Chapter One: Initalization
Chapter 1: Initialization
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.
<><><><><>
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.
<><><><><>
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.
Author's Note
Well, here we have my own written mind control story. This is mainly for the mind control fans out there, don't know if the other people shall enjoy it as much as them.
Either way, I do hope you enjoyed this first chapter and if there are pre-readers or editors who wish to help me or talk about the fic, give suggestions, or anything else, just send me a private message and I'll get back to you.
Chapter Two: Welcome Back, Dash
“So, can anypony tell me what the hell is going on?” Dash asked as she hopped out of the hovercraft.
The trip back to… wherever this was hadn’t been too long. Just an hour of flying while evading what seemed to be patrols and navigating through mountains and forests. In the end, they were located somewhere near the mountains separating the Crystal Kingdom from Equestria, but she couldn’t pinpoint the location exactly.
Spitfire turned off the hovercraft and hopped out. “I guess you deserve an explanation. Dash, you were gone for a long time. Five years have passed since you were captured.”
The orange pegasus motioned for Dash to follow. As they walked, Dash could finally take in the place. Screeching could be heard, engines flaring, ponies walking and talking or working on hovercrafts. But all of this was new to Dash. She had never seen that flying thing before. She had never seen those robots before.
Indeed, among the ponies walked robots. Grey, shiny, holding trays filled with items or wielding tools while assisting the mechanics with their jobs. This entire place looked just like it had been ripped from that recent Daring Do book she had read, where Daring investigated a futuristic base.
The rise of Samaritan, the book was called. Daring had been lead to the base due to recent disappearances in a nearby town. Of course, she wasn’t a vigilante but she also couldn’t stand knowing that there was a creep running around, abducting ponies, and she just turned and looked the other way. So, deep in the Eastern Woods, the base had been located and what followed was a story filled with sneaking, close encounters and over the top suspense. All the while, Dash had thought that Daring might have exaggerated her story a little… until now.
“Captured how?” Dash cocked her head to the side, turning her attention back to her savior.
“Well, I don’t know how it happened. I just know that it did, Dash. Five years ago, on a summer afternoon, word came to Cloudsdale that Canterlot had fallen to some kind of virus. Ponies infected by said virus lost all emotion. They would stiffen up, march like these robots you see here now. Their eyes were white as well. It was all very, very strange.” Spitfire started to explain, leaving the hangar and heading into a hallway.
“At first, other cities and towns sent help, mostly medical ponies like doctors and nurses. When they didn’t return and outgoing information was hard to come by, they stopped sending ponies and put up a quarantine. Thing is, that gave our enemy the time to develop…”
Five years ago, 23 of August, year 1003 post Nightmare Moon
Spitfire hid inside one of the many houses of Canterlot, looking through a window to see if the streets were clear. She had been sent here to help the doctors cure the victims of this disease, but after a few hours, it became clear that this disease couldn’t be cured with the help of medicine, and right now she was being hunted.
At first, these ponies had been docile. Sure, she had been a bit creeped out by their mindless gaze, emotionless look, and white eyes, but they didn’t really do anything to spread the infection. When asked to follow, they did. When asked to lie down on a bed for examination, they did. It was only a few hours later that things turned south.
She was inside the hospital when it had happened. It had been filled to the brim with infected ponies because the majority of Canterlot had been infected by the virus. She didn’t see it herself but it was rumored that the Princesses were infected as well. Either way, she was standing guard at one of the doors when she heard a piercing scream and rumbling behind her. Turning her head to look inside the room, she gasped at what she saw.
All of those infected ponies had either pounced or grabbed the nurses and doctors inside the room. They tried to resist, naturally, but in some weird way the infected ponies were a lot stronger. Her eyes darted over the entire room before landing on a nurse, pink maned with a light milky white coat. She was screaming loudly; her scream was so piercing that Spitfire could have sworn the glass beside her was going to break. Spitfire moved to rescue her, but she was too late. The pony lying on top of her, a red stallion with an orange mane, kissed her.
At the time, Spitfire didn’t know what that meant, so she had flown over and pulled the stallion off of the mare, slamming him against the wall with a loud thud. It had disorientated him a little it seemed, because he shook his head and fell to the floor. That had given her enough time to turn around and help the mare.
