Chapter One: Initalization
Chapter 1: Initialization
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Pain… almost intolerable pain. All focusing on the top of her head. Had she been struck with something? She couldn’t tell. Her head pounded, trying to sort through her tangled mess of thoughts as she struggled to regain her focus. She calmly opened her eyes, however they did little to help. She could only make out blurs of colors, mostly monotone greys.
These were all symptoms Rainbow Dash experienced as she regained consciousness. She observed she was lying on the floor, and took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and focused her thoughts.
She didn’t know where she was, or how she got here.
While that did little to help her current situation, she was able to refocus her scrambled thoughts, and her vision began to clear, forming recognizable shapes again. She was looking at a granite ceiling, but there was a large hole in it, several pipes jutting out from the sides.
Dash groaned softly and pushed herself into a sitting position. She looked over to a wall, ignoring the other objects in the room, and rested against it, rubbing her head, trying to relieve herself from the sharp pain still assaulting her senses.
She tried to recall how she had even ended up on the floor, but her memories just wouldn’t come to her. When she tried to think about what had happened just five minutes ago, she was met with just a blank space inside her memories, unable to recall anything specifically.
She immediately came to the conclusion that she was experiencing some kind of memory loss, but that only added to the rather uncomfortable feeling building in her mind … something akin to fear. It was a feeling she didn’t enjoy at all.
She looked down at herself, expecting something much worse, but she still gasped, her reflex forcing her against the wall with more force. This definitely wasn’t right, but it was there, directly in front of her, or rather, covering her entire body.
She moved her hand over the shiny texture on her body. She knew exactly what it was, latex. During her research into the Wonderbolts, she came across the information on their suits, which were made of spandex. Comparisons were made between spandex and latex and their usage in flight suits. She had worn the Wonderbolt suits, but never latex. Still, she could tell, this was latex.
She took a breath, and took another look at what she was wearing. It seemed that she was wearing a latex bodysuit, completely black. It started at her neck and moved down all the way to her legs and feet. Aside from the bodysuit, she could also see that she was wearing black latex gloves which reached up to her elbows, and black latex heeled boots which reached up to just under her knees.
High heels… great, I can’t stand in high heels! What the hell is up with this fetishy getup? Why all the latex? She thought to herself, finally focusing enough to ask coherent questions. She stretched, trying to wake up her muscles and stand up. Dash grumbled, feeling how the suit constricted her movements more so than a normal Wonderbolt flight suit.
There was another thing she noticed, however, something very odd. Knowing her own personality well enough, she recognized she was acting a lot calmer than how she would normally act in this situation. She knew herself, brash and most of the time not thinking things completely through, but here she was, looking herself over and, aside from the fear of not knowing how she got here, feeling rather calm.
“Strange.” She muttered to herself.
Dash blinked and made an attempt to stand up, electing to focus on investigating where she was. She hoped that her boots wouldn’t impair her ability to walk, seeing as she had never worn heels of any kind before.
However, unlike the obvious result she expected, she found she could stand in them no problem, as if she had been wearing them for quite some time now. She had taken a look for a way to take the boots off, but she had found no zipper on either of them, further invigorating Dash’s well-placed unease in the situation.
She began to walk around the room, her breathing rate increasing as the reality of the situation began to dawn on her. She had no idea where she was, she trapped in a latex suit, and with no memory about anything that might have transpired to get her here. Several alarm bells were going off in her head, but once again she was acting way calmer than what she would expect of herself.
As she walked around examining the room from every angle, she suddenly felt a circular thing under her boot and slipped over it. In less than a second, she was lying on the ground.
“Damnit it, Dash.” She cursed herself for not looking where she was going.
Muttering some more curses under her breath, she sat up and immediately noticed the broken pipes next to her. Turning her gaze upwards revealed that they had fallen down from that hole in the ceiling. She looked around, and noticed something else among the chunks if granite and pipes. On the floor was a broken pair of chrome headphones, each with an antenna attached to the top. Dash picked up the pieces, noticing they were snapped in half along the band that would connect them over a pony’s head. She looked up again, staring at the whole in the wall.
If I had been wearing these… she thought, beginning to put the pieces together.
Perhaps the pipes had landed on her head, knocked her out, and gave her this memory loss? It seemed to be a fairly logical answer, but of course, she couldn’t be absolutely sure.
