Arête - Princess Alicorn of Hackers

by Lise

First published 12th of October, 2015

Ever since the creation of the Dream Web, Dinky's lived a double life. A bored filly in Ponyville, a dream-hacker in the Web, she lives a quiet life, until one day she comes across something that just might prove that Web deities are real...

Dinky leads a double life. In the real world she is an average pony in her final year of school, slightly timid, bored with everything around her. In the Dream-Web she is a hacker who wants to make a name for herself.

One evening she stumbles on something that has both her lives merge in one, as she seeks to find whether the Web really is run by deities, or is this just a trick by the Starswirl Conglomerate.

Marked AU because of season 5 episode 18 - Crusaders of the Lost Mark.

Written for the F*** this prompt 6 competition

Special thanks to Malefactory and Elric of Melnipony for advice, editing and proofreading.

1. Welcome to the Dream Web

Nine past seven. She was late again. Thankfully, I had taken that into account and set the time of the meet-up one hour earlier. This way we wouldn't miss our window of opportunity and I'd still get to scream my head off at DD when she connected.

A swarm of white snowflakes floated above, glimmering against the magenta sky. Strange. What were Intrusion Countermeasures doing here? This was supposed the be an abandoned sector. Nothing here to merit the attention of ICE, at least not yet.

Moving from hoof to hoof, I watched the snowflakes brush against several neon spires before flying off into the distance. Of course, I also had two escape protocols ready the entire time. At the first sign of a threat, I'd be out of here faster than a falling muffin. Unlike the real world, the Dream Web wasn't a very nice place, not for those who could see beyond its shiny surface. Originally it was supposed to be quite different — a place of wonder, in which everything was possible. Instant communication, no borders, the ability to dream-sculpt objects into reality, were only a few of the promises given. I guess it achieved some of them, and had it been left that way, things might have been better. However, the Starswirl Conglomerate introduced the idea of payment for services, and that bucked up everything.

A beep echoed in my ear. DD had just texted an apology, saying she would be a few minutes late. Not that there ever was any doubt. Despite her impressive skill set in the Web, punctuality remained a foreign concept to her. I was so going to make a scene when she logged on. In the meantime, I took the opportunity to catch up on the latest gossip. Things had been slow the last few weeks. Ever since the Sombra virus had managed to shut down three sectors, nopony seemed to talk about anything else. Even the Everfree forums were mostly full of Sombra speculation threads. According to the latest theory, it was all a Conglomerate firewall experiment gone wrong. Absolute nonsense, in my view, but it kept ponies talking. Also, on the plus side, it had caused most of the big names to keep low, giving us little hackers a shot at fame.

"Dink?" I heard DD through voice chat. "Really, really sorry about this. Dad wanted to go through my homework. He's gone back to working a hundred hours per week, so he doesn't get a chance to see me as often, and...

"It's fine, DD," I sighed. There was no way I could get mad at her now. "Just get here, okay?"

"Already putting my gear on,” came the reply. Even through the mic I could hear her panic. "Sorry, sorry. I'll make it up to you."

I rolled my eyes. Always the same thing... DD was simply too kind for her own good. The sad thing was that she could only afford to be so in the Web. In the real world she was way different, so much so that she only had one real friend. Well, two including myself. We had agreed, however, to avoid contact as much as possible. It was better that way. Also, she wasn't the only one with secrets. Ever since the creation of the Dream Web, ponies had two lives — one in the real world and one in the Web. Often the two didn't overlap. I, myself, was feared as the terror of the Web. In real life, not so much.

A blue login cone appeared a short distance away, along with the message "DiamonD has connected." I watched as her avatar took form of her usual modified Purple Crystal Pony build. Nothing but eye candy, but it seemed to make her happy, as well as attract more than a fair share of admirers.

"Please tell me you aren't mad." She ran to me the moment her login was complete. "I know I promised I'd be on time for once, but..."

"It's fine, DD," I did my best to keep from shouting. Celestia, she really could get annoying. So different from what she was like in the real world. If I dared address her in that tone of voice in the real world, she would chew my head off and even Cheerilee wouldn't be able to save me. "Let's just get this thing done before the sector gets collapsed."

"Sure, right, of course," she nodded eagerly. Aether windows of various sizes popped around her. Paper thin rectangles of Dream magic, they floated in front of her, their code runes glowing in a soft pink. Most were protocols DD had written herself; her ability to extract and modify Web code was nothing less than frightening. "I just really hope we get something. I was offered five invites for the Bolt Tournament today and was sort of hoping to go..." Her voice trailed off.

Good thing my avatar couldn't frown, or I would have given DD a heart attack; I absolutely loathed Bolt. Many claimed it to be the best game there ever was — everypony's chance to experience being a Wonderbolt in a magnificent fantasy setting. Personally, I found it dumb. It also gave pegasi an unfair advantage, but, then again, all games did.

"We'll get something," I grumbled. "MaDster's hardly ever wrong."

DD didn't argue, but I could tell she still was disappointed. It was unfortunate, and I really did feel for her. Unlike me, she enjoyed participating in game tournaments. Not so much because she was good at it — she was downright terrible — but because she could spend time with ponies who hated her guts in the real world.

"When is our window?" DD asked.

"Seven minutes till start." I checked. "We'll have enough time, so don't rush things."

"I won't." She flicked her tail. I considered for a moment whether to tell her about the snowflakes. Best not to; they weren't here anymore, so there was no need to worry her.

"Heard any rumors lately?" I decided to take another approach. "Other than the Sombra virus thing. If I read another scriptpony conspiracy I might actually barf in my tech."

DD chuckled. At least it was easy to get her in a good mood.

"Word is that a Tri presence has been spotted Web-side," she said casually. "Only double confirmation so far, so it could be a hoax."

I froze. The Tris, or Triumvirs, were the creators of the Web, or rather the idea behind it. It was common knowledge that two Princesses and a zebra made the Dream Web. That, however, was false. No, they only created the first prototype. The Starswirl Conglomerate was the real creator, as they constantly reminded us all.

To have a Triumvir visit the Web was extremely rare nowadays. I saw two of them on a fairly regular basis in the real world, but that didn't count. They had no idea who I was here, and I wanted to keep it that way.

"Which one?" I did my best not to sound excited.

"Twilight and Zecora," DD said while modifying some of her protocol scripts. "There was one post about a Luna sighting, but I doubt it."

"Two at once?" I moved closer, pretending to examine her code.

"Remained a full minute above the Conglomerate cluster. Nopony is confirming anything, of course. Want to check it out?"

"Nah." I looked away. "One thing at a time. Let's get this thing done first."

"Sure thing. Five more minutes, right?"

I nodded. Five more minutes. Why did I feel nervous, though? This was supposed to be a quick job — wait till the sector was prepped for collapse and, then dig in to reach the source code. Rumor had it that hundreds, if not thousands, of undocumented functions could be found within. Access to such knowledge would undoubtedly provide a huge advantage, not to mention the bragging rights. I could imagine it now — my nick and DD's would be all over the forums. Even the big names would notice. It was even possible that we'd get to meet MaDster himself, and no longer rely on stolen, second-hoof chat logs to find out things he didn't wish to share with me. The future looked bright, and yet still I couldn't shake the feeling something wasn't right.

"DD, have you heard anything special about ICE changes?" I dared to ask. She gave me a puzzled look. "A snowflake swarm passed through here a few days ago," I lied. "That, plus two Tris showing up..."

"Is there any way they could be connected?" she interrupted.

"You know what, it's probably nothing. Just be ready to dig through the code once this starts. I'll take care of the rest."

One minute to go. Why can't I kick this feeling? The sector was completely empty. I had pinged twice to make sure. No other avatars, viruses or ICE systems. No alarming news in the early warning feed or the Conglomerate Eye.

"Thirty seconds," I said and activated a chameleon field around us, and just for good measure launched a couple protocols of my own. This way even if the snowflake swarm returned, we'd have three minutes before they could confirm us as a threat. Two aether windows appeared in front of me, displaying scans of the surrounding area. "Ten seconds."

DD started mumbling, saying thanks to the Web deities. One could say she was superstitious almost as much as a gamer. Still, if it helped her focus, who was I to complain?

"Window has started," I whispered. Beside me, DD finished her 'prayer' and then prepared a nuke packet, targeting the ground. Normally this wouldn't have any effect whatsoever. The way the Dream Web was constructed, nothing could affect landscape environments. The code was created by Princess Luna herself so as to be invulnerable. Any attempt to mod, delete, replace or move would be ignored. There was one loophole, though. A few minutes before a sector was collapsed, it lost all its properties. However, and this was the kicker, it retained a direct link to the source code. Rumor had it that all the big names had gotten to where they were by obtaining fragments of the code. They were all very secretive about it. The most I had managed to get out of them on the subject was that obtaining it was a rite of passage. Then again, the pony I had spoken to was clearly drunk at the time and did say some rather strange things, including that he was a royal pumpkin who migrated south.

"Here goes nothing," DD said and launched the nuke packet. I watched in wonder as a patch of ground in front of her lost its texture, transforming into a mesh of white strands. So far, so good.

"Leet, filly," I smiled. This was the first time I've seen actual dream strands. Exactly the same kind Princess Luna had used during her fight against the Tantabus years ago. Curiosity made me reach out to touch them with my hoof.

"Are you crazy?" DD promptly stopped me. "You've no idea what security is running on that!"

"DD, please," I grumbled. "If there were any..."

Suddenly, my aether screens started pulsing in red. Warning messages cascaded down the screen like waterfalls, covering them completely. This was bad, very very bad!

"I've cast a chameleon spell," I said, trying to appear calm. "You keep going."

Not a word to DD that a swarm of ICE had seen through my chameleon field and was heading towards us. Instantly I launched all avatar decoys and firewalls. Any other day I would be confident this would get the job done. Right now, I wasn't sure it would even slow them down.

"How long will you need?" I kept launching every virus in my arsenal in the hopes one would somehow divert the swarm of approaching snowflakes.

"Sorry, sorry!" came the response. I grumbled under my breath. DD only apologized like this when she was falling behind.

"Brute force it!" I desperately was going through the contents of my gear drive, hoping to find anything remotely useful. Camouflage proved to be useless; as for viruses, the ICE systems were disinfecting them faster than my system was launching them. "You can afford to be sloppy!"

A few snowflakes broke off from the swarm and approached me, mercilessly. I knew from past experience they were trying to inject code into my avatar. Once they did that, they had a relatively good chance of finding and discovering my real world location. My personal details were masked, naturally, but that wasn't much of a guarantee.

"DD!" I started my scrambling mesh protocol. "We're out of time, filly."

"Please don't lag, please don't lag," she said, her words barely understandable. "Mother of hackers, please don't let it lag!"

Buck it! No way I was hanging around. Without a moment's hesitation, I launched both disconnect protocols. Unlike DD, I didn't have the means to afford an avatar with an auto disconnect feature. To my great surprise and horror, neither of them had any effect whatsoever.

"Don't do this to me!" I shouted as more snowflakes gathered. I had spent months going through the Web upgrading my avatar. All the data raids, the firewall testing, everything had gone to waste. Not only that, but my gear would also be rendered useless. Only foals entered the Web with tagged gear. I would be forced to flash the aether storage and throw it away. And since my family wasn't rich, that was a serious problem.

"Harpy, I think we..." DD started saying. I never got to finish the rest of the sentence. One of the stupid snowflakes had managed pierce my scrambler. The neon colored landscape of the Dream Web vanished, replaced by the soft tones of my bedroom. I had just been ejected Into the real world.

"Buck this nonsense!" I shouted and levitated my headgear off and into the wall. My body was still full of rage and adrenaline. This wasn't the first time it had happened. It usually took me a while to return to my normal self.

The door to my room swung open violently, revealing a rather annoyed purple unicorn. I swallowed.

"Dink!" she said, her voice dripping with disappointment. "What did I say about swearing?"

"Sorry," I looked guiltily at the floor.

"What if mom were here?" she continued, entering my room. "It's bad enough you spend all your time in the Web. You could at least behave properly outside!"

Always the same conversation. Not without reason, though. Amethyst was my big sister and I loved her a lot. Her understanding of the Web, however, was laughable. In her mind it was nothing more than a second Equestria, only with more straight lines and structures. How could she understand what lurked beneath the shiny surface?

"Sorry, Sis," I felt my aggression slowly phase away. "I'll be careful. Promise."

"Well I hope so, because this is the last time I'm having this conversation with you!"

That's what she said every time. Good thing she never meant it. I muttered some excuse, as usual. We both knew I wouldn't keep my word, though this time I was going to try, like seriously try. Things were complicated as it was without me getting on Amethyst's bad side. Sure, she might be bossy and insufferable sometimes, but she was my sister and always looked out for me in this world.

"Food is in the kitchen," she said, giving me a careful look over. Shameful as it was, I was still suffering from dyspepsia — mostly a result of bad posture — and my family was convinced it was due to my Web habits. Therefore, I was on a carefully selected diet. "Tidy up and come down."

"Yes, Sis," I said quietly.

"After that it's homework, bath and off to bed. No Dream Web or anything similar, got that?"

"Yes, Sis," I sighed. Not like I could enter the Web even if I wanted. That was a matter for another time — how to break the news that the gear Amethyst had spent half of her savings on, had just been rendered useless.

"Oh, one more thing," she suddenly stopped, causing me almost to bump into her. "A colt from your class passed by. Apparently he was under the impression you needed help with your 'Photography assignment' and was wondering when would be a good time. Is there anything I should know?"

I could feel the blood rushing to my face. Damn it, Sis, why do you have to be at home all the time! Don't you have a job or coltfriend or something?

"Must have slipped my mind," I looked to the side, avoiding her glance. "You know how Cheerilee is with homework. She gives out so many assignments it's difficult to keep up with them all."

"Well then," Amethyst narrowed her eyes. Way to go, me — now I had made her twice as curious. "It's a good thing I invited him over tomorrow after school. Couldn't let you fail your assignments now, could I?" The grin of a thousand Nightmare Moons appeared on her face.

Merciful Celestia, take me now! I screamed internally.

Author's Notes:

Web Gear - virtual reality headset similar to Oculus rift. Allows the subject to enter a dream-like state, thus accessing the Dream Web. Contains an aether storage crystal that holds all Web Avatar data.
Licensed for use by the Starswirl Conglomerate, following patent 1147a-TwS.

2. Two Lives

School was the worst part of life, but also the best. Before the creation of the Dream Web, it was just a place to be. I didn't know any ponies too well back then, nor was I part of any cliques. Nopony was particularly close to me, though nopony hated me either. Guess I was just one of those background types that remained unnoticed. The Web changed everything. While as 'Dinky' I remained ignored, as 'Harpy' I was well known and had dealings with an alarming number of Web groups.

"Hey, Dinky," Sweetie Belle greeted me cheerfully as she passed by. Formerly a Cutie Mark Crusader, she was now the only unicorn on the Bolt top twenty list. I sort of liked her, although I tried to stay clear of gamer types. "Excited about the finals?"

For several seconds I stared at her. It took me that long to understand what she had in mind. A few seconds more and I knew what she really had in mind.

"Oh, the Bolt thing," I answered, then diverted my attention to my saddlebag, pretending I was searching for something. "For a moment I thought you were talking about math finals." Not my best redirects. By Celestia, I hoped it would work. After last night, I was in no mood to handle such a conversation. Especially with Belle.

"Riiight," she smiled conspiratorially. "Must be that, I'm sure..."

"Listen, Sweetie, I really—" don't need to get hitched the thought popped in my mind, "—am not a huge fan of Bolt. I've only played it, like, once. Besides, I really don't have the time to..."

Nodding unconvinced, she walked to her desk. Damn it! I so hated when she did that. Mostly because there wasn't anything I could do to get back at her — not at school, not in the Web either. Silently, I took my seat and stared aimlessly about the classroom. Six more months and I would never see it again. The moment couldn’t come fast enough.

My first class was literature, which was extremely vexing. It was torture enough listening to Cheerilee as she struggled to explain things in such a way that even a foal would understand. Having half the class make kissy sounds and lewd comments every third paragraph made me want to glue their mouths shut. It would be interesting if I could create a Web virus that could do the same. It should be possible to scramble all voice output of somepony's avatar in the Web, rendering them mute. That would be hilarious.

Five minutes in, I flopped on my desk. As usual, nopony noticed. Maybe I should jump on my hooves and yell at everypony for being the idiots they were. That might actually be fun, and it would get some reaction. After all, what did I have to lose? At least once in my real world life I should do something that would send ripples throughout the entire school, throughout the whole of Ponyville even! Of course, I knew I was fooling myself. No way I'd do anything of the sort.

When the bell rang, I didn't even bother looking up. There wasn't any point — History was next, followed by Geography and...

"Dinky?" I heard a whisper, along with a gentle nudge on the shoulder. "Dinky, are you okay?" Barely lifting my head, I glanced to the side. My mind had just come up with the perfect answer — innocent, yet with enough sarcasm to sink a boat. The words never left my mouth. Standing next to me was the pony I hated most of all — my secret crush.

"You really seem out of it," Shady Daze said. I didn't dare look him in the eye. That only seemed to make matters worse. The blockhead that he was, he interpreted it in the worst possible way. "I'm taking you to the nurse," he said adamantly, then had the nerve to help me up.

What are you doing, you idiot?!? I wanted to shout at him. Instead, I only squeaked "Thanks," and went along. Curse this real world! Why did I have to be so pathetic? In the Web I could impress him in five seconds. He would be the one making googly eyes at me!

"Really nice of you to help." I let myself be led into the corridor.

"You really should take better care of yourself." My ears shot up. Could it be he actually noticed? "Sweetie Belle mentioned you weren't well, and after looking at you, I see she wasn't kidding."

Belle, prepare to have your save games deleted! "That's nice of her. It's nothing, though, I'm fine, actually..." Before I could finish, a forced cough filled the corridor. My blood ran cold. There was no mistaking that cough — it might as well be an introduction card. Shady Daze apparently recognized it as well, for he instantly stopped in place.

"Loser, I need a word with you!" Silver Spoon barked at me. If there was such a thing as a school enforcer, she was it. Class and student council president, she had the power to do literally anything to anypony, anytime she wished. The way she looked at me with her icy stare made me want to hide behind Shady. "You may leave, Daze."

"But Dinky needs to go to the nurse," the colt began. So sweet, and so utterly foolish. No one talks back to Silver. If she spoke to you, it meant the hay had hit the fan. Unless you were Diamond Tiara, of course.

“Does she now?" Silver Spoon took a step forward. "In that case, I better see to it she gets there. I would hate for her — and you — to get lost along the way." Curiosity got the better of me. Secretly, I glanced at Shady's face in the hopes I would see a blush. "You better tell Miss Cheerilee that Dinky will be absent for the rest of the day."