She couldn’t. She was too late. Spitfire noticed the mare’s breathing, deep and fast but slowly calming down. But what shocked Spitfire the most were her eyes. Filled with fear at first, they began to dim before her pupils and irises faded, leaving only a white orb behind.
Spitfire might not have been a doctor or nurse, but she definitely knew what that meant. She had been infected. A kiss, a few seconds contact, was enough to infect another pony. So shocked at what she saw, Spitfire didn’t notice the stallion behind her getting up before grabbing her wrists tightly.
“Ah! Let go of me!” She shouted, pulling against his grip, trying to free herself. The stallion’s grip was quite strong, though. It almost felt like rope, never budging, knowing just how he had to grab her in order to prevent her escape.
Suddenly, a small shuffling could be heard in front of her and she turned her head. Her worst fears had come true. The mare who had just been lying there was standing up, looking directly at her. “Target located. Activating conversion protocols.” She stated in a monotone and robotic voice.
The mare moved in for the kill. Moved in for the kiss. But Spitfire had been trained in martial arts and she was determined to get out of this situation somehow.
“Like hell you will!” she shouted, raising one of her legs and kicking the drone behind her, right against his shin. The drone didn’t seem to be affected by the pain she had just caused him but there was still the slightest reaction to her kick… his grip.
As the drone lost his grip on her arms, Spitfire spread her wings and kicked the drone once again the process. She flew up, just in time to evade the grasp and kiss of the mare drone in front of her. A quick look around the room gave her an indication on just how grave the situation was. All the nurses and all the doctors had been infected, looking just like those who were first infected. She was, right now, the only pony in the room who was still herself.
She couldn’t waste any time. She had to get out of here and find her fellow guards. At the moment, regrouping and coming up with a plan was the priority here. Spitfire turned and flew to the door, racing through the open doorway before quickly slamming it shut behind her, locking it with the key, and trapping the drones inside.
“I’m sorry, but this is for your own well being,” she said, looking through the glass of the door. Against her expectations, they hadn’t pursued her at all. They just seemed to stare forward into nothingness, just mindlessly gazing ahead. After a few second, though, they spoke up, all at once.
“Applying Drone Suit.” they all stated in sync before a shiny, fluid-like fabric began to wash over their bodies, eating away clothing and replacing it with a shiny suit. It kind of looked like the fabric that she wore when she trained with the Wonderbolts, but her suit wasn’t as tight as the one that was on them.
Still, she had other concerns right now. She had locked them inside so they couldn’t escape via the door, which should give her enough time to flee the building. Which she did. Immediately.
“So, I left the building and flew to the nearest command center of the local guard. They were holding out, it seemed. They set up an evacuation while some stayed behind to buy us time to escape. I managed to flee with them, but it was only later that I heard that you were in Canterlot as well that day. You were captured and droned, Dash.” Spitfire explained, having finally finished her story.
To Dash, it took some time to wrap her head around it. She couldn’t remember that day at all! As if it had been wiped from her memory somehow. Still, she trusted Spitfire, so what the mare told her must have been true. “Five years… wow…” It felt like she had been napping the entire time actually, not able to remember much at all.
“Yes, five years Dash. You won’t remember much first, but in time your memories shall come back to you. And trust me, I’ve seen it before, those we save eventually get confronted by their memories of being a drone… and well, it will take some willpower to get over it. I have complete faith in you, of course.” That smile from Spitfire meant a lot to Dash; her idol believed in her!
Dash chuckled, though it was a really uncomfortable chuckle. “Yeah… memories… fun. Anyway, how did you free me? I mean, I remember waking up in a room and broken pipes all around me. Is that enough to free me?”
“Not at all, but it did help. You can see that we are quite advanced when it comes to technology, yes? Mainly by taking weapons and items left behind by the Robotic Empire after battles. But it did help with creating a weapon, a very powerful one. You were our first test subject, Dash. You… helped us test what might be the only way of freeing ponies from the Empire’s control.” She walked with Dash through the hallways, bringing her to the preparation room before bringing her to the main control room.
“Really? How?”