She stood up again, this time evading the pipes, and looked along the back wall of the room, desperately searching for a way out. Her pegasi senses had quickly activated her fight or flight response and right now flight sounded like quite the nice option.
She could see various shelves placed along the back wall of the room, holding what seemed to be more suits identical to the one she wore, each with a pair of gloves and boots next to them. Perhaps this was some kind of storage room for… for… she couldn’t remember the word she was searching for. Outfits… suits… uniforms? Yes, uniforms, there it was. These were uniforms, but uniforms for what kind of job?
Looking at the uniforms forced Rainbow Dash into a further elevated state of anxiety. She felt something was off about the uniforms, as if she shouldn’t be wearing one. She had to get this suit off. She didn’t know why, but she knew she had to.
She grabbed the latex on her chest and began to pull as hard as she could. Despite Dash’s impressive strength, the latex refused to budge, seemingly stuck to her fur.
“Get off. Get off. C’mon! Get off!” She shouted, but her forceful motions only served to put her off balance and almost place her back on the floor. She let go, knowing it was probably no use. She would have to get someone else to help her remove the suit.
Rainbow’s ears twitched at the sound of pistons moving behind her and a quick look over her shoulder revealed that an unseen mechanical door into the room was unlocking.
How did I not see that? Rainbow asked herself.
For some weird reason, she knew that she didn’t want to be seen. She looked for some kind of hiding space, and ran into the corner, behind some emptied wooden crates. She noticed that her tail was visible from behind the crates and almost yelped, grabbing it and trying to keep herself still.
She peeked between the gaps of the boxes and almost gasped at what she saw.
No, that can’t be…
Her vantage point revealed that it was Vinyl, her DJ friend, who entered the door, but she looked different… very different. While she knew that Vinyl didn’t mind wearing latex from time to time, she was now actually wearing the same kind of uniform as Dash herself.
What the hell is going on here? First me? Now Vinyl?
Ever since Dash awoke, she had felt something was wrong here, but Vinyl… she could have never imagined that, not even in her wildest dreams. She looked at her own hand, noticing that it was shaking, an uncontrollable outward sign of her fear and nervousness, the calm starting to finally flow out of her now. Vinyl… what happened to you?
Vinyl’s movements were stiff, calculated, each step the same as the other, her arms still at her sides and her back rigid with her face staring straight ahead. It was, what Dash could easily call robotic. Perhaps the most shocking aspect of it all was the look on Vinyl’s face, or the severe lack of one.
It was completely blank, stoic, with no readable emotion visible. Her mouth closed and unmoving, her eyes completely white and blank. Her ears were covered by two chrome headphones, the same set Dash had found near the pipes. However, the pair on Vinyl’s head gave Dash an uneasy feeling, more so than the rest of what had transpired so far.
Somehow, the outgoing friend she knew, the one she had shared many nights with until they were both drunk and nuzzling Octavia; well, that pony didn’t seem there anymore, almost as if she had been replaced by somepony else.
Dash held back a flow of tears, holding the sound of silence over her. Was it the fear that did it? That made her cry? Was it the look of her friend? Was it the realization that she might have been like that before? She didn’t know, she didn’t care, and she had to get out! She had to save Vinyl!
Don’t worry, Vinyl, I’ll save you from whatever this is.
She was about to move out from behind the crates, led by her courage which was fueled by both anger towards what had happened to Vinyl, and the fear of not wanting to end up like her, possibly again. However, she froze the moment Vinyl stopped moving, looking at the pipes at the ground.
Vinyl had grabbed one of the latex uniforms, placing the gloves and boots on top of it, and had pivoted on her heels, starting to march stiffly back to the metal door. Yet, before Vinyl could reach the door, the broken pipes on the ground attracted a large portion of her attention, and she focused on them. The broken headphones were still there, where Dash left them.
It was silent for what seemed like hours, but then Vinyl began looking around the room, locking her gaze at where Dash was, or at least, where she was hiding.
For a moment, Dash frantically looked around, trying to spot some kind of weapon she could use against Vinyl. A cold shiver went over her body as she thought about the possibility of having to fight her friend. She didn’t want to hurt Vinyl, not at all, but if Vinyl was going to attack her, she might have to.
