Equestrian VS. Machineby Robert Emerald FountainChaptersRegretBreaking In And Rescuing Twilight's FriendsExtracting Nyxia StarstrikeVICTORYPlan of ActionTo the Front LinesCrashing the RealmRegretAuthor's Note FYI: This story partially follows the premise of "The Matrix". Regret Twilight Sparkle and Flurry Heart had escaped the machines' clutches and found where Neighsay had set up a base in the wilderness along with a handful of other citizens from Equestria at an early point in the war. The sky was no longer sunny, as the machines were once dependent on solar power. To counteract this, Flurry Heart had cast a spell to block the sunlight by wrapping dark storm clouds around the globe. Starlight Glimmer was the only one of Twilight's friends that had evaded capture in the beginning. Her other friends had been captured by the machines. Starlight's location was unknown, so it was assumed that the machines had captured her at this point. Neighsay had been having a mental breakdown since the beginning of the war. It was his own dream to create an automated system that would assist with keeping track of records and archives of recent events. 20 years ago, the AI had started creating its own mechanical beings and arming them with weapons. When the robots began attacking Equestria, Neighsay came to realize that his own creation had turned against him. He soon returned to his senses and later called a meeting With Twilight and her niece. When they arrived in his office, they immediately saw that he was wearing a badge that signified him as the Commander. "I regret creating Artificial Intelligence at such an early time. I was not aware that my own creation would betray me and start a war against us," Neighsay said to Twilight and Flurry. "It isn't your fault. You didn't know this would happen. Aunt Twilight and I are lucky we managed to break out of the "Realm" that the machines created," Flurry replied. "She's right, Neighsay. If we had been in there for any longer, we'd probably have been killed trying to get away," Twilight added. "What is this "Realm" you are talking about?", Neighsay asked out of confusion. "The "Realm" is a computer generated reality where strict order is kept by the machines. We do not know how we were taken out. All we remember is we suddenly felt dizzy and we collapsed in agonizing pain. When we woke up, we were in fluid-filled pods with breathing tubes down our throats. We sat up and broke through the membranous layer over the pods and saw that we were in a gigantic cave among thousands of other captives. As we pulled the breathing tubes out, we felt as if something was pulling on us and discovered that cables were connected to halos that contacted these spots around our heads. There was also a cable that connected to a port that ran to our heart. The cables started breaking off of us and we were pulled down tubes by the current that the fluid created as it flowed out of the pods. We splashed into a pool and began swimming toward ladders. I cast a spell to block the sunlight and hopefully stop the machines. As we started making our way to find shelter, we came across Starlight who told us about the "Realm" and that the machines were capturing citizens from around the world and killing others. She led us to where she had set up a hacking point to rescue us from the "Realm". She gave us some of the equipment that she had stolen from the machines for us to bring here.", Flurry explained. "She also told us that the captured citizens were being used as a secondary power source in case the sun was blocked. Now, the machines run completely on bioelectricity. She led us to another cave where smaller pods were held on tree-like structures. We managed to sneak through and discovered that the machines are spawning new captives by using bioengineering." Neighsay was disgusted by the testimony. He could not believe that his creation had done all of this. However, there was one more thing he didn't understand. When Twilight and Flurry walked into his office, he noticed swollen purple spots on their front legs. He asked what those were. He was in for a nasty surprise. "According to Starlight, the machines administer nutrients through intravenous lines to keep the captives alive in the real world.", Twilight stated. "How can they do that? Without the sun, all of the vegetation is dead." "Good question, you may want to have a bag ready because the process might make you throw up. The machines liquify the dead and pump extracted nutrients through the IV lines. It doesn't matter if they use the captives that have died or if they have dug up the dead from cemeteries, they use it all.", Flurry explained. As soon as he heard that the machines were liquifying the dead, Neighsay heaved and threw up. Once he had recovered, he spoke again. "That is downright nasty. I can't believe that this is going on." Twilight indicated that she and Flurry had found a damaged aircraft and repaired it so they could travel faster. They led Neighsay to where they had landed it in the base and had him get on so he could see what they had told him. It had two seats in the cockpit and two bench seats in the back. At the top were two rings with giant rotors that would tilt for steering. This vehicle was also equipped with guns for defense and they had recently been reloaded. As Twilight started up the rotors and Flurry contacted the gate command post that they were leaving, Neighsay got himself situated and put on his breathing mask because the atmosphere outside the base had recently become unhealthy. Once the gates began to open, Flurry disengaged the landing magnets and they took off. As they flew across the ravaged land, Neighsay saw those that were still fighting the machines. The Equestrians were holding strong, but the machines were forcing them back. Twilight flicked a switch to drop a bomb into the middle of the machine army. The bomb