“Nanites.” Came Spitfire’s simple answer. “Just as the Empire uses nanites to take control of ponies, we’ll use them to make everypony free again. The pipe that blew up in the room you were in? Not a coincidence. That was our doing.”
“But… how did you do it?” Dash demanded.
“That’s classified, I’m afraid.” Came the short response and the look on Spitfire’s face clearly showed that she didn’t want to discuss that matter right now.
Ugh, military ponies and their classified orders. Dash decided to drop the subject for now. “So, you actually targeted me specifically?” It was quite confusing to Dash, that out of all ponies who could be freed, like the powerful Princesses, or the easy targets in the town, they decided to free her. “Why me?”
“Because you possess something that no other drone has, Dash. Loyalty. We didn’t know if the nanites would work on a normal drone because it didn’t have such powerful loyalty inside of them. You do. We knew that, if you were to get weaker programming, your loyalty would resist it and most likely break free. That was what happened.” She walked with Dash into the preparation room, pointing at a single chair in the middle of the room.
“Alright… so I understand that somehow you blew up the pipes, had nanites stored in them, infected me, and then my mind broke free thanks to my loyalty. What is that, exactly? The loyalty aspect, I mean? I thought it was just one of my personality traits?” She followed Spitfire’s instructions in the meantime, walking to the chair and sitting down.
“Yes and no. True, it’s a part of your personality, but it is something more as well. It’s magical and powerful. Your loyalty is magic, Dash! A very ancient one. One you and your five friends have been gifted with. Yes, I’m talking about the Elements of Harmony. Each aspect such a loyalty, honesty, kindness, and the others can all help in our fight against the drones. They are pure, only restricted by the drone programming but not corrupted. By freeing you… we can save ponies again, we can cure them. We can restore them to their former selves.” The way Spitfire spoke about that made it seem clear that she vastly believed in it and in these troubled times believing in something was something admirable. By believing, one had hope, one had the power to continue fighting. Dash could only respect that.
What I don’t understand is how that will affect the other drones? They don’t have loyalty.” Dash asked, cocking her head to the side.
“We have thought about that, no worries. All we have to do is infuse a bit of your essence of loyalty into the nanites and that shall help with breaking the drones free. But don’t worry, it won’t happen until later. For now, sit back and relax.” Spitfire softly instructed as she walked to a table which stood against the wall to the right. To the left of them stood a vat of highly, powerful acid, its use soon becoming clear to Dash.
The table held many different tools and items for Spitfire to use. To her right were all kinds of vials, small, large, thick, and all were filled with an eerie grey liquid. There were also a few empty vials, most of them placed against the wall. She didn’t need them right now though. No, the tools she needed had been placed to her left. Scissors, knives, sharp points, and a handheld laser device.
Grabbing the device, Spitfire turned and walked back to Dash. “So, there is just one thing we need to do before you can meet our leader. I need to take that suit off of you, as it still has some remnant nanites inside of it which might corrupt you again.”
Dash began to blush, knowing that she wasn’t wearing anything underneath the suit. Sure, the suit revealed her form a bit too well. After all, if one looked carefully, they could see the outline of her nipples or the spot between her legs but it still felt a bit better than being completely naked. “Do I have to?”
“Do you want to turn into a drone again?”
Dash shook her head.
“Thought so. Don’t worry, it’ll be like when we used to shower together when we both were still part of the Wonderbolts. You’ve seen my body, I’ve seen yours. Just think about that and everything shall be alright.” The voice was comforting to Dash and she visibly relaxed, starting to loosen her muscles a little.
“Sooo… why are the nanites dangerous again? I mean, I saw the headphones on the drones’ heads. Those control them, no?”
Dash flinched when she saw the laser turn on and for a moment she had thought it would burn her skin, but Spitfire was pretty careful not to do that. Instead, the orange pegasus started to laser Dash’s neck, cutting the latex over her throat in two and starting to go down.
“No, they don’t… well, not exactly. It has taken a while, but we have recently uncovered how the drones work. When they first get converted, they receive nanites in their body. I told you that in my story, right? However, while these nanites turn them into drones, it’s the headphones that gives them orders. They can still act without the headphones, just less efficiently.” Spitfire explained, now cutting down Dash’s shoulders and sides.
