> Tron: Pony Legacy > by Sharp-Shadow69 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Tron: Pony Legacy: Intro > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- It was a dark and gloomy evening, the air was muggy and the sky was dark. The only light in this city were the street and stop lights glowing dimly along lit up buildings and houses. “Ok Shadow, it’s time for bed.” My dad told me that night. “Aw, but dad… I want to hear a bedtime story…” I pleaded as I slowly walked to my bed. “All right, all right you rascal.” My dad said with a soft smile. I walk up to my bed to lay down as I waited to be tucked in. He used his horn's magic to put my blanket over me to keep me warm. He then used his wings, since he was an alicorn, and so was I, he floated towards me. He landed on my bed softly, lied next to me and he started his story “Once, in a world called The Grid, there were inhabitants of this land known as Programs” my dad started. This story wasn’t just a story though, this land, surprisingly enough happened to be his creation. He was once brought there himself and he saved the Grid from two evil programs named Sark and the MCP, I didn't believe him, because I was a little alicorn, so I was hard headed to believe anything. About a few minutes passed and when my dad had just finished the story, I was so sleepy and wanted to fall asleep, but I asked a question. “Hey dad, can you not go into work tonight?” The question practically hit him like a baseball to the face. He hated having to go to work against my plead, so in spite of it, he turned towards me. My dad gave me a look of promise and hesitantly replied “How about you and I go to the arcade tomorrow? Maybe even try to beat my high score” He said with a smile. I smiled back, because I knew he'd never let me down unless something was up. I looked at him and nod, letting him know I believed him. “Goodnight champ.” he told me as he left the house, leaping into the air. He waved softly as he pulled out his wings and flew off into the distance. I waved back as he slowly disappeared. I lied back in my bed and slowly drifted to sleep. I imagined to myself he’ll come back… but he never did. > Tron: Pony Legacy: Chapter 1 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "All right kid, someone has bailed you out" said an officer, as he trotted down the hall towards my cell. Almost dazed from the horrific smell of the prison, I finally replied "Oh well that's a surprise." As I heard the lock click, and the rusty cell door opened with a grinding sensation, I looked out the barred window into the starry sky, and I just wondered to myself Where are you dad...? I used my magic to place my belongings in my bag and I left my cell without a word. As I finally left the station, all I did was look back and think how many times this old building must've held me. I just then realized, that each time I was in there, I could have used my magic to pick the cell lock, and bust out using my alicorn wings. "I hope this will be the last time I get put in there. I wonder how many times I've been into the prison in the past twenty years." I asked myself with a chuckle. As I pondered my mind aimlessly for countless things, I readied my wings and blasted off the concrete towards my house. The view along the way was tremendous and the night sky was beautiful. I thought of how much my dad would say something about how the moon reminds him of the Grid. After passing constant amount of buildings and large portions of street lights, I finally arrived at my house. I safely land in front of my house, and as I landed, I pulled on the lever with my magic grip that allowed my run-down garage house's door to rise open. The door to the house opened slowly, but surely. As I waited, I noticed how beautiful the shimmering water had looked and how the moon just reflected off it. It was mesmerizing, and it felt nice. It felt like I was in some sort of trance, until my dog Apollo barked at me, and my mind snapped to reality. I go in and grab a drink from the fridge. The smell of home kept me at ease. As much as it wasn’t very clean, or smell nice, knowing I was home made me feel warm and peaceful inside. I took a few sips as I pondered, but then my trance of peace broke as I heard a knock. “Hello Shadow. So this is what you’ve been up to? Sabotaging your father’s work?” said the familiar pegasus. “*chuckle* Ok what is it now?” I snapped coldly. This pegasus was none other than mine and my father's best friend, Smoky Hooves. Smoky sat down directly next to me on the ruined chair. “I received a page last night” he said sternly. I gave him a look of disbelief. I laughed a little as well, until I finally spoke up “I’m surprised you still use that thing Old man. So what’s so important about the page--“. “It came from your father Shadow.” Smoky said abruptly cutting me off. There was a moment of brief silence until the breeze hitting my face broke it. “Funny, because the page came from the arcade. That place has been closed for fifteen years.” He said with a light chuckle along with a smile of disbelief. “If I were you, I would go to the arcade. See what’s going on in there. You might find him there, if you're lucky” He explained to me. All I did was just look at the pegasus hesitantly. I just thought to myself, after all this time, was he at the arcade? Where was he?, so out of curiosity, I nod with re-assurance that I would check it out. "All right, I'll go check it out tomorrow night." I told the old pegasus. "All right then, Goodnight Shadow" he said as he walked out of the house. He walked off, leaving me there, with the thought that my dad was at the arcade. I slowly drifted to sleep with the same