was cloaked from the machines, but the Equestrians saw it coming. It fell to the ground and exploded, taking out 90 percent of the machines, which allowed the Equestrians to charge forth and conquer more ground. Meanwhile, Twilight continued to fly their gunship over the machines' base and landed in a shielded area where they would not be seen. They trekked into the cave where the captives were being grown for implantation to the Realm. Neighsay gagged when he saw how many there were. The cave stretched downward for miles. Flurry led the way along a path that took them to where she and Twilight were held. He saw bolts of electricity travelling upward as energy was pulled from the captives to power the equipment for the machines. Twilight motioned him to follow her to where the nutrients were harvested. He saw a continuous overhead conveyor moving buckets filled with corpses toward a huge tank filled with a dissolving fluid. He watched in muted horror as one bucket tipped and dumped three corpses into the tank. Numerous pumps ran the nutrient fluid from the tank to the IV lines that fed the captives. "PSSST, come here.", they heard someone whisper. They saw a masked pony in the shadows and followed it into a hidden room. The pony took off her mask. It was Starlight. She was not captured. She showed them a crate filled with more equipment that she had stolen from the machines. "I will follow you back to your base. This equipment will help us rescue more of the captives and help us win this war." Determined, Neighsay shook hooves with her and she loaded the crate onto a jet she had built from other pieces she had taken. She took off once she saw the gunship and followed them. On the gunship, Twilight had Neighsay put on a headset to inform the ground troops that equipment was being gathered to rescue the captives and help end the war. The troops cheered when they saw Starlight's jet carrying the equipment in the direction of the base. Soon, Starlight had landed and workers were unloading her cargo to create an apparatus for hacking into the Realm on a larger scale. Breaking In And Rescuing Twilight's FriendsAs Twilight and Flurry began powering up the platform to enter the Realm, Starlight took her seat in the cockpit. When the headbands had made contact with Twilight and Flurry, their eyes snapped shut and their minds entered the digital world of the Realm. They found themselves in a room on the top floor of a tall building in Las Pegasus. All of the equipment that Starlight had laid out for them was already set up. "Getting my friends out of here should not be too hard.", Twilight said calmly. "You got that right. They have been trying to get out ever since they figured out what the Realm was.", Flurry Heart added. Twilight switched on her headset radio and informed Starlight that they were in the Realm. After getting confirmation that Starlight had received the message, Twilight and Flurry began searching the city for Twilight's friends. They did not have to search for long. They came across Rainbow and Fluttershy in a flash when they left the building. Flurry instructed them to gather the others and meet them on the bottom floor. After waiting for a few hours, Rainbow and Fluttershy returned with Pinkie, Rarity, and Applejack. Rarity had some bad news for Twilight and Flurry. "The machines have gotten suspicious of tampering ever since you two vanished. They have doubled the patrols, which is why it took a while for us to reach you. We could have been severely tortured if we were caught." Twilight understood what Rarity was saying and quickly led everyone inside and to the top floor. Rainbow told Twilight where to find Nyxia while the trace program was being used to find everyone. "She works at a weapons testing facility just north of Canterlot. She is a unicorn with black fur and a crimson-red mane. Her cutie mark looks like a spiral galaxy. Be careful when trying to get to her, because security programs are already keeping tabs on her for awkward behavior at work." Twilight took notes of this and relayed it to Starlight. Flurry gave instructions on what to do when they woke up in the real world. "Once you have landed in water, swim towards the flashing red light. That is where our aircraft is. We will nurse you back to health and then take you to our base." One at a time, the five ponies were hooked to the tracking apparatus and their locations were found in the holding cave. When everything was locked on, Starlight initiated a cutoff algorithm to release them from the Realm. They woke up in their respective capsules and splashed into the pool when the water drained out and pulled them free from the cables and headbands. Just as Flurry had said, they saw the light and swam over to it. They had their cable port and brain electrodes removed straight away as the ship flew back to the base. At the base, they were shown to their quarters and where they would be briefed for joining the war on the front lines. Extracting Nyxia StarstrikeStarlight edited the location of the extraction point to be at a random spot in Canterlot. She made sure it was kept hidden from the security protocols before clearing Twilight and Flurry to enter and get Nyxia out of the Realm. Once they were inside, they made sure to keep a low profile so they could watch for Nyxia to know when she left to go home. She would usually leave around sunset and then go straight home. "Starlight, I think the easiest way to reach Nyxia without getting spotted is to induce a storm that will cause a blackout at her worksite.", Flurry reported. "I agree with you. One severe thunderstorm coming right up.", Starlight replied in an instant. As the storm passed over Canterlot, multiple areas lost power as well as Nyxia's worksite. Nyxia received a phone call early in the morning from who she thought was her supervisor. She did not know it was Starlight who had