Dash had noticed a pipe much closer to her position than the others, and while Vinyl would notice her getting it, it was the only weapon in reach. She was about to make a move to grab the pipe, but she heard the door open again and quickly peered through the gaps between the crates again.
A heavy feeling lifted from her stomach. Vinyl had turned around again and was heading out of the room, seemingly not having noticed Dash at all. The cyan pegasus made a fist and grit her teeth, hitting the floor with her fist hard.
No… No… NO! I can’t hurt Vinyl, not even now. I’m the Element of Loyalty for Celestia’s sake! I’m not like that!
She had seriously considered hitting her friend with a pipe; it could have killed her! Whatever came next, Dash knew she couldn’t use violence. Vinyl was still her friend.
However, another thought approached her mind. She and Vinyl couldn’t be the only ones in here, given the number of suits in this room alone. No, there could be dozens of ones just like Vinyl, doing who knows what, for unknown reasons. Dash really couldn’t hurt any of them either.
She wasn’t stupid, though. She was well aware that she couldn’t approach them in any capacity. She had read too many stories to know that this was the work of something very corrupt, and she couldn’t directly engage it in any fashion. She just had to find a way to undo this; she had to save Vinyl and whoever was like her!
With her absolute loyalty making her once again aware of who she was, of what had to be done, she stood up and looked at the door. She had spent so much time worrying about herself and Vinyl that she had forgotten her main goal: escaping. Luckily for her, the door was still open, but it was beginning to close again, and she didn’t know if she could open it from this side.
She ran towards the door and just managed to slip through before it closed behind her, locking with the sounds of pistons going back into place. She appeared inside a large, metal hallway with no clear idea where to go next.
Perhaps she should follow Vinyl? Unfortunately, as she looked around, it became clear that she had lost her. “Damnit… waited too long.” She grumbled to herself.
Still, she had escaped the uniform room. She stood now inside a large hallway, so at least she could continue her trip through wherever the hell she was. She honestly had no idea what any of this was supposed to be, but she could make her best escape attempt nonetheless.
She was about to surge forward, consequences be damned, until the hair on the back of her neck stood straight, and she shivered slightly. She crouched down to the ground and silently made her way to the right. This feeling of dread and uncertainty was one that refused to leave her. No matter how much she told herself that things were going to be alright, it was always there, at the back of her mind. She at least knew to be stealthy, and silently walked down the hallway.
She quickly made a mental note that this building had no signs pointing to any other part of the building.
“Not a single sign, huh? Well, someone has to know where there going then…” She peeked around a corner, seeing nothing but just another empty hallway with countless of doors in the walls, indicating even more rooms.
Well, no other choice but forward. She thought to herself as she slipped around the corner, staying low and quiet. There really weren’t a lot of situations where she felt threatened, but this was certainly one of them. She had no idea where she was, how she ended up here, or how she could save Vinyl and, of course, escape with her life.
She paused for a moment, ears twitching. Was that…
Click… Click… Click…
She gasped, darting her head around. “Fuck.” She whispered to herself. She was out in the open and she was pretty sure one of those… ponies was heading towards her. She had to get out of here before she was seen!
The moment she was about to move, a suited pony came out of the hallway to the right, in front of her. Dash froze, not making a single movement or sound. If she remained like this, perhaps the pony wouldn’t see her.
Luckily for her, the pony walked to the middle of her hallway, Dash still out of her vision, and pivoted on her heels, doing a complete 90 degree turn and starting to march away from Dash, her back towards the pegasus.
Dash didn’t even dare to exhale from relief. She just remained there, pressed against the wall, still and unmoving.
What the fuck are you doing?! Move! She might be your only chance of getting out! Her mind screamed.
And if she turns around sees me? Or what if she just leads me deeper into this building?! She questioned herself immediately. It was clear to Dash that her courage was currently fighting her fear and inside her mind.
So what? Do you want to let her go and just remain here, wandering endlessly in this maze of hallways? You know she might be leading you towards the exit! At the very least, she must know where she’s going!
Yeah, possibly toward more of these ponies. I can’t take the risk.
What about your friends? Family? Who knows, they might be like this as well! You’ve seen Vinyl! Do you not want to save her?! Do you not want to help her get free!? Something terrible has happened, Dash, and you know it! We have no time for debating like this! You’re the element of loyalty! Go out and be loyal! Help them! Help yourself!