thought that rang around in my head. The next night, I snuck down the street to the Arcade, since I'm pretty much wanted these days. I arrived at the entrance to the twenty-five year old arcade, and I smiled as I remember how the sign used to shine so brightly, but now the sign was covered in webs and dust. The lights broke, so only two lights flickered, and one worked... I enter the store and the dim ring of the bell echoed through my head. I looked around for the fuse box, and there it was, right next to me in plain sight. All I could do is give myself a facehoof. I flipped the fuse switch and in an instant, all the game consoles lit up, and music could be heard everywhere in the building. In the room, I saw all the games my dad and I used to play in here. This place brought back some good memories. I look for any signs of my dad, so I flew up to the window of his office, but sadly, as I expected, nothing. I trotted around the Arcade, when I noticed one game that caught my eye, at the very end of the hall was the game Tron. It was old and dusty like all the other games, but it shined the brightest of them all. Admiring the challenge, from the intimidating console, I use my magic grip to get my quarter and walk towards it. In instinct, I placed the quarter in the slot. All I heard was the clinking of the coin falling out of the return chute. “What the hell?” I said out of sheer surprise. I lean over to pick up the coin with my magic, when I notice cuffs and sliding on the ground. I look at the machine, I notice hoofprints on the side of the machine. So, out of curiosity, I used my magic grip and pushed the machine aside. I noticed a door behind it. I opened the door and I walked in. Like most mysterious doors, behind them was a pitch black room with stairs moving downward. Suddenly, I heard a grinding motion as I closed the door, so I only assumed the Tron console is sitting in front of the door again. Inside was dark, so I used a light spell and the stairway was instantly illuminated. I walked down carefully, noticing a blue light. I lean over around the corner and looked for a switch. I flipped the switch, the light turns on and what I saw was a dusty room entrenched by a nasty smell. I look in front of me to see a machine, this construction looked like if it shot something, it would probably obliterate them, so I took caution and walked around it. After I moved around the machine, I noticed something that sort of looked like a of monitor. I walk towards it, but like the rest of the arcade, it was covered in dust and cobwebs. So I brushed it off, and this high quality retina display asks a question. 'Do you wish to log in?' So reluctantly, I signed in, but when I did, I noticed something. I heard something charging, like a machine. Its whirring made it sound like it was moving too. I could hear it getting somewhat closer too. I wanted to think it was just the air vent, but it definitely wasn't. I turn around, but by the time I moved, it was too late. The machine's energy beam had finished charging and the light engulfed me. I felt like screaming but my mouth wouldn’t open. I felt like I was falling. I felt like my whole body was being ripped in half and formed back together. Finally, after that, I returned back to where I was, but what I noticed is that the room was spotless. Everything was almost brand new and pristine. I thought it was my eyes messing with me, so I walked out of the room. I notice the arcade was completely empty, but the room was also brand new. I thought I was dreaming, so I nipped myself, and sure enough, I wasn't dreaming. I rushed outside and I saw it all. Oh, but I couldn’t believe what I saw. I saw it, the ground, the buildings, the lights… they were all retro and sleek. I didn’t want to believe it, but it was all so real. “ Oh… my Celestia! There’s no way… He did it! I’m in the Grid.” I said before I realized how much danger I was in. All I heard was a whir and a light flashed right above me. I couldn't believe this was all happening. > Tron: Pony Legacy: Chapter 2 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The blinding light had shined right above me, at first it didn't catch my attention until I heard the booming voice, "Stray Program found". I was scared just as much as I was surprised to see that directly above me was a vehicle known as a Recognizer. I couldn't believe my eyes at what I was seeing. The old man finally did it I told to myself. My mind finally snapped as I tried to run, but the ground around me slowly fell downwards. I literally had nowhere to run, and for some reason my wings wouldn't work. I tried to use my horn on it too, but to no avail. I was forced to be taken by the Recognizer. The Recognizer landed and out came two Recognizer guards. The two guards pulled me towards the Hull of the Recognizer and as I stepped in, my hooves were locked in place. All I could do was watch myself be taken prisoner by these... things. I felt the Recognizer slowly rise into the air, and when we reached the perfect altitude, we were off. I watched all the cool, slick, and retro buildings pass as we soared through the sky. The sight was amazing as much as it was pointless how I may never see them again. As we slowly approached the destination, I tried to communicate to the other "strays", but I was ignored, except this one stray who had half his face off. I just looked at him and wondered what happened to him. What was creepier was that he gave me this robotic growl, sending chills up my spine. We finally arrive at what looked like some sort of tower, but surprisingly, I could hear ponies cheering from a distance, which gave me the thought that this wasn't some jail, it's a Colosseum. I