That was, at first, a bit hard to understand. It seemed that somehow the drones were controlled twofold. First, the nanites would convert them and keep them into a drone-like state while the headphones would give them orders to obey and follow. Only now it dawned on Dash how fundamentally controlled she had been.
“So in order to free a pony, taking the headphones off isn’t enough, is it? We also have to somehow destroy the nanites that have converted them?” She looked down, seeing her friend now working on her flank, her cutie mark appearing for the first time in five years.
“You catch on, good. But yes, simply taking the headphones on isn’t enough because then the drone goes into an automated cycle where it shall seek out the nearest control post to get another pair of headphones. And since the suit is the main producer of the nanites, we have to get it off of you before it starts to affect you again.”
At the moment, Spitfire was now working on Dash’s hips and upper legs. She was aware that she would see Dash naked but since they had seen each other naked in the Wonderbolts shower, she kept her composure and so did Dash. Still, Spitfire did have to admit that she had seen worse bodies. She had never seen the drones train like the Wonderbolts used to do but their bodies were quite fit. Somehow, the Empire must have found a way to keep the muscle mass on a drone’s body perfect.
“So, what exactly happens after this? After meeting your leader, I mean?” Dash asked, looking down as she held one arm over her breasts to cover herself a little. Dash liked to show off, but she wasn't that immodest
“Hmmm, the fight continues.” She simply replied, the laser cutting more and more downward, loosening the entire latex suit until it reached Dash’s latex boots. There, Spitfire had to turn up the power of the laser a bit since the boots were made out of a much stronger type of latex.
“We’ve been fighting for years and we shall keep fighting until we have freed all the ponies. And we do need you, Dash. Our numbers have been dwindling through the years but with you at our side, we know that we can be victorious in this fight. Foreign nations might even decide to intervene now.” She finally reached the end of the suit and turned off the laser. “There we go, you can step out completely now.”
Dash nodded and began to step out of the remaining suit which was hugging her body, feeling it fall away from her body like some kind of soft fabric. But she knew better. She knew what this suit was capable of. What it did to ponies. Stepping down on the cold, hard floor, she sighed deeply, a feeling of relief coming over her. She was truly free now.
“What do you mean, other nations? There are still unconverted nations in the world?”
“Oh, indeed. In fact, this Robotic Empire thing… it’s more of an Equestrian crisis than a global crisis, but it shall become global if Equestria falls completely. These drones don’t show any signs of stopping, after all.” Spitfire walked back to the table where she had taken the laser, putting it back down. “However, the other nations didn’t want to interfere, not even our so called allies of Zebrica.” Spitfire spat at the mere mention of Zebrica, a hatred for that country had formed deep inside of her.
“So… we’re alone in this thing, then?” Dash inquired before she saw Spitfire handing her a bra, underwear, a shirt, some pants, as well as a pair of comfortable shoes. All in all, with the black shirt and the jeans, she would look quite casual, as if nothing had happened in the world.
“Indeed. The other nations fear the Robotic Empire and don’t want to help us because they don’t want to see a robotic invasion into their lands. However, if we fall, an invasion shall happen either way, so they’re pretty much shooting themselves in the foot. Oh, by the way, we normally wear uniforms, but we don’t have your size yet. We’re working on it though, so you should have your uniform in a day or two.”
Spitfire grabbed the destroyed latex suit with her hands which were covered by a pair of protective rubber gloves. She walked over to a vat of highly concentrated hydrofluoric acid. Letting go, she dropped the suit into the acid, the substance immediately working on eating up the entire suit and thus, in turn, destroying the nanites.
Dash slipped on the bra and panties. They were perhaps a bit too big for her, especially since she wasn’t really known for having large breasts, but they would do for now. “Hmmm, that means I’ll have to fight in these clothes for now.”
However, a chuckle from Spitfire made her turn towards the mare with a frown on her face. “Oh Dash, I know you’re eager but we simply can’t allow you to fight immediately. You have been mentally enslaved for over five years, who knows what kind of effects might still linger in your mind. And besides, you must be exhausted as well. No, you’ll stay here until we deem that you are up for the fight.”
“What?!” Came the immediate outburst. “But the ponies! My friends! I need to save them. I can’t let them stay like… well, how I was.”