Damn it, Silver! Couldn't you give me ten more seconds? I cursed on the inside. This was setting out to be my worst week ever — broken gear, deleted Web account, awkward hook-up after class, and now Silver was on my back. Could things get any worse?

"Come along," she ordered and started walking. We continued in silence, doing our best to ignore each other. When we passed the nurse’s office, however, I started to get more than a little concerned.

"But weren't we..." I began, only to be sharply cut off.

"Keep on going," her icy tone made me wish I really was sick.

Reaching the filly's toilet, Silver opened the door and signaled for me to enter. My ears flopped. I was in deep trouble now. The worst part was that I had no idea whatever for. Hesitantly, I stepped over the threshold, only to have her shove me inside. The door slammed shut behind us. Something slid along the floor, stopping at my hooves. I looked down. It was a Nightmare 5 Web headgear rig.

"Diamond?" I gasped in amazement, only now noticing the mare standing at the other end of the bathroom. "What the hay?!" My Web persona burst through. "I thought we agreed never to talk at school! Especially about the Web!"

"Sorry, sorry," Diamond Tiara replied, her lower lip trembling. Wow! Never in my life did I think I'd witness that in the real world. "I know we agreed, and I'm, like, really sorry I dragged you here, but I didn't have much choice!"

Talk about awkward. Looking at it from the outside, it almost seemed like I was bullying her. Nearby, Silver gave me a warning look. Don't mess her up or I'll hurt you, it said, clear as if she had spoken it out loud.

"Right after the ICE crashed your avatar, I knew I would be next..." Diamond Tiara began.

"Err, DD," I said, nervously looking at Silver Spoon. Buck! She wasn't supposed to hear this stuff!

"So, I took a risk, just as you suggested," she continued, completely ignoring my hints to shut up. "I disabled some of my gear's safety protocols, and jumped directly into the dream threads."

"Diamond..." I said through my teeth, eyes still on Silver. "Maybe we should discuss this later? In the Web?"

"Oh, will you shut up, 'Harpy'!?" Silver's outburst made both me and Diamond stop whatever we were doing and stand to attention. "Did you honestly think that I don't know about your stupid little hacks? Diamond told me on day one! I gave her her first gear as a gift, for Luna's sake! Honestly, sometimes you are as stupid as you want others to believe you are! Now shut your trap and let her finish!" Or you'll regret it, her piercing gaze added. "Go ahead, Di."

That was scary. Of course I suspected Silver knew about us, she being best friends with DD and all. I just wished the details of last night's fiasco had remained private.

"Anyway," DD went on, unbothered by Silver's outburst. "The threads had their own security protocols, way different from ICE. They just linked to me and systematically started removing all modified code. It's like they were restoring the original settings. So, I knew it was a matter of seconds before my gear auto-disconnected me, so I physically pushed through the threads and went in further."

"You what?!?" I shouted. "You dived into the dream threads of a sector as it was being collapsed? Knowing all your mods were being erased? And that a swarm of ICE was out to get you?" Part of me was terrified, but also envious... extremely envious! This was legend-grade material. If DD had managed to capture this on aether vid, she would be the talk of the Web!

"Sorry. I know it was stupid," she sighed, missing the point, as usual. "But it was worth it."

Whatever I was about to say vanished from my mind, replaced by a single thought — the source code.

"You got a fragment!" I felt like hugging her.

"Not just any fragment," she said tossing me a sheet of paper. Immediately I caught it with a levitation spell and brought it closer. Diamond wasn't kidding when she said the code was different. I couldn't make head or tail of it. It all seemed like a random collection of symbols stretched, shaken, then grouped together in some unclear fashion.

"Two thirds down," Diamond said helpfully. I was just about get there, when the door behind me swung open.

"How dare you!" Diamond Tiara yelled. Seeing her transform into full Alpha Queen in less than a second made me shiver. I knew she wouldn't do anything bad to me, though my subconscious didn't, causing my entire body to tremble in fear. "Don't you see this room is occupied?" She moved towards the unfortunate newcomers with the grace of an Ursa Minor. "Don't you?!"

Silence. I could only assume the mares were nodding in agreement. This was the Diamond Tiara that Equestria knew — ruthless, petty and terrifying. Pity she couldn't bring that side of her into the Web.

"Now get out and don't let me see you again this week!" Another yell, followed by the door slamming loudly. "Sorry about that, Dink," she reverted to her DD voice again. "Did you see it?"

"I'm... getting there," I answered still shaking. Curse my real world self! A pink hoof moved beside me, pointing to a section of the paper. "Right, thanks... DDE23 dash FF dash source Arête?"

"Isn't it exciting?" I felt Diamond hug me. Way too awkward. Not knowing how to react, I turned towards Silver. The grey mare was just standing there rolling her eyes. Could it be that this was the way Diamond Tiara acted when she wasn't pretending to be mean? Could it be that she was... special?

"Err, it is?" I felt the urge to move away. Physical contact was never pleasant for me. Thankfully the hug soon ended, as Diamond grabbed the paper with such speed one would think it was a list of master passwords.

"Arête!" she repeated. "Mother Alicorn of Hackers!"

"Well yes, but I still don't... " I froze. Surely she wasn't implying what I think she was. Arête. Anyone involved with the Web knew that name — the make-believe deity that prevented lag, restored corrupted data, and made code work after a single prayer. So far no one credible had seen this entity, but many claimed to have felt her presence. It was said that she could see and hear everything that went on in the Web, and helped those that followed the Web code. Me, personally, I didn't believe in that one bit. Diamond, however, was fascinated by that stuff. She once even showed me a picture of her custom made authentic Arête pendant. The bucking thing cost more than my house and everything in it!

"Come on!" I waved a hoof. "Surely you don't mean..." I stopped, not wishing to finish the sentence.

"Just think about it! The ICE, the Tris appearing all of a sudden," Diamond seemed to be in a world of her own. "I found this in the source code, Dink! It can't be a coincidence! Would Luna just add a name on a whim? Would the Conglomerate use it in their code to pander to us?"

She definitely had me there. Not that I believed the Mother existed — that was stupid. I did, however, believe it would be very much like the Conglomerate to build something in an attempt to control the original code. Now that got me interested.

"So what do we do?" I asked.

"We go back in," came the answer. "Tonight."

"Hey now." I took a step back. "Don't get crazy, now. My gear just got wiped and..." I paused. The Nightmare 5 was still on the floor in front of me. According to articles I'd read, it was pretty high end, higher than I could afford even if I saved up for the next five years. "I'm supposed to take this, aren't I?" I frowned at her. The eager nod told me that was the case. "I'm just borrowing it, mind, until I get my own gear... or something."

Silver Spoon snorted — what I would expect from a lifer. She didn't understand the Web and never would. That wasn't my main concern, however.

"Diamond," I began, "what exactly do you know about Arête?"

No answer. The pink pony smiled sheepishly at me. Great, just great! Like in the Web, she only did that when she wanted me to do something for her. I didn't need three guesses to know what it was this time.

"I'll look into it," I sighed. Somehow I knew I would regret this.

Author's Notes:

Lifer - short for 'real lifer'; a pony, or other being, who is largely unaware of the Dream Web, preferring to live solely in the real world. Also used as an insult among Webbers, Indicating one of poor skill.

3. Real Reasons

Every top gamer worth their salt knew about Arête. In general I could ask anypony — Sweetie Belle, Archer, Button, even Shady Daze. If I wanted to get any useful information, though, there was only one pony to see.

Waiting for recess, I casually entered the classroom. Cheerilee gave me a look ranging somewhere between confusion and disappointment, but didn't say a word. This was another mess I was going to have to fix in the near future.

Passing by Scootaloo, I made it appear as if I tripped. It only took a second, but a nod from the sports captain told me she got the message. Few knew, but Scoots and I had one thing in common — we both shared the same Web mentor. Of course, he was teaching her pro gaming, while my interests were more of the hacking variety. The first day we learned about our connection, neither of us could believe it. I didn't know that MaDster took gaming apprentices, and she couldn't believe I was the notorious 'Harpy'. I guess that put me in her cool book, although not to the extent that we would become besties.

"After school?" she whispered, making sure nopony was around to hear.

"Can't," I whispered back. "Sis set me up with Shady." Curses! That came out so wrong. The surprised look on her face clearly showed I had goofed. "Long story," I added quickly in an attempt to save what little remained of my dignity. "Can we do it now?"

"Clubhouse," she whispered, then left the room. Perfect. Now it was my turn. Putting my books in my saddlebag, I passed by the bathroom to collect my new Web gear, then trotted straight for the clubhouse. There was no point in worrying how much trouble I was in at school. If it was serious, I could rely on Amethyst to sort things out for me. That was something she was really good at.

When I arrived, Scoots was already there, leaning against the trunk of a tree. Above her the clubhouse of the Boomdrops loomed - home of some of the best Bolt players in Equestria. I had no illusions — I wouldn't be invited, of course. Gamers were extremely superstitious about everything involving their lairs, and Scoots wouldn't risk the ranking of her team for me.

"How bad is it?" She asked, directly, her minute wings flapping several times. Even now, they were a third the size of normal pegasus wings, yet thankfully, were capable of lifting her in the air.

"Everything is fine," I put on my best lying face. "Just a slight crash and burn, nothing anypony should..."

"You never say things are fine," Scootaloo sighed. "Unless you are in trouble."

"I tell you, I am not in trouble!" I protested. "Not more than usual. I just need info on something, then I'll be off and all. Just name your price, and let's get started."

To my surprise Scootaloo laughed, the mocking laughter she usually reserved for gamer wannabes that failed to impress her.

"We aren't in the Web, Dinky," she said, moving closer. "Here, you are a really bad liar. You miss class, then return and ask me for a meet-up. I know it's not Bolt related because you can't stand the game. Actually, I haven't seen you like any game. What's really going on?"

I sighed. Damn the pegasi with their eye for detail.

"It's DD," I said. "She stumbled upon something... I mean we both stumbled on it. Thing is, it involves something more in your area of expertise."

"That's why she didn't come yesterday," the pegasus kicked some dirt in the air. Like her idol Rainbow Dash, she really hated not being the center of attention.

"Look, we did some stuff you don't want to know about," I pressed on. "Nothing too serious, just weird." The look she gave me could make Celestia feel guilty. "Alright, it might be serious. My avatar got wiped, DD's got reset to factory settings... the thing is she managed to get her hooves on some source code."

"Oh?" Scoots tried to remain cool, but I saw both her tail and ears flick. I could tell she was just dying to hear more. "Something game related, I take it?"

"Sort of. She found some garbled code that mentioned Arête, so I'd like to know what you can tell me about..." I stopped. The usually cool Scootaloo was gaping at me, mouth so wide open I swear my saddle back could fit inside.

"Mother Alicorn of Gamers," she said in a voice that made mine sound assertive.

"Err, right," I cautiously took a step back. "I'm ashamed to say I don't know much of the lore, so was hoping you could help out."

"Who else knows about this?" she asked, looking around nervously. "MaDster? Twilight? Anypony in the real world?"

"No, only me and DD," I lied. Scoots would go ballistic if she found out Silver Spoon was aware. Hay, she would go ballistic if she ever found out DD was Diamond Tiara. It was honestly hilarious how nopony had caught on. Guess the notion of Her Snobbiness hacking was more than some minds could handle.

"We better go inside." Scoots fluttered up to the clubhouse, and to my surprise indicated that I join her. Whatever Arête was for her, it was way more important than game rankings.

The inside of the clubhouse was way different from how I remembered it. Last time I had been here was years ago, when I helped Sweetie Belle carry some materials from her sister's boutique. Back then they were still Cutie Mark Crusaders, but since then quite a few improvements had been made. For starters, the place was set up so it could contain five fully grown ponies, as well as a game room, a kitchen, a bathroom, and knowing gamers' egos — a trophy room. Instantly, I noticed the place was impeccably well kept, too much so for a gamer's lair. With Sweetie Belle living here, I wasn't the least bit surprised.

"Just sit anywhere," Scoots said, and went to a beanbag that had the word 'Wings' written on it in large, fiery orange letters. "And get something to drink if you want."

"I'm good," I said, uncomfortably remaining in the center of the room. As much as I hated to admit it, I did feel slightly starstruck. I never was an avid gamer, but being here, what thousands considered to be one of the holy places of gaming, made me feel somewhat special. Maybe I should let Shady give me gaming lessons? Hay, I could probably reach the top hundred if I tried.

"What do you know?" Scoots asked as she relaxed on top of the beanbag.

"About Arête?" My mind switched back to reality. "Just that she is the Mother of Hackers and Gamers that helps her followers if they are in trouble. They say praying to her before a game decreases lag. I've read lots of other stuff, too, but it’s all bucking stupid."

The moment I said that blood rushed to my face. I really wasn't used swearing in the real world. At least not in front of others.

"That's it?" Scootaloo asked skeptically. "MaDster didn't tell you anything more?"

"Actually..." I smiled sheepishly. "MaDster didn't tell me anything about her. I just learned stuff from the Web. The Everfree forums mostly."

The look on her face could be described with only one word — pity. Flying off the beanbag, she landed right beside me.

"This way.” She led forward. We passed the kitchen and went upstairs into one of the messiest rooms I've seen. It was almost as bad as mine. Apparently not even Sweetie Belle could change that.

The walls were covered in posters: the Wonderbolts, Rainbow Dash, The Daring Do saga, Bolt: Resurgence, to name a few. Quite a lot of posters of her team, the Boomdrops, as well. Strange I was expecting there to be at least one of Princess Luna. She was a Webbers' favourite. Even I had one, signed and dedicated to me. I would like to say she had given it to me personally, but truth was, I had to wait in line at the second anniversary of the Dream Web. The Conglomerate did a huge push to introduce their latest line of products, and somehow managed to get all three Triumvirs to attend.

"If you say a word to anypony about this, I'll never speak to you again," Scoots said, opening the cupboard in the corner of her room. I could tell she was serious.

Cautiously, I went beside her and looked inside. Holy Celestia! This was Scoots' Web shrine! Back home I had one as well, carefully hidden from prying eyes. The only difference was, I had placed mine on the bottom of my bed.

Instantly I recognized a Princess Luna poster, MaDster's logo, along with FLT's, Aethzor's and five other of the big names. Slightly disconcerting, there was a print of me and DD, as well, right next to Sweetie Belle's pop idol poster. Guess I was among her Web friends after all.

"Took me a lot of time and bits to get these," Scootaloo said, her voice full of pride. I almost said that all she had to do to get a print of mine was just ask. It wasn't like I was a big name yet.

"Worth it, though. Especially this." Her hoof pointed to a small picture of a light magenta alicorn. If she hadn't brought my attention to it, I would have hardly noticed.

"Is that Arête?" I asked, moving in closer to get a better look.

She didn't look like anything special, to be honest. Most likely the artist had taken a photo of Luna, changed the colour scheme and added a few details. Her muzzle was a tad sharper and longer, and her eyes were literally drawn as two blue stars. Other than that I could easily describe her as magenta Luna.

"Nice artist rendition," I smiled. "You must give me the name, so I can get her to make some of me and DD."

"That's no artist's rendition," she said, sending chills through my bones. "That's MaDster's Web grab."

"You've something that belongs to MaDster?" The fanfilly in me screamed. Envy and excitement swept through me like a tidal wave. "Wait! MaDster has actually seen her?" I only now just realized. If he had indeed seen Arête, that was proof positive she had to exist.

"Now you get it," I felt Scoots pat me on the back with her wing. "You know, the Dream Web was made as a copy of Luna's dream world. Twilight came up with a set of rules that would allow ponies to create whatever they wished, without harming others."

"Twicode," I nodded. All scripts and protocols were based on Princess Twilight's original code.

"And Zecora created the device that would allow us to enter that world," the pegasus continued. "A Web of Dreams for all to enjoy."

"Yes, two Princesses and a zebra," I went along. "They made the prototype, but the Conglomerate came and messed things up."

"And do you know why they came?" she asked expectantly. "It's not like the Princesses are lacking resources. The reason is that the first Dream Web was a failure."

"What?!" I gasped.

"It only worked as long as Luna was there to maintain it. The instant she left, the whole thing would collapse. Not wanting to have their invention go to waste, the three decided to share the knowledge with all, in the hopes that their dream would become reality. And half a year later it did."

"Are you serious?" I could hardly believe what I was hearing. All this sounded so incredible that it couldn't possibly be true. How could the Conglomerate succeed where the Triumvirs had failed?

"Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom and I played in the first prototype," she said, puffing out her chest. "We always were close to Twilight, even before she was a princess. Zecora and Luna too."

"Right," I sighed. I wish I had been close to any of them. How much fun would it have been if I could have helped out with the initial Twicode. Hay, I could have been a legend by now! Instead I had Derpy to foalsit me... talk about disappointing.

"So when the Dream Web launched, Twilight tried it out to see what was going on. She was convinced that the whole thing was a scam. It turned out that it wasn't. The Dream Web could maintain a stable world for an indefinite amount of time and allow thousands of ponies to enter at will."

My expression went blank. Was I missing something? Knowing Scoots, she usually went straight for the point. Why was she being so cryptic today? I knew most of the stuff she had said. Well, maybe not the thing about the prototype failing, but that aside, nothing I'd heard was exactly groundbreaking.

"Don't you get it?" she asked, almost accusingly. "Come on! If it takes a goddess to keep the Dream Web stable, and it has always remained since the Corporation built it, that means...?"

"That there has been a goddess in the Web ever since it was built?" I suggested, based on pure logic. My mind didn't even consider this an option at first. The whole idea was absurd.

"Not one," Scoots corrected me. "Several!"

"Wait, what?" I almost jumped back. Did she say what I think she did? "That’s the gamer lore about the Web goddesses? That they’re prisoners of the Conglomerate, forced to spend all eternity in the Web? Come on, Scoots, you can't expect me to swallow this."

"You're already thinking it," she said with a confident smile. "Otherwise you would have laughed by now and become all sarcastic."

Curse the pegasi and their attention to detail! Celestia save me, I really was considering it. But if it were true, how did the Conglomerate catch them? It was not like they could walk up to a goddess and hit her on the head with a club or something. For that matter, where does one find a goddess? The Sun and the Moon were still rotating, so that meant Luna and Celestia were safe. Twilight I had seen on my way to school. That left Cadence, though maybe somepony would have heard if the Princess of Love had been missing for a few years.

"Tell me about the picture," I demanded, the Harpy in me taking center stage.

"No," Scoots shook her head.

"What?" I couldn't believe it. After everything, after bringing me here to her clubhouse, after showing me her Web shrine, she refused? What the buck had gotten into her?!

"I haven't named my price," she said, polishing her forehoof on her shoulder. "That's what you said, right? Name my price and you deliver, right?"