looked in all possible directions to find an escape route, but this place was a wasteland. At my right was a guard sentry, similar looking to the Recognizer guards, announcing the verdict of each pony. "Listen, you might have gotten this too many times, but there's been a mistake" I told the sentry, but he completely ignored my existence and the sentry walked up to me, then he finally announced my verdict, I was ready for it. "Games" he spoke in a monotonously, distorted voice. I had a feeling that wasn't fun, or good for that matter, but my train of thought went off track as I noticed a stray running for his life screaming "I'd rather be derezzed than playing in your games". He jumped off the platform. The guards tried to stop him, but they were too late. All I could hear was his shrieking yell until it came to a sudden stop. "He was derezzed..." I told myself under my breath. I noticed my hooves were free from containment, but immediately, the sentries pulled me to a platform in front of the tower. I was rushed onto the platform when, again, my hooves were locked in place, except I went down instead of up. The repeated patterns of the lights continued constantly for several seconds, making me feel dizzy. I finally land. I looked around and thought to myself "this must be the armory..." My hooves were still firmly enclosed to the platform as I struggled free, then I heard a pulse. Then one by one ponies were released from what looked like a sleep pod. These ponies, as I remember being told, were Sirens. They slowly approached me. I looked at them all, one by one, they surrounded me. They started touching me in places, looking for some sort of trigger, when I felt a hoof touch my wing, feeling a throb. I felt something enshroud my body, and from the looks of it, it was skin tight encasing, sort of like what Spider-Colt always wore. Waiting patiently for the cloth to finish growing over my body, they finally place the armor, and instantly, my suit lights up to a bright red. This armor reminded me of the armor Tron used to wear in the games I played. Abruptly, I then heard an announcement "You will be receiving a Light Disc, this disc contains all your digital program settings." I saw a Siren engage a disc on my back and I heard a charge up noise as the announcement continued. "This disc is the key to your life and very survival here in the Grid. Try not to lose it, if you misplace this disc, you are prone to immediate De-resolution". Then I remembered the pony who jumped off the platform and derezzed. I couldn't imagine that happening to me. After contemplating, I noticed that one by one, the Sirens returned to their pods. Being curious as what to do, I ask a Siren "Hey!" I told a Siren. "What am I supposed to do here?" I asked her with plead. She just looked at me in content, as if I had potential for something. She finally responded "Survive" she said bluntly with a smirk. My mind just sank at those words, putting thoughts in my head thinking Survive? Survive from what? Some sort of monster? Talking to no one but myself, I spoke up "That pretty much puts my life on the line" I said to myself. I looked around to see the Sirens return to their pods, so they can do what looks like some cryo-sleep. I waited for something else to happen, and sure enough, it did. My hooves were finally free from those cuffs. I sighed with relief and pleasure as my hooves were no longer in pain from the containment. I look around only to see the slick, black ground directing me to move forward. So I did what it was directing me to do. The doors slide open and all I could see was a blinding light flashing in my face. As my vision slowly adjusted to the light, I noticed that I was in the Colosseum. Not just any Colosseum though, this was called the Arena. I looked around stunned, by how huge this place was. The sleek floating platforms, the huge crowd of fans, it felt like some weird version of a football game. All I heard was the constant cheering among all the ponies. The Arena was huge, and definitely something to catch excitement. I walk forwards and I see I was on a rising platform. I heard a very light hum as I slowly rose to my destination. I looked upwards to see too warriors fighting each other, with what looked like their light discs. Each one struggling to derezz each other. They were very flexible and intelligent, each disc was thrown almost as fast as a baseball. Of course as soon as I saw one of the warriors was derezzed, my platform came to a halt, and I lost sight of the match. Suddenly, the floating platform merged with another one, also holding a different warrior and my first instinct was to pull out my disc. I looked at my enemy, he looked fast and very skilled. His mane was unkempt and he had a deep scar on his face. His armor was tattered and no longer shiny and new like mine, which gave me the idea this guy was a veteran. He prepared himself, and pulled out his disc. As soon as I heard some horn noise, he threw his disc without any delay, and this disc sped straight for me, like anyone new to this, I duck. He had caught me completely off guard. He gave me a light chuckle, as if I were some amusement to him. "Oh, so you wanna play? All right, I'll play" I told him with a penetrating glare. I chucked my disc straight for him, like any pro, he dodged it and It missed. He threw his disc and I dodged again while catching my disc. I was still kneeling and like anyone else would, the enemy took this chance to strike. With quick thinking, I backed up and threw my disc on what looked like a small hexagonal tile. As expected, it broke. The warrior saw what I did, and as I thought, he hit his head on the edge and fell down. He fell