PONY Legacy

by RBDash47

08 Authentication

Rainbow Dash careened through the dark castle, illuminated only by blue telltales, her hooves pounding the glassy floor. Ahead, at the edge of sight, a shape whipped around a corner and disappeared. She poured on speed and rounded the same corner, and caught a glimpse of black bodysuit before it vanished into another hallway, distorted laughter floating in its wake.

Dash growled in frustration and redoubled her efforts, sweat coursing through her coat, the salty wetness burning in the spots rubbed raw by her own formfitting bodysuit. That taunting laughter mingled with her quarry’s hooves striking the floor. She hated it.

Right when she felt herself finally gaining, closing the gap, something shifted: The laughter’s cadence and pitch changed, drifting lower, and Dash burst through a set of doors just in time to see a streak of rainbow before a blade of burning orange swiped towards her and she launched herself into the air, flapping hard to rocket forward. The blade passed harmlessly below her but its owner was already whipping around to grab at her hind leg, sending her spinning off-balance and landing flat on her back, air leaving her lungs in a great lurch of breath, wings splayed out under her, looking back the way she'd come at her own face in a dark mirror, and she shut her eyes so she didn’t have to see that face any more and she screamed.

“Twilight! Twilight, help! Twi—”

“Rainbow Dash!”

Dash opened her eyes and saw Twilight’s face looming over her, and she launched herself up and wrapped her forelegs around her but something was wrong, and she realized she was still in a sweaty bodysuit in a dark train cabin lit only by blue telltales.

“Dash, are you, uh, okay?”

She carefully unwrapped herself from Spark and sat back on her bench, running a hoof through her mane, panting slightly. “Ah, yeah. Yeah, I’m fine. Sorry about that, just a… just a bad dream.”

Spark gave her a worried look—and was she blushing?—but Dash finally comprehended that Spark was up and about, and she very nearly launched into another hug. “Wait, Spark! You’re awake! You’re okay! You’re okay, right?”

The program grinned, waving Dash’s concern away with a hint of self-consciousness, and moved to sit next to Dash. “Yes, I’m fine. To be honest, I don’t remember how we ended up on this train. We were in The Elements, and there was a fight, but…?”

“So…” Dash bit her lip. “Cracken kind of… knocked me down and cut your horn off.” Spark blinked in surprise and raised a hoof to her forehead, but Dash quickly added, “You passed out, I guess? And once we got on the train, Celestia fixed you.”

“Oh! Well, okay then.” Spark glanced around the spartan train cabin for a moment, then settled her gaze on Dash and lit her newly-reformed horn. Dash felt herself lift into the air and sputtered in protest. “Just making sure everything’s in working order!” Spark said quickly, and gently deposited Dash back on the seat. “I guess I’m good as new.” Before Dash could reply, Spark brightened and said, “Oh, more good news! Come look,” and she stood and trotted to the train’s controls.

Dash followed and blinked at the view beyond the windshield. The train had exited the tunnel and now sped across a vast black wasteland, dark clouds roiling overhead as they had back in the city. A knot of tension in her spine Dash hadn’t realized was there unkinked itself at the sight of the sky, virtual or not. But even better, directly ahead of them…

“The Portal!” Dash whooped. A brilliant blue star just above the horizon pulsed ahead of them, far in the distance. Not only was it on, she could tell it looked bigger than the last time she’d seen it.

“Yep!” Spark agreed. “Twilight must have figured things out and powered it back up for us.”

“Now we just have to get there. How much longer do you think it’ll take?”

Spark considered this, eyeing the train’s display, the Portal, and the surrounding environment. “It’s difficult to say—I don’t know exactly where this rail line will terminate—but I would guess only a few more hours. With the Portal shutdown timer reset, we don’t have to worry about not making it there in time—we just have to worry about the Black Guard. I can’t imagine we got away undetected.”

Dash remembered Diana’s piercing glare as the elevator doors sealed. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure they know we left… and where we went. Celestia fried the elevator to try to slow them down, though.”

“Well, that’s something.” Spark turned and headed back to the cabin’s seating area. “All we can really do now is wait.”

Dash followed her and gave her a wry grin as they settled in. “And we don’t even have any boring books or board games this time.”

“I guess we’ll just have to find something to talk about,” Spark said with a laugh. They watched the view roll by for a moment, and then she asked, “Your bad dream… what happened?”