Sneaky. I had completely forgotten she was a gamer, and gamers played to win. Should’ve known it would come to this.

"Name it," I said, ears flopping. This round was hers and we both knew it.

"I want to join you and DD as you search for Arête this afternoon," she said plainly. "Promise me you'll make that happen and I'll tell you everything there is about the Web goddesses."

"The hay?! How do you even know we'll be going in the Web this afternoon?" I shouted. Unconsciously, I tried to remember if the case of my Web gear was showing from my saddlebag. "Besides, I told you Shady will be coming to my place after school. I can't just log on with him there!"

"You will, if you want my help." Scoots didn't back down. "It's a good deal and you know it. Usually, you'd be begging to get somepony with my reflexes. You and DD might be good with hacks and code, but when it comes to reflexes, you're like sheep in tar."

Damn it, Scoots! I hope you lose your ranking this championship!

"I'll take care of it," I sighed. Celestia, do you hate me that much?

Author's Notes:

Bolt - the most popular Web game in existence. The goal of the game originally was to allow participants to experience what it was like to become a Wonderbolt, although subsequent versions transformed it into a team battle game. Currently there are over 50,000 devoted players, including close to 300 professionals who earn a living by participating in Bolt tournaments.

4. Hacks and Dating

"Are you sure you don't want me to hang around?" Amethyst asked for the hundredth time. "You don't have to be ashamed; I can act cool."

I cringed. Saying it out loud just made her all that much more lame. To be honest, I had no idea whether she was cool or not. She definitely was popular, and she did help me out constantly. The problem was, she was my sister, and as everypony knew, having your big sister mingle with your friends was uncool.

"I could ask Derpy to come if you want?" she suggested hopefully. "You remember how you loved having her around?"

"Sis, I was a filly!" I groaned, as I tried to push her outside the house. It was bad enough she had set me up. Having her stay and try to 'influence' things was more than any sane pony could take. "Would you just go? I'll be fine! It's not like I'll be alone with him or anything. Scoots and Belle will be here as well," I lied.

She tried to come up with an argument, but before she could I gave her another shove, managing to get her halfway out. Thankfully, she got the hint. Of course, that didn't stop her from suggesting another 'adult' be nearby. I guess that was what a responsible sister was supposed to do. The only problem was the ponies she suggested — Ditzy, Pinkie Pie and Minuette — weren't exactly known for their responsible nature. If anything, I was more afraid that, if together, they might literally bring the house down.

The clock on the wall said seventeen to four. That gave me about half an hour to relax and gather my thoughts. Sweet Celestia, what was I going to do? I couldn't ask Shady to leave. Well, I could, but I definitely didn't want to. At the same time, I had made a promise to Scoots to log on. Argh! Why must I get everything I wanted at exactly the same moment?! I covered my face with my hooves.

A knock came from the door. That wasn't right. There were still fifteen minutes to the 'party'. Remaining perfectly still, I held my breath in the hope it was all in my imagination. Sadly it wasn't. Another knock followed, making me rush to the door. Shady Daze was early.

Pausing before a mirror, I quickly checked my mane, then took a deep breath, and magicked the door open.

"Well, you're a bit early," I began with my squeakiest voice. There I stopped. Somepony had come early, all right, but it sure wasn't Shady Daze.

"Hello, Dinky," Sweetie Belle said with the widest smile she could muster. For some reason that made my hair stand on end. "How are you?"

"Belle! We were at school together just an hour ago!" I shouted, panicking. A quick glance outside managed to calm me somewhat — there was no sign of Shady yet.

"Oh, don't worry." Belle trotted in, saddlebags and all. "Button is keeping him busy, so I get to have a few minutes with you."

"Are you crazy?!" I turned white. "Surely he'll suspect and then…” My voice trailed off as a sense of unease swept over me. “Wait!" To my horror I just realized something. "What exactly are you planning, Belle?"

The grin on her face told me everything I needed to know. As the front door closed I felt a feeling of doom envelop me.

"Mane," she said firmly.

"Mane?" I took a few steps back. This didn't sound good.

"Mane!" Several combs and brushes levitated out of her saddlebag, and moved towards me menacingly. Before I could move or voice a protest they darted forward, grabbing my mane like bare branches. The sensation petrified me. It was shameful to admit, but the last few years I hadn't really taken particular care of my mane. When I was a filly, Derpy would do that, as my foalsitter. Her mane was blond too, so she had a pretty good idea what to do.

"Ouch!" I shouted, as I felt one of the combs pull too much.

"Be still and it won't hurt!" Belle said strictly. "Honestly, Dinky, next time I'll just bring my sister and leave her to deal with you."

"Belle, I really don't need—" my sister and you forcing my personal life on me! "—my mane done. It's not like it's a date or anything!"

"Dinky, I don't know how to break it to you, but it so is," she said, making me feel as if a cart-load of rocks had landed on me. "Give me some credit, will you? I'm not a filly anymore. I don't mindlessly rush things. You're a friend and I really think you deserve this. Just — and I say this lovingly — don't mess it up!"

"Wha?" I barely managed to ask, before my mind went into overdrive.

Log to web in twenty-three minutes. Explain to DD why Scoots was there. Send a message to MaDster.

Meet Shady Daze in four minutes. Welcome him in. Act cool, but not cold. Wave some mane, no tail flicking, though. Find an excuse to leave him for a while, then go to room and log on.

Was I forgetting something? Probably, but at this point, it didn't matter. That's what happens if you try to cram both lives into one.

"All ready," Belle said triumphantly. I hadn't even noticed it was over. Staring blankly, I turned to look at her.

"Oh, don't worry; you'll do fine." She waved a hoof then went out of the room, her army of combs and brushes following behind her. Damn Belle and her confidence! She could have at least given me a few pointers.

Before I knew it, there was a new knock at the door. My reaction was instant, just like when I was in the Web. Hooves reached for the door and swung it open. Outside was a slightly startled Shady Daze, hoof still in the air, ready to knock again. I must have caught him by surprise in more ways than one, because I noticed his face flushed slightly.

"Hey," I grinned like an idiot. "How are you, Shady?" Celestia, take me! I had fantasised about this moment countless times. It was supposed to make a lasting impression. Instead, the real world made it look so lame...

"You changed your mane," he said with a slight smile, and walked in. On the inside, I was screaming in agony. Even if he hadn't been my crush, I hated appearing stupid in front of others. It was enough that my eyes were slightly weird. "I brought you some roses. I heard you liked those."

"Err, thanks, but I've already eaten." I did my best not to slam the door behind me. Really, Belle? You have to start blabbing out my food preferences? "Is there anything you'd like? I have some fresh muffins."

"Right, you used to bake those." He sat at the living room table. Well, now I could relax. He had just slipped up. I never baked those. Like most ponies, I got them from Sugarcube Corner. The fact that he didn't know meant that he was attempting to make small talk.

"Why, yes." I took advantage of the situation and placed a bowl of muffins in front of him. "Enjoy those. I'll just be a few minutes. I have to... freshen up a bit."

Not giving him a chance to respond, I rushed up the stairs and into my room. The door shut, I leaned against it breathing heavily. That could have gone a lot better. The silly thing was, nothing had actually happened! We had barely exchanged a few words. Sweet Celestia, we spent more time in school than just now!

"Think Web, think Web," I said out loud. This was no time for a panic attack. Not when I didn't know what to expect inside. Unpacking my Nightmare 5 gear, I carefully placed it over my head. It felt slightly uncomfortable — the crystal edges were a bit sharper than I was used to. Definitely lighter and more compact than my old gear, though. I could definitely get used to this.

"Here we go," I whispered, then took a deep breath and connected to the Web.

Three seconds of transition, and then the endless magenta landscape emerged all around me. I had chosen the Rosesand sector for our meeting place because it was of no particular interest to anypony. The Conglomerate used to have a full cluster of buildings here once, yet chose to move them for one reason or another. As a result, only endless reaches of red sand remained.

My new avatar felt weird. In general I preferred to use an earth pony model — so much simpler and more practical. Besides, it gave me something of a social boost. Having a unicorn as an avatar was pretty bad — only big names and celebrities did that. Currently, I didn't consider myself either.

Apart from its appearance, the avatar felt decent. DD had maxed out its storage with various protocols. She had left the viruses to me — that was one area in which I surpassed her.

Typing the invite message, I sent it to both DD and Scoots. As I did, I made a note to remember we were not in the real world. That meant no real life talk, as tempting as it was. Barely five seconds later, and two connection cones appeared — one blue and one gold. Leave it to Scoots to use her Bolt championship effects. Only grand champions were given the right to have their avatar effects appear gold — bragging rights that Scoots took full advantage of.

"Hey, Dink, I managed to come on time for once—" DD said the moment her avatar had fully formed.

"Well, was about time you—" Scootaloo said at the same time.

Aware of one another, they both stopped. It was that awkward moment when you were doing something and then realized you weren't alone — at least I assumed that to be the case. DD was in her usual Crystal Pony avatar, only this time wearing her Arête pendant. Scoots, though, had brought something I had never seen before. As far as I was aware, she had six avatars — four custom-built to give her an advantage in the specific game she was playing, a golden pegasus build for important Web events, and a 'Rainbow Clone' build for casual Web browsing. This must be her seventh — a sleek, deep purple Crystal Pegasus, modified so as to reflect her real life wing proportions. It was weird.

"Err, DD, we'll be having a guest this time," I said, breaking the silence. "You know Wings, right? She has agreed to come along and help us with... things and stuff. That's okay with you, right?"

"Sure." DD flashed a polite smile. Alarmingly, I didn't catch as much disapproval in her voice as I thought I would. "Heya, Wings. Sorry I couldn't make it yesterday. I guess Harpy told you what happened, huh?"

"No worries." Scoots waved a hoof casually. "Was just the group phase. Will send you VIP invites for the finals."

"Thanks. That would be nice."

I cringed. Small talk, especially stupid small talk, really peeved me off. This wasn't what I agreed to! And it certainly wasn't why I was keeping Shady alone in my living room downstairs.

"So, shall we get started, or what?" I asked in my usual fashion. This was the Web, after all, and here I was a lion. "DD, any ideas?"

"Sorry," she sighed. "I tried toying around with the code. It's too different. If it's encrypted, I have no idea how. Nothing I've seen can encrypt selectively. I also checked the sector we were in yesterday. It's been reconstructed as an entertainment hub, so we won't be able to get much from there. Nothing on the boards either. Weird thing is, there's no mention of the incident in the Conglomerate Eye. I checked the feed twice. Usually they brag to the moon about crashing hacker avatars."

"Well it's not like we did much to fight back," I snorted. Deep inside, I was still a bit upset how easy it had been for the ICE to get through my defenses.

"That's another thing. White ICE shouldn't be able to do that. I checked the specs and it didn't make sense. I also asked a friend of mine to check in the Conglomerate logs. Not one mention about ICE being in that sector."

"You know somepony in the Conglomerate?" Scootaloo gaped. To be honest I would be impressed as well, if I didn't already know who it was.

"Oh, I have many friends," DD laughed and waved her mane. It took me quite a lot of effort not to choke. 'Many friends' my hoof! I liked the way she waved her mane, though. Maybe I would try it out on Shady. Damn it! What was I thinking?!

"Any input from you, Wings?" I asked sharply. "Or did you just come for the sights?" The was a nasty thing to say, but Scoots had it coming. Most probably I'd have Tartarus to pay for this in the real world, but right now I felt it was worth it.

"As a matter of fact..." A message from her appeared in my scrollbox. It contained a location address somewhere at the edge of the snow sectors. Generally I avoided those. There was a reason they had that name.

"Are you bucking serious?" I had just done a data ping of the exact location. "That's a bucking ICE factory!"

"Relax," Scoots actually laughed at me, as if I were one of her gamer fans. "It's been inactive for months. We just go there, do a quick look-see and head back out again. Easy."

"There are no inactive ICE factories," I countered. "Besides, what's so important there?"

"That's where the Web grab was made," Scoots said smugly. How I hated when she did that! There was no argument I could make against us going there now. I'm going to get you for this, Scoots! Just you wait!

"What Web grab?" DD asked.

"Somepony didn't tell you, I see?" Scoots looked at me demonstratively. What was her game? There was no way I'd go about telling personal stuff like that. What's in one's Web shrine stays in one's Web shrine. Moments later I got a private message from her. Good thing I hadn't enabled my avatar's facial settings yet.

Don't mess this up for me! Say you have to get back to your date or something and log off!

This I didn't expect. Guess that explains my print in Scootaloo's Web shrine. I wasn't the reason it was placed there, DD was. Well, at least I wasn't torn off the poster. That counted as something, possibly.

Glancing at Scoots' avatar I saw she was still staring at me.

"Damn," I said in the most fake voice possible. "Guess I must get back to my date now. Sorry, DD. Wings will have to tell you about the Web grab while I'm gone."

"No worries, Harpy," DD chirped, completely missing the point again. "You go have fun."

"Right," Scoots added. "Just don't take toooo long."

How more obvious could one get? I logged off, removed my gear, then remained there staring at the wall. Was Scoots seriously making a move on DD? Those two hated each other in real life, like really, really hated each other. Sure, DD liked to hang out with the Boomdrops in the Web, and she knew who Scoots was, but she had mentioned several times she didn't like her outside the Web.

Anyway, I had my own problems. Tossing my gear to the floor, I rushed out of the room and down the stairs. Shady was still there, thank Celestia, the muffins in front of him untouched. Hearing me, he quickly grabbed one, taking a large bite.

"These are really good, you know," he said, mouth half full. I knew from experience that he was lying — you have to actually chew food to tell what it tastes like.

"Aha," I replied absentmindedly, my mind still trying to make sense of what was going on in the Web. "Let me get you something to drink." I headed towards the kitchen.

"No, you don't have to bother with..." he began, but I quickly cut him off. I really, really hated useless small talk, especially when I was thinking.

"Shady, it's okay, just chill." I opened the fridge and levitated a bottle of milk. No time to bother with glasses, I went back to the living room and sat down across him. The bottle gently landed next to the bowl of muffins.

"You know…” I bit off one of the rose petals on the table. As a typical gamer, Shady hadn't bothered to put the flowers he brought in water. Understandable, but it wouldn't hurt him to show some class now and again. "You almost messed up at ManeCon. If Archer hadn't been there to buff you, you would never have made the kill, and at your health you were one hit away from being respawned."

I levitated another few rose petals to my mouth. Despite myself, I was getting more and more curious what Scoots was up to. What if they started flirting? Or fighting? I remember DD messed up several avatars that tried to hit on her. One turned out to belong to some griffin hotshot. Last I remember, he quit the Web after the incident. Either that or he started using a new avatar.

Noticing the silence, I snapped back to reality. My glance moved from the wall, to Shady, to what was left of the roses on the table, then back to Shady. Holy Celestia! He was looking at me with a mixture of surprise and infatuation.

"What?" I asked meekly, shuffling my hooves as I tried to remember what the hay I had done to merit such a reaction.

"Nothing," he laughed. "I just never expected you to be like this. In school you weren't exactly noticeable. Quiet, but not too quiet. The absolute average pony, I guess." He paused to take another muffin. This time I saw him actually chew. "I didn't even know you liked Bolt."

"Oh." Realizing I was the focus of attention brought the Dinky part of me back to center stage. "I like watching the tournaments, just not playing the game itself. It's a bit—" boring as heck! "—challenging for me, being a unicorn and all."

"I can teach you," he offered, way too eagerly. "I’m fourteenth best, you know, and only an earth pony,” he said in an obvious effort to impress me. “Besides, Sweetie Belle is a unicorn and she holds the number seventeen spot. Soon to be fifteen, if this tournament goes well," he laughed again. "I really can't believe this. When she first suggested I give you a chance I didn't think anything would work out. You know how she gets when playing matchmaker, and..."

"Belle suggested you give me a chance?" I asked. Something inside me exploded — something I had no control over. Big mistake there, colt! And you were doing so well too. Now see me in full Harpy mode! "Give me a chance? What do I look like? Some rag in the mud you can pick up, in your benevolence, and throw away if you don't find it shiny enough? And don't you be blaming this on Belle! That filly has two careers, constantly helps ponies find their cutie marks, is there for her friends, no matter how useless they may appear, and finds time to maintain a steady relationship! What have you done? Taken a few photos for the school paper and joined Scoots' team. Well let me tell you, it wasn't on merit!"

I was absolutely fuming. There were few things in life that could make me explode like this, and Shady had just managed to trample through all of them.

"You know what?" I stood up. "Finish your muffin, heck, finish the whole bowl, then quietly get up and leave. And if hear that you're 'giving some other mare a chance', I'll get Scoots to kick you out of her team faster than you can say lag!"

No point in bothering to wait for a reaction. I stormed up the stairs and into my room again. I was furious. Furious and hurt. Did every stallion have to be a jerk?! Curse Shady! He should have remained a distant fancy I could never reach. At least then I would have continued to have dreams. Now...

"Buck it!" I stomped on the floor. "Buck it! Buck it! Buck it!"

This was why I hated real life! Things always found a way to get messed up. I might have the best day of my life and disappointment would still find a way to rear its ugly head and buck things up. I wasn't going to cry, though! I was Harpy now, and Harpy never cried! Harpy would get her act together, log on, and become the greatest hacker the Web would ever know!

Feeling numb inside, I grabbed my gear. Just as I was putting it on, though, the door of my room swung open.

"Damn it, Dinky!" Shady stormed in. "Yeah, I'm a jerk, I've always been! Tartarus take me, though, if I don't try to..." He suddenly stopped. I could see his glance slowly move from me to my gear, then to the rest of the room. Twicode manuals, gear parts, energy drink bottles... It wouldn't take a genius to figure out what was going on.

I swallowed. My worst day ever had just gotten worse — Shady had discovered my Web identity...

Author's Notes:

Twicode - the original Dream Web rules, upon which all current laws, code definitions and protocols are based. Developed by Princess Twilight Sparkle during the creation of the first Dream Web prototype. It is said there are seventeen categories of Twicode of various purpose and complexity.

Use of Twicode, as well as any non-Conglomerate approved code, may result in Web banning, fines or even incarceration.

5. Code Runs Deeper Than Feelings

"Who are you exactly, Dinky?" Shady asked.

In that instant, I felt both my lives shatter to pieces. What was I supposed to do? He had seen I was a Webber. Hay, he probably suspected I was a hacker. Nopony reads Twicode manuals for research purposes. I could see it now — my secrets revealed for the whole world to see. If I was very, very, very lucky, maybe the Conglomerate wouldn't bother charging me with anything. They would just ban me from entering the Web... for the rest of my life.

"Dinky?" he asked firmly.