and hit the ground with a great impact causing all of his bytes to spread across the field. The crowd roared with expected excitement. He had been derezzed by me. My disc bounced off the wall above me and by using my magic, I catch it and returned it to my slot. The crowd had congratulated me on defeating the pony. The plat form shifted to a different position. As I waited for the platform to reach the new enemy, I looked up to see, what looked like a shadowy figure. "That must be the man in charge..." I told myself as I was oblivious that the platform stopped, until I heard a whirring disc fly straight at me. I notice and at the last second, I pull out my disc and deflect it away, so I ran up to him, and threw my disc at him. The disc had staggered him, causing him to fall over. Without any moment to spare, I jump across the gap in between the two platforms. I catch my disc from the previous throw while jumping and I threw my disc and mercilessly derezzed him. I had defeated my enemy once again. The platform shifted to the next pony and I continued on. As I rose from round to round, I had the thought that if I make it far enough, I'll be able to meet the colt behind all this As I did this, I didn't realize I was being watched, until I finally reached the end. A new round started and by the look of the platform, it had this "Final Round" feeling to it. Obviously enough, this was the Final Round. I couldn't help but laugh on how easy that was. Something broke my smile as I notice something. I noticed a dark figure on the other side of the platform. This pony was different from the rest. This creature wore a pitch black mask, which was crafted to give this thing an artificial horn, and the initial color of the outfit was rainbow. As if this enemy were some machine, this one would constantly give off this, mechanical purr. From the posture and looks, I'd say this pony was a mare. The only unique feature that caught my eye though was the ominous Rainbow hair. She stood firm and she pulled out her disc, except she did something to it. The clicking caused the disc to release something and a second disc appeared. This pony had two Light Discs, each one was uniquely crafted. I thought to myself that this pony won't be so easy to defeat this time. She looked at me intensely, as if shes seen me before. The match began and she pegged her disc straight at me, I barely dodged the disc, and it cut off a few hairs. I gave the mare a glare, and I chucked my disc, and she swiftly dodged it and threw her second one. I dodged this one with ease. Abruptly, I heard a siren, and in an instant, I felt the gravity shift, and I fell up. I hit the ceiling with my face, falling over. I swiftly get up and the fist thing I saw was the mare's mask. We hit each other's discs and after doing that for a time, gravity shifted to normal. I fell again,and I got up, this time, I threw my disc, but it missed, the mare threw her disc at full speed and I fall over. I quickly get up to dodge and catch my disc. I threw it again, and since she had no disc, she ran and did an aerial dodge, catching her two discs mid-jump. She landed throwing another disc at me. I block it away, and she threw her second one, causing me to lose my disc, which made me fall over from the force of the disc's impact. She caught her two discs as I was on the ground in shock. The next disc she threw, hit my foreleg. The pain was fierce with a burning sensation, but it was fast. I growled by the pain. Then as I was about to get up the warrior pounces me, pinning me to the ground to finish me off. As soon as the blow was about to make it's impact into my neck, she came to a halt. The heat from the irradiated disc made me feel uncomfortable. She noticed the blood dripping on the platform. She brought back her disc and took a hoofstep back. She looked as if she were shocked by my blood. She hoarsely murmured the word "User..." to herself. I looked at her in disbelief, I could've sworn I could hear hope in her voice. She then picked me up from the platform. She brought me to an elevator. The door opened, forcing me in as it closed. As the elevator rose, she was holding my foreleg firmly so I couldn't break free, but then again, I'm in an elevator, so where could I go?. "Hey, do you mind letting me go? There's nowhere for me to run, plus you're kind of hurting my foreleg." I asked her with politeness. She hesitated for a moment and let me go. "Thank you" I said delightedly knowing my foreleg isn't being crushed by her grip. The elevator continued the light humming for a brief time as we both stood there. I could see nothing but lights whiz downwards as we both moved upwards. I looked over to look at the mysterious mare as she sat there contemplating. She shot up as we slowed down. The humming came to a stop. She instantly took my foreleg again. She had brought me to the top of the Overlook Tower. The elevator doors opened and she forced me in the room. I looked around in the room when I heard the elevator door close. I saw the room, and the whole room was lit in an orange tint, both sides of the room were equipped with monitors with two ponies working them. I noticed another program staring at me, surprised. I'm sure he noticed the blood as well. He whispered to himself "A user?!". I then saw the room and the figure in front of me. His cloak was covering both his mane and his body. I could hear him breathing too, it was a slow but somewhat heavy inhale. The figure was staring blankly out the window. Until he finally spoke "Ah Welcome, Sharp Shadow" he said ominously as he finally turned towards me slowly. I couldn't believe what I saw. His facial expression had matched the one I remembered for