At this, her doubts reluctantly went quiet and she gazed ahead. A sense of determination came over her, allowing herself to find out what was happening and stop it. Even if it would lead to more problems or even getting caught, she had to at least try.
With a slight sigh she set forwards, trying to keep up with the mare in front of her. Since she was her target, Dash couldn’t really get a good look at her face, but at the moment her body didn’t resemble that of a pony she had seen before, and because she basically knew everypony in Ponyville, Dash could only come to two conclusions.
One, she was somewhere that was a considerable distance from Ponyville, meaning she had been transported somewhere else during her blank space of memory. Otherwise, there was only option two; she was still somewhere in Ponyville, but this mare had been brought in from somewhere else. Either way, the general conclusion was the same. Whatever had happened, it had affected more than just her own life and Ponyville, and this could possibly be an Equestria-wide conflict.
But, it was probably better not to dwell on that right now. She was still trapped inside a very large and winding building, and it was quite clear she couldn’t trust these ponies. Her gut feeling just told her to stay as far away from them as possible.
The mare began to lead her further and further into the base… or possibly to the exit of the base. Honestly, Dash couldn’t be sure. She had no map of the area, she had absolutely no idea where she was, so following this mare was the least that she could do in order to prevent herself from getting lost completely.
While she kept pace, Dash kept as low to the ground as possible. She knew that the heels of her boots made an audible noise, but if she crouched and kept walking like this, she’d at least minimize it. Sure, she could always try to take them off with brute force, since they didn’t have any zippers, but if she was discovered, at least acting like them might fool one or two ponies, and she would have to look the part in order to even manage an attempt.
Eventually, they came across a walkway, high above a floor beneath them. Dash suppressed a gasp of amazement as she looked down at the floor below. Below her, she could see a line of ponies, all dressed in the same suit and acting stiffly, slowly moving forwards.
At the beginning of the line stood another pony, dressed just like them, holding a pair of headphones exactly like the one Dash saw on Vinyl. Next to her was a table, holding many more pairs of the same headphones, identical in shape. She noticed that the line of ponies moved methodically towards that mare, who placed the pair of antennas on the first pony’s head, before going to the next one and doing the same.
A sickening feeling went over Dash’ stomach. Whatever had happened, it was even worse than she could even imagine. Despite the ominous undertone to this entire operation, it seemed too… orderly. Perhaps to the point that it was almost impossible somepony could even organize something like this.
She refocused her thoughts, and looked forward. The mare had turned around a corner at the end of the walkway and Dash sped up to follow her, in the process perhaps making a bit too much noise. A few of the ponies down below looked up at the walkway, noticing Dash speed toward the end of the catwalk. Yet, they didn’t seem to care, though, because they just faced forwards again, looking at the back of the head of the pony in front of them, and awaiting their antennas. Pursuing intruders wasn’t their job. Other Units would take care of that.
Dash, meanwhile, hadn’t noticed that she had been spotted, far too focused on keeping up with the latex clad pony in front of her. She turned yet another corner and let out a relieved sigh. There she was, marching alone in symmetrical steps.
“Spitfire would be proud of that march…” Dash told herself softly, wondering what had happened to the orange Pegasus.
But then again… she could say the same about her friends, the Princesses, even her family. Everyone for that matter. She had no knowledge about any of them and that was eating at her. She had to find an exit and fast, because only then could she answer any of the questions biting at her.
There was no way she could be sure that this pony would lead her towards an exit, though. For all she knew, this pony could lead her father from the exit than she was before. Dash knew that there was no other way, though. All alone, she would just get lost either way, so following this pony might be her best chance.
After having convinced herself once again that she had to keep following the pony, Dash made sure to quicken her walk a little, trying to keep up with the marching pony. A small camera pinned to the wall above her zoomed in, making note of her movements.
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Further into the massive metal construct, in the heart of the building, lies The Control Center.
It was a massive, rectangular room with a giant screen against one wall and various computers beneath it. Latex suited ponies were seated at those computers, their empty white eyes staring at the screens before them as their fingers worked with a speed not evenr the best trained typist could match. Data scrambled by at various intervals, changing and warping as the ponies aptly kept pace, never missing a beat. The constant whirring of discs, beeping of servers and sound of technological buzz didn’t seem to affect the work ethic of anyone in the room, almost as if they didn’t even recognized the presence of anything but their work, their so-called “Tasks.”