masked her voice. "Mrs. Starstrike, this is your supervisor. Last night's storm knocked out the power at your worksite. I have established a temporary secondary site a few blocks down the road. You will see a radio dish on the roof." Nyxia acknowledged the call and went on with preparing for work. Upon stepping inside at the supposed substitute building, Flurry Heart locked the door behind Nyxia and led her to a room upstairs. Nyxia was not amused. "What is going on? I'm supposed to be doing my job here.", she hissed. "Nyxia, let me tell you why you are here. You know about something, but you can't explain it. Do you know what I am talking about?", Flurry said calmly. "You are most likely talking about "The Realm"." "Very good. The "Realm" is everywhere around you, even in this room. It is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to hide the truth from you." "What truth?" "The truth that you are a slave, Nyxia. Like everyone you know, you have grown up in a prison that you cannot smell, taste, or touch. It is a prison for your mind." Nyxia was confused. Flurry pulled out the red pill that would help track Nyxia down in the real world before Nyxia could say anything. "Take this pill, it will bring the answers to you.", Flurry explained. Nyxia quickly took the pill and washed it down with a drink of water. Flurry then led her through a door to a room with computers and a chair. Twilight guided Nyxia to the chair and had her sit down. Then she began looking over her readouts on the console that she was manning before Nyxia came in. "The pill you took is part of a tracing program. It's designed to disrupt you input/output carrier signal so we can pinpoint your location. Brace yourself.", Flurry said. "Target locked, I've got her.", Twilight said. "Starlight, cut her off, now.", Flurry said over her headset. Nyxia began to feel lightheaded, and then she couldn't see straight. Through her eyes, the world seemed to be pixelating and becoming sets of ones and zeroes. Then everything went black. She felt something wet around her body and started trying to sit up. She felt her head pierce through a membrane of some kind. Opening her eyes, she saw that she was surrounded by thousands of capsules full of a disgusting and viscous liquid. Then a headband broke off her head and a cable came unhooked from her chest. As the fluid began flowing out of her capsule, she felt herself getting pulled with it. A tube slid out of her mouth as she slid down a dark pathway and then fell into a pool of water. She was unconscious at this point and did not know what was going on. She woke up when she felt something grab under her back and lift her out of the water. She was looking into the faces of Twilight and Flurry Heart as she was wrapped in warm blankets. "Welcome to the real world.", Twilight said quietly as Nyxia slipped out of consciousness. When Nyxia woke up again, she was lying in a dimly lit bedroom. She was trying to figure out where she was when Flurry walked in. "Come with me. It's time for you to learn the full truth." Nyxia followed Flurry to a room where Neighsay was waiting. He told her everything about how Equestria was being modernized and how his attempt at creating Artificial Intelligence had gone awry and resulted in the war. Nyxia could not believe her ears and accepted the plans to work the weapon controls as a way of holding back the machine army. She was put through rigorous training so that she would know what to do if asked to arm or fire a weapon. At last, she was ready to join the weapons team in the control room. VICTORYEveryone was jubilant when they saw the machines' base fall. "YES!", crowed Rainbow. "YAY!", cried Pinkie. "YAHOO!", yelled Starlight. "YEEHAW!", screamed Applejack. Celebrations were held for months as the world marveled at the long expected end of the war against the machines. Equestria was rebuilt over the course of thirty years and Twilight and Flurry Heart reclaimed their spots on the thrones. The wreckage from the machines was collected and repurposed to continue the modernization of Equestria. Among the wreckage was Neighsay's Commander's badge. Twilight put it behind glass in the archives wing of the palace. Once everything was known about how difficult it was to create Artificial Intelligence, a new A.I. was created that was equipped with restraints to prevent control from getting out of hoof. This new A.I. was calibrated to ensure maximum peace in Equestria for many many years to come. Plan of ActionAmong the equipment that Starlight had snatched, there were sketches and blueprints that showed the layout of the machines' base and their linkage system. While the hacking platform was being set up, Twilight and Flurry Heart went to have the ports surgically removed from their hearts. The points where the headbands attached were only stickers and those would be removed later. After two months of assembly and programming, the platform was completed and the plan was formulated. Starlight called a meeting with Twilight and Flurry to discuss how the captives would be released. She led them to an aircraft that housed the platform and a medical wing. "While the ground troops and air force continue fighting the machine army, you two will go into the Realm and track down 6 certain captives. I have equipped your digital selves with special I/O disruptors that are disguised as red-colored gel capsules that will help you pinpoint their locations in the holding cave, along with equipment to track down and extract the captives. Also, I have sabotaged part of the Realm to be an extraction point for the captives. You must get them to this area in order for the extraction to work properly. When you go in, you will show up at this area and find the equipment laid out for you. Five of the captives are Twilight's other friends, and the sixth one is a young weapons specialist by the name of Nyxia