twenty years. I could feel my hope rise. I just wanted to burst out in tears as I finally got to see him again. It all seemed off though. He looks almost exactly the same as I remember from twenty years ago. I instantly knew there was a problem, but I finally spoke up to him, "Oh my Celestia... I can't be! Dad?!" > Tron: Pony Legacy: Chapter 3 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- His face was unmistakable, his hair red and black along with his tail, just like mine. The strip patterns like mine, but a big jagged white streak across his face. The unmistakable Horn and wings sat there as well. The only difference was the white-ish gray 10 o' clock shadow. This was the face I remembered twenty years ago. He and I just looked at each other... and finally, he just suddenly bursted out laughing. I didn't know how to react to that, did he find it funny how I reacted to what he looked like? Did he laugh because I said dad?All these random ideas just rang in my head until, he finally stopped laughing. I just gave him a concerned look as if I thought he had gone mad. "It's amazing isn't it? This world? Its just fascinating. I helped make this perfect world." he said with an evil smile as he walked up to me. Perfect?! I can't even describe on how wrong he was. He was nowhere near perfect. Forcing strays to fight for their lives? I couldn't believe my ears. How was this perfect? I watched him as his jet black cloak dragged across the floor. As I gazed, he finally placed his hoof on me, breaking my concentration, and with that evil smile, he spoke "I'm not your father Shadow, my name is Clu". I heart and hope just sank, the same face I remembered twenty years ago, wasn't the man standing in front of me. Instead he was actually some sort of doppelganger, but a power hungry one at that. He then continued, "But, oh boy, I am sure glad I found you" he finished, placing his hoof on my face, but I brushed his hoof off of me. All I gave him was a glare, out of shear anger, to think that this power addicted mad man, would end up being my father. He walks passed me but he quietly murmurs to me, "Time to play a game". He continues walking past me. "Raine, take him with you and follow me" he said. I looked at the Rainbow hair colored warrior in surprise, as she looked at me, and hesitantly took my foreleg and almost dragged me. We went into the elevator again, but this time, it wasn't just me and Raine, it was her, Clu, and his right hand man, who I never really got his name. I just looked around out of boredom, only because the elevator took longer to go down than up. We had finally arrived, and the elevator door hisses opened, and outside of it was the huge crowd from the Arena, except this time, I wasn't in midair, I was on the ground floor. Out of signal, Raine budges me forward and I walk. Clu sat there, just simply smiling and waiting for me, as if I were amusing him. I finally finish walking, standing parallel from where he is. His right hand man, pulls out a case, and out come two jet black batons. He then announces that the "Games" will begin, and sure enough, they did. Clu had brought out his best men, and while on my so called "Team" were only finalists from the previous match I had lost. As the cheering fans came to an uproar, his group ran and leaped into the air, holding their batons with magic, and as I looked closely, the Baton spread apart. As if by extreme magic, they all land on the ground with what I remember being Light Cycles, super fast motorbikes that emit a lethal- light based barrier that if hit fast and hard enough, would normally defeat them. My group signaled each other and without a single moment to spare, they get on their light cycles and drive off without me. All I did was study them, finally, I spoke up "All right, I'll try it. Let's do this!" Holding my baton with my magical grip, I dash forwards and I leaped into the air, and with swift reflex, I spread out the baton with my magical grip. I felt a hard material encase my lower body as I saw the Light Cycle materialize into a solid object as I was still floating. Finally, as soon as I land, the light cycle finished materializing, and the Light Cycle lands, speeding forward. I felt like I was flying, and how it maneuvers felt like I were flying, so I knew how to control the thing. I sped across the seemingly endless Arena and as I looked around, all I could see was my team being struck down, one by one. All I could do as they just all derezzed into little bytes. I finally catch up to one of my teammates, and coincidentally, this was my last teammate. I rode directly parallel and I told him, "The only way both of us are going to make it out of this alive is if we work together, got it" I said almost screaming. "All right, let's do this then" the pony said admirably. We both split up, the enemy looked at me, but while not paying attention, my buddy used his magic grip to attack the defenseless guard with his light disc as he tried to knock me over. The strike was made, and the lower half of the guard's body was slowly disintegrating, and eventually, the Light Cycle spun out of control and slid towards the wall, causing it to explode. The crowd simply loved it. He and I both laughed and gave each other a high hoof. So we spread apart again. We then found this clueless guard and pretty much caved him in, causing the Light Cycle to explode, making the pilot derezz. We cheered, and this time, I found another one, but I took this one on my own. I found a ramp nearby and I jumped it. As I expected to happen, it landed right in front of him and I turned right, making him hit the wall of light, instantly derezzing him. The colt and I found the last