“And you shall, in time. Not right now. Remember, Dash, we are outnumbered here. Perhaps a hundred to one. In just one battle they can defeat us all. This isn’t a total war, this is guerrilla warfare. We need to pick our battles carefully, work from the shadows, and thus patience is key here. Without proper planning, we are doomed. That’s why you’re not in charge, after all.” Spitfire motioned with her finger for Dash to follow her back out of the room.
“I know that I’m not in charge here, but still, it feels wrong abandoning my friends like this.” She sighed before following Spitfire out of the room, having fully dressed herself.
“Oh, trust me, I felt the same way when Cloudsdale fell, when I saw all my cadets being taken by those drones. I wanted to go in there, save them, but I knew that it would only lead to me joining them. No, sometimes retreating and waiting is the better option. But you’re not alone in this, Dash. We are all here to help you.” Spitfire walked past one of the resistance soldiers who handed her a folder.
“Ah, is this the report from our reconnaissance of Silent Creek?” She asked, looking at the soldier. She was a mare, with a white coat and a mint green mane and tail. Her eyes were a soft purple, and constantly looked at Spitfire.
Angel Grace nodded quickly. “Yes, Captain, our observation party has managed to return without getting noticed. You’ll read the full details in the folder but I can tell you that the town of Silent Creek is mostly deserted by now. There are still a few drones who are working on exploiting its natural ore reserves, but they won’t be a real threat if we attack them.”
“Hmmm, I shall take it to the Commander. She’ll decide if we’ll attack the town or not.” Nodding, she allowed Angel Grace to leave again before continuing her walk to the Commander’s office.
“So, the Commander, who is she?” Dash inquired, keeping her eyes peeled for anything abnormal in this base. Applejack would have called it paranoia, but Dash was aware that all of this could be a trap set up by the drones and their Empire somehow, even though it seemed highly unlikely.
“You know what they say about curiosity, Dash… but honestly, have patience. I don’t want to spoil the surprise.” There was a slight tone of glee in Spitfire’s voice, playful even.
After a quick march through the base, the two ponies walked into another office, this one actually larger than all the others in the base. Spitfire took a step to the side and Dash could finally gaze at the back of the Commander, her mouth dropping open.
“No… it can’t be…”
The Commander turned around, her blue eyes looking at Dash, pink mouth smiling. “Rainbow Dash, it’s so good to see you again!” Pinkie’s eyes teared up a bit and she ran over to Dash, hugging her friend tightly, to the point that she didn’t want to let go, even if she suffocated Dash in the process.
The pegasus mare didn’t mind, though. Her friend was here! She had thought all of her friends had been taken by the drones. But no, Pinkie was here, leading the resistance. Just like Pinkie, Dash couldn’t hold back her tears and cried into Pinkie’s neck, the two not wanting to let go.
After a minute of hugging tightly and allow each other to express their emotions in this teary manner, they pulled away again and looked at each other. Only now Dash could see how different Pinkie looked.
The most obvious change was her mane and tail. They were deflated, not their vibrant pink color and fluffy all over but instead a darker shade of pink. Dash could understand that, of course, this world would do a number of things on a pony’s mood. But the most disturbing change was the giant scar across Pinkie’s face, starting at her right eye and going down in a diagonal pattern, going to the left end of her mouth.
“Pinkie, what happened?” Dash examined the scar. It was deep, recently healed as well.
“Oh, that… that’s nothing, Dash. At least nothing you need to worry about.”
Dash wasn’t happy with that answer, but she did realize that she couldn’t push Pinkie for answers. She was just so glad to see her friend again, after such a long time of being a drone. She gave Pinkie one final hug before letting go and taking a step back. “How have you… well, been doing?”
“Honestly, times are hard.” Pinkie replied and walked back to her desk. Her usual upbeat and happy personality was hard to find at the moment but considering the current situation, it was understandable. “We’re getting hit from all sides by the drones. We’re not the only resistance base, you see, but with every passing week, fewer and fewer bases report in. If something doesn’t change soon, we’ll be defeated in less than two months.”