Starstrike, who has never seen the real world. She is one of the thousands that was grown from bioengineering. I suggest you go in and take them out two at a time. I will be in radio contact with you at all times. I have also edited the appearance of your digital selves so that the security programs in the Realm will not alert the machines of break-ins. Once everyone is rescued and nursed back to health, I will send you and the five to help the soldiers. Nyxia will stay here to take command of the long-range weapons after she is taught the truth. Neighsay will go to the machines' base to confront and destroy the leader. He knows that this will be dangerous and may result in his death, but he insisted on being the one to do it. He said that he should be the one to do this because he created the A.I. and he let it get out of hoof." Twilight and Furry accepted the plan and began gearing up to break into the Realm. To the Front LinesOnce Twilight's friends had recovered from their surgeries to remove the ports and had geared up, they boarded the dropship to join the troops. Armed with laser rifles, they opened fire on the mechanical soldiers that were attacking them and began driving them back slowly and steadily. Sometimes, a call was sent to the base to fire a weapon into the center of the machines' squadrons. Missiles flew and detonated like fireworks as they took out the soldiers. Shrapnel from the wreckage would often leave nasty cuts on the troops, but they would be taken out quickly and bandaged. After the 20 long years and many arduous months of constant fighting, the troops finally reached the outskirts of the machine army's base. They began shooting everything they had at the defense turrets in hopes of disabling them. Unfortunately, the weapons hardly made a dent on the defense systems. Rainbow had an idea and talked it over with Twilight and Flurry. "If we shot a maximum strength missile at the base's main reactor, it would neutralize the power long enough for Neighsay to get in and stop the machine leader." "We see your point, but this would be an extremely difficult plan. If Neighsay takes off before the missile is fired, he will be shot down. If he takes off at the same time as the missile, then the explosion will take him out and we will lose our only chance at stopping the machine army's leader. If he launches too late, then the power will be restored before he can land and he will be killed. We only have one shot at this, so we need to make it count.", Flurry said nervously as she worked out the plan of attack. The plan was set for Neighsay to launch exactly twenty seconds after the missile was fired. He got ready with a program disc that he had written to overload the machine leader's computer system and activate the self-destruct. He flew his aircraft outside the base to await deployment. When the time came for the missile to launch, he switched on a timer that was calibrated to count down once the missile left the launch duct. Once this timer reached zero, his jet would fly on auto-pilot to a clearing below the leader's tower. He heard a deep rumble as the missile's engines ignited and began building thrust. He watched as the missile flew forth and his timer started counting down. He braced for the g-force and his jet sped off when the timer reached zero. He saw the flash from the explosion and prepared to eject from his seat. He blew the hatch open at precisely the right moment and parachuted down to the clearing. Once he had radioed in that he had entered the base, Twilight wished him good luck. Crashing the RealmNeighsay started climbing the structures that held up the leader's towering body. Once he had reached the entry hatch, he muscled it open and began crawling through the tight conduit. He knew that since it was so hard to worm his way through these narrow passages, he was going to die in the explosion. He stopped short to inform Twilight and Flurry. "The passages inside the leader's body are too narrow for me to escape quickly. I'm going to die, but I will die a hero." "Acknowledged, Neighsay.", replied Flurry. After six hours of constantly squeezing through the towering body of the machine leader, Neighsay reached the core and pulled out his disc. He had just inserted the disc into the main drive when the power came back on. A camera spotted him and a claw picked him up. "Master, I see you have entered my core.", the leader said in a digital voice. "Yes I have, and this is the end of the war.", Neighsay spat back as the claw held him up in front of the leader's eyes. "What are you . . .?", the leader started. The leader was cut off as the disc's programming began infecting the wires that ran throughout the core. The self-destruct mechanism was engaged and the 30-second timer started counting down. When the timer hit zero, explosions began occurring all over the place inside the leader's mechanical body. The claw broke loose and Neighsay started falling to the bottom. He closed his eyes as he accepted his destiny. He landed hard and broke all four of his legs on the steel floor. Pieces of metal rained down around him, and some even impaled him through his heart, throat, and eyes. The temperature began rising higher and higher until the tower blew up in a burning hot fireball. Outside in the base and on the battlefield, the machine soldiers began shutting down and breaking apart. Fires broke out and wires came unhooked from terminals. Inside the Realm, all of the captives let out bloodcurdling screams as the world they were in started disintegrating. They all woke up in the holding cave and were released from their bindings into the waiting hooves, talons, and claws of the citizens of Equestria that would nurse them to health. Once everybody was accounted for, Flurry Heart charged a blast that would stop her spell that blocked the sun. When she released the blast, the sky became lit again.