one. This one was surprisingly easy to trick. We both sped towards him, and we distracted him, and as we planned, we made him go straight into a wall. He and I split and finally realizing our plan, the sentry had already derezzed into the wall. We split apart again hoping for more. I found Raine next, except this time, she was above me, and we went up this, swirly ramp, and at that moment, we gazed at each other, and we both swiftly clashed our two discs together and we sped off in the opposite directions. The crowd was simply just going wild with excitement. Of all the times to happen, Raine had knocked off the stranger ponies baton out of his magical grip, causing him to fall off and the baton sliding. I noticed quickly, and I did a U-turn. I used my magic grip to pick it up and I dashed towards him, his horn reached for it, slowly grasping it with his magic, but clear out of the blue, Clu had did the job, and finished him off. I was so pissed and frustrated, and again, from almost nowhere, Raine pops up in front of me, making the Light Cycle to crash and made me fall out. I noticed the light cycle de-materialized and return to its previous state. Dropping from midair was my baton. All my hope of winning that match had been lost, but as I get up, I didn't forget the the match wasn't over. Then as I looked I noticed Raine stop on her Light Cycle, and she just looked at me. I didn't understand at first, but then I realized, that Clu, at the far end of the Arena, was speeding straight towards me. I stood my ground and pulled my Light Disc out with my magic. I could see Clu was still smiling at me as he sped towards me. He and I locked gazes as the crowd went silent hoping for something exciting to happen. I braced for the hit, until, when I least expected it, I heard a horn. Both Clu and I peeked to my right and what looked like this Light Car just popped out of nowhere. The car placed the light barrier as it stopped just after it passed me. Both Clu and I were surprised. Clu had, just in time had slid, causing the side of the Light Cycle to take the hit, blowing him out of the Light Cycle. "Get in now" ordered the mysterious unicorn. So like she said, I placed my disc in it's slot and I jumped in the car. Like all evil people would, Clu ordered more troops, but cleverly, the unicorn hit a button with her hoof, and out came two bombs. She sped the car forwards, and hit another button, making the car shoot some sort of plasma beam at the wall, making it de-cintegrate. "Hold on tight" the unicorn, and since it was a gap, I had no reason to object, so I hung on for dear life. As I watched us heading closer for the hole in the wall, I couldn't help but look behind us. Behind me, I heard the bombs detonate in front of 3 Sentries, and like so, they all instantly derezzed. I looked back and what I saw was so death defying. I saw the big gap the unicorn was attempting to make. I thought she was crazy, but she did it anyways. We jumped the gap, and as I looked down, my heart started racing, and what I saw was an endless abyss. I pretty much died just looking at it. I looked back at the Arena, and I saw Raine, stopping right at the hole. Just looking at me. I finally looked in front of me as we finally landed. The impact of the car hitting the ground made my whole body rattle in discomfort. Somehow, we land, and as we landed, the unicorn hit, yet another button, and the wheels changed terrain. I looked behind and almost yelled asking "Why aren't they following". "Because they can't" she replied. "Why can't they follow us?" I asked again. "They could probably make it, but their vehicles aren't meant for this terrain. Their vehicles would malfunction and pretty much fall apart." she said. I felt kind of dumb as I looked over to her, as she revealed her true self. I thought she looked beautiful. Her shiny lavendar body with her constellation cutie mark on her lower flank armor. The glittery indigo colored hair striped with a pink and dark purple, and the mesmerizing, yet unique horn. "My name is Twilight!" she told me as she put out her hoof, waiting for a hoofshake. So reluctantly, I raise my hoof and I shook hers. "Uh, I want to thank you for saving me back there" I said flustered. She blushed out of surprise and replied, "O-oh, it was no big deal. I mean really, you did well. I would have come in sooner, but I wanted to come in at the right moment..." she said rambling as I just looked at her. "I think I'm just going to shut up now" she said as she drove the car blushing, and sheepishly. I just smile and laugh. We ended up laughing for a while. We then end up in what looked like a wasteland, but out of nowhere, a rock moves out of place, as if it were a door, and she drove in it. In surprise, it was actually a big garage. This garage held everything from Tanks, to boats, and even some fighter jet looking vehicle.We hop out, and she led me to a platform, which was actually an elevator. We rose up, and as the platform touched the edges of the ceiling, leading us to the next floor, the platform lights up. We then reached the second level of the hideout. "Excuse me one moment" she said as she signaled me to stay back. She quietly walked up to a pony in the middle of the room. I tried to overhear the conversation, but all I got was Mr. and visitor. He spoke up with a booming voice, like some forty year old, "We don't have visitors..." he said as he got up and turned. He looked at me and our eyes had locked in each other's gazes. I saw an alicorn with wings like mine, but older. I remembered the red and black air and tail, along with the same face and body pattern as my own. The only differences were the older looking skin, horn, and the big