick orbit of the Portal, taking the lay of the land. She saw Celestia and Twilight in the center, at the Gateway, and Spark a little further out. Spark had them protected in a glowing energy shield. And outside the shield…

She bared her teeth and dove.

But APP saw her coming, and RBD had trained her well: she waited until the last second to backflip out of RBD’s path, landing lightly on her hooves even without the aid of wings. RBD shut off her flight pack and snapped her wings out to kill her forward momentum, coming to a stop in front of her ex-lieutenant.

They sized each other up, and then RBD glanced at Spark, watching them from behind her magical barrier, and pointed at her.

“You’re next.”

RBD exploded forward, going to full speed from a standstill so fast Spark flinched and the shield flickered, if only for an instant, though RBD paid it no mind. APP sidestepped her and tried to land a punch, but she was moving too quickly.

She flapped her wings and transitioned seamlessly into a roll-off-the-top that pointed her back towards APP but out of APP’s reach. RBD could see her flexing her back muscles instinctively, desperate to take to the air, and soared over her, snapping her own wings in a taunt.

APP growled and leaped at her, igniting her hoofblade and swiping at her underbelly, forcing RBD to roll out of the way. APP landed and without hesitation leaped again, blade extended, and RBD pulled up to avoid her. She turned the maneuver into a loop and ended up pointing straight down at APP as the wingless mare landed again. RBD slammed into her back, flattening her into the ground just in front of the force field. APP’s hoofblade sputtered out. Behind the shield, Spark called her name.

“You’re not nearly as good without your wings, old friend,” RBD gloated, shoving a hoof against the back of APP’s neck, grinding her against the platform until she cried out. “Maybe you’d like them back?”

APP whispered something RBD couldn’t hear, and the pegasus leaned down. “What was that?”

“Buck… you…” APP groaned.

RBD rolled her eyes. “Suit yourself.”

The dark mare grabbed APP’s mane and hauled her upright, digging a hindleg into her spine and keeping her head tilted back, exposing her pristine neck. “Not the first time you’ve run your mouth at me. Definitely the last, though.”

She flicked her free forehoof and her own hoofblade sprang to life.

APP whimpered, then, and struggled to free herself, but RBD’s vice-like grip and her awkward position made it impossible to gain any purchase against the slick ground. She cried out hoarsely, “Look away, now, y’all—”

Celestia did not look away.

As APP’s limp body fell to the ground and shimmered into deresolution, the alicorn shuddered and sank to her haunches. I’m so sorry, she thought, and after a moment she turned to gaze at her student beside her.

Horror and disgust warred on the unicorn’s face for dominance, and tears ran down her cheeks. “Why?” she breathed. “How could she—why would she—she’s killing all her friends, how could she kill all her friends? All of us?” Twilight turned to Celestia bleakly.

Celestia draped a wing over her and swallowed, gathering her thoughts. “RBD is… the antithesis of the pony you know. Where Dash is defined by her loyalty to her friends, RBD is defined by her loyalty to herself. Where Dash uses her power and gifts to help others, RBD uses them to help herself. It has granted her many achievements Rainbow Dash may never know—power, prestige, promotion—but at a terrible, terrible cost.”

They watched, silent for a moment, as RBD began stalking back and forth along the border of the force field.

“Do you…” Twilight’s voice was shaky and uncertain, and Celestia could feel the effort her pupil expended to force the unwilling words out. “Do you think… could Rainbow ever… be-become like that?”

“Never,” Celestia answered without hesitation, and Twilight looked up at her in naked surprise. “I know how that might have sounded. I am not in denial, or only saying what you want to hear. I truly believe Dash could never lose sight of herself in that way.”

A longer silence, as RBD used her hoofblade to probe for imperfections in the shield separating them. Spark watched her carefully. Celestia could tell from the set of her simulated student’s shoulders Spark was unconcerned and had confidence in her spellwork, so Celestia did too.

“You’re sure?” came a small voice, and Celestia’s heart broke for Twilight, for the idea her beloved student could ever doubt in her friends, for her own responsibility in creating such a situation. This should never have happened.