RegretAuthor's Note FYI: This story partially follows the premise of "The Matrix". Regret Twilight Sparkle and Flurry Heart had escaped the machines' clutches and found where Neighsay had set up a base in the wilderness along with a handful of other citizens from Equestria at an early point in the war. The sky was no longer sunny, as the machines were once dependent on solar power. To counteract this, Flurry Heart had cast a spell to block the sunlight by wrapping dark storm clouds around the globe. Starlight Glimmer was the only one of Twilight's friends that had evaded capture in the beginning. Her other friends had been captured by the machines. Starlight's location was unknown, so it was assumed that the machines had captured her at this point. Neighsay had been having a mental breakdown since the beginning of the war. It was his own dream to create an automated system that would assist with keeping track of records and archives of recent events. 20 years ago, the AI had started creating its own mechanical beings and arming them with weapons. When the robots began attacking Equestria, Neighsay came to realize that his own creation had turned against him. He soon returned to his senses and later called a meeting With Twilight and her niece. When they arrived in his office, they immediately saw that he was wearing a badge that signified him as the Commander. "I regret creating Artificial Intelligence at such an early time. I was not aware that my own creation would betray me and start a war against us," Neighsay said to Twilight and Flurry. "It isn't your fault. You didn't know this would happen. Aunt Twilight and I are lucky we managed to break out of the "Realm" that the machines created," Flurry replied. "She's right, Neighsay. If we had been in there for any longer, we'd probably have been killed trying to get away," Twilight added. "What is this "Realm" you are talking about?", Neighsay asked out of confusion. "The "Realm" is a computer generated reality where strict order is kept by the machines. We do not know how we were taken out. All we remember is we suddenly felt dizzy and we collapsed in agonizing pain. When we woke up, we were in fluid-filled pods with breathing tubes down our throats. We sat up and broke through the membranous layer over the pods and saw that we were in a gigantic cave among thousands of other captives. As we pulled the breathing tubes out, we felt as if something was pulling on us and discovered that cables were connected to halos that contacted these spots around our heads. There was also a cable that connected to a port that ran to our heart. The cables started breaking off of us and we were pulled down tubes by the current that the fluid created as it flowed out of the pods. We splashed into a pool and began swimming toward ladders. I cast a spell to block the sunlight and hopefully stop the machines. As we started making our way to find shelter, we came across Starlight who told us about the "Realm" and that the machines were capturing citizens from around the world and killing others. She led us to where she had set up a hacking point to rescue us from the "Realm". She gave us some of the equipment that she had stolen from the machines for us to bring here.", Flurry explained. "She also told us that the captured citizens were being used as a secondary power source in case the sun was blocked. Now, the machines run completely on bioelectricity. She led us to another cave where smaller pods were held on tree-like structures. We managed to sneak through and discovered that the machines are spawning new captives by using bioengineering." Neighsay was disgusted by the testimony. He could not believe that his creation had done all of this. However, there was one more thing he didn't understand. When Twilight and Flurry walked into his office, he noticed swollen purple spots on their front legs. He asked what those were. He was in for a nasty surprise. "According to Starlight, the machines administer nutrients through intravenous lines to keep the captives alive in the real world.", Twilight stated. "How can they do that? Without the sun, all of the vegetation is dead." "Good question, you may want to have a bag ready because the process might make you throw up. The machines liquify the dead and pump extracted nutrients through the IV lines. It doesn't matter if they use the captives that have died or if they have dug up the dead from cemeteries, they use it all.", Flurry explained. As soon as he heard that the machines were liquifying the dead, Neighsay heaved and threw up. Once he had recovered, he spoke again. "That is downright nasty. I can't believe that this is going on." Twilight indicated that she and Flurry had found a damaged aircraft and repaired it so they could travel faster. They led Neighsay to where they had landed it in the base and had him get on so he could see what they had told him. It had two seats in the cockpit and two bench seats in the back. At the top were two rings with giant rotors that would tilt for steering. This vehicle was also equipped with guns for defense and they had recently been reloaded. As Twilight started up the rotors and Flurry contacted the gate command post that they were leaving, Neighsay got himself situated and put on his breathing mask because the atmosphere outside the base had recently