In the middle of the room stood a table with a hologram above it. At the moment, the hologram showed a large sphere dotted with red patches. It was clear this represented the planet the base had nestled itself on. The spread of red was slow, but clear and ever present, slowly converting various portions of the globe into more red, ready to convert more, creating a disastrous positive feedback loop.
Behind the typing ponies stood another mare, watching over them while also focusing her attention on the large screen against the wall. One couldn’t tell as of now that this pony used to be somebody so different than the one she was now. Loved by many, hated by few, and respected by all. However, the alicorn known as Twilight Sparkle had no connection to her past self, clearly evidence by her new accepted name… Control Unit T-638.
However, the Control Unit wasn’t exactly the same like the other ponies, the other units. While the lesser units wore the same black, latex suit on their bodies, T-638 wore a different version, one styled after her coat color. The purple latex with a touch of lavender in it covered most of her body, except her head. Her arms were covered in black, latex elbow gloves and her legs and feet were covered in black, latex high heeled boots. Her difference was clear, as was her command.
Another obvious difference from the common unit was the visor placed in front of her eyes. The visor, connected to the antennas and headphones on her ears, showed all the information that she needed in order to perform well. Tasks that needed to be completed in the base, units that needed special attention, and threats to the base, all updated and kept in a neat and organized UI, always placed right in front of her.
However, perhaps the most interesting difference was the way T-638 thought. Unlike the normal units, T-638 did have some capability for open thinking. As her designation was, T-638 was a Control Unit and there was only one Control Unit allotted per base, meaning that she controlled the entire base with the help of the units in front of her which issued Tasks to all the units marching around the base. She had control of every single pony inside this building.
Well, except for one.
Right now, she was staring at the camera feed of one unit that somehow got free. “Is all of this data being recorded?” T-638 asked one of the units sitting in front of the computers. Her voice was as cold as stoic as her movements.
“Affirmative, Control Unit. As per your command, we have been recording the camera feed on a separate file. This file shall be sent to the Controller once the rogue unit has been captured.” The unit replied in her monotone voice, not even stopping with her work once.
“Excellent.” T-638 stated. “It is interesting that even after five years of complete control, her mind was still able to find a way out of her programming. State how she got free again.” T-638 commanded in a voice not one person could dare to ignore.
“Affirmative, Control Unit.” The unit said, pulling the information from the archived data logs. “R-547 was sent to Storage Room U-21 to gather new uniforms. From collected camera feed, it is clear a pipe burst in that section, right as R-547 was located underneath it. The resulting minor explosion caused her headphones to be damaged, and she lost consciousness. Exactly ten minutes and sixteen seconds later, R-547 awoke with an organic mindset and became a Rogue Unit.” She stated, never missing a step.
T-638 made no sign of emotion, and continued from where the pony left off. “…and with the Element of Loyalty inside of her, R-547 managed to fight off the programming completely. Please explain what caused the pipe burst.”
“A pressure build up happened near that section, and when repaired, a damaged pipe room U-21 couldn’t withstand the sudden change in pressure.”
T-638 saw a new objective light up in her UI. “Fix pipe system in Room U-21.” She placed in lower in her priorities and focused on the Rouge Unit running amok through her base.
“Troubling but not that harmful to the Controller’s Empire. Aside from the Resistance, the whole of Equestria has been upgraded. Open a channel with Sector One. The Controller must know of this.”
T-638 knew that the Controller wouldn’t be too happy about a Rouge Unit, but T-638 also knew that the Controller hated to be left in the dark, so he had to know about this. Information was of utmost importance, and making sure the Controller was kept in the loop was a main concern of every Control Unit.
“Acknowledged, Control Unit, opening channel.” The screen minimized the camera feed and after a few seconds, it showed a new feed. A communications screen reading “Sector One” with the time and date opened. On it, staring back at T-638, was a similar unit. With her blue coat and flowing hair, it was clear than not even Luna, now L-585, had been able to resist the upgrade.
L-585 blinked her milky white eyes before speaking. “Sector One here, state your business, Base Four.”