“Our reunion has been brief, but I have seen the same Rainbow Dash I knew all those cycles—years—ago. She has demonstrated it in her actions here in the System, and in her stories about life in Equestria after my disappearance.” Celestia smiled down at Twilight, and though it was a tired, wan smile, it was genuine. “Imagine I had not disappeared. Imagine where you saw yourselves now, ten years ago. Would you ever have imagined Rainbow Dash running the Ponyville weather team?”

Twilight frowned. “Well… we all thought she’d be a Wonderbolt. It’s all she ever talked about…”

“When was the last time she mentioned the Wonderbolts?”

The frown deepened. “I… I can’t remember. Why…”

“Why did she put her life on hold? Why did she give up her dreams, without a second thought? I wonder if she even realizes she has.”

Twilight’s mouth worked silently, her mind churning.

Celestia turned back to the shield, to watch the skies, hunting for any flash of blue, calculating in her head how long until the cascade failure reached them, remembering her last conversation with the pegasus she watched for so anxiously. “No, my Twilight, I have no doubts whatsoever about Rainbow Dash. She is absolutely loyal to her friends.”

Especially to you.

Spark’s horn shone a brilliant magenta, feeding the force field she’d erected around herself and the Portal behind her. It was a straightforward spell, no great strain to a powerful program like her, and she rested on the ground to further conserve her strength.

She would be resting comfortably if not for the wild-eyed program stalking back and forth on the other side of the shield, glaring at her and occasionally kicking a hoof into the lightwall between them. Pointless, really; she’d already tried ramming the lightwall with the help of her flight pack, succeeding only in burning the pack out.

“So Shy wasn’t able to get your disc.”

A barked laugh. “Not a chance. Though frankly I’m impressed she even tried, the spineless thing. Not impressed enough to spare her, of course.”

Spark tensed. “You derezzed her? After a thousand cycles together?”

“And like I said, you’re next. You can’t stay in there forever, Spark.”

“Try me,” Spark offered. “When the cascade failure gets here—should be any minute—it’s going to derezz you first.” Her lips twisted. “And nothing of value will be lost, you murdering madmare.”

RBD whirled and slammed her hoofblade into the shield’s surface as hard as she could. At first, nothing happened, but slowly the blade began to penetrate, inching into the barrier. “I’m done waiting for my idiotic double. She’s probably already dead thanks to Celestia’s pathetic excuse for a simulation anyway, and without her disc, I’m gone too. But I can still cut your horn off your stupid bucking head before I go.”

Spark narrowed her eyes. “Cracken already tried that.” She twisted her horn to the side. The magical energy of the bubble backflowed into RBD’s hoofblade, overloading it and shorting it out as a streak of rainbow light arced behind the dark mare.

Dash landed so hard her suit sparked and crackled, the glossy black ground fracturing under her hooves. “You’re not going to lay a feather on her,” she snarled.

“Rainbow!” shouted Twilight, and Dash saw Celestia sag in relief beside the unicorn.

“Nice outfit, Twilight!” Dash called back. “What would Rarity think?”

RBD spun to face her twin, a sneer twisting her face. “Look who decided to join the party.”

From behind her, Spark called, “Dash! Hurry, we can—”

“‘We’ can’t do anything,” RBD interjected, glaring back over her shoulder at Spark. “You’re in there, and she’s out here. And pretty soon neither of you will be anywhere. Maybe things would have been different if you hadn’t chosen Celestia over me, but…” She smirked.

Yeah, exactly, Dash thought, and then froze. Wait, what? For a brief, panicked moment, she took in her twin and Twilight’s twin staring each other down, then her eyes snapped to Twilight’s anxious face. She swallowed and shook herself.

“Back off!” Dash shouted at RBD, getting her attention again. “I derezzed your dragons and I’ll derezz you too. But if you let us out of here? I bet Celestia can stop the System from tearing itself apart, reset things back to normal.”

“Or I can take your disc and go myself.” RBD bared her teeth. “I think I like that version better.”

Well, worth a shot. Dash didn’t bother responding. She simply leaped at RBD, reaching for her throat.