become unhealthy. Once the gates began to open, Flurry disengaged the landing magnets and they took off. As they flew across the ravaged land, Neighsay saw those that were still fighting the machines. The Equestrians were holding strong, but the machines were forcing them back. Twilight flicked a switch to drop a bomb into the middle of the machine army. The bomb was cloaked from the machines, but the Equestrians saw it coming. It fell to the ground and exploded, taking out 90 percent of the machines, which allowed the Equestrians to charge forth and conquer more ground. Meanwhile, Twilight continued to fly their gunship over the machines' base and landed in a shielded area where they would not be seen. They trekked into the cave where the captives were being grown for implantation to the Realm. Neighsay gagged when he saw how many there were. The cave stretched downward for miles. Flurry led the way along a path that took them to where she and Twilight were held. He saw bolts of electricity travelling upward as energy was pulled from the captives to power the equipment for the machines. Twilight motioned him to follow her to where the nutrients were harvested. He saw a continuous overhead conveyor moving buckets filled with corpses toward a huge tank filled with a dissolving fluid. He watched in muted horror as one bucket tipped and dumped three corpses into the tank. Numerous pumps ran the nutrient fluid from the tank to the IV lines that fed the captives. "PSSST, come here.", they heard someone whisper. They saw a masked pony in the shadows and followed it into a hidden room. The pony took off her mask. It was Starlight. She was not captured. She showed them a crate filled with more equipment that she had stolen from the machines. "I will follow you back to your base. This equipment will help us rescue more of the captives and help us win this war." Determined, Neighsay shook hooves with her and she loaded the crate onto a jet she had built from other pieces she had taken. She took off once she saw the gunship and followed them. On the gunship, Twilight had Neighsay put on a headset to inform the ground troops that equipment was being gathered to rescue the captives and help end the war. The troops cheered when they saw Starlight's jet carrying the equipment in the direction of the base. Soon, Starlight had landed and workers were unloading her cargo to create an apparatus for hacking into the Realm on a larger scale.
Breaking In And Rescuing Twilight's FriendsAs Twilight and Flurry began powering up the platform to enter the Realm, Starlight took her seat in the cockpit. When the headbands had made contact with Twilight and Flurry, their eyes snapped shut and their minds entered the digital world of the Realm. They found themselves in a room on the top floor of a tall building in Las Pegasus. All of the equipment that Starlight had laid out for them was already set up. "Getting my friends out of here should not be too hard.", Twilight said calmly. "You got that right. They have been trying to get out ever since they figured out what the Realm was.", Flurry Heart added. Twilight switched on her headset radio and informed Starlight that they were in the Realm. After getting confirmation that Starlight had received the message, Twilight and Flurry began searching the city for Twilight's friends. They did not have to search for long. They came across Rainbow and Fluttershy in a flash when they left the building. Flurry instructed them to gather the others and meet them on the bottom floor. After waiting for a few hours, Rainbow and Fluttershy returned with Pinkie, Rarity, and Applejack. Rarity had some bad news for Twilight and Flurry. "The machines have gotten suspicious of tampering ever since you two vanished. They have doubled the patrols, which is why it took a while for us to reach you. We could have been severely tortured if we were caught." Twilight understood what Rarity was saying and quickly led everyone inside and to the top floor. Rainbow told Twilight where to find Nyxia while the trace program was being used to find everyone. "She works at a weapons testing facility just north of Canterlot. She is a unicorn with black fur and a crimson-red mane. Her cutie mark looks like a spiral galaxy. Be careful when trying to get to her, because security programs are already keeping tabs on her for awkward behavior at work." Twilight took notes of this and relayed it to Starlight. Flurry gave instructions on what to do when they woke up in the real world. "Once you have landed in water, swim towards the flashing red light. That is where our aircraft is. We will nurse you back to health and then take you to our base." One at a time, the five ponies were hooked to the tracking apparatus and their locations were found in the holding cave. When everything was locked on, Starlight initiated a cutoff algorithm to release them from the Realm. They woke up in their respective capsules and splashed into the pool when the water drained out and pulled them free from the cables and headbands. Just as Flurry had said, they saw the light and swam over to it. They had their cable port and brain electrodes removed straight away as the ship flew back to the base. At the base, they were shown to their quarters and where they would be briefed for joining the war on the front lines.