“Greetings, L-585.” T-638 began, showing no sign of any emotional recognition when seeing what used to be Luna. “This unit has a message for the Controller. It is one of grave importance, but one we can handle. May this unit speak to the Controller directly or shall the conversation happen with you?”
“Hold.” L-585 replied quickly, soon going quiet. She was just staring off into space, but T-638 knew better. There were only a few units in the entire Empire who were allowed to directly converse with the Controller via a mind-link and L-585 was one of them. T-638, however, was not.
“The Controller shall converse with you.” L-585 stated, before closing her eyes.
L-585 felt a sharp pain in her head, her face showing a frown as she moved it from side to side until, after a few seconds, she abruptly stopped and her eyes glowed a pure yellow.
Unlike his units, the Controller did in fact have emotions, not forgetting to show them when directly conversing with his units. L-585’s face frowned and her voice was filled with a slight hint of curiosity. “Hmmm, my unit has told me that you have a matter of grave concern that you need to discuss with me, T-638. Do tell.”
“Affirmative, Controller. An anomaly has appeared inside the base. Unit R-547 was involved in an accident and her programming has failed. She has regained control and is now once again an organically thinking pony. She has been spotted moving through the base, trying to find an exit.” T-638 stated, not an ounce of fear in her voice, despite the dire circumstances. T-638 was well aware that the Controller demanded nothing but perfection from his units and the slightest amount of slacking would be punished severely.
“Is that so?” L-585’s face moved to a frown. “I didn’t give you control of an entire base for you to lose units this easily.”
His words stung at T-638’s mind, leaving her thinking she had failed him. Her programming would of course, use this to further her servitude, and make her even more motivated to pull R-547 back into the network, this time with extra precautions.
“You were a promising Command Unit on the battlefield, T-638, so it was to my belief that you would perform just as well when I gave you control of this base. Perhaps I was mistaken.”
“Negative, Controller!” T-638 abruptly shouted. Normally outbursts like this were non-existence, however T-638 could not come to the conclusion she was failing. Not like this. She had to make sure that the Controller still believed in her commanding abilities.
“This unit has already taken several steps to bring R-547 under control again. At the moment, Rogue Unit R-547 is following one of this base’s other units. We have silently informed the unit to slowly lead R-547 into an ambush. Once there, several units shall capture R-547 and re-convert her.”
“Hmmm…” L-585 stroked her chin, mimicking the Controller’s movements without question. “At the moment, I am have no spare resources, nor am I close enough to aid in the capture of this rouge unit. More so, this is a trivial matter not worthy of any more of my concern. A grave one, yes. However I see no conceivable outcome where one organic escapes thousands of my units.” L-585 paused, looking forward with a stern look. “Very well T-638, see to it she is captured and this matter taken care of. I expect another report by the end of the day.”
“Understood, Controller.” T-638 clicked her heels and saluted, making sure to show that she was eager to obey. She would bring R-547 back into the network. She couldn’t fail. She wasn’t allowed to fail… or it would end badly for her.
“Oh, and T-638?”
“Controller?”
“Don’t screw this up.” He warned before L-585 let out a groan, placing her hands against her head, which shaking wildly again. After a few seconds, she was still once more, her normal white eyes having returned.
L-585 looked at the screen, lowering her arms. There was no need to continue communications. “Terminating feed.” And with that, the screen went dark, L-585 having disconnected. T-638 immediately moved to prepare measures to recapture R-547.
“Get the ambush ready. The Rogue Unit will be arriving at the indicated spot shortly. I want no less than half a dozen units there and ready.” T-638 commanded, not even acknowledging anything had happened. However, in the back of her mind, she knew the consequences.
For such emotionless and robotic being, she now knew how delicate this situation was and she felt something she hadn’t felt in a long time… fear.
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Jeez, I’ve been following her for a while now. Is this actually a good idea?
Dash knew that she wasn’t exactly the smartest pony around, her personality was mostly made up of brash and misplaced choices, but right now the doubt was starting to settle in again, making her aware that perhaps she had made a mistake.
Seeing as the building had no way of indicating an exit to her, she found it impossible to orient herself. It reminded her of the way the inside of a storm can completely remove all sense of direction, even when restricting movement.