"I'm Harpy," I sighed. No point in denying it now. Maybe I could blackmail him? Or offer something he wanted. I've made all sorts of deals in the Web, half the time with ponies I couldn't stand. None of them knew my real life identity, though.

"Harpy?" There was disbelief mixed with awe. "You’re Harpy?"

"Did I stutter?!" I shouted. Moving slowly to the the bed, I sat down. Right now nothing had any purpose anymore. Right now even Harpy wanted to cry. "Just state your demands and leave. Go ruin some other mare's life. You seem to be good at that."

He didn't move. Guess he was expecting Harpy to be more impressive in real life. To be honest, I was too.

"This was supposed to be way different," I went on. Since I'd lost everything I might as well go for broke. "You were supposed to be nice and understanding, the knight in shining armor that every filly dreams of. We were supposed to have a long, awkward afternoon together, ending in something slightly suggestive and a promise to do it again. Then, as you were walking away, I was to sigh secretly, imagine some nonsense, then log on and hack the hay out of an ICE factory."

"Well, you know what, Dinky?" He snorted. "You are one pathetic dreamer." He picked up my old headgear from the ground. "You are still Harpy, though. Hay, I have a print of you and DD in my room! I still can't believe it. Of all my friends I was the one who thought you couldn't possibly be a mare. Guess I even managed to get that wrong."

I looked up at him, a glint of anger returning to my eyes. Wasn't it enough he tore my guts out? Apparently not.

"Half the curses I know I've learned from you," he laughed. "And all this time Sweetie Belle drilled it into my ears to be careful not to say anything 'crude' to scare you and ruin the experience."

"Belle doesn't know," I said quietly. "And you did manage to say something that ruined the experience."

"Well, that's real life." He shrugged. "You'll still do it, though, right?"

I blinked. Several times. This was a joke. It had to be. He was probably feeding me a line, just to make me suffer more afterwards.

"You'll still log on and do what you were about to do, right?" he asked again.

"After everything you've made me experience, you’re wondering if I'll log on?" I stared in disbelief. "Seriously? That's all you can think of?"

"Code runs deeper than feelings, yo!" He did the worst FLT impression I had ever heard. Still, maybe he had a point? The Dinky part of me still hated him for what had happened downstairs, but the Harpy part had just started to like him. It still hurt like Tartarus, but at least I had one life to look forward to.

"Just do what you were going to do, and then send me a Web grab." He slowly turned around, then went into the corridor. I could hear him still muttering about me being Harpy every step he made. "Oh, one last thing." His head briefly popped back into view. "You really are beautiful when you actually bother to care about it. This mane style suits you."

Wait, what? I suddenly felt a small sun inside my chest. Maybe my Dinky side could forgive him too... eventually. I could almost feel my lips curve into a smile. Before it happened I hit myself in the face. I could always daydream later. The sound of the door slamming downstairs reminded me there was somewhere I was supposed to be.

"Please don't lag," I whispered as I put on my headgear. Upon entering the Web, the first thing I saw was DD and Scoots sitting side by side, laughing at something. ‘Awkward’ was the word that came to mind.

"Hey, Harpy, you're back." DD jumped to her hooves. At least she seemed happy to see me. "Wings just told me about some amazing stuff about Web deity lore. Did you know that it’s believed that there are eight goddesses in the Web?"

"I had no idea," I said, slowly glaring at Scoots. She just waved at me smugly behind DD's back. Way too smugly. Could it be something had happened while I was gone? Surely not! There was no way DD would let that happen!

"Anyway," I shook my head violently to get the rid of the thoughts I was having, "now that everypony knows everything, maybe we could finally get going and..."

"How did your date go?" DD interrupted.

"What?" This caught me completely unprepared. Damn it, DD! Couldn't you let me deal with one set of problems at a time? "Swell, thanks for asking.” I attempted the most grumpy voice possible. "It's not like somepony urged me to Web in right after school, when we could well have done it in the evening."

Blank stares. Celestia help me! Apparently DD's obliviousness was contagious.

"Let's just go," I sighed as I put in the Web coordinates.

Moving from one sector to another in the Web happened in one of two ways — physically going to the connecting nodes and passing through, similar to passing through a portal, or having the nav net protocols teleport the avatar to the appropriate location. In both cases a record of the avatar's ID was made and stored in the Conglomerate's travel data database. Of course there was another way — a clever little script that tricked the system into thinking the user was having connection issues and moving him to what it believed to be his avatar's last location. Since this happened a lot, and no one wanted the system to be cluttered with useless data, records of all such instances were purged every hour.

In the blink of an eye, the landscape around me changed. Large snow-covered mountains extended as far as the eye could see. Shivers passed through my body. Snow had a very different meaning in the Web, especially for hackers. For ponies like me, every single snowflake and ice crystal meant capture. When I looked at the endless icescape, I didn't see layers of fluffiness; I saw swarms of deadly, disgusting insects.

"Welcome to the ICE fields," Scootaloo said dramatically.

"Wings, you have never been here before," I grumbled. A stifled giggle told me that at least DD was amused. "No one calls them 'the ICE fields'. It's lame."

"I can make any phrase sound cool," she laughed. I didn't bother commenting on that.

"Where was the Web grab made?" I asked. Part of me was still upset that MaDster hadn't told me about this. True, he had many apprentices, in gaming, hacking and Web sculpting. Why had he chosen Scoots before me, though? Undoubtedly, I had potential. Several of the big names had said so. Hay, FLT had even left a comment mentioning me on the main Everfree forum.

"That one, right there." Scoots pointed. "He said there was a breach in the mountain that let him go in deeper. There she appeared."

A breach in the mountain. Glitches weren't that rare, but this was the very first time I had heard about a glitch in an ICE factory. Those things were built to be ultra-secure. Not even your typical ICE could penetrate inside, let alone anypony using the standard protocols.

"You sure about this?" I rubbed my chin by force of habit. "If you’re wrong, then we're not coming back from where we're going."

"Absolutely sure."

"Well then, thanks for all your help," I said, and started launching stealth protocols. Promise or no promise, I wasn't taking Scoots into an ICE factory, no matter what she said. "DD and I will take it from here. You’d best log out." She gave me a look, that even through her avatar was capable of melting stone. "Or stay here until we come back," I quickly added. "Your avatar just isn't equipped to handle ICE."

That was the way to do it — make it about the gear, not the pony. Scoots had no cause to be mad at me. Well, she did, but not in front of DD.

"Err, Harpy," DD started in a soft voice. "Actually, her avatar is the best there is."

"Twilight-made, baby!" Scoots grinned and tapped her chest with a hoof. "Plus DD gave me some cool protocols while you were gone."

"Is that what the kids call it nowadays?" I grumbled under my breath.

"What was that?" Scootaloo flapped her wings.

"Let's just get it over with."

Words could hardly express what I was feeling. Twilight-built avatar... TWILIGHT-built avatar, and I was with a crummy Nightmare 5 that wasn't even mine! Life just wasn't fair.

Reaching the base of the mountain was easy enough. The trick with ICE was that unless you triggered a response, it wouldn't do a thing no matter how close you were. A good hacker could fly through a swarm without fear. Entering the factory, though, was a different matter. What most ponies didn't know was that every mountain in any sector was in fact a factory — dormant or otherwise. All the dreaded ICE was created there, then shot out to swarm about in search of anything it identified as an intruder. Many unsuspecting users got their avatars purged merely for wanting to get a better view. A single hoof on a mountainside could be viewed as a potential threat.

Time to get to work. Three aether windows surrounded me. I sent out three data pings, then made a clone of myself and launched it forward. It's hooves gently touched the mountain surface, then started trotting towards the top.

"Anything on your end, DD?" I asked.

"Everything appears calm," she replied, aether windows surrounding her. "Looks like the factory really is cold."

"There are no inactive factories," I whispered under my breath.

"I know, but this one really seems to be," she said apologetically. "If there are any triggers, I certainly can't find them. Nothing when I do the standard stuff, and your clone seems to be safe as well. Only thing I could think of is to launch a nuke packet and see what happens."

Extreme, but possible. If nothing else, that would show us where we stood.

"Do it," I said, and braced myself.

The effect itself was anticlimactic — a magenta glow covered a small patch of cliff, only to quickly fade away. The terrain rebuilt itself faster than I could perceive even the smallest of breaches. That was not the important part, however. Gluing my eyes to the aether windows, I waited. Everything was green. No reaction from any of the ICE, no wandering snowflakes, not even a warning message. Could it be that this mountain was actually deactivated for good?

"Guess we can go." Scoots passed by eagerly, heading straight up. Instantly I grabbed her avatar's tail.

"Are you trying to get us disconnected?" I shouted with such strength that for a split second I saw her flinch. "That's why I didn't want you to come! You may have the best gear and reflexes, but when it comes to hacking, you’re worse than a foal! And unless you want to be the reason we fail this, you'll do whatever I say when I say it! Okay?"

It must have been incredibly difficult for her to accept. Seeing her turn to look me in the eye, I thought she would kick my avatar out of existence. Instead, she just pulled her tail free, then quietly flew behind me. This was as much as an 'okay' as I was likely to get.

The walk up was surprisingly uneventful. At times it was so calm it really freaked me out. DD must have felt the same way, since the number of aether screens around her had surged to over thirty. And behind us both, Scoots was walking calmly, head held high, as if she were queen of the hill!

"Any idea where this breach is supposed to be?" I asked after a while.

"Right there." Scootaloo pointed a short distance away. Less than a hundred meters by my estimates. Still no indication of trouble on my screen. I launched three pingers, but still nothing.

"DD?" I asked for confirmation. None followed. "DD?" I looked at her. She had stopped moving, staring motionless at a single aether window before her face. "Are you all right?"

"This just seems off," she said, vaguely aware I was addressing her. "The entire mountain seems to be made of contrasting sets of code. There’s the usual landscape code that makes up the mountain, but also some patches that are Conglomerate standard. It's like the mountain has been forming breaches and they’ve attempted to block them with their own code variant."

That was weird. Nothing was supposed to damage landscape constructs!

"How many patches are we talking about?" I asked.

"Well, I can't be sure..." DD hesitated. "Somewhere around three hundred, I think."

Three hundred? Holy Celestia! That meant the mountain had more holes than a Diamond Dog's lair! How come I had never read anything of the sort on the Everfree forums?

Suddenly all my windows turned red. The ICE had become active.

"No, no, no, no!" I launched every protection and stealth protocol I could, along with two more clones. The ICE swarms ignored them completely, instead choosing to move past. For several seconds I just stood there motionless, as if moving would incur the snowflake's wrath. Then it happened — a star of magnificent blue appeared in the sky above me. Quickly it grew, illuminating the magenta background like a pale cyan sun. And that wasn't the most amazing part of it all! Within the sphere, something else was visible, something I had never expected to see — the physical form of a Triumvir.

"Princess Luna," DD whispered in awe. Beside her, I swallowed. No way I wasn't getting a Web grab of this! Quickly I launched two camera eyes and set them on record.

Hardly had I done so, when the snowflakes shot upwards. Not moved, not flew, but shot like the confetti of a Pinkie cannon, blotting out the sky. This was surreal!

"That isn't normal, right?" Scootaloo asked. I hardly paid any attention. My eyes were fixed on Luna, as layer upon layer of ICE stuck to the sphere surrounding her. Terror mixed with excitement as I watched what was starting out to be the epic battle between a goddess and the world she helped create. In my mind, the outcome was obvious.

Give them Tartarus, Princess! I thought. For a moment it seemed that her eyes gave off an intense white glow, but from this distance I couldn't be sure. Beams of light pierced the shell of ICE attempting to imprison her, like a fork through marshmallows. I stood awestruck, barely capable of rational thought. I no longer had any idea if that was Twicode or actual alicorn magic. Moments later, an explosion of light filled the sky, passing through the air like a rainboom. Snowflakes evaporated in an instant, along with every aether window we had set up.

"So amazing," I said, my grin so large it would have dislocated the avatar's jaw if made visible. "Did you see that? Luna fried the ICE in an instant! And I'm talking all the ICE in the sector! Just look at..." my voice trailed off. Damn it all! I had jinxed it! Before my very eyes, a new swarm of ICE emerged from the mountains, but not any kind I had ever seen before.

"Is that red ICE?" Scoots voiced what was on my mind, as giant crimson snowflakes slowly floated towards the sky. "I've never heard of red ICE..."

"That's because it should never be used on users!" DD nearly screamed in panic. "We need to disconnect! Right now!"

This wasn't the first time I'd seen DD scared. Ever since our early days in the Web she had been constantly worried about one thing or other. In all that time, however, not once had she suggested we disconnect. Hay, just last night she had jumped in a patch of dream threads in the hopes of getting a single piece of data! I had no idea what these new snowflakes were, but they had her terrified.

"Quickly, grant me access to your avatars!" she shouted. Both Scoots and I looked at one another hesitantly. "Quickly!" she screamed.

That sure settled it. Instantly I sent her my code. Scoots took a few seconds longer, but followed suit.

"Disconnect override protocol," DD began, her voice shaking, "Phoenix Lite."

Phoenix Lite?!? Everything around me disappeared. I was spat out of the Web. No warning, no turning hourglass, not even a message that I had successfully disconnected. My entire gear had gone dead, the result of a cold reboot.

How in Tartarus did DD have Phoenix powers? I knew of them, of course. Everypony worth their hacks had heard the stories. Supposedly they were only available to Conglomerate VIPs. Supposedly they provided remote access to any avatar. I had had my doubts, but after seeing what DD had just pulled, I wasn't sure about anything anymore.

Patiently, I waited for my gear to reboot, then logged back in again. Rosesand sector. Apparently this was considered the last safe connect point. Checking briefly through the Web forums, I saw that five of the snow sectors had gone dark. Well, wasn't that nice? Not a mention of why, naturally. Just a casual 'gone dark'. How stupid did the Conglomerate think we were?! ICE factories don't just 'go dark'. That's the same as saying Princess Celestia just 'got ill'. It's a pretty huge deal, even without mentioning the Triumvir and the crimson ICE systems.

A new message appeared in my scrollbox. It was from DD.

Schoolyard 7pm. Bring Scootaloo.

"Of course," I said out loud. "Leave it to me to fix this mess."

In less than three hours Scoots was going to learn who DD really was, and there was no telling how she would react. They say code runs deeper than feelings… but in this case I wasn't so sure it did.

Author's Notes:

Web grab - a snapshot of the Web, taken from a specific source, most often the view of the avatar. These, along with created pictures, are said to compose 87% of all scroll messages in the Web. A large part of those are of a disturbing nature and not to be shown to minors.

6. Meet the Master

Getting to the schoolyard was a greater nightmare than I imagined. First, I had to deal with my annoying sister and her stupid questions about my 'date'. One rose stem on the floor, and I was already being grilled about whether or not I thought a gaming career could support a family. Sweet Celestia, my sister was talking as if Shady and I were about to get married!

It had taken me close to an hour to escape Amethyst, and about as much to drag Scootaloo out of her clubhouse. Initially, all had gone well — the standard questions about our experience, a few comments about Luna, and subtle bragging. One mention that we would meet DD in real life and Scoots had gone all crazy. At first, she had utterly refused to go. Minutes later, she had started freaking out about all sorts of irrelevant stuff. Finally, I had to suffer through the obligatory indecisiveness that accompanied the choice of accessories — shades, vest, cap, no shades, championship pin... I cringed just thinking about it. That had been a side of Scoots I had never seen, and I prayed to Celestia never to see again.

Now, here we were, waiting on the school's merry-go-round. The more I looked at Scoots, however, the more worried I got. Great Celestia, please let me be wrong about this!

"So you see each other often?" Scoots asked. "Not in the Web, I mean."

"Sort of." I did my best to be vague, but not too vague. "We rarely talk. Much simpler this way."

"Know what you mean," she sighed, making me feel even more nervous.

"I'll go check out back." I stood up. "Just in case."

Buck! Celestia strike me down! No way I was going through with this. Even with all the weirdness in the Web, there was no bucking way I would stay around for real life drama of this magnitude. They could yell at each other till dawn! Hay, they could kick each other’s teeth out for all I cared!

"Hey, fillies," a voice sounded behind us. Damn it! I was too late. "How's it going?"

Slowly, I moved to the side. In my mind, I could see it all crashing down... in slow motion.

"What are you doing here?" Scootaloo reacted as I expected she would. The look of scorn on her face was almost the same she had on Diamond's cute-ceañera.

"I called you here, 'Wings'." Diamond frowned. How I envied her ability to put on her real life mask when she wanted. "I thought Dink had told you." She looked at me, puzzled.

"I did," I squeaked timidly. Damn, my real life self again!

"You did no such thing!" Scootaloo jumped to her hooves, steam coming from her nostrils. "All you said was, we were supposed to meet—" She stopped abruptly, struck by the sudden realization. "Oh, no!" She took several steps back. "Heck, no!"

"Sorry, Scoots." A bit of DD showed through. "It really is me. I’m still surprised you never caught on. I use my actual name, after all."

"But I thought you were a stallion," Scoots said, ears flopped, words drenched in disappointment.

"What?!" Both Diamond Tiara and I gaped.

"I use a purplish-pink female Crystal Pony build avatar, call myself DiamonD, I behave so shy that half the time I’m asked whether I’m Fluttershy in real life… and you thought I was a stallion?" DD arched a brow. Meanwhile, I was doing my best not to burst into laughter. Poor Scoots. How wrong can a pony get?

"Well, you overdid it!" The pegasus kicked some dirt into the air. "You were always acting feminine and stuff, so I assumed..."

"That I was a colt?" Diamond was doing her best to suppress a chuckle. I wasn't even bothering. This was too good to miss. I almost wished I could capture and post it on the Everfree forums.

"I thought you were one of those sensitive types!" At those words, even DD couldn't hold her laughter. "And you kept coming to the tournaments and stuff, and... hey, it isn't funny!"

It kind of was, actually — at least for two of the ponies involved. Did this make me a horrible pony? Maybe just a bit. Quite a lot, rather. Looking back, this must have been going on for months, maybe even more. DD had started receiving personal tournament invites from Scoots, right after our teleport code reveal. That was one of the things that brought us our Web fame. The big names had taken it from there, but the ones who initially found the memo were me and DD. Apparently Scoots must have taken notice... and come to the horribly wrong conclusion. Poor, poor her.

"Scootaloo, the reason I acted like that was so I can hang around ponies more," Diamond Tiara said softly. "Things are a bit... complicated right now. If I want to have fun, I have to do it secretly in the Web. Sorry if I gave the wrong impression. I really enjoyed hanging out with you. And if you repeat a single word I said, I'll crush you!" She winked, still smiling, but it was pretty obvious she wasn't joking.