Extracting Nyxia StarstrikeStarlight edited the location of the extraction point to be at a random spot in Canterlot. She made sure it was kept hidden from the security protocols before clearing Twilight and Flurry to enter and get Nyxia out of the Realm. Once they were inside, they made sure to keep a low profile so they could watch for Nyxia to know when she left to go home. She would usually leave around sunset and then go straight home. "Starlight, I think the easiest way to reach Nyxia without getting spotted is to induce a storm that will cause a blackout at her worksite.", Flurry reported. "I agree with you. One severe thunderstorm coming right up.", Starlight replied in an instant. As the storm passed over Canterlot, multiple areas lost power as well as Nyxia's worksite. Nyxia received a phone call early in the morning from who she thought was her supervisor. She did not know it was Starlight who had masked her voice. "Mrs. Starstrike, this is your supervisor. Last night's storm knocked out the power at your worksite. I have established a temporary secondary site a few blocks down the road. You will see a radio dish on the roof." Nyxia acknowledged the call and went on with preparing for work. Upon stepping inside at the supposed substitute building, Flurry Heart locked the door behind Nyxia and led her to a room upstairs. Nyxia was not amused. "What is going on? I'm supposed to be doing my job here.", she hissed. "Nyxia, let me tell you why you are here. You know about something, but you can't explain it. Do you know what I am talking about?", Flurry said calmly. "You are most likely talking about "The Realm"." "Very good. The "Realm" is everywhere around you, even in this room. It is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to hide the truth from you." "What truth?" "The truth that you are a slave, Nyxia. Like everyone you know, you have grown up in a prison that you cannot smell, taste, or touch. It is a prison for your mind." Nyxia was confused. Flurry pulled out the red pill that would help track Nyxia down in the real world before Nyxia could say anything. "Take this pill, it will bring the answers to you.", Flurry explained. Nyxia quickly took the pill and washed it down with a drink of water. Flurry then led her through a door to a room with computers and a chair. Twilight guided Nyxia to the chair and had her sit down. Then she began looking over her readouts on the console that she was manning before Nyxia came in. "The pill you took is part of a tracing program. It's designed to disrupt you input/output carrier signal so we can pinpoint your location. Brace yourself.", Flurry said. "Target locked, I've got her.", Twilight said. "Starlight, cut her off, now.", Flurry said over her headset. Nyxia began to feel lightheaded, and then she couldn't see straight. Through her eyes, the world seemed to be pixelating and becoming sets of ones and zeroes. Then everything went black. She felt something wet around her body and started trying to sit up. She felt her head pierce through a membrane of some kind. Opening her eyes, she saw that she was surrounded by thousands of capsules full of a disgusting and viscous liquid. Then a headband broke off her head and a cable came unhooked from her chest. As the fluid began flowing out of her capsule, she felt herself getting pulled with it. A tube slid out of her mouth as she slid down a dark pathway and then fell into a pool of water. She was unconscious at this point and did not know what was going on. She woke up when she felt something grab under her back and lift her out of the water. She was looking into the faces of Twilight and Flurry Heart as she was wrapped in warm blankets. "Welcome to the real world.", Twilight said quietly as Nyxia slipped out of consciousness. When Nyxia woke up again, she was lying in a dimly lit bedroom. She was trying to figure out where she was when Flurry walked in. "Come with me. It's time for you to learn the full truth." Nyxia followed Flurry to a room where Neighsay was waiting. He told her everything about how Equestria was being modernized and how his attempt at creating Artificial Intelligence had gone awry and resulted in the war. Nyxia could not believe her ears and accepted the plans to work the weapon controls as a way of holding back the machine army. She was put through rigorous training so that she would know what to do if asked to arm or fire a weapon. At last, she was ready to join the weapons team in the control room.
VICTORYEveryone was jubilant when they saw the machines' base fall. "YES!", crowed Rainbow. "YAY!", cried Pinkie. "YAHOO!", yelled Starlight. "YEEHAW!", screamed Applejack. Celebrations were held for months as the world marveled at the long expected end of the war against the machines. Equestria was rebuilt over the course of thirty years and Twilight and Flurry Heart reclaimed their spots on the thrones. The wreckage from the machines was collected and repurposed to continue the modernization of Equestria. Among the wreckage was Neighsay's Commander's badge. Twilight put it behind glass in the archives wing of the palace. Once everything was known about how difficult it was to create Artificial Intelligence, a new A.I. was created that was equipped with restraints to prevent control from getting out of hoof. This new A.I. was calibrated to ensure maximum peace in Equestria for many many years to come.
Plan of ActionAmong the equipment that Starlight had snatched, there were sketches and blueprints that showed the layout of the machines' base and their linkage system. While the hacking platform was being set up, Twilight and Flurry Heart went to have the ports surgically removed from their hearts. The points where the headbands attached were only stickers and those would be removed later. After two months of assembly and programming, the platform was completed and the plan was formulated. Starlight called a meeting with Twilight and Flurry to discuss how the captives would be released. She led them to an aircraft that housed the platform and a medical wing. "While the ground troops and air force continue fighting the machine army, you two will go into the Realm and track down 6 certain captives. I have equipped your digital selves with special I/O disruptors that are disguised as red-colored gel capsules that will help you pinpoint their locations in the holding cave, along with equipment to track down and extract the captives. Also, I have sabotaged part of the Realm to be an extraction point for the captives. You must get them to this area in order for the extraction to work properly. When you go in, you will show up at this area and find the equipment laid out for you. Five of the captives are Twilight's other friends, and the sixth one is a young weapons specialist by the name of Nyxia Starstrike, who has never seen the real world. She is one of the thousands that was grown from bioengineering. I suggest you go in and take them out two at a time. I will be in radio contact with you at all times. I have also edited the appearance of your digital selves so that the security programs in the Realm will not alert the machines of break-ins. Once everyone is rescued and nursed back to health, I will send you and the five to help the soldiers. Nyxia will stay here to take command of the long-range weapons after she is taught the truth. Neighsay will go to the machines' base to confront and destroy the leader. He knows that this will be dangerous and may result in his death, but he insisted on being the one to do it. He said that he should be the one to do this because he created the A.I. and he let it get out of hoof." Twilight and Furry accepted the plan and began gearing up to break into the Realm.