white scar across his face. The one detail I noticed was the shaggy beard that was black with a red streak down the middle. I knew who it was this time, I recognized him. I wanted to cry, I finally found him, the man who took care of me my whole life. He was the man who raised me from a philly, he's the one who helped create me, he was the one who taught me how to use magic, and how to fly. He let me try out his games too. I couldn't believe it, but this man, was my real father. > Tron: Pony Legacy: Chapter 4 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- It was him, I just knew it. He looked at me in just shock as well as surprise to see me. I could see tears falling down his face. "I never thought I'd see you again..." he said blindly as he was bawling his eyes out almost. He runs up to me and hugged me like he never has before. I happily took in the hug, and hugged him back. Twilight just looked at us, as if she wanted to know what had happened. He just cried the whole time we hugged tightly. I'm guessing he thought he would never be able to see me again. So we sat there, just hugging for quite a time, and he eventually calmed down. "I-I'm sorry, I just... its been so long since I last saw you. You've grown so much. I can't believe its be--" "Twenty years dad. You've been gone for twenty years, ever since that day" I told him, completely cutting him off. It seemed to have hit him hard, because his face went from a smile to a distinguished frown. I think I may have hit a nerve on accident. "Twenty years... it's been twenty years" he murmured to himself. He walked to the balcony, which I will admit, was really intimidating, since the view was the city I had been saved from. "Ah, well I'd best not be rude! How about some dinner?" He asked. My stomach growled angrily as I heard those words. "I'm all up for it" I said with a chuckle. Twilight had begun to snicker, along with my dad. Eventually so, we busted out laughing. We all stood there and laughed, which was something I haven't done for a long time too. As my father was preparing dinner, Twilight had offered to show me to my room, which was conveniently known as the "Guest Bedroom". I walked around the house a bit before accepting the tour. The whole room was bright, with a mysterious white glow, and over two my right from where I stood, which was directly in front of the passageway to my room, I saw a bookshelf. I trotted closer to see that there were bookcases full of... books, with authors I've never heard of before. "Oh, those are all of the books your dad showed me. I read them all, twice, and they were amazing. I even learned how to do so many new things. Your father is a wonderful colt, he really is. Although I'm still learning about, Removing oneself from an equation." I've heard of that phrase, but it doesn't sound very fun. I could only imagine how long it took to read this many books, let alone twice. From the left of the bookshelf, I notice a Light cycle, but not the one I've seen. Although it reminded me of a toy I once played with. "That was the first Light Cycle I created. I used that a very long time ago, even before you were born." said my father from across the room. "It's quite different, and it looks like it hasn't been touched in years. It's so... unique." I said as I smelled the aroma of what smelled like lobster, green beans and egg noodles, along with a side of salad. Twilight signaled me to my room, being very patient as she was. We walked down the hallway, and I noticed a window to the outdoors. What I saw wasn't really cool, but it was still pretty interesting. I saw the water's ripples reflect off the lights underneath what looked like, a body of water. It was definitely something you don't normally see. We both entered my new room, which I thought was very similar to the living room area. Twilight wanted me to sit down on the bed as she showed me everything in the room, and how to use them. I was simply amused on how she was so delighted to show me my new room. As she explained what the rules of the place were, I looked around the room. The room was lit brightly in the same way the living room was. The bed lay in the middle of the room, and next to it on the right, was a sleek white bedside table. Over to the left was was yet another sleek white dresser topped with a mirror and a little bookshelf with two books. "The old man certainly knows how to decorate a room, and even a house for that matter." I said thinking out loud. "You say something?" she said confused as she was holding a brush. "No, I'm sorry, I was thinking out loud there" I said almost stuttering. "Well, ok, if you say so" she said as she turned back again beginning to explain how to use a brush. I looked over to her, and just thought I can't believe I was saved out of the blue, and even met my father. I just watched and listen to a demonstration that was completely null and void to me. "Dinner is ready you two, come on out!" my dad said yelling across the house with glee.We trot over to the dinner table, and what I saw was just completely different from what I expected. On the table were three wine glasses filled with this fluorescent blue liquid, which gave off this glowing aura. On my plate was some sort of fish alongside with noodles and a vegetable of some origin. I finally sat down just looking at my food with this ridiculous expression on my face. "Is this supposed to be food and drink?" I asked myself under my breath. "Oh come on Shadow, its much better than it looks, I promise you." my dad told me reassuringly. So I used my magic to pick up my fork and we began eating. We all just ate slowly and comfortably, within a steady silence. We ate for a while until my