The situation was indeed very, very grave. If one had to put Equestria into statistics, then about 90 percent of the entire country had been taken over. Only a few lingering resistance bases here and there, as well as the only free city, Las Pegasus, still managed to put up some kind of fight. But Las Pegasus was under constant siege, and the drones were actively seeking out and destroying resistance bases, so it was quite clear who was on the losing side.
Dash looked at the map on Pinkie’s desk, seeing where the bases were located and how the frontlines around Las Pegasus had been developing over the past few weeks. It seemed that the Resistance wasn’t backing down without a fight, making the drones fight for every inch of land around Las Pegasus. “So, we’re losing?”
“Yes, that’s the gist of it.”
“But, what about your recent development? I mean, the nanites you used to save me? Can’t you use that to fight the drones and save Equestria?” Dash sat down in front of the desk. Surely something had to be done.
Pinkie looked at Spitfire who nodded back. “Spitfire told you about your loyalty, correct? And how it was key in freeing you? Well, then she also told you that it won’t work on other ponies like that because they don’t have loyalty.”
“Then just take my loyalty and use it so save the other ponies.”
“It’s not that simple. Dash, what we did with you, how we saved you. It was, perhaps, a whole lot of luck. It was a gamble, an experiment. We didn’t know if it would work or not. Therefore, I asked willing resistance members, members who wouldn’t mind giving their life for this, to try and save you. It worked, but now comes the hard part. Your loyalty needs to be infused with the nanites, but it needs to happen in such a way that we don’t harm you, our only source of loyalty. Basically, we’re still developing the technology needed for the nanites to work.” It was a pretty big explanation but it all came down to the point that they just weren’t ready yet to launch such an offense against the drones.
Dash has always been a brash mare, a mare who wanted things to happen immediately and that flaw in her personality once again showed itself. “Are you serious?” She asked irritated, smashing her hand on the oaken desk. “You saved me but you don’t know what comes after? I know you’re not a planner like Twilight and neither am I, but at least you must have some idea as to what to do next?”
“Dash, you’re not listening! I told you what comes next. We develop the required technology and then use your loyalty.” Pinkie countered, keeping herself calm and composed.
“And how long will that take, huh? Weeks? Months? And what about the ponies during this time? How many get killed? How many become drones? Are you willing to hand over all those ponies to the drones just because the technology isn’t ready yet?”
Pinkie sighed, looking down at the floor. “Trust me, saving ponies is the only thing I want to do right now. I want to help them and how I wished that the technology was ready, but that’s just how it is, Dash, that’s just how it is right now. I promise you that we will save ponies, that we will rescue them, but all in due time. For now, you get some rest, and we’ll develop the technology. Do not worry, we’ll send you on rescue missions soon enough. Dash… I’m glad you’re with us again.”
Another hug was shared between the two elements, and although Dash wasn’t really satisfied with having to wait, the voice in the back of her mind told her that Pinkie was right. It would be foolish to attack immediately, without having the required weapons to fight the drones. For now, biding her time would be better.
“Yeah, I’m glad I’m back as well, Pinkie. Thank you for saving me… thank you all for saving me.” Smiling, she let go of her friend and allowed one of the guards to lead her to her new room. Actually, some rest sounded really good right now.
Back in one of the many bases of the Robotic Empire, the former Twilight Sparkle marched through the silver, shiny hallways, her strides stiff and rigid, only one thought in her mind. At the moment it was quite hard to recognize any aspect of Twilight’s former life, aside from her outward appearance and even then only her head remained visible, the rest of her body covered in a tight, smooth, latex suit.
T-638 eventually marched into the Control Room, the room where she guided the entire base and the surrounding city of Ponyville, though it was now known as City-02. “Status Report!” She ordered, voice devoid of emotion, showing not a single bit of care for her fellow units. Only her tasks were important to her, only obedience, and after the failure of getting Dash back, she knew that she wasn’t allowed to make any more mistakes.
A unit walked over, saluting the Prime Drone. Her white coat, purple-rose mane, and the horn on her head immediately betrayed who this mare was. Sweetie Belle, now an adult, had been droned as well, put into an aging machine, and was then sent off to T-638’s base to help the Prime Drone as one of her personal assistant drones.
“Hail the Controller!” The now S-701 shouted before handing the Prime Drone a tablet. “We have sent out several search parties in order to locate the escaped drone. At the moment, no viable results have been reported but we are in the process of analyzing the remnants of the hovercraft’s exhaust in order to locate its travel pattern.”