To the Front LinesOnce Twilight's friends had recovered from their surgeries to remove the ports and had geared up, they boarded the dropship to join the troops. Armed with laser rifles, they opened fire on the mechanical soldiers that were attacking them and began driving them back slowly and steadily. Sometimes, a call was sent to the base to fire a weapon into the center of the machines' squadrons. Missiles flew and detonated like fireworks as they took out the soldiers. Shrapnel from the wreckage would often leave nasty cuts on the troops, but they would be taken out quickly and bandaged. After the 20 long years and many arduous months of constant fighting, the troops finally reached the outskirts of the machine army's base. They began shooting everything they had at the defense turrets in hopes of disabling them. Unfortunately, the weapons hardly made a dent on the defense systems. Rainbow had an idea and talked it over with Twilight and Flurry. "If we shot a maximum strength missile at the base's main reactor, it would neutralize the power long enough for Neighsay to get in and stop the machine leader." "We see your point, but this would be an extremely difficult plan. If Neighsay takes off before the missile is fired, he will be shot down. If he takes off at the same time as the missile, then the explosion will take him out and we will lose our only chance at stopping the machine army's leader. If he launches too late, then the power will be restored before he can land and he will be killed. We only have one shot at this, so we need to make it count.", Flurry said nervously as she worked out the plan of attack. The plan was set for Neighsay to launch exactly twenty seconds after the missile was fired. He got ready with a program disc that he had written to overload the machine leader's computer system and activate the self-destruct. He flew his aircraft outside the base to await deployment. When the time came for the missile to launch, he switched on a timer that was calibrated to count down once the missile left the launch duct. Once this timer reached zero, his jet would fly on auto-pilot to a clearing below the leader's tower. He heard a deep rumble as the missile's engines ignited and began building thrust. He watched as the missile flew forth and his timer started counting down. He braced for the g-force and his jet sped off when the timer reached zero. He saw the flash from the explosion and prepared to eject from his seat. He blew the hatch open at precisely the right moment and parachuted down to the clearing. Once he had radioed in that he had entered the base, Twilight wished him good luck.
Crashing the RealmNeighsay started climbing the structures that held up the leader's towering body. Once he had reached the entry hatch, he muscled it open and began crawling through the tight conduit. He knew that since it was so hard to worm his way through these narrow passages, he was going to die in the explosion. He stopped short to inform Twilight and Flurry. "The passages inside the leader's body are too narrow for me to escape quickly. I'm going to die, but I will die a hero." "Acknowledged, Neighsay.", replied Flurry. After six hours of constantly squeezing through the towering body of the machine leader, Neighsay reached the core and pulled out his disc. He had just inserted the disc into the main drive when the power came back on. A camera spotted him and a claw picked him up. "Master, I see you have entered my core.", the leader said in a digital voice. "Yes I have, and this is the end of the war.", Neighsay spat back as the claw held him up in front of the leader's eyes. "What are you . . .?", the leader started. The leader was cut off as the disc's programming began infecting the wires that ran throughout the core. The self-destruct mechanism was engaged and the 30-second timer started counting down. When the timer hit zero, explosions began occurring all over the place inside the leader's mechanical body. The claw broke loose and Neighsay started falling to the bottom. He closed his eyes as he accepted his destiny. He landed hard and broke all four of his legs on the steel floor. Pieces of metal rained down around him, and some even impaled him through his heart, throat, and eyes. The temperature began rising higher and higher until the tower blew up in a burning hot fireball. Outside in the base and on the battlefield, the machine soldiers began shutting down and breaking apart. Fires broke out and wires came unhooked from terminals. Inside the Realm, all of the captives let out bloodcurdling screams as the world they were in started disintegrating. They all woke up in the holding cave and were released from their bindings into the waiting hooves, talons, and claws of the citizens of Equestria that would nurse them to health. Once everybody was accounted for, Flurry Heart charged a blast that would stop her spell that blocked the sun. When she released the blast, the sky became lit again.