Really, we have to go there? “Aw, it was just a… so I have this dream sometimes, where I’m chasing Applejack through the woods, but right as I’m finally about to catch up with her, I trip and fall. It’s dumb, Applejack and I race all the time, I don’t know why it keeps happening.”

“So you were chasing Applejack and fell?” Spark raised an eyebrow. “And you called Twilight for help?”

“Oh. I said that out loud, huh?” Dash cleared her throat awkwardly and Spark grinned, but there was an undercurrent of intense interest there too. “Well, it wasn’t that I fell. It wasn’t the usual dream, this time. I think I was chasing Cracken, but then it ended up where RBD had me cornered. You woke me up right before she… I’m pretty sure she was about to kill me.”

“Oh, Dash,” Spark murmured sadly. She shifted a bit closer on the bench and rested her head on Dash’s shoulder. “I’m glad I could save you.”

Dash stiffened at the unexpected contact and looked down at the unicorn program. “Spark…?”

Spark looked up at her, being careful with her new horn. Their faces were very close, Dash thought. Closer than they should be.

And then Spark seemed to come back to herself, a look of shock sweeping over her face as she scrambled upright and pushed herself away. Dash was left sitting there, speechless and bewildered, with Spark now at the other end of the bench. “Spark? Are you okay?”

“I’m—” She nodded, and then stopped abruptly and shook her head. “No, I’m sorry. This has been—I know this has been a very strange time for you, but it’s been a strange time for me, too.” She stared at Dash. “You have to understand, before everything… before everything went wrong, RBD and I were—” A spasm of pain crossed her face. “We were very close. We understood each other. She was… one of my best friends. Like Twilight is to you. You would do anything for Twilight, wouldn’t you?”

Dash’s throat got tight. “I—” She swallowed.

Would I? Still?

Of course she would. “Yes.”

“And I would have done anything for RBD. But I… but I couldn’t. There was nothing I could do. By the time I found out there was even a problem, she was already gone, and there was nothing I could do to get her back. I couldn’t… couldn’t save her.”

Spark went quiet for a moment before continuing, and when she looked back at Dash, tears began to form in her eyes. “And then hundreds of cycles after I managed to make some kind of peace with that, you show up.

“You are the RBD I remember. You are the passionate, loyal program—pony—that was ripped from me a thousand cycles ago. And the first thing I had to do when I saw you was save you from RBD!” She laughed, just a touch hysterical, through her tears. “I saved you from the program I couldn’t save. And I just…” She sniffled and wiped at her face. “In a lot of ways it’s been really nice to have you here. Have you back. I’ve missed you so much, Arr...”

When she realized what she’d begun to call Dash, Spark looked pained again. Dash couldn’t stand it. She spread her forelegs and Spark collapsed into her, sobbing quietly. Dash held her tightly. She couldn’t think of anything to say, so she just rubbed her back in what she hoped was a comforting way.

Eventually, Spark calmed to an occasional whimper, and she mumbled into Dash’s chest, “We have to get you out of here. Celestia, too, but Dash, your Twilight must be so miserable. We have to get you back to her.”

Dash’s hoof faltered, and Spark looked up at her. “You have to know how important you are to her.”

“I, ah… maybe.” Dash tried to keep bitterness from creeping into her voice. “She can have a funny way of showing it if I am.”

With a last sniffle, Spark pushed herself up and wiped at her face. “There’s no way you’re not. I promise you.” This time, it was Spark who offered a hug, and after a moment’s hesitation Dash accepted, letting the unicorn squeeze her tightly.

When Spark released her, Dash made to sit back up, but not before Spark leaned in to give her a kiss on her cheek. She looked at the program in surprise, feeling a blush creep up her face.

Spark just looked back at her, smiling softly. “You’re a good pony, Dash. A good friend.”

There was a tremendous thump as something landed on the roof of the speeding train. They both jumped, staring up at the ceiling and then back at each other, the moment of closeness forgotten.

“What the hay was that?” Dash said.

Hoofsteps thudded above them, at a measured, deliberate pace, moving towards the side of the train above the door.

“Black Guard?” Spark asked. She cast a worried look at Celestia’s still form.