She shook herself from her thoughts and focused on following her target. She had almost lost the suited mare again, who had rounded yet another corner. Honestly, it felt to her like she was simply walking in circles. Then again, the entire building seemed to look the same no matter where she went. She sped up, turned the corner and stopped.
Right in front of her stood five suited ponies. The one she had been following and four others who were staring directly at her. Unlike the one she had followed, however, the other four were wearing helmets covering their entire face.
The helmet was as black as the suit with a small antenna sticking out on top of it, a few even had slots for horns, supposedly in case the wearer was a unicorn. At the front, where normally the eyes would be located, a black windshield could be seen, not unlike motorcycle helmets, but Dash could clearly see letters and numbers on the inside of the windshield.
Dash gulped, starting to take a few steps backwards. She did it slowly, as if she was currently facing a pack of predators waiting to pounce.
Oh fuck. Oh fuck. Oh fuck.
“Halt!” One of the drones told her, raising her hand into the air. Yet, before she could speak another word, Dash had already flown off, having done such a quick 180 turn Spitfire would be proud of. She flew down the hallway, screaming to herself. She noticed the various CCTVs high on the walls and made the connection.
“Fuck! I knew something wasn’t right! That’s why I didn’t see any other ponies during the walk! They were waiting for me!” Dash shouted to herself, berating herself that she could even be this foolish. Of course cameras were omnipresent! Of course they had seen her! Why hadn’t she thought of that?!
Yet, it was impractical to think about that right now. As of now she had a swarm of robotic ponies gaining in her, most likely trying to turn her into, or back into, one of them. She couldn’t change the past so it was better to focus on the future… a future where she wouldn’t end up like the beings behind her.
She took a brief glance behind her, seeing them either run or fly after her, depending on their race. From the looks of it, it seemed that they were a bit slower than her, but not by the margin that she could outfly them and lose them in the maze of hallways. No, if she wanted to escape, she had to be smart.
“Uh… think, Dash, think! What would Daring do?”
She’d think out of the box, you idiot! Do something they don’t expect. Her mind retorted.
Something they wouldn’t expect… Dash quickly looked around, passing many of those suited ponies who didn’t even seem to care about her. Even now, they seemed to be focused on just one thing in their mind.
Luck appeared to be on her side, though, because in the distance she could see a couple of open panels in the ceiling. Some suited ponies were working on them, most likely repairs, but it did give Dash a possible escape route. Where it would lead her, she didn’t know, but anything was better than getting captured.
“Hopefully they won’t expect this!” she whispered to herself before jerking herself upward, struggling to make the upward turn at this speed. She barely passed through, continuing her flight upward, never slowing down. She was in what seemed to be a large shaft, one that kept spiraling upward.
Behind her, she could hear tumbling sounds and buckets dropping to the floor, suggesting her pursuers had been unable to match her maneuvering. She couldn’t help but chuckle a little at that. She took another look behind her. At the very least, she still had it; the ability to do flying stunts nopony else could perform… aside from that one pegasus which had slowed down just enough to fly into the hole without losing her.
“Damnit!” she shouted. Relentless they were, but Rainbow refused to give up. Right now, she’d have to do whatever it took to escape her pursuer.
As she looked up again to focus on where she was going, she could see small light rays coming through a panel at the end of the shaft. They shimmered gently, disappearing at times or fading out and then returning. Instantly, Dash knew what that meant.
Sunlight!
The panel she was speeding towards was actually made an outside connection, giving her the perfect path out of this building. She couldn’t believe her luck. All she needed to do was somehow break the panel open and escape the one pegasus still after her.
Easier said than done. She had about 1000 feet before she face-planted into the end of the shaft.
300 meters… still no plan.
250 meters… maybe I could… yeah, no.
200 meters… Come on, Dash, think!
150 meters… Cutting it close now, Dash, think for harmony’s sake!
100 meters… Too close, abort, abort!
50 meters…
“BRAKE!” she exclaimed loudly, exiting her failed brainstorm. Just a second before she would slam into the panel, Dash turned her body around and flapped her wings in the opposite direction, averting her near crash landing. Her boots hit the panel behind her and she sped off in the other direction.