An awkward silence followed. We all just stood there, focusing aimlessly on pointless details around us — the names scribbled on the merry-go-round, the dirt on the ground, the torn rope of one of the swings.

"Where do we stand now?" I broke the silence tentatively. "Code runs deeper than feelings?"

"Maybe." Scootaloo continued digging a hole with her hoof. I didn't need to have pegasus perception to tell she wasn't taking it too well. "That thing with Luna was weird, though." She decided to change the subject. "Way weird. I knew that ICE was stupid, but to attack her? Something must be off. And what was that red stuff?" She looked at Diamond Tiara.

"And how come you have Phoenix powers?" I added. "Don't tell me your dad is Conglomerate?"

"Not mine," she sighed. "The gear I'm using. It isn't actually mine. I have, like, ten others, but this one was a gift."

No way! Was she actually saying what I think she was? Silver Spoon mentioned giving Diamond her first Web gear. If so, did that mean that Silver was Conglomerate? Buck it! I knew her family had some connections, but to be a Conglomerate VIP! The Web certainly had created a lot of secrets. Me, Diamond Tiara, now Silver Spoon — we all weren't what the real world thought us to be. I knew dozens more just like us, and the secrets didn't end there. Interesting, how much I could find out if I really started digging.

"The auto-disconnect, my limited access to Phoenix protocols, it's all the gear." She took a deep breath then sat on the merry-go-round. "I'm still good at my Web stuff. This just gives me an edge. And when I saw the red snowflakes, I knew the hay had hit the fan."

"Yeah, so what exactly are they?" Scootaloo sat beside her, though not as close as I had seen them be in the Web.

"Guess you can call it Super ICE. Originally, it was created to stop the Sombra virus. The strange thing is that it actually works. Sure, the snowflakes destroy whole sectors to the point they have to be rebuilt from scratch, but they actually purge the virus. Spooky thing is that nopony knows what’s in their code."

"Come on!" Scootaloo tapped her on the back with a wing. That wasn't good. I braced for all Tartarus to break loose. "Somepony must know."

Diamond Tiara flinched. Slowly her head turned towards Scoots. Celestia, I could see the conflict in her eyes — the buried desire to jump to the ground and give the Pegasus a hind hoof to the chin.

"Nopony up to VP level has a clue," she said extremely calmly, moving slightly towards Scootaloo. "They know how to launch it, but that's all. I'm not sure they can even change the the activation triggers, and believe me, I've looked into this."

"Then we stop here," I said. Both of them started at me, as if I had straw in my teeth. Buck it! I knew perfectly well what I was saying. This was a chance of a lifetime, I didn't want to trot away like some loser, but what other choice did we have? The worst part was that I had to convince them. Celestia, will I ever get a break?

"Red ICE, Web deities, Triumvirs," I started enumerating. "This is simply out of our league. If none of the big names have taken any action, what can we do? It's not like we’re better than them. Sure, we have potential, but they have tons of skill and experience, and source code hacks. We have..." I looked at them. "Two custom avatars and a loudmouth loser." Hay, I was feeling low. Can't believe I actually said that out loud.

"Dink," Diamond sighed. "You really are a doormat In the real world."

"Hay, DD! I don't know what to do!" Why did I feel so bitter all of a sudden? "We're just throwing straw at a dragon! What do you think is the best thing that could happen?"

"Dinkyyy!" A goofy shout interrupted me. Oh hay, no! Not now! This is the last thing I need!

Knowing I'd regret it, I looked behind me. The overly cheerful, ever eventful mailmare of Ponyville approached. Judging by the way she was mostly looking at me, and the huge smile on her face, I knew I was in for massive embarrassment.

"Hey, girls." Derpy landed a few steps away. "How are you? Enjoying life's mysteries?"

Well at least she didn't offer us muffins. Scoots and Diamond smiled politely. They had been witness to the things that tended to happen when Derpy was involved. The storm cloud that rained muffins was the most recent example. That had been a Derpy-Pinkie combined effort. The fillies loved it, of course, but then again foals always liked Derpy. The problem was, I was a senior now... along with the rest of my class.

"So how did the date go?" she asked, causing me to blush slightly. Not because of the date itself, rather from having my ex-foalsitter ask the question in public in front of my friends. "Amethyst told me how nervous you were. I also heard he brought you roses. Must have been nice, knowing how you loved chomping on those." She gave me a tight wing-hug.

"Ditzy!" I could feel my face turn red. Sis was so going to regret being a blabbermouth! "Lemme go! You're embarrassing me!" And I had just reverted to the speech patterns of a ten-year old. Yay me...

"Oh, aren't you the funniest." She released her grip just enough for me to escape. "Isn't that right, girls?" Diamond and Scoots looked back at her with plastic smiles. I could tell by the look in their eyes, they still weren’t sure whether they found this funny or terrifying. "Why, I remember taking care of this little muffin just yesterday. And now — look at her. A few more years and I'll be asking her to keep an eye on my little treasures."

"Ditzy! We are doing important stuff!" My ten year old self said stomping on the ground. "Can't you see we’re busy?!"

"I'm sure you are, muffin," she smiled, ruffling my mane with her wing, "but Ditzy didn't come just to ask you about your date. Actually, I have a priority letter for you."

A letter? This was a first. Since the start of the Web almost nopony used letters anymore. Well, that's a stretch. My generation didn't use them anymore. Packages - sure, I got those all the time. Letters, though, no.

Intrigued, I looked at the envelope Ditzy took from her saddlebag. It was white with red and yellow stripes on the outside. The words "Urgent" "By Hoof" and "EMERGENCY" were stamped on the top. Whoever sent this was definitely eager for me to receive it.

"That will be fifty-seven bits," the mailmare said cheerfully.

"But Diiitzy!" I stomped, sulking.

"I have it, Dink," Diamond said calmly, tossing a hundred-bit coin. Derpy grabbed it in mid air, then finally relinquished the letter.

Stupid Derpy, making me look bad in front of my friends. Making me pay for the stupid letter that... Damn it! Even in my mind I continued to act like a ten-year old! The price of having her as a foalsitter, I guess.

I ripped open the envelope and magically removed its contents: a single piece of paper folded in half. Not exactly what I was expecting, but still. Unfolding it, I froze. There were only five words there, but they hit me like a ton of bricks.

"Well, what does it say?" Scoots asked.

Extremely slowly, I folded the note, levitated it back to Derpy, then relaxed to the ground. Whoever coined the phrase 'rollercoaster day' sure wasn't kidding. It would have been nice if she had included a few phrases of warning to go along with it.

"It says," I mumbled. "It says 'We need to talk'. And it's signed by MaDster."

"MaDster wants to talk to us?" DD's eyes lit up. "He really wants to talk to us? Oh my goodness!" She started clapping her forehooves like a schoolfilly. Beside her Scootaloo's eyes had grown so wide, I actually thought they would fall off her face.

"Yes, fillies, she really wants to speak to you," Derpy said, making us stare at her in disbelief. "And we have to do it now."

This, I did not expect…

Author's Notes:

Phoenix Protocols - Conglomerate code, believed to provide backdoor access to all Web avatar functions. It is rumoured that every set of Web gear has weaknesses built in, which the Phoenix Protocols exploit.

Multiple Conglomerate organized investigations have failed to find any merit in those claims, labeling them another 'Web myth'.

7. The Promise

MaDster? The bucking MaDster was my foalsitter? I thought I knew the ins and outs of the Web. Hay, I spent more time there than in the real world. I could tell if a pony was a Weber by the way she behaved, the small almost unnoticeable tells that we all acquired after a while. Not in a thousand years would I have guessed that Derpy was the Web's greatest hacker. For one thing, I had never seen her near any Web equipment. Not to mention with her work schedule, and her family, she couldn't possibly find the time to devote to this activity.

Now, here I was sitting in her living room together with DD and Scoots, treating ourselves to freshly baked muffins, completely clueless as to what was going on.

"You really should enjoy those," Derpy smiled to Diamond, who was holding a muffin, as if it were a fragment of Celestia's sun. "They are for eating, you know."

"'ys," DD nodded eagerly, but still didn't dare bite in. I could picture her sneaking it away, then encasing it in crystal. Funny how, as a filly, she absolutely hated muffins. Actually, before today, I don’t think she liked Derpy either. It was always difficult to tell in the real world.

Scoots, apparently seemed to be taking it much better. Maybe because she had frequent interaction with two princesses, or maybe it was a pegasus thing.

"Now, I get it!" She said all of a sudden, making me jump in my seat. "MaDster! Master D! Quite simple, when you think about it!"

"Yeah," I grumbled. "Great work there, I-think-DD-is-a-colt." The murderous look that came my way left me perfectly satisfied. I knew I had hit the mark.

"I guess you are wondering why you are here?" Derpy asked pouring herself a cup of cocoa.

"Because of Arête?" DD chirped like a schoolfilly. It was almost as if I was looking at an older version of Apple Bloom or Sweetie Belle. Of course she would probably tear my tail off if I said that out loud.

"Right, DD," Derpy nodded, making Diamond Tiara beam with joy. "Arête — Mother Alicorn of Webers. That's what she was originally. Years later did the various groups start calling her differing names — Mother of Gamers, Mother of Hackers, Mother of Sculptors..."

I arched a brow.

"Well, some of them didn't catch on," Derpy chuckled to herself. "The important thing is, that she is very... err... important — more than you actually know."

"Because she maintains the Web?" DD asked eagerly. Did she just raise her hoof? Like at school? How starstruck could a pony get?! Hay, even I was calmer, and MaDster was my idol and mentor.

"Very good, DD!" Derpy patted her on the head with a wing. Suddenly I had the uncontrollable urge to shout 'teacher's pet'. "She is indeed the reason the Dream Web hasn't collapsed on itself, but that is only part of it. You see, the story goes back much farther than that. Before any of us were born, actually. You all remember the story of Nightmare Moon?"

That was something I hadn't heard in a while. Nowadays, nightmares were cool. Maybe because we didn't live in fear of them. When it came to the Web, every second item was Nightmare this and Nightmare that. Hay, my latest Web gear was a Nightmare 5! The original story, if I remember correctly, went something of the lines Princess Luna turning evil and being banished to the moon for a thousand years. Later she returned, set on bringing eternal night, but was cured by Princess Twilight and the Elements of Harmony. There were tons of books and movies on the subject. I made a mental note to watch some when I got a chance.

"The legend went that in the longest day of the thousandth year the stars would aid in Nightmare Moon's escape," the mailmare went on. "And, indeed, they did. A deal was struck — in return for their help, the Princess would use her power to bring four of the stars back to Equestria. Promises were also made for others to follow, once the eternal night began. Of course, we all know how things turned out."

Judging by the blank expressions beside me, I could relax that I wasn't the only stupid one in the room. I must have heard that story hundred times. Quite possibly I was even present when Nightmare Moon made her appearance. Right now, though, I couldn't recall a thing.

"The eternal night never came, and the stars remained in the sky," Derpy added helpfully. The smile never leaving her face. "What everypony forgets, though, is that four did descend to us — the same that freed Princess Luna."

No! I just couldn't take her seriously! I know what she was saying was important. More than important, actually! She had revealed her Web identity to us, she had explained a whole lot of things that we would never learn on our own, and still my conscious mind refused to accept it. By Celestia, this remained Derpy! The goofy pegasus that caused at least one calamity per month, the mare that had taken care of me ever since I could remember.

"Is anything wrong, muffin?" she asked, with her clumsy and confused expression. Seriously, MaDster, couldn't you act the part?! You were supposed to be a huge mean Minotaur who broke ponies in half!

"Nothing." I looked at the floor. "I'm sorry for not paying attention, Ditzy." Why can't I just say what I was thinking?!

"Oh, muffin," she sighed with a smile that made me feel uncomfortable... and filled the room with Scoots' and DD's snickers. "I was saying that before Nightmare Moon was transformed back to Princess Luna, she managed to bring four of the star ponies to Equestria."

"The Conglomerate has a fallen star pony?" I couldn't stop myself from asking. Instantly I covered my mouth, but it was too late. Scoots and DD were already giving me angry glances.

"Maybe more," Derpy nodded, sipping from her cocoa. "Are you sure you don't want anything to drink? I made it myself." We all shook our heads. "It's very difficult to say what the Conglomerate is doing. Actually that's a mystery even the Princesses can't figure out. It appeared out of nowhere, gathered a number of businesses, and succeeded where Twilight, Luna and Zecora failed. It remains a mystery how they managed to capture Arête, and how they force her to keep maintaining the Dream Web. All she has to do is stop and she will be free. She doesn't, however, and that is puzzling."

"Alright, why doesn't Princess Celestia do anything, then?" Scootaloo leaned forward. "She is a goddess and ruler of Equestria. The Conglomerate is just a bunch of ponies with lots of bits."

"And Griffins, and Zebras, and Diamond Dogs," Derpy smiled. Diamond Dogs? I never knew there were Diamond Dogs in the Conglomerate. Did that mean there were some in the Web as well? Now I had to go through my friends list and check if any of them showed Diamond Dog behaviour. Thanks, for putting the thought in my head, Derpy!

"Also, what would ponies think if the Princesses just took away something so many enjoy? The Conglomerate has officially given Luna, Twilight and Zecora ruler status. The Triumvirate title is not just for show, you know."

"But the ICE," Scoots pressed on. "We saw it attack Luna! Surely that would count for something?"

"Easily denied," Derpy sighed. "The Conglomerate doesn't determine targets, it merely defines what intrusive behaviour is. And with the Sombra virus, you'd be surprised how many are willing to put up with the ICE, if they think it offers some sort of protection. No, the only way we could find Arête is through other means."

Other means. It was starting to become clear now. Could it be that this is what the big names had been doing all along? I always wondered why they did as little damage as they did. Some of them, at least. Creeps like WingClipper did all sorts of nastiness, from Conglomerate cluster crashing to avatar theft. I tended to stay away from types like him — too violet, and way too chaotic to lead a conversation with. The clash between him and FLT, half an year back, had been all over the forums. There were even ponies betting on the outcome. MaDster wasn't like that. With her it was always about skill and achievement. Now I knew why.

"Why us, though?" I asked. "If you couldn't find the Mother Alicorn of Hackers, what could we do?"

"Oh?" Derpy looked at me conspiratorially.

"Look, I know we have potential and all, but still," a quick glance at Scoots and DD showed they shared my concerns.

"And how do my skills look when compared to a Triumvir?" The grey Pegasus mused.

"Well, if you put it that way," I started then it hit me. It wasn't about skills alone. It was about numbers. Beside me DD was probably thinking the same thing, because she started clapping her hooves.

"Multi Run," she said happily. "We're doing a Multi Run!"

Why did you have to say it so cheerfully, DD? I could feel my head hurt. Talk about being schooled in hacking by your goofy foalsitter. What had I been doing with my life these past years? If I couldn't see something as simple, I would never make it into the big leagues.

"Psst," Scoots nudged me. "What's a Multi Run?"

The question made me relax a little at least there was somepony in this room dumber than me. That still didn't make me feel much better. I continued to be an idiot!

"A Multi Run is a hack that relies on number rather than skill," I started. Across me Derpy beamed with pride. My foalsitter, my hacking mentor, one of my sister's closest friends, she had been preparing me for this for years. And if I say so myself, she had done an awesome job! "Instead of a few big names charging at key targets, dozens of lesser hackers go charging at specific targets at a given time, overloading the system. Since any defense has a finite number of resources, swarming it like this, before it is able to adapt, results in success, even if none of the attackers individually could manage on their own."

"Right, I knew that," Scootaloo grinned. I still envied her. She knew jack about hacking, and yet here she was taking part in the greatest thing of the Web. Some ponies had all the luck. Meanwhile I was left with an angry sister, an uncertain relationship, and more problems at school that I cared to think about. Not to mention I still didn't have my own gear.

"How many exactly will we take part in the run?" I asked.

"Didn't I tell you?" Derpy blinked, then put the cup of cocoa on the table. "Most of the 'big names' have about five disciples, and each Triumvir has about ten 'big names'. That makes a total of..."

"Wait, what?!" I jumped to my hooves. "The Triumvirs recruited you?!"

"Well, naturally," she looked at me, as if it were the most usual thing in the world. "Weren't you listening to me until now? How do you think all this started? When Princess Luna makes a promise, she keeps it."

Makes a promise? Well buck it all! Of course! The stars had set her free once, now she was going to free the stars...

Author's Notes:

The Starswirl Conglomerate - a corporation of different companies and individuals, united with the express goal of establishing, maintaining and developing the Dream Web and everything related to it. While the major stakeholders remain unknown, due to privacy laws, over two dozen companies are recognized as part of the Conglomerate proper.

8. Truths and Hesitation

My head was buzzing. Multi Run. I was helping organize a Web-wide Multi Run! Usually that would be good — great even. The only problem was I had never done anything remotely similar. The real life part of me had transformed me into a solo hacker, DD being the only exception I allowed myself to work with.

Covering my face with a pillow, I tried to think of other things. Some distraction, any distraction would be welcome! My mind glossed over recent memories — school, my crush, homework, my crush... Damn it! Even thinking about Shady couldn't get me to relax. Celestia, how did I get involved in this? It was everything I ever dreamed of, but it happened so fast that I couldn't be sure I wanted to go ahead or not.

"Celestia, take me!" I shouted into my pillow. For probably the only time in my life I wished I could return to being simple, boring, unnoticeable Dinky.

Buck it! I threw the pillow across the room. Staying in bed wasn't helping me any. I could potentially try logging on, arranging a meet with DD and discuss things with her. Then again, it might only make me more nervous.

"Dinky?" I heard someone say in front of my door. "Are you alright?"

"Everything's fine, Sis," I yelled, covering my eyes with a hoof. "Am just..."

Before I could finish the door creaked open. No hoof steps, though. I perked my ears to try to catch any sound.

"What's wrong, little Sis?" I heard Amethyst ask.

I sighed. As much as I needed to talk to somepony, I knew it couldn't be her. The less she knew about the Web, the better. Besides she couldn't understand if she wanted to.

"It's about your coltfriend, isn't it?" she asked.

"Huh?" My eyes popped wide open. "Wha?"

"It didn't go well, did it?" Amethyst shook her head. "I know you lied to me earlier."

What the hay, Sis? The date was a total disaster, but not in the way she was thinking. Well, maybe it wasn't a total disaster. Shady wasn't the prince I was fantasizing about, but there were good points to being with a bad colt. Damn it! There I went again! What was I thinking?!

"It's nothing," I said meekly. Just great. Now she managed to get me to worry about the Multi Run and Shady Daze. "He just was—" a total jerk with whom I am still infatuated"—different from what I expected." I turned to the side. "It's not him, though."

"Oh?"

"Never mind." I levitated a blanket over me. "It's not important."