Dash ran to the princess and shook her, hissing in her ear. “Celestia! You have to get up, someone’s here!” Celestia started and glanced around, but Dash dragged her off her seat before she could say anything. They stumbled to the back of the cabin and Dash pushed her to the floor. “Stay down!” Still bleary, Celestia could only nod, and Dash returned to Spark’s side, facing the door.

The hoofsteps on the roof stopped. Nothing happened for a moment, and then the train door slid open and they were buffeted by roaring winds ripping through the cabin, howling and tearing at their manes. Dash almost fell back a step, squinting against the onslaught, but she held fast and readied herself to jump at—

A dark-suited form, traced by orange bands of light, swung down from above the door and landed just inside the train, then jabbed a hoof at the door’s control panel on the inner wall. It slid smartly shut and the wind instantly died.

Spark and Dash faced off against the intruder, Spark’s horn charging, but they were both startled when the intruder immediately sat down and held up its forelegs in a gesture of surrender. Its glassy black helmet hummed and split open, and long pink locks of mane spilled out.

“Shy?!” Dash stared at the newcomer. Spark let her horn power down, but still kept a careful eye on RBD’s right-hoof mare.

“Um, yes, hello. I’m so sorry to startle you all like that, but I really needed to speak with you.”

At the back of the cabin, Celestia rose to her hooves, and Shy squeaked when she caught sight of the alicorn, immediately dipping into a bow. “Rise, my little program,” said Celestia as she came forward. “What is it you have to say?”

“I,” Shy gulped and straightened up, “I thought you should know you’re in great danger. RBD wants Rainbow Dash’s identity disc and sent Cracken to get it. She’ll be here soon, with a Black Guard squad.” She pulled a small case from her side and opened it; inside were three flight pack legbands. “I brought you these. You’ll need them to make it the rest of the way to the Portal.”

Dash and Spark exchanged a surprised look, and Spark said, “But why would you help us?”

“RBD…” Shy’s sweet face contorted into a mask of sickened pain. “RBD and Cracken destroyed The Elements and everyprogram in them after you left. Diana and Jewel and so many innocent programs…”

The revelation that Jewel had been terminated was like a buck to Dash’s gut. One of the only programs who’d tried to help her here. More thousand-year-old programs, dead for no reason. But she shook it off and steeled herself. “How do we know you’re telling the truth? This could be some ploy to mess with us, knock us off balance. Those flight packs could be sabotaged or something. You’re with RBD—why should we trust you?”

“I—I don’t know how to prove it. I just—” Shy swallowed and scanned her three enemies with a frightened look. “I promise? She can’t be allowed to exit the System!”

Dash looked to Spark, who looked to Celestia, who looked thoughtful for a moment. “Spark, bring me her disc.” Spark ignited her horn and detached Shy’s disc, making the pegasus twitch at the unexpected contact, and floated it over to Celestia. Celestia activated the display, and— “She’s telling the truth. There is no trace of corruption within her code. She is,” with a faint expression of surprise, Celestia turned to face Shy, “in perfect working order.”

Dash’s jaw dropped and she stared at Shy, who was beginning to curl up into herself in shame. “Shy! Why… why would you be with RBD if you’re not,” she hesitated, “if you’re normal?”

And Shy finally collapsed, falling to the floor, wracked with broken sobs. “I didn’t know what to do! I didn’t know what to do… Celestia was gone, everything was falling apart… I wasn’t going to—going to abandon—”

Dash sighed and exchanged a look with Spark before walking over and kneeling next to the disheartened program. “You couldn’t abandon your oldest friend.” Shy looked up at Dash with huge, wet eyes, tears shimmering on her cheeks, and slowly nodded. Dash leaned in and wrapped her in a hug. “I understand, Shy. It’s okay.” Shy threw her forelegs around Dash and buried her face in Dash’s mane. Spark and Celestia moved closer, returning Shy’s disc and adding their own forelegs to the embrace. Gradually, Shy’s heaving sobs subsided, and the others released her and stood back to let her catch her breath.

Finally, she faced them all. “I’m sorry.”

Celestia spoke. “My little program, it is I who am sorry. Your suffering is all because of my mistakes.” She shook her head. “If I had been more careful, none of this would have ever happened. None of this should have happened.”

Shy sniffed and rubbed at her eyes. “I still wish there was some way I could make it up to you. Some other way I could help.”

Spark cleared her throat. “You know… there may be, though it would be extremely dangerous. I almost hesitate to suggest it, but…” The others looked curious. “Do you think you could get your hooves on RBD’s disc? Celestia would be able to repair her, end her corruption.”