dad asked "So hows your mother been doing?" I look up at him with a stare. Eventually he caught on and got the idea. "Ah, I see then." he said accepting what he just learned. Slowly, we continued eating with this awkward moment of silence. My father then broke the silence once again. "So uh, Shadow, have any interesting questions you want answered?" he said with a curious smile. "Well, just one." I said with a glare intent with getting an answer. Like I expected, he knew the question, and replied. "Why I never came back" he spoke as his smile slowly disappeared. Suddenly, literally out of nowhere, Twilight just starts laughing like crazy. My dad and I just look at her. She finally noticed it wasn't funny and quickly stopped laughing, probably thinking that was a really dumb move. "Clu." he said. I gave him a shot of confusion. "Excuse me?" "It all started with Clu. He was my clone, a program. A legitimate copy of me. He, and I were the administrators of the system. He and I are the reason this all became possible. Along with the help of Dash. Dash helped out with giving order to the new Grid from the previous Grid. Trying to make this world possible. Then we found a miracle. "What was it?" I asked. "ISO's" he said, giving me my answer. I'm sorry, but what?" I said with confusion on my face. "Isomorphic Algorithms" he said answering my confusion."Did you create them or something?" I asked still very confused. All of a sudden, my dad just cracks up. "No, I wish I did, but actually, they were just there. It's like they just wandered here. It was a miracle. These programs were completely original, their own mapping, their own coding, it was nothing I've ever seen before. I thought they were a treasure from beyond... but Clu found it as an imperfection of the system." He said with a frown. "So what happened?" I asked curiously, like anypony else would. "The ISO's and us administrators decided to form a peaceful treaty. It was all planned out with the Leader of the ISO's but the treaty was sabotaged by a virus. "A virus?" I spoke out confused. "Surprisingly, yes. What was strange was that Clu called it the Abraxas virus, as if he knew about it without telling me. I thought it was a coincidence, but I was wrong. He planned the sabotage and he even eventually betrayed Dash and I. "And then?" I asked wanting more info. "Genocide, just massive genocide, he killed all of the ISO's" Twilight said, almost crying. I thought to myself That Monster! "As, I was stating before, I got away safely thanks to Dash, but Dash wasn't so lucky. He was gone. I left the city, and by the time I looked back, the portal closed, and I was stuck here since." He looked at me, hoping I understood. I so did, I wasn't happy about it, but I understood. Taking light upon the situation, I got up from my chair and I walked towards my dad. I spoke up, "Well, the portals open, we have our chance, we can all get out of here!". "Yes I know, but thats the thing, if we go out in the Grid, they'll be on high alert and they will be on out flanks like crazy!" he said almost yelling at me. "But you sent me a pa--" I retaliated, yet getting cut off once again by my dad saying, "I never sent a page! It was Clu, he planned the whole thing! He wanted you here so you could lure him towards me! Don't you understand?! You stepped right in his game!". I could feel my hope dropping once again, to think that if I found my father, it would be easy pickings to get out, but instead, I put everyone in danger. Finally realizing that he hit me hard with those words, he walked towards me. I shrugged him off and I walked to my room. I lost all hope at that moment, so I sat on my bed as soon as I entered my room. I put my hooves on my face, and I just thought Why? Why did this have to happen? I put everyone's life at risk! I just wanted to sit there and cry like I used to, whenever I went through a bad time when I was younger. Then it hit me. If I could screw it up, maybe I can fix it! I have to help this situation out. How to do this is the only difficulty. Suddenly, as fate brought upon me, Twilight walks in the room, and uses her horn to close the door. "I think I know someone who can help." she said. My hope rose once again! Calmly, I reply "So who is this person?". She sits next to me and explains. "She has helped me before, she's a very good friend. Shes done a lot for me in the past, and I have no doubt she can help." I nod my head and asked "So what is this pony's name?" "Her name is Pie" she said with a smile. I just look at her with an emotionless expression, thinking to myself Really? A pony named Pie? That sounds as silly as naming my best friend Buck Norris. Swiftly, she pulls out some card with her magical grip. "This is her sector. Shes the manager to this place called The Start of Fun Club." she said, handing me the card with her magic. I take it and place it in my storage case on my back. I hug her out of instinct, saying "Thank you so much Twilight, I appreciate it." I said finishing my hug. I looked at her face, and she was blushing a bit. I just smiled and I got up. "Ok, well see you later Twilight!" I said running off. I left the hallway and I entered the living room. I thought I can't get there by hoof, I need some speed, and worse part is, I can't fly. Out of luck, I notice my dad's Light Cycle. I hesitated the idea, but I had no time to waste, I only have so much time. I reluctantly take the Light Cycle to the garage underneath me. I enter it, and I felt a tug on my wings. This must've meant I was engaged in the Light Cycle. I revved the engine and I rode off towards the City. "Here I come Pie. I'm coming to you." I said as I continued onwards to my new destination.