The other pegasus wasn’t so lucky. When Dash passed her, the latex-wearing pony, of course, tried to grab her, although Dash was too ready for her and narrowly avoided her grip. Having focused too much on grabbing her target, the pony slammed into the panel at full speed, bouncing backward into the shaft, leaving the panel open and exposing Dash’s exit.
Dash quickly turned and began to fly towards the now open hole, the other pegasus shaking her head in slight pain and a lot of disorientation. Her helmet had cracked from the impact.
Dash was home free! She had escaped those weird ponies and could finally fly to Ponyville again and get help, all she had to do was…
“Arg!” she exclaimed, as she felt her body suddenly jerk backward.
She looked behind her. The pegasus had managed to grab her leg in the nick of time and was now trying to pull her back into the shaft.
“Do you guys ever give up!?” Dash yelled as she tried to pull herself away.
Dash could see that a bit of the helmet had been destroyed, the plastic of the windshield shattered and cutting into the pegasus’ cheek, yet it seemed that she didn’t care about the pain or blood. Once again, all she cared about were her orders.
“Let go of me!” Dash shouted and tried to kick with her leg, her wings flapping faster and faster as they realized it wasn’t enough. If she kept this up, she’d cramp up her wing and have no way of avoiding capture, Dash had to be smart.
Slowly, though, she was making some ground. Even with the pony trying to pull her back inside, she could feel more and more of that warm sun against her body, despite the latex suit she was wearing. She took a brief look outside, and saw lush green plants, a welcome sight against the grey monotony from before. She was escaping, but as long as the pony behind her held her like this, she would not be able to escape completely.
Once again, though, luck seemed to be on Dash’s side because, out of nowhere, two pegasi flew over to her… from outside the base. They split up and flanked Dash, one grabbing Dash’s arms, helping her escape the grip of the pegasi pulling her it. The other moved down to the pegasus and began to kick against her helmet, shattering more of the windshield and forcing her back into the shaft.
Dash took a moment to see who had suddenly aided in her escape. She gasped, not expecting an answer to one of her previous questions so quickly.
“Spitfire?” She asked, the orange pegasus pulling with all might.
After a few seconds, the pony inside the shaft had let go of Dash’s leg, falling back into the base, and Spitfire and Dash flew backward, almost tumbling into the forest below them. Luckily, they managed to recover before crashing into the ground.
“What in the name of Tartarus are you doing here?!” Dash asked, a little too awe-struck that her idol was both, not like the ponies she had seen inside, and currently helping her to escape said ponies.
“Quiet, Dash, we’re not out of the woods yet!” Spitfire told her, keeping focus. “How’s it looking, Soarin?”
The male Wonderbolt examined the shaft further, seeing glimmers of light rapidly approaching the exit to the shaft. “I managed to knock the drone unconscious, but I think more of ‘em are coming! We have to leave… now!”
“We need to get to the transport then.” She replied, she quickly turned back toward Rainbow Dash.
“Dash, can you make it down the hill?” she quickly asked, gesturing toward the incline.
“Yes, but… what the heck is going on? What’s happened to everyone!? Did Soarin just call them drones?!” Dash began to fly with Spitfire and Soarin towards the trees, refusing to relent on her questions. She knew she had to escape, but she knew she also needed answers.
“We’ll explain later, alright?! Right now all you need to know is that Equestria has fallen! Ponyville, Canterlot, Manehattan… it’s all gone. Your friends? Gone as well, Dash! Welcome to the apocalypse, alright? Glad you could join us!” Spitfire said with a heavy tone of voice.
Before Dash could even manage a response, she saw the massive hovercraft in front of them, quickly getting inside with Soarin, as it began to take off.
Dash quickly ran to a window and looked down. Ponyville. It was Ponyville, she’d recognize the topology of it anywhere. It was what was inside that scared her.
This, despite how it looked, wasn’t Ponyville anymore. Its wooden and straw houses replaced by large identical metal ones, all sense of hospitality removed. Various factories dotted the land where she swore Sweet Apple Acres was located.
All across the converted town walked identical ponies, all wearing black latex suits and chrome head phones. Not one looked up at the hovercraft, all of them walking stiffly and straightforward, none even acknowledging any other’s presence.
The sudden apt description Soarin had given to them hit her all at once. They were right, Ponyville was gone. Her friends, her family, everyone, gone.
All replaced by drones.
<END TRANSMISSION>