Half of me hoped she would take the hint and leave. Feeling a hoof on my shoulder, however, made me feel somewhat better.

"You know I wasn't much older than you when I came to Ponyville," Amethyst started. This wasn't the first time she would bring up the past in an attempt to force feed me some moral. "I was a bit different back then — overconfident, trying to prove something to Equestria. I dropped out of school, used all my allowance money to buy a ticket and caught the first train out of Canterlot."

Whoa! My sister the rebel? That was difficult to imagine. Ever since I could remember she worked hard and partied harder.

"The first job I got in Ponyville, I got because I was annoying enough and refused to leave," she chuckled. "You can't imagine how bad I was. The bits I got, after damages were deduced, were so few I barely had enough to eat, let alone rent someplace."

"But mom and dad told me you were doing great," I turned around, eyes wide in amazement. "They showed me the letters. You had lots of friends, an 'important and responsible occupation' and all that."

"Sweety," she ruffled my mane, "did you really think that ponies couldn't lead two lives before the Dream Web was created? I lied my horn off in those letters. I was living on pocket change Lyra and Minuette would give me when they came to visit. I crashed so many times at Derpy's that her parents started considering me part of the family. Hay, I only got this house because I begged Mayor Mare for weeks. And even then I couldn't afford to pay her rent for the first seven months."

There was nothing for me to say. All this time I thought of Amethyst as an extreme achiever stuck with the most boring job there was, but also the greatest friends. When mom sent me to Ponyville to spend time with her it was the most magical experience I had.

"But you're good at what you do," I said. "More than good. A pony doesn't become leader of the animal team just like that."

"That's exactly what I'm getting at, Dinky," she smiled. "I am good now. Why do you think Derpy took care of you when you were younger? I couldn't even do that right. All I had were big dreams, a big mouth, and a few friends."

Big mouth, I thought. She definitely could say that again.

"You, on the other hoof, have everything going for you, but are scared to use it." For some reason I felt a brick of ice form in my stomach. "You have good looks, I know you are doing things in the Web I can't even imagine, even in school you could be top of your class. The only thing you don't do, is try."

The talk. I always hated this talk, especially when she was so close to the truth. Buck it, Sis! You think I don't know that?! That's the whole reason Harpy came into being — the side of me that could be what everypony wanted me to be, the side that was what I wanted me to be.

"I know well enough you have your problems," Amethyst looked me right in the eye. "I don't know if it's because of Shady Daze, or something else, but locking yourself in your room and shouting 'Celestia, take me' isn't going to fix things."

Damn it! I had to get her to leave! If she continued in this fashion, I was going to tell her, and I didn't want to. Nopony, least her, deserved to have the Conglomerate breathe down their neck.

"I understand, Sis," I closed my eyes and turned away. If I could manage tears I would, though that was a skill I lacked. "You're right. It is Shady," I lied. "And I'll fix it, but—" This is so cheesy! No way anypony will fall for this! "—I need to be alone for a while."

Maybe I should say I was being bullied at school? That could help, although then it might get DD in trouble. Or I could blame Snips? Suddenly I heard the sound of the door closing. Surely it couldn't be that easy. Quickly I opened my eyes and looked around. No trace of Amethyst. Wow! Seems like she bought it. Was that a good thing, though?

Quietly, I took my Web gear and placed it over my head. I was going to take action, but not in the way Amethyst thought. Using several protocols, I arranged to have a delivery made in the real world. For all concerned, School Loose was sending a rather expensive fruit salad as a gift. In truth it was message for a meeting place. My only concern was whether the pony I was sending it to would figure it out.

The order placed, I returned to the real world. There was only one thing left to do. Opening the window, I levitated myself outside. I had ten minutes to get to school.

Galloping in the dark was among my least favourite activities. In the Web, I could have my avatar suppress any physical pain. Here, I had to endure, and unlike Scoots, I wasn't particularly good at sports. By the time I reached the schoolyard, my lungs felt like they would explode. Buck, I really was a wreck! I definitely had to get myself into shape if I was to attempt a life in the real world.

The school was locked, but there were ways around that. A quick spell and door was open. Another, and the corridor floor started glowing in a soft green — enough so one doesn't bump into things, but not so bright as to attract attention from the outside.

Please, Celestia, help me get through this. In the Web this would be so much different. There I would have the upper hoof. Every fiber in my body screamed this to be a mistake. Too late now, though. I had already passed the point of no return.

Minutes passes in darkness, each slower than the last. Interesting, if I made a virus to block an avatar's senses, how would ponies react? Logically, they would try an emergency disconnect.

A cough filled the corridor behind me. Startled I jumped to my hooves. How come I hadn't heard anything until now?

"One step behind, as usual," Silver Spoon emerged from the far end of the corridor. Her features were barely visible in the dim light, but I could tell it was her. "You should have come, then sent the message 'School Loser'."

"Was worried you wouldn't figure it out," I tried to bluff some confidence in my words.

"Dinky, I didn't leave an important soirée to listen to your attempts at bravery," Silver said venomously.

"No, you didn't." It took all my will not to take a step back. "You came because you want to know if DD is in trouble." It was a wild guess, but the best thing I had. "I know you are Conglomerate."

The phrase made her pause. For a long moment she stood there motionless, then needlessly adjusted her glasses. Got you!

"What makes you so convinced?" she asked. The real question though was 'Did DD tell you?'

"Diamond used Phoenix powers," I said cautiously. "I know she isn't Conglomerate, and you did mention that you gave her your Web gear. There aren't that many places she could get that sort of code."

"Oh," Silver said. Not exactly the response I was expecting. "I should have checked what was in that thing before I gave it to her. Serves me right, I guess, for making such a stupid mistake."

On the outside she seemed composed, but I could sense by her voice she was boiling with anger. Having been called out as being a Conglomerate VIP had to hurt, especially coming from me. And still, I was so envious of the way she handled it. Me, I was ready to call it quits the moment Shady discovered my secret. Silver didn't seem to have any such intention.

"Is that all?" A hint of impatience vibrated through her words.

"She is in deep trouble," I said. With Silver I was best not beat around the bush. Clearly she couldn't stand me. "That's why I need to talk to you. Is there anything we should be worried about?"

At this very moment I so wished I could use even a fraction of my Web protocols. If I could tag Silver, or even inject code, the things I could learn... Hay, I might get info on the mythical ICE-blocker codes.

"Despite what you think, my family is not involved with the Web," she said sharply. "As future heiress of my mother's operations, I occasionally get toys I have no use for. My family deals with silver, nothing else." Walking a tad stiffer than usual, she passed by me, on her way to the exit. A few steps away, she paused. "I heard they are hiring big names. WingClipper has entered negotiations. So whatever you are doing do it fast."

"Right." I nodded. It was exactly like WingClipper to do anything for money. Knowing that the Corporation had started hiring grey hackers, though, told me all I needed to know.

"Take care of yourselves,” she added. “Too few ponies are spooked about the Luna situation, and they should be."

Hardly waiting for me to respond, Silver trotted on outside. I remained a little longer. The stakes were real. If the Conglomerate was preparing for open war with Princess Luna, there was no telling what else they might do. This was going to get messy.

I went outside. The sky was strange — blackish blue and completely covered in stars. It must have been years since I looked at. I had spent so many nights in the Web that I had grown accustomed to the magenta variant. The normal sky seemed so foreign somehow.

Buck it! I am too young to become sentimental! It's just a sky for hay's sake!

"Different, isn't it?" I heard a voice beside me. Instinctively, I jumped back, my horn flaring up.

"Easy there, muffin," the voice said, as my senses adjusted to the familiar form of Derpy. My mentor and former foalsitter was standing there calmly, as if nothing had happened. Buck it, MaDster! You almost gave me a heart attack!

"No need to twist a hoof." She approached. Even at this light I could see her goofy smile. "You'll miss out on a beautiful night, if you do." Derpy took out a muffin from her saddlebag and offered it to me. Some things never change.

"Thank you," The magic around my horn faded away. Quietly, I accepted the bread roll, and took a bite. "Rose petals?" I looked at the pegasus, as the sweet sensation hit my taste buds. I loved rose petal muffins! It had been years since I tasted one.

"Just because I'm no longer your foalsitter doesn't mean I don't watch out for you," she patted me on the head with her wing. "And you don't need to worry about a thing. He's very into you."

"Huh?" I looked at her puzzled, taking another bite of the muffin.

"Shady," Derpy said helpfully. "I've been tracking his Web activity. The last few days he's been doing quite a bit of searches regarding you. Both as Harpy and yourself."

"Oh?" I feigned ignorance. Of course I had the same idea, but just hadn't gotten round to doing it. I guess it was nice to know that Shady was interested.

"A lot of Web grabs too," she went on. "And quite the picture collection from your school trips to the lake."

"Derpy!" I felt that even the moonlight couldn't hide the blush on my face. "I didn't want to know that!" Damn it all! Right now, I couldn't figure out should I be happy or disappointed.

"Just joking, little muffin," she smiled in her typical childish way. Why do you enjoy playing with my emotions like this?! "There were no pictures. He still did a few searches on you. And bragged to a few friends he's got the 'rad-est marefriend in the Web'."

I narrowed an eye in disbelief. No way she was pulling the same prank on me twice.

"Of course, most thought he was talking about Scootaloo and told him to get a real life."

That last bit was funnier that I would have liked to admit. Try as I might to retain my mopey expression, the image of Shady hitting on Scoots forced a chuckle. He was so not her type.

"There," Derpy said happily placing a wing on my shoulder. "Life is much better when you smile."

That was probably the worst cliché I had ever heard. Coming from her, however, made it sound deep. At least now that I knew she was MaDster.

"Ditzy," I started to say, but she shushed me and pointed to the sky. Try as I might, however, I couldn't enjoy it. Looking at the stars, I kept thinking of Arête and the Conglomerate. No way they would let go of their golden egg easily. And even if we managed to free her with a Multi Run, then what?

"Ditzy," I ventured again. No reaction. "Why did you choose me? DD is much better in Web code, and she definitely can get more ponies to join. Hay, she is one of the Web's sweethearts. I am just a solo hacker."

"Hush, now," Derpy didn't move her eyes from the sky. "I thought it would help you, so I slowly guided you along the way. I only intervened once you got noticed. That you did on your own."

"And afterwards?" Memories of recent events passed through my mind. The logs I got about the collapsing sector — was that my doing or hers? Cold chills shot through my entire body. What if Harpy was a lie? What if I was Dinky all along, behind a make-believe mask, carefully created by Derpy in order to protect me?

"Do you know why Luna chose me to be her Dream Knight?" She asked.

Interesting question. I knew that Derpy was far better a flyer than ponies gave her credit for. I knew that she was one of five pegasi with a permit to handle storm clouds. Was any of that a reason, though? Slowly I shook my head.

"I have no idea," she laughed. "I found it fun at the time, so I agreed. Now I'm her Web General. As such, I can choose who does what in the Multi Run, so you are it," she booped my nose with her hoof. Great. I had somehow hoped more had gone into the decision than just that. On the other hoof, Scootaloo was so jealous I was chosen over her that it was worth it.

"Just one piece of advice," Derpy gave me a small box from her saddlebag. Sensing the faint sweet smell of sugared rose petals, I opened it. It was no secret that I had a taste for roses. Thus, my disappointment was all the greater, when I found the box to be completely empty.

Puzzled, I looked at Derpy.

"Think outside the box," she laughed, then flew off into the sky, leaving her saddlebag behind. It was full of rose petal muffins...

Author's Notes:

Web General - title given to one who has the skills and authority to act as a Triumvir's proxy. Currently, the only Web General is believed to be the notorious Web hacker going by the name MaDster. It is speculated that he serves Princess Luna in her Web activities, although there is still no proof on the matter.
The Conglomerate has offered a reward of 1,000,000 bits for any information relating to MaDster's real life identity.

9. Luna's Army

"Shady," I went to his desk. I could feel the entire classroom stare at me. Way to make it awkward, all! As if I wasn't nervous enough already! This was the first time I dared act so openly. Also I had put a teensy bit of effort into getting my mane done this morning. "Can I have a word with you outside for a moment?"

Shady said something in response, sadly my attention was focused elsewhere. A few desks away, Sweetie Belle was looking at me, her hooves in front of her mouth. I swear, I could see tears of joy forming on the edges of her eyes. Beside her, Scootaloo mockingly sent me an air kiss. Buck you too, Scoots! And don't think I have forgotten about the DD incident!. Most shocking of all, Apple Bloom made the unmistakable 'yes' hoof gesture. Really, Bloom? You too?

Trying my best to appear calm, I strolled my way out of the room. Apparently I must have overdone it, because I heard a wave of whispers behind me, along with several 'congrats, colt'. Focus on the task! Focus on the task! My pulse had already quickened to the point it was difficult to breathe. It would have been nice to get a few moments to get back to normal. Sadly, that never happened.

"Quite dominant this morning," Shady joked as he joined me in the corridor, causing a rush of blood towards my face. Damn it, Shady! Why couldn't you be a jerk today?

"I j-just..." I started stammering. Not now! Celestia, please not now! "You told me to tell you when something happened," I mustered all the Harpy that I could. His expression quickly changed, a faint fancolt sparkle in his eyes. Thank the stars!

"I knew it," he whispered. "You caused the sector going dark yesterday." I could see admiration streaming from him. This, I could get used to. "Celestia in a barn, you really..."

"Anyway," I quickly cut him off. "Bolt quarterfinals are tomorrow, right?"

"Uh-huh," he replied blankly. Probably wasn't registering a word I was saying.

"Hey!" I said sharply. "I need you to do something for me. I want you to set off a virus during the tournament."

"What?!" He blinked. At least that got his attention. "Are you crazy?!" He whispered looking around panicky. "I could get permabanned from Bolt for this! Last time somepony was caught with code enhancers they dropped off the list faster than an instant respawn. And you are talking launching a virus during the quarterfinals!"

"It's important," I looked at him with my best Dinky face. Doing so was cheating, I know, but if that got him to agree, so be it. "Web scale important," pausing I looked away. So far, so good. Give him a few moments to consider. Four... three... two... one... "It's not like you'll be the only one. I asked Scoots to lend a hoof. But if you are unsure, guess I could ask Belle."

"Hey, now, I didn't say I wasn't going to do it," he said defensively. Comparing colts to Belle had that effect. "Just that... How important is this exactly?"

"Very," the word shot off out of my mouth on its own accord. "For me personally as well." There was no need to add that, but I wasn't lying.

"Riiight," he said trying to look hesitant, but I could tell I had won. For that I would have to suffer through some theatrics. Stallions. Worse than foals sometimes. "You do know that we are checked for avatar enhancements before the game, right? Any suspicious code or modification and we won't even be let to the play sector."

How cute. Shady thinks he understands hacking. Well I better not bruise his ego too much.

"That's why you'll inject the virus before that," I smiled innocently. "I don't want to ruin the tournament, just infect the observer stands. And since it's a cron virus, it won't start till mid-game."

Shady opened his mouth to say something. Before he could I gently placed a hoof on his lips. Either he was going to say something and embarrass himself, or start a charming routine. Either way, that was something I could do without.

"Just do it, please," I said quietly, then turned around and walked down the corridor. My heart was still racing, and it was so damn difficult to resist the urge to do a tail flick. For a moment I thought I heard him utter a ‘wow’. I didn't turn around to look. At least this was over. One down, one to go. I took a deep breath. The second one was going to be more difficult.

Still trotting stiffly, I made my way to the mare's bathroom. Class was due in less than a minute, so it was supposed to be empty. Almost empty, that is.

The inside seemed dark and cold, almost like the last time I was here. I could feel the tension in the air, only this time it was of a different sort. Celestia give me strength. Both of the mares I was to meet were there, as I knew they would be. There was something off, though. Had they been fighting?

"Hey, Dink," DD quickly rushed towards me. "All ready for the big night?"

Behind her, Silver Spoon sighed. I still couldn't wrap my mind round this. This was way awkward — discussing a Multi Run in front of a Conglomerate VIP. I glanced multiple times towards the grey pony.

"What's wrong?" DD asked with unadulterated surprise. Taking the hint she looked behind her only to turn her head immediately back. "Pfff," she waved a hoof. "Silver's fine. It's not like she doesn't know. Although, somepony could be a bit more supportive."

Subconsciously, my body shivered. Being nearby during a Silver-Diamond encounter was never a good idea. So far I'd witnessed two of those, and they were two too many.

"It's all set up," I said hesitantly. "After the thing you'll be made official — direct line with MaDster and the rest... Are you sure it's alright talking about this? I mean..."

"You won't get in any trouble, Dinky," Silver groaned. That was nice to know, but not what I had in mind. Being a plus one in something you knew nothing about, and didn't even like, had to be painful. I knew from experience. "Just say what you have to say."

"Right." I swallowed. Both were avoiding eye contact with one another. "Well, I'll pick you at eight at the Golden Oak statue? MaDster said it might be better if we don't log on from our usual connection."

"Great!" DD danced excitedly. Way to excited for my taste. "Then we go and find Arête! I can't wait to see what she's like!"

"Me neither," I said far less enthusiastically. Even now the whole notion was bothering me. "Say, DD, do you think we should free her? I mean she did make a deal with Nightmare Moon and..." I stopped. Diamond was looking at me as if she were a filly who had just been told her birthday party was cancelled. I swear, a few more moments and she would start to cry right here and now. "Ignore me, I'm just a little tense," I lied.

"Hey, don't worry," she poked me in the side. Quite the quick rebound there. "You'll do it, you always do!"

"Yeah," I fashioned something similar to a smile. "I always do. You better get to class, DD. Might be suspicious if we both aren't there."

"Sure," she nodded. "And I'll be extra mean to you in your absence."

"Thanks," I managed to say as she trotted happily out of the bathroom. Cheerilee was going to be so pissed with me. I suppose, I could use Shady as an excuse, but that would only increase the feeling of guilt. And Amethyst was going to freak. My first night outside home unsupervised. When she finds out, and she always does, she'd probably gallop through Ponyville trying to find me, and when she does...

"Dinky," a sharp voice broke my train of thought. "Stay a moment longer, please."

Not good. Silver Spoon terrified me on a normal day. Her saying please made me feel like I was in for the slaughter.

"You're doing the Multi Run tonight, aren't you?" Her voice was lacking its usual edge. It almost seemed... concerned?

Carefully I nodded.

"The Conglomerate is expecting you," she said. "Teams of specialists have been called on overtime. Over a dozen hacker mercenaries have been contacted. Thankfully the mercs know something is up, so they boosted their prices so much that it would take a while to clear the expense with Budgeting. From what I know they are expecting your 'attack' to go down once night starts. If you can do any of your Dream magic before that, do it."