Celestia raised her eyebrows but nodded to herself. “That’s true. Resetting RBD would resolve all our problems, and we could reach the Portal without further peril.”

Shy bit her lip. “I… I might be able to. I’ll try to.”

“If you can get it and bring it to us, that would be amazing, Shy,” Dash said. Shy nodded, a determined look on her face. “We’ll keep heading for the Portal just in case.”

A tone sounded from the train’s console, and they all turned. In the distance, something loomed over the tracks, and Shy gasped.

“Oh, no—it took me longer to get here than I realized. Quick! We need to get out of here.” She reached for the case, fumbling with the legbands, but Spark used her magic to distribute them.

Dash slipped hers over her hoof, then looked back out the windshield. The distant archway was getting closer every second. “What is it, Shy?”

Shy made sure everyone’s legband fit correctly before activating her own, a flight pack materializing on her back and helmet unfolding around her head. “The rail line ends in the Badlands, but there’s no settlement. Diana helps”—Shy caught herself—“helped run this as a way for RBD to get rid of programs who didn’t want to live under her. The train just goes over a cliff and anyone inside ends up derezzed! Come on!”

She hit the door control and it slid open again, blasting them all with shrieking wind. Dash, Spark, and Celestia activated their own packs and helmets, and in turns they launched out of the doorway into the wasteland, skimming just above the ground. The train sped off behind them, disappearing into the darkness towards the brightly lit archway on the horizon.

Shy signaled to the others, and the group alit behind a jumble of boulders. She hissed through her helmet, “I saw them coming on my suit display. Stay hidden. Look!” She pointed back toward the track.

A flying vee of Black Guard pegasi shot through the night, led by Cracken. They didn’t spare a glance for the unremarkable rocky hideout off to the side. Once they’d passed, Shy turned to the group. “Okay. I’ll go back to find RBD, to try to… try to get her disc. You all need to get going. Stay close to the ground and don’t activate the light ribbons, and they might miss you. Just go as fast as you can!”

Dash pulled her in for one last hug. “Be careful, Shy.”

“You too!” she said. She peeked over the rocks, then took a running start, flapping into the air before powering her pack on and disappearing towards the distant city lights.

“Let’s head out,” Dash said to Spark and Celestia. “Will you be okay with this?” she asked the princess.

“I believe so,” Celestia said. “It’s not nearly as much effort to fly with one of these packs, and we’re nearly there. We will do as Shy said, and stay close to the ground, and hopefully avoid detection. But one moment—” Celestia lowered her head, touching her horn in turn to each of their legbands. “This should increase their maximum thrust, so be careful, but we need any advantage we can get.”

“It’s a shame about having to keep a low profile,” Dash griped. “I haven’t, uh, done one for a while… but with this thing?” She raised the foreleg with the flight pack legband. “I bet a sonic rainboom would be easy.”

“I’m not certain you could break the sound barrier inside the System. Regardless, a sonic rainboom would draw attention we don’t want. We should stick to the flight packs, and stay low.”

Dash sighed. “I guess so. Spark, you ready?”

Spark raised her foreleg. “As I’ll ever be.”

“Okay, keep close. Here we go!” Dash and Celestia spread their wings and activated their packs. They launched up just above the level of the uneven landscape before straightening out and angling towards the Portal. Spark followed, slightly awkward without wings to stabilize herself, glancing over her shoulder at Cracken’s squad following the tracks.

Comments

[Black Hoof]

Nice chapter! I enjoyed that bonding moment between Rainbow and Spark.
I feel very concerned about Shy's chances of success, let alone her chances of survival...

[Admiral Q Ponyform]

wow Diane was really evil

[Admiral Q Ponyform]

10863892
Daybreaker as a concept has been around a long time. I prefer the name solar flare

[tsaukpaetra]

Yo, the feels here.... Harmony must be restored. It is imperative. RBD must be rescued!

[Caligari87]

Shy showing up like that was something I didn't expect! But it's perfectly in character for her and yet another subtle way that new characters can change up a retelling.

And the train being a TRAP?! That was pure evil. But it does make more sense than RBD building an army, so a welcome branch off the main process for sure. Really recontextualizes Diane in a new way too. On the other hoof maybe I'm happy she did the pixel dance....