“Understood. These results are not acceptable, S-701. The Controller does not approve of drones breaking their programming or escaping, and because this unit is responsible for this situation, we must do everything in our power to find R-547.” T-638 replied, showing her disappointment in the results, but of course without any kind of true emotion.
Even though T-638 was completely at fault here and had no right to give critique to her drones about this, S-701 didn’t voice her opinion about it, mainly because she didn’t have one. She had been programmed to obey and if her Prime Drone was disappointed in her, then so be it, then she just had to work harder.
“Understood, Prime Drone. We do have another path we could look into.”
“State your idea.” The purple Prime Drone commanded as she marched to the center of the room and sat down on her command chair where she had a clear look over all of the working drones in the room.
“We have picked up a few audio files in a nearby, abandoned hut in Forest-01, the former Everfree Forest. After analyzing the audio on the files, we have calculated the location of a possible resistance base. The coordinates of the possible base are being uploaded to your tablet as we speak.” S-701 stated before looking down at the tablet with her Prime Drone as the map appeared on it.
“Understood.” T-638 began, and observed the map, the possible resistance base located deep inside the Everfree. “This unit has noticed that your calculations point this base near the center of the forest. It is remarkable that you have positioned the possible location there because there is nothing there aside from the Tree of Harmony. Do you believe they are located there?”
“Affirmative, Prime Drone. Even though there are no caves at that location which can house a possible resistance base, the Tree of Harmony is a power source which they might be able to utilize for their own uses, provided they have the technology.” S-701 wasn’t as smart as her Prime Drone, which was also why T-638 was the Prime Drone and not her, but when it came to maps and intelligence gathering, there was no better drone than S-701.
“If you were any other drone, this unit would have disregarded your calculations, S-701. However, you have proven your worth in the past so this unit shall investigate this lead. We shall inform the Zebra Drone Z-103 to take 9 other units and head to the Tree of Harmony. If there truly is a resistance base there, the unit shall inform us and we shall send reinforcements.” With a nod, T-638 handed the tablet back and used her mental connection to the Zebra Drone in Forest-01.
“They shall not escape this time…” T-638 said to herself before looking at the screen in front of her, ready to control her part of the Empire today.
About a day later, Dash woke up from her sleep. It was quite clear to her that she had really, really needed that sleep. Her body had been exhausted and her mind hadn’t been thinking all that well yesterday. She had to apologize to Pinkie for her outburst from yesterday. It wouldn’t feel right to just start her day as if nothing had happened.
After putting on her dark green shirt and pants, as well as a pair of black combat boots, she walked out of her room. She looked like the other resistance members now, part of some kind of army, the desire to save the drones from their fate and destroy whatever caused this mess.
However, as she walked through the hallways, she could see and hear some kind of commotion happening. Ponies were walking around in quite the hurry, talking to each other about an attack. Something had happened while she had been sleeping, Dash was sure of that, but what exactly had happened she didn’t know.
Still, it seemed important and she hurried to Pinkie’s office. Walking inside the office, she noticed Pinkie and Spitfire pointing at a map, their backs turned to Dash.
“What happened?” Dash inquired, walking over to the two.
Pinkie was the first to turn around and sighed. “Something bad. It appears that the drones somehow located one of our refugee camps inside the Everfree. We thought that it was safe. Even the drones do not enter the Everfree most of time, and since it’s so large we believed that it would be very hard for them to find the refugees. They are just kids and elderly…”
“What… so what happened?” It was a stupid question, Dash knew exactly what had happened, what would always happen.
“They got attacked. We don’t know if some managed to hide and save themselves from a drone fate, but it would be wrong to leave any survivors there. I know you won't accept staying behind for something like this. You're too valuable to lose. But I know that won't stop you. So, you'll be going with Spitfire and Soarin, like before. Head to the Everfree and locate any survivors. Please... save them.
“I will. Don’t worry, I will.” And with that, Dash sped out, immediately flying to the hangar bay.
Author's Note
After a long wait, it's finally here! Sorry it took so long. I hired more editors and they each took a look at it! Hope you had fun reading.