"Oh," I only managed to say, did she just share classified Conglomerate information? What the hay was going on? "It's about DD, isn't it?" I asked. "You are worried she'd get caught with your gear."

"Buck my gear!" she snapped at me. "They aren't playing anymore! This is all out war. I am not even involved with this Web stuff and I still know! This Arête thing has everypony going crazy. If they get any of you, prison might be your least concern. Hay, I got a message telling me not to log in the Web for the next few days. And all I use the thing is to send scroll messages!"

I didn't say anything.

"I tried to talk Diamond into skipping this one out, but she wouldn't listen." She hit the ground with her hoof. "The idiot she is, she doesn't think of consequences. Just like when we were fillies! Used to money, she thinks she is invincible, that whatever happens her father will rush in with a mountain of bits and fix everything. This time there might be no fixing!" Silver took off her glasses. I couldn't tell whether she was about to cry or not. On the outside she seemed as she always did — a statue of cold silver. What was on the inside, though?

"There's a new ICE being developed," Silver went on. "Blue ICE they are calling it. I have no idea who built it or where it came from. What I do know, is that it's capable of turning a pony into a cucumber."

Blue ICE? That's the second new type in two days. The Web definitely was getting more dangerous.

"You mean it freezes the avatar?" I suggested.

"No," Silver put her glasses back on. "It affects the pony wearing the gear. One of my idiot suitors was trying to impress me, so I took advantage. From what I made out it paralyzed a pony so they end up in an eternal state of sleep. He went on with some technical stuff, but that's the gist of it."

Dream locking? Damn it, Silver! Couldn't you know the basics at least?! There have been rumours of dream-locked ponies ever since the creation of the Web — unfortunate souls, whose consciousness was locked away so where, leaving their real life bodies in a vegetative state. It was every hacker's nightmare. Telling me that the Conglomerate was about to use these, made me tremble in my horseshoes.

"If you see anything blue, get DD and get the hay out of there." Silver took off her necklace, then removed a single orb and tossed it to me. "I'm giving you a Phoenix escape protocol," she said as I used a levitation spell to grab it. "It's factory set, so you should have no problem copying it to anything you wish. Just keep a single copy in the Web and all will be fine."

Whoa! I never expected to hold one of these. Hay, this would be useful! It was just one protocol, but what an advantage! This was the hay! There were hundreds who would sell their homes to get one of these for a day, and here I was holding one in my hooves!

"And, Dink—" she moved a step closer "—try not to get caught."

That was all she said — five simple words, yet they had an effect of an anvil to the head. For a moment it almost seemed like a Discordian trick. Silver hated my guts, that much I could tell. She always had, especially after the creation of the Web. And as nice it was to have her lend a helping hoof, I knew two things — that this was a fragile truce at best, and that now I owed her a favour.

The school bell sounded, marking the start of another school day missed. At least that also marked the end of my real life meetings. It was Web-only stuff from here. Waiting another few minutes for good measure I sneaked out of school. From there I went directly to Derpy's forward base of operations. It was agreed this was where I and DD would be during the Multi Run. The hacker part of me admired how cool and secure hideout was; the unicorn part only saw a little more than a hole in the ground. It wasn't even a cave, for Celestia's sake! To top it all, it was technically in the Everfree Forest.

Buck it, Dinky! You could spend one night outside! You did when you were a filly. Not to mention most of the time would be in the Web.

Suppressing the feeling of unease, I went inside. The smell of mould hit me like a brick. It was a single room with two bunks. A basket of muffins served as a kitchen and a bucket of water as a bathroom. Apparently I would have to do my natural needs in the forest. So this is what real life is for a big name? I cringed at the thought.

It was an enormous relief when my surroundings changed to the familiar landscape of the Dream Web. Now I could finally breathe easily.

Alright, time to get to work. First thing, I checked my scrollbox. Seventeen messages — three of them from Shady. That colt sure acted fast when he wanted to. I skimmed through them briefly, then placed them in the 'Read Later' folder. Eight were redirects from news sources I followed, mostly the Everfree forums. One glance was enough to see the discussions about the Sombra virus were still going in full strength. I deleted the messages without a second's thought. And finally there were the other six. By the stars!

Six positive replies! Six! That was more than half I had sent out! All huge names to. Hay, FLT had even bothered to write a few personal lines. This felt almost as incredible as getting to meet MaDster! How I wish DD wasn't at school. She was going to be so envious once this was over.

Quickly, I typed in location coordinates and sent them off. Following MaDster's advice, I had chosen the Barterzone. If the Web had a hub for questionably legal activity, this was it. Everyone who wanted something went there — scriptponies, hackers, even Conglomerates. As the saying went 'if it exists it could be bought there'. Very much like the Rainbow Falls Trader Exchange, one could find anything here. Only difference was, that — unlike the real world — rules didn't apply. Most of the things were either stolen or illegal, and if you got tricked there was nothing to be done about it.

"Hey, Harpy," I heard a yell the moment I appeared in the sector. "Interested in some ICE-breakers? Hot stuff! They could destroy a hundred flakes per minute!"

Street vendors. I used them quite a lot. Most knew me by name, and as such were always eager to sell me stuff — junk in most cases. As the inevitable law of the Web went — some ponies just never learned.

Ignoring the wave of offers, I made my way to Spider Forest. It was a small forest construct smack in the center of all the bustle. The moment I arrived I knew I was not the first. The scan upgrades MaDster had given me clearly displayed an aura bubble encasing part of the forest. So this was it — the big meet. Taking a deep breath I walked through.

The inside was way different to from what I expected. There was nothing flashy or special about it. Actually there was nothing at all - as if all code constructs had been deleted, leaving an empty sphere.

"Hello, Dinky," the unmistakable avatar of FLT greeted me — custom Pegasus Build whose colour constantly shifted. "My, you certainly have grown in the Web."

The compliment was nice, but I felt uncomfortable being addressed by my real name.

"Don't worry," FLT giggled. "I've known for months. You and DD make quite the combo. So how does it feel? I remember how excited I was during my first run. MaDster kept a close eye, of course, but I expect you are familiar with all that."

"MaDster was your mentor?" I couldn't keep my surprise.

"Well, if course. Did you think the name was a coincidence?" While FLT laughed again, I thought back to what Derpy had said. 'Luna's Web General'. Buck it! Why didn't I see this earlier! Luna's bucking general! No wonder they called her the Master!

"Anyway, are you ready for this?" FLT's tone suddenly changed, her real life persona replaced by her Web equivalent.

Slowly I nodded.

"Then let's get started." For a moment the aether bubble surrounding us flickered, then expanded in every direction. I watched in amazement as a pocket Web zone formed around us. There was no mistaking it, FLT was using source code.

Login cones started popping everywhere. Celestia there were dozens of them! By the time all avatars had formed, I could count over fifty hackers — from rising stars to some of the biggest names in the Web. Celestia, what had you done to me?

"So, Harpy," FLT began loudly, "what does MaDster want of Luna's Army?"

Buck it, Derpy! You didn't say anything about this!

Author's Notes:

Luna's Army - Confudential The largest organized hacker collective, believed to exist in the Web. Currently there are 67 confirmed members on record. When facing, deal with extreme caution and always contact your direct supervisor.

10. Multi Run

Half past eight. The second lap of the Bolt quarterfinals had just started. The news feeds described it as the greatest clash in Web history. If I had a say, I'd dub it 'boredom boring boredly'. What did ponies see in that game? It was outright stupid! A bunch of pegasi flying about like flies, trying to slice each other's avatars with hoof blades. Seriously, it took three updates for it to get the offensive magic system right. Now wonder Sweetie Belle was a top player — she was the only one who could use it properly!

"Oh my gosh! Scoots really is on fire tonight!" DD clapped her hooves happily beside me. For some strange reason she and Scootaloo had remained friends in the Web, despite the recent real life experience. Why, I had no idea.

"Did you just see that?!" She jumped to her hooves, along with half the crowd in the stands. "Scoots sliced Gruffian in half!" She screamed in my face. "She sliced him in half!"

Even through the avatar my gaze must have been deathly, for DD quickly stopped her fanfilly screaming and sat back down.

"Shady is doing quite well, too." She attempted to change the subject. "A bit tense, but maybe because he knows you are watching him?"

I wish! Though, maybe? Anyway, I had enough. We could probably stay a while longer. The cron virus was set to go at nine. Potentially the game might be over by then. Knowing Scoots, that's what she was trying to do. So egoistical, that filly! How I envied her.

"Let's go," I grumbled, standing from my seat.

"But this is the best part," DD pleaded. "Can't we stay a bit more? We're in the VIP section, even."

Celestia, preserve me. I so much wanted to say something snarky. It was enough that I was dragged to this stupid tournament — and in the VIP section to boot! The foals might find this cool, but not me. I hated everything about Bolt. Even watching Belle and Scoots couldn't change that. Hay, even Shady couldn't!

"Come along, DD," I went towards the stand exit. "You can drool watching the finals." If there even are finals after this.

DD let out a sigh that would make Harshwhinny feel guilty. Of course, I was used to her antics. We weren't going to stay here and that was final. Walking through the doorway, we were transported to the shopping part of the sector. That's another thing I hated. Why waste money on junk when you could make your own twice as good using a simple dream sculpting kit? Some ponies had more bits than brains.

"Everything ok?" DD asked as she joined me. "You seem a bit off."

"You worry too much," I lied. In truth I was more than a bit off. The Dinky part of me wanted to log off and gallop screaming to Amethyst or Derpy. "Are you all set?"

"Uh-huh," she tilted her head. I couldn't be sure whether she was answering my question, or being skeptical about my answer to hers.

"Let's go." I transported out of the sector.

The plan we had agreed upon was straight forward. No complex plan, no back doors or inside ponies, just a brute force cascade of attacks. Our only chance was to overload the system, and for that we were going to need to cause as much chaos as possible. Then we would wait for an opening and head for the inactive ICE factory. According to MaDster, that was where Arête was being kept. Luna's Army would then proceed to drill a hole in the landscape-construct and free her. It sounded so neat in theory, and that's exactly what worried me. Unlike the real world, nothing was neat in the Web.

I checked my scrollbox. No new messages. To be expected — no hacker worth his code would send messages before a run. Superstition aside, it was careless and could only result in complications.

Beside me, DD had already opened five aether windows. I could only recognize half of the code there. MaDster must have given her quite a boost in protocols. And in the meantime all I got was a bucking T-shirt. That and the stress of being MaDster's proxy.

"And you—" I asked, trying to appear casual, "—not nervous?"

"This is the most exciting day of my life!" DD clapped her forehooves. "We're on the first wave to free the Mother Alicorn of Hackers!"

Way to get overexcited. We weren't the first wave. Hay, we barely were part of the first wave. Everypony else was a big name. FLT herself would be leading the charge. The only reason I was there was because I was MaDster's protege. Naturally I would feel out of place. Not DD, though. Looking at her, one would think this was the most normal thing in the world. Damn her calm behaviour!

"Just, please don't freak out when FLT and the rest show up," I said, my back to her. "I don't want you embarrassing me like at MaDster's."

"I promise I'll behave," she was quick to assure me. What was worse was that I knew she meant it. Hay, I sounded just like my sister.

The next ten minutes passed in semi-silence. DD would ask a question every now and then, and I would promptly ignore her. It was a small miracle neither of us got tired. It all had to do with nerves, I guess. She liked talking when she got nervous, while I shut myself in. I barely noticed the beeping sound in my ear. The spy protocols I had set up had caught mention of the virus outbreak in the gaming sector. Already there was panic among several boards.

Yes! I smiled. It had been weeks since I wanted to try out my newest creation — a virus that mimicked the Sombra virus. Of course my variant was largely harmless. Even the most basic of scans would reveal that there was nothing to be afraid of. The panic, however, would attract plenty of attention, not to mention a significant amount of Conglomerate operatives. The media's involvement alone would have them providing stupid explanations for hours.

"Nice trick," a voice beside me caused me to jump. It was FLT. How in Tartarus had she managed to get here without triggering any of my warnings? Instinctively I turned towards DD to shout at her for not warning me, but I soon changed my mind. The way she was staring at FLT, I was expecting her to ask for a signature. Really, DD? You couldn't stop yourself from embarrassing me at least today?

"Where is MaDster?" I asked, trying to cover up DD's behaviour.

"Oh, you know MaDster," FLT waved a hoof dismissively. Actually, when it came to the Web I didn't know a bucking thing about my mentor. "For the time being we must get ready. Our window of opportunity won't be long."

"I've set up spy eyes in a few sectors," I began. A wall of aether Windows appearing above us quickly made me stop. So this was the difference in our skills. I swallowed uncomfortably. FLT had managed to hijack the visual feed of over fifty sources. Hay, some of them were from hacker avatars. Quickly, I checked to make sure my own was secure.

"Are you ready, DD?" FLT asked. To my great surprise Diamond didn't faint. "If we get our chance, we'll be hitting that factory hard. Remember — skill cuts deeper than fiction."

A typical FLTism. Before I could make a witty remark several of the aether windows started glowing red. No question what that meant — the Multi Run had started. My eyes darted from place to place as I tried to keep up with events. Hackers across dozens of sectors attacked every know Conglomerate cluster in existence. By Celestia — it was magnificent. How they passed through firewalls as if they were paper. Even rising stars, such as myself, were raising Tartarus. It was absolutely pathetic how Conglomerate operatives attempted to protect their nodes. Fancy tech and vast numbers were no match to a little hacker ingenuity. Beside me, DD chuckled as avatars fell to the ground as flies.

"They are playing with the weight protocols," she added gleefully. "And those idiots haven't locked their settings."

"Hardly," FLT said, her voice dead serious. "They want us to win. The moment a third of a node's defenses are compromised ICE is sent to the location."

"Isn't that what we want?" I asked cautiously. Something told me this wasn't the result FLT was hoping for. What was she seeing that I wasn't? I knew the Conglomerate was expecting our attack. We all did. Their behaviour seemed pretty standard — when everything else fails, send the ICE.

"It's starting." FLT pointed at the screens. At first I didn't catch it, but in a few moments it became clear as day. Thousands upon thousands of particles started emerging from every mountain throughout the Web. My scrollbox filled with automatic messages informing me of the same. The ICE had been launched, and it was far more than I ever had imagined.

"Will they be alright?" DD asked, as the white swarms viciously sped towards our members.

"Twilight's Scholars will see that they are." As usual no explanation given as to whowhat the buck a 'Twilight’s Scholar' was. I could guess it was a pony recruited by Twilight Sparkle, but a bit additional information wouldn't have hurt. "Come, let's go." FLT sent us a new set of Web coordinates.

"Wait!" I felt my blood run cold. "Weren't we supposed to wait for the ICE to clear before we..."

"Silly Harpy," FLT laughed forcing my avatar to transport. "If we wait that long, we might as well give up."

No prep talk, no encouragement, no warning. A blink of the eye and we were above the ICE factories... half a mile above them! Every instinct in my body screamed for me to log out. The change was just too sudden, even for the Web. Only the sensation of FLT's wing on my forehead prevented me from doing so. Celestia, have mercy! my stomach was in knots. I really, really, really hated flying. And still, a small spark of insanity in me was absolutely enjoying this.

"We have less than a minute," FLT said, as we dove down towards. Swarms of white snowflakes passed by us. I could feel the brush against my avatar. It was insane! "The moment we touch the ground, the ICE will target us. Launch everything you have before that."

"This is so cool!" DD shouted. That filly really did have no fear. Once this was over, I was going to shout my head off at her. Right now, however, my mind was too dazzled to even care. I did a quick refresh of my spy protocols. Two aether screens formed in front of my face, displaying what was going on in the other sectors. The major Conglomerate clusters had already managed to get rid of the attackers. This was to be expected. Even the best couldn't survive an encounter with hostile ICE for long. The normal sectors were still in play — the ICE there was having a hard time identifying who was a target and who a standard user. That wasn't going to last for long, though. FLT wasn't kidding when she said we had a minute tops. Interesting enough, there were a few instances of snowflakes just amassing for no reason whatsoever. There were no valid targets, as far as I could tell. Maybe this was work of Twilight's Scholars, whoever they were?

"Way to mess things up, idiot! I heard in my ear. If I wasn't so good, your crap would have crashed the tournament before we'd won.

Scoots? I saw her and the rest of the team emerge in the sky a short distance away. All five of them were there, along with a dozen others I had never seen before.

"Are you crazy?!" I shouted. Suddenly, I felt as if a hedgehog was running around in my stomach. "Get out of here! You’re a living target! If the ICE trashes your avatar..."

"Mother Alicorn of Gamers, yo! I heard her laugh. Besides, Twilight said it would be fine. You just don't mess up your part.

Great. As if I wasn't under enough pressure. I looked back at my aether screens. Of the entire Luna's Army only nineteen were left, most already in our sector. The rest had either logged off, or had their avatars deleted by the ICE. I held all my viruses at the ready. If the ICE turned hostile, things were going to go down pretty fast.

"What's our target reference?" I heard DD ask. Seems like she shared my concerns.

"MaDster's Web grab location," came the answer. "Arête appeared there for a reason. Our best chance would be to... Oh, aether sparks! Stick close to me! The ICE has gone hostile."

An aether bubble wrapped around us, as scores of white snowflakes shot our way. What the bucking buck?! We were supposed to have a minute. There was no logic in this. There still were more than enough targets in the Web, besides, we hadn't done any illegal activity that should trigger a response.

"ICE has us as assigned targets, a voice blasted in my ear. I couldn't tell who it was. "I'm going through the list now, but I think it's got most of us.

"Everyone who’s tagged, launch your stuff and scram!" FLT shouted. "We need time, so keep the ICE away from us. Everypony else, get to the factory. We need to crack that thing open before things get worse."

We are so dead Some proxy I turned out to be. If FLT wasn't here, the run would already be over. Actually, it still might be. The longest time I had survived when attacked by ICE was seven seconds. Not nearly enough to get anything done. I could only hope that DD and the rest would have enough time to do what they needed.

Packets fell upon the mountain like rain — nukes, disrupters, derezzers and custom protocols I'd never seen before. Most barely hit the mark. From this distance the avatars could only hope for the best, as they spewed clouds of viruses to counteract the ICE. All temporary measures, but enough to help them break away from the swarms targeting them. Buck it! That's why it's always good to have a pegasus avatar! Or at least something with wings!

"I'll throw you out of the bubble," FLT said, as a smaller aether sphere emerged around us in an attempt to stop the invading snowflakes. "I doubt you're on the list, so you should be safe. Remember to save your code for when it counts!"

Before I could voice one of the dozens of questions that crossed my mind, DD and I were literally kicked out of the aether bubbles. For a few seconds I watched in disbelief, as FLT flew off, taking the ICE swarm with her. Buck, this felt weird. The feeling quickly fled, as reality took hold.