The dark mare shot a foreleg up, catching Dash in an uppercut that sent her sprawling. Dazed, she tried to push herself up but then RBD was on top of her, slamming her back down to the ground and reaching for her flank. Dash shook herself and kicked RBD in the gut, hearing the air whoof out of her lungs, shoving her off to the side. The dark mare sprawled out, trying to catch her breath, and Dash reached for her disc.

RBD’s eyes focused on Dash’s hoof and she snarled, kicking the hoof away before scrambling up, panting. Probably don’t have time to reset her anywa— A strange crackling sound interrupted her thought, and both Dash and RBD turned to the edge of the platform, which wasn’t there any more. Inky blackness was spilling over the edge, consuming the structure they stood on.

Dash spun to look at Celestia and Twilight, who had come up behind Spark. “Time to go!”

Twilight shook her head, a pained expression on her face. “No! We’re not leaving without you!”

A wordless roar behind her made Dash turn as RBD crashed into her. Dash hit the ground and groaned in pain, pinned down by RBD. The dark mare’s malevolent grin widened at the sound, and Dash struggled to get away, but her grip was unbeatable. RBD blinked, seeming to realize she had Dash pinned successfully, but as soon as she went for Dash’s disc, Dash would be able to break her hold.

Stalemate.

“You wasted your life because some egghead ignored you,” RBD taunted, needling her, trying to get her to flinch. “Imagine what you could have accomplished if you weren’t such a failure.”

Dash ignored her. She darted her eyes from Celestia to the Gateway and back again. Celestia froze, then let out a quiet, anguished moan and nodded. Dash watched her lean to whisper something in Twilight’s ear, Twilight’s face twisting in terror as Celestia pulled her back. A growl in her ear made her refocus her attention on the program pinning her to the ground.

“I’m taking your disc—and your life—whether you like it or not, meatbag.”

Dash tipped her head back. The edge of the chasm was only a few feet from them now, chunks of the ground separating and dissolving into nothingness as she watched. There was no time to wrestle RBD’s disc away from her, to repair her corruption.

She gazed back up into RBD’s eyes, wondered for the last time at the look of hate there, if she had ever looked that way, hoped not.

Then she threw her hooves out to the side, the completely unexpected move breaking RBD’s hold, and wrapped her forelegs around RBD, pinning the dark mare’s wings to her sides, the other’s face changing from rage to confused surprise.

Dash couldn’t help but smile. RBD had never considered Dash would do anything but attack, never considered she’d do anything but fight for her own survival.

In the space her enemy’s shock granted her, Dash leaned up to whisper in the other’s ear. “No, I am.”

She used everything left in her to work the muscles in her back, a powerful flap of her wings that kicked the both of them up, pivoting backward. As they spun through the air in a lazy arc, she twisted to look towards the Gateway.

Spark stared at them, her jaw dropping and her horn sputtering out, the force field dissolving. Celestia was in the chamber, her face pained as she watched. Twilight was screaming, though Dash couldn’t hear her over the roaring in her own ears. Celestia looped a foreleg around Twilight and hauled her bodily into the Gateway, even as her protégée kicked and bucked, struggling to break free, just as RBD struggled in Dash’s embrace.

Celestia hit the exit command and the Portal immediately shone with bright blue light, pulsing rapidly. The Gateway sealed with shimmering energy as the thrum of building power keened through the air. The princess released her hold on Twilight and slumped against the back wall of the chamber. Dash saw a tear run down her cheek, glittering in the brilliant blue of the Portal.

Twilight pressed against the Gateway, hammering at it with her hooves. Dash met her eyes. Twilight stared back, her pounding dwindling to nothing, replaced by wracking sobs. The loss and pain on her face was so strong Dash almost felt guilty. But she didn’t feel guilty.

She’d succeeded. Twilight would be safe.

Just as the light from the Portal grew too intense, washing the two ponies within it out of sight, Dash smiled at her friend, then let her eyes slide shut, ignoring RBD’s howls in her ear, and felt her senses go numb, her body dissolving into scintillating, freezing-cold nothingness as both pegasi fell out of the world and into darkness.

Comments

[Black Hoof]

Oh no! Not Rainbow...

[tsaukpaetra]

Simulation: Terminated.

[Caligari87]

big ohshit moment