"D, levitate!" DD screamed beside me. Not a moment too soon either. My clumsy attempt of a spell, barely managed to cushion the worst of the fall, leaving me shaking on the ground. I could literally feel the pain jolt through my body. Good thing I had an avatar.

"Are you alright? Please tell me you are alright!" DD's voice buzzed through the ringing in my ears. Almost drunkenly I pushed her aside and attempted a step forward. Celestia, was I shaking hard.

"D-do your thing, DD," I struggled achieve a semblance of stability. "I'll be a decoy."

DD didn't seem too convinced, but a quick shout on my part made her get to work. I felt bad for doing that, but at this stage I really needed some space. Think Web. Think Web. In the Web I was invincible. Here I could do anything.

The aether windows were still floating in front of me, anchored to my avatar. It was pretty useless looking at them now; anypony who was part of the Multi Run was in the sector, or locked out in the real world. Win or fail, it was all going to be decided here. Quickly, I reset my windows to focus on events nearby. What was left of Luna's Army was trying to keep the ICE swarms occupied, but it was a losing battle. Even with the help of Scoots and the gamers, there wasn't much that could be done. Although not targeted, none of them had any experience using Web protocols and viruses properly. At best they were somewhere between a minor annoyance and an annoying distraction.

"Better look good for your fans, DD," I forced a laugh. "Who knows when you'll have another chance to bust into an ICE factory."

I was expecting a chuckle, a groan or even a snort. When I head neither I turned around. DD was standing there completely motionless, as if she were frozen. On the ground, less than a step away, a bright magenta glow sprang through a crack in the mountain surface.

"You have to be bucking kidding me," the words scraped my mouth. Could it be? Was that actually Arête? It was as if time suddenly stopped. Forgetting about the ICE, the run, and everything else, I went next to DD.

"She touched me," my friend whispered, staring at her glowing forehoof. "The Mother Alicorn of Hackers actually touched me! I saw her through the breach. Just for a moment I saw..."

A loud boom filled the air, nearly knocking me to the ground. What, by Celestia?! I looked at the sky. Three glowing orbs had appeared. Like triple suns they shone, drawing the swarms of ICE towards them. No bucking way! Did this mean what I thought it did? Three orbs — one grey, one purple, one light blue. I had seen Web grabs of this before. Hay, I even had pictures stuck on my Web shrine back home! The Triumvirs. All three bucking Triumvirs had appeared. I could hardly make them out from this distance, but still they were there!

"I'll take care of things from here, muffins," a soft voice sounded in my ear. You just move slightly back.

I could almost laugh. Of course it would be MaDster. Typically appears out of nowhere, like in real life, then does the craziest thing imaginable. And of course, who would MaDster bring, but the entire Triumvirate! Even from this distance I could see the crazy pegasus dive down from the sky. Come to think of it, this was the first time I saw Derpy in avatar. It was a custom, grey, Male Pegasus build, of course, of the type that wouldn't be given a second glance.

Suddenly, warning messages covered my aether screens. The ground do beneath my hooves started glowing a venomous blue. This definitely wasn't good! Seeing DD still gazing at her hoof, I rushed towards her, pushing us both out of the zone of the glow. Silver Spoon wasn't kidding when she said DD couldn't take care of herself when it came to facing danger.

"Don't you have any self preservation skills?" I shouted at her. "Arête blessed you, I get it, but don't you ever do something that would get you hurt!" I was shouting at her, but also at myself. Where were my self preservation skills? Years in the Web and I still acts like a little filly, as of this was a game without consequence. Sure, I always feared getting caught, but I never honestly believed I would. Even when things were bad, I believed, in the back of my mind, that everything would be sorted out somehow.

Getting back up, I offered a hoof to DD. Buck! Even through her avatar I could I tell she was crying. Her head was slightly tilted and her lip was trembling slightly. Damn it, I felt so rotten.

"Hey," I helped her up. "It's okay. Things are fine." Celestia, I am really bad in lying. I sounded like the heroine in a soap opera. "Just keep it together for a little longer. You don't want Arête and your fans to think you're anything less than perfect, right?"

Hesitantly, she nodded. That was one pony calmed down. Now how the buck was I going to calm my own nerves? Everything around was going to Tartarus. Extremely slowly, I turned around.

"Buck it all!" I swallowed. The entire mountain was drilled with so many holes that it could well be a pin cushion. And that was not the most shocking. Deep inside the bowels of the ICE factory, I could see her — Arête, the Star Pony, the Alicorn of Hackers, the Web goddess, and every other name used to describe her. As waves of magenta light passed over me, I found I could hardly breath. She was real! She was bucking real, buried inside a...

Suddenly I froze. You have to be bucking kidding me!

Author's Notes:

FLTism - humourous phrase coined by the popular Web hacker FLT. Although most of the phrases are deprived of ,ranging, they have become quite popular among gamers and other Webers.

11. Princess Alicorn of Hackers

I liked to think that I had seen some weird things in my life — Discord's brief second reign, Luna's dream fight against the Tantabus, and that's not even including the strangeness of the Web. All that paled in comparison to what I was seeing now. The mere thought what somepony was capable of was making me sick!

Was the Conglomerate insane? To have a living alicorn, wrap her in dream strands, and then bury her in an ICE factory! No wonder she hadn't managed to break free. If there was one thing close to indestructible in the Web, that was it — strands of pure source code — made to withstand anything, even their creators.

A series of beeps brought me back to reality. Damn it! I was so caught in the moment that I had completely forgotten what was what. The Multi Run was still going on, and our window of opportunity was closing fast.

I looked up in the sky. The air was still thick with ICE. For the most part it was targeting the Triumvirs, who were melting snow swarms like a raging dragon in winter. That didn't have any effect on the constant flow emerging from the mountains. The factories must be running on overdrive.

"Everypony, marked or not, head for the Mother," I head MaDster’s command. "Source code only.'

There goes my chance to shine. They were right, though. My silly little code packets and protocols were useless. I guess DD's were too, although I had no idea what MaDster had given her. My participation, from this point on, was view only.

MaDster led the charge. Ignoring the snowflakes attempting to latch on to her avatar, she steadily continued towards the mountain breach. Several others did the same. I saw FLT swoop down, her avatar constantly shifting colour between cyan and yellow. Her protective aether bubbles were completely gone. Hopefully, at this point they wouldn't matter. As long as she could free Arête, the run would be successful, and...

Without warning, a new swarm of ICE shot up from within the ICE factory. Piercing through the mountain, it hit FLT, derezzing her avatar into nothingness. A dozen voices yelled out in my ears. The voice channel was going crazy. I would have joined in too if DD hadn't pulled me back.

"Damnit, Dink!" she said, giving me the most pathetic excuse of a slap I had felt. "Don't you dare save me only to get yourself nuked!" Touché. I always had a weakness for flashy stuff in the Web. I Definitely was making a note to kick the habit once all this was over. Still, it was hardly my fault things were so awesome in a terrifying, scary sort of way. Hay, this was a story for the history books!

"That's source code, you idiot!" DD continued, though she was still too far from her real life persona for me to take her seriously. "Did you see what it did to FLT?!"

I didn't respond. Of course I'd seen! That was not what worried me. It was the nature of the ICE that was a concern. It reminded me too much of the rogue ICE that had crashed me a few days ago.

"Don't let that ICE touch you!" I yelled in the voice channel. "It ignores defenses, decoys and cloaks! Use viruses!"

Sweet Celestia, no! As I spoke, I watched the new ICE swarm split apart, destroying any avatar it touched. Half the gamers, as well as several hackers, just had their Web gear rendered useless. I bet they were screaming their heads off in the real world right now. Sort of what I had done, when it had gotten me.

"Everypony continue towards Arête!" I heard Derpy say in-channel. So much better than me. Not a hint of worry in her voice. "Form a cone. The outer layers are to protect the inner. If you get ICEd, try to remain online for as long as possible!"

A blinding flash of blue light swept through the zone. So the Triumvirs were taking an active part as well. No longer mere ICE magnets, they were locking horns with the Conglomerate. That was outright scary. The forums would explode, not to mention the real world media.

When my vision was restored, all the ICE was gone. I looked at the sky — the Triumvirs were still there, just as were what was left from the gamers and Luna's Army. MaDster was leading of course. She probably knew as well as me what was about to happen. By my estimates, the funnel was twenty seconds from reaching the ICE factory — not enough by far. But maybe there was another way.

"DD," I said, quickly grabbing her forehoof. "Ready for something crazy?"

"Wha?—" she managed to ask as I jumped pulling us both down the hole in front of me. There was no doubt she would have said yes, given a bit more time. Also, it wasn't like we were risking much. Both of us had Phoenix escape protocols. At the first sign of red ICE, I'd get us out of here faster than lag.

"You just get ready to dig through dream strands again." I held tight to DD. Only now it hit me that I had no bucking clue what I was doing. Was I seriously thinking we could break Arête free from her web? As we were falling, I glanced in the Web goddess' direction. The dream strands had her almost cocooned. It would be creepy if it wasn't so fascinating.

As if sensing us, Arête shifted. It was nearly impossible to tell from this distance, but I think she looked at me. That would be so cool if it were true.

"Hey, DD," I said, as Arête shone in bright magenta. "I think your goddess is looking at—"

Everything around me went black. No more magenta alicorn, no more ICE factory, no more DD even. Buck it! Did I just get ejected? Immediately I tried to take off my Web gear. My hooves grabbed the head of my avatar.

What the hay?! This didn't seem like real life. Semi-panicking, I checked if my Web functionality was still here. Messages were still present, along with my standard enhancements, protocols, viruses... It was just the sensory areas I had problems with. Oh, and I couldn't establish a connection to anypony.

"Hello, Harpy," a voice said. Literally a blink of the eye later, Arête was floating in front of me, two feet in front of me. By Celestia, I could feel the power emanating from her — divine and beautiful in a terrifying way. Part of me wished I could look at least a fraction as inspiring.

"Err, hello Goddess?" I whispered. Seriously, how does one address such a being? She was the Celestia of the Web, for goodness sake!

"You're an idiot." Her eyes flashed an incandescent blue. Wait, what? That's not how a goddess is supposed to talk! "When you jumped down this buck hole, what was the best you thought would happen?"

Don't say a word, Dinky! Don't even make a sound. I really didn't think that far ahead. Actually I had been so caught in the moment, that it was the adrenalin talking.

"You know what I am, right?" She didn't seem pleased at all.

"The Princess Alicorn of Hackers?" I blabbered before I could stop myself. Idiot! Now what had I done?! "Star Pony!" I quickly corrected myself. "You're a Star Pony. MaDster told me about the promise Princess Luna made and..."

"Luna," Arête sighed. "That crazy filly and her delusions of grandeur. Now she thinks she can free me from this place. She could be so foalish sometimes."

Well, this was uncomfortable. I didn't even know how to react. Having an immortal princess being addressed as a 'crazy filly' was definitely a first. Just how ancient was Arête? As old as Celestia? Older even?

"You have no idea of what's going on, do you?" she sighed.

"Not really." Usually I would argue, but in this case honesty was the best policy. I did think I knew what was going on, but now I had no bucking idea.

"You have heard the rumours, right? That I can see and hear everything in the Web?" Her horn flashed magenta for a moment. Rows of giant aether windows appeared all around us. "It's sort of true. I can see everything, just not all at once. And I do keep the Web from collapsing." She smirked. "Do you know what else I do?"

I shook my head.

"ICE."

"Ice?" I asked unsure what she meant.

"ICE," she repeated. A giant crimson snowflake appeared between us. "ICE cream, you scream. Did you really not figure it out yet? Buck it, Harpy! You were supposed to be one of the smart ones. I never was held in an ICE factory, I am the ICE factory. The good stuff, not that colorless shit."

She was making the ICE? She?! This was insane!

"The mountain is just a prison that keeps me locked in. It could have been a lake, wouldn't have made a bucking difference." There, she did it again! I couldn't help but cringe. She must have seen my reaction, for she suddenly stopped talking and moved a bit closer.

"Are you uncomfortable hearing me swear?" she asked slowly. I honestly had no idea if she was amused or furious.

Hesitantly, I nodded.

"What did you expect? I've been in the Web ever since its creation," she floated slightly away. "’Sees and hears everything’, remember? Not like you should mind."

Merciful Celestia, blast me to the moon! Suddenly I felt like going deep in the Everfree Forest and never coming back. There were things I had done in the Web I didn't want anypony to know about. Arête probably had seen them. She had probably seen every secret of every pony, griffin or other creature in the Web. All those basket cases who had posted the Conglomerate was watching everything had it right all along!

"Maybe this would calm you down?" Arête asked, and before my eyes changed to Shady. Oh, buck, no! I screamed on the inside. "No? Something more familiar then?" She transformed to DD's avatar briefly, then almost immediately to my old one.

"It's fine, Goddess," I said meekly. While being in her presence, I felt like my real life self.

"Whatever," she reverted to normal.

"So what happens now, Goddess?" I shifted uneasily.

"Literally nothing." The aether windows displayed images of the ICE factory. There was me and DD frozen mid fall, MaDster leading a cone of avatars towards the Arête, the Triumvirs surrounded by their aether bubbles, even the Web goddess herself, prisoner to the dream strands.

"You and DD keep on falling for another ten seconds, after which I'll see to it you are ejected safely out of the Web. MaDster and the rest, despite their best efforts, only manage to make it to the opening before the crimson ICE activates and kicks them the buck out. Luna tries to lead the charge on her own, again, and this time manages to actually get within wing's reach of me. We don't get to chat, though. The ICE manages to push her out. Twilight and Zecora disconnect, seeing that there is no point continuing the run."

Could she estimate all that? If so, that was depressing. And I thought I felt trapped in the real world...

"All in all, a good attempt," Arête said frighteningly calm. "Well planned out, a lot of effort put in, nearly successful. Of course after this security will be doubled, and I'll be moved to another prison, maybe a lake this time, and everything would start from scratch."

"All this has happened before?" I blinked.

"Kiddo, you have no idea," there was a hint of regret in her voice. MaDster said she had been brought to Equestria at Nightmare's Moon return. Had she been held captive all that time?

"So..." I began. I felt I had to say something, anything. But what could an idiot like me tell a goddess? "Err... Why did you hack my avatar?" Great going, Dinky. Way to make everything about you. "I mean there must be loads of cooler ponies in the Web." And way to mess up the save. Maybe I should just shut up.

"You were here," she stated flatly. "Starswirl blocks most stuff I try. When a breach opens I get a bit of talk time, then they bucking close it. I've talked to MaDster a few times, she's nice. So is WingClipper, though she acts like a jerk."

WingClipper had spoken to Arête? Wait! WingClipper was a mare?! There was no way Arête could be wrong, but I had spoken to him on four occasions and each time he had made it abundantly clear he was a stallion. I had even managed to hack into his settings and see the make of his Web gear: a Firefly 2 Elite, exclusive for male unicorns.

"Listen, the ICE will auto-activate soon," Arête interrupted my train of thought. "Do me a favour and tell Luna to stop. It's touching and all, but she's becoming obsessed with this. Also each attempt bucks things up for me with Starswirl."

Great. I was to deliver a message from one goddess to another. And the message wasn't good news. Isn't life grand?

"I'll eject you safely before the ICE gets you." Arête disappeared in the void. "And say 'hi' to DD. She earned it."

Wait! She was going to eject me? Holy buck! For some reason Arête could identify Conglomerate code.

"Wait, I..." Before I could finish I was falling again. DD was gripping me tight, trembling like a terrified bunny. Buck it! One second. I literally needed one second. Now I had ten till the end of the run — the unsuccessful Multi Run that had burned over fifty elite Webers.

"You were right, DD!" I shouted. Nine seconds. "I am an idiot!"

"What?" I felt her stop trembling.

From the corner of my eye I could see red snowflakes slowly rising up in the air. Eight seconds.

"The biggest bucking idiot in the Web!" Seven seconds. "Remote disconnect override protocol: Phoenix Lite."

DD's avatar disappeared. Messing with another's avatar was somewhat of a taboo in the Web, but under the circumstances she would understand. Hopefully. She would be mad as heck for a while, but I doubted she'd do anything drastic.

Six seconds.

The crimson ICE was stirring quite violently below. It was obvious that Arête was managing to keep it in check. Soon, though, even she would be unable to do that, and it would swarm up, deleting any code on contact. Quite possibly the entire sector would have to be rebuilt.

Five seconds.

I disabled my Phoenix protocol. Silver Spoon had told me that having two active copies at a time would be bad, so I was going to bend the rules a bit.

Four seconds.

I transferred the code in one of my virus packets. Only script ponies did that. The resulting virus would be as elegant as a swine in mud, and unoptimized as heck, but I wasn't aiming for style or efficiency. The only key factor was speed.

Three seconds.

Again, I glanced at Arête. She was literally just hanging there, looking at me with her emotionless expression and creepy glowing eyes. Should I go on with this? What if she wasn't what she seemed? Also there was a chance MaDster could get it right...

Two seconds.

"Buck it all!" I shouted and launched the Phoenix virus. "I hope you're bucking worth it, Arête!"

One second.

Well, that was it. No logging out on my own now. Either Arête would eject me back to real life, or I would have the rather unpleasant experience of getting my avatar deleted... again. If things went badly, the Conglomerate might also get enough data to identify me in real life, which meant pretty much everything I feared. At least DD was safe. And I had managed to keep Sis from getting involved. Sis... I couldn't begin to imagine what she was going through. Having me skip school then vanish had never happened before. Most likely it never would again.

Zero.

I braced myself. A pool of giant red snowflakes swarmed beneath me. Within seconds I would crash into them and into Dream Web oblivion. DD was definitely going to be pissed.

The impact never came. For no reason gravity stopped having an effect on me, leaving me floating a hoof's length from the ICE. Whoa! Only once before had I seen anyone mess with Web physics, and never at such a large scale. Some serious permissions were involved here. I watched in disbelief as the crimson snowflakes lost their redness.

"Arête," I whispered. "Is this you?"

As if reacting to my voice, the ICE swarm burst in all directions surrounding me in a vibrant magenta.

"Thanks, Dinky," a soft voice echoed all around. Seconds later the magenta glow became incandescent...

Author's Notes:

ICE - Intrusion Countermeasure Entities. The organic defense of the Web, created by the Conglomerate to eliminate any potential threats, chiefly hackers and data capers. There are three types of ICE - white, pearl and crystal.
Rumours of Red or Crimson ICE are to be treated as Web myths.

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...

Author's Notes:

Arête - alicorn deity of the Web. Previously kept inorisoned by a group of unscrupulous individuals of the Starswirl Conglomerate, who wished to further their personal gains. Freed in a joint operation and given the status of Princess by Princess Celestia.