//Love Like You
Magic.
It was something Golden Ray's grandmother tried to pass onto him. The emotion. The beauty. The hope. The harmony of playing the tune of the universe. He was told of heroes using it to protect the world. Stories about tomorrow that were quickly replaced with wet, foggy streets, cold steel, and neon lights. As time went on, Equestria fell into a dark future. One where the benevolent rulers were replaced with vicious business ponies. A world where the heroes of the past disappeared in the spiral of highrises, the new castles of royalty. Where the citizens of Canterlot, and the other megacities of Equestria, had nothing to look to. Every dream and star was replaced with light of snowcrashed holo-crawls that hid the sky.
Because when the princesses died… the magic went with them.
“I’m home, nana.” Ray stared out to the foggy city below. Last time he was here, it was made of stone. Funny how fast technology advanced in only 20 years. It felt like the only organic thing left in the whole city was the small garden of sunflowers he was watering.
“Yo, mutt. You're cleaning after the eggheads today.” The other janitor snapped him out of his trance. “You can cry about the rain later, split-horn.”
Ray scoffed as soon as the pony was gone. Resting the watering pot on the floor with his magic, the edges of his glass flickered with gold reflecting off of his pupils. A small notification begged for his attention. With a thought, he opened it, revealing a call request from a specific friend of the family. Ray accepted the call.
“Ya in yet?” A voice rang in his ear.
Ray smiled, “I'm working on it.”
“Listen, I don’t think you understand how much it took to even get you the job.”
“Yeah,” He trotted down the glass hall, all the way to the elevator. A groan escaped his lips as the doors closed. The city of lights blurred as the platform raced down. “Lab tech would’ve been preem. I got a strong book, Vinyl.”
Vinyl Scratch cleared her throat causing Ray to tense a little.
“Sorry.” He rubbed the back of his neck.
She sighed. “It’s fine, just the code from now on.”
“Because DJ is sooo diff—“
“Just use it!” Vinyl cut him off hard enough to leave his ears ringing.
“My b,” After a few quick breaths, she continued. “But the corpses weren’t gonna take a runner so primitive.”
Ray snickered as the elevator doors rang open with practiced bravado. “My book is dirty, sure, but name a better runner.”
“My little Crashy.”
“Your daughter doesn’t count. She was raised with a book in one hoof and a net connection in the other.” Ray walked out into the empty floor. There was always something about the long, sleek, blue hallways of SomaTech’s buildings that bugged him. Was it the doors seamlessly disappearing into the walls? The blocky artificial lighting? Or maybe it was something in the very air itself...
“Sorry, but you haven’t seen what she has. Like I said, you’re still primitive.” Ray jumped a little as Vinyl helped disrupt his thoughts.
He stopped at a large, rectangular, handleless door in the hallway. ‘Lab’ was proudly written in lights above it.
“Hey, you don’t have to be so mean,” Ray scanned his badge on the wall console. It gave a beep and the lab door hissed open. “Besides, mine doesn’t leave a digital hoofprint behind.”
“So smart, your majesty.”
He groaned. “Ughhh… just use ‘Ray Ray’ like everyone else.”
“I’m good, kid.” Ray didn’t have to see Vinyl’s grin to feel it.
So he ignored her, and waited for the door to completely open. It screeched to a halt on the floor. The front plate was just a façade for the two meter thick steel behind; more akin to a vault than a normal door. Only a gap large enough for a single pony was presented. Ray squeezed and closed the door with a panel from the other side: a small area with a single, windowless door on the opposite end.
Something was bugging him. “Do you really think they’re in there?”
“Insider claims the Architect is in the system’s private sector. You need admin access for that.”
“Yeah?”
“Should’ve added ‘probably’ in front of that.”
“Ahhh,” Ray chuckled as he trotted through next door. “Preem! Nothing quite like throwing darts… blindfolded.”
He froze in the shadow of the monolith of metal, crystal, and wire that made up the center of the room. It wore the face of nature, with its many arms and fingers stretched out towards the— well, ceiling. But it was only a tree in form; a Trojan horse, a shell over unseen rot. Wires, glowing lavender, pumped dose after dose into its base, as if to replace its very blood with a synthetic drug. And just when you think that it was to make the tree cry to its god, question its purpose… That’s when the six crystals: the balloons, apples, butterflies, gemstones, lightning, and the spark, remind you of the same reality as Golden Ray. This was a virus, a drug, and god. It was a twisted Tree of Harmony.
“Vinyl, it’s… the elements!” He tried to keep his voice to shouted whisper.
For second, Ray thought the line was dead but after a few minutes Vinyl only could reply with, “O-okay.”
Even she was shaking.
The rest of the room was nothing special. Just lab equipment, personal computers, monitors, deep dive chairs, and vats of that same lavender goo.
“Oh Tia, what became of your kingdom?” Ray asked only to himself.
“So,” He took a moment to compose himself. “What now?”
“Dive. You should be fine for a few hours in this access point, though I doubt you’ll need it.”
“Well, see you on the other side.”
“Wait!” Vinyl shouted. “I can’t. Look kid, I’m good, but there’s no way I’m backdooring SomaTech’s inner system. But don’t worry. Still got the chip I gave you, right?”
Ray flipped the data shard out of his pocket with his magic. “Of course.”
“I wrote a little program for you,” She chuckled. “It’ll give you all the time in the world away from prying eyes.”
“Thanks.”
“By the way… what’s your plan after?”
“After we free them?” Ray couldn’t help but smile. “Well, then we fix the world.”
“I feel like you're missing a few steps there.”
“Nah… I don’t think I am.”
Vinyl practically sang her retort, “Whatever, your majesty.”
Ray bit his tongue before he could give her another snarky response. It was probably best if he just moved on. She wasn’t gonna stop.
The tag at the head of one of the chairs read: ‘Star Mane’s’. The rest of it was covered in little butterfly stickers, including the goggles hanging just above it all. The wires in the back were directly connected to the makeshift tree. Ray thought it was all adorable. Only giving the sight another breath of thought, before jumping on the computer next to it and booting it up.
The Saphire OS was standard for all SomaTech systems due to its modularity, but that came at a cost. Each and every system had one small error when the code was written. One no one was told about. That was enough for folks like Ray to… invite themselves in. A few days prior, Star Mane got an email: a ‘memo’ with an attachment. She opened it and, within a thousandth of a millisecond, her work computer was infected. Star Mane saw nothing, but in the background, a file was being copied to the OS’s system folder. There, it replaced a file named ‘taskmon.exe’ and created the file ‘holt.dll’ in the same directory. It was a backdoor Trojan that gave a user control of the system when the correct key was given, either locally or wirelessly. Even if the computer is rebooted or wiped, the same registry key would be recreated and run, allowing access. At the same time, whenever the computer connected to cyberspace, holt.dll would run. All before Star Mane’s lunch. And the error? Pony… it was just pony error.
When the screen finally prompted Ray for a password, he smiled and pulled out a slim black box and plugged it in. The computer immediately opened its command window and let him in upon connection with his key. Plugging in Vinyl’s gift, he powered up the chair and goggles. Ray walked over to the chair and laid down. He took sharp breaths as he grabbed the jack. He stopped it millimeters away from his neck’s neural port.
“I-I just plug it in directly, right…?” His voice shook as he asked Vinyl.
“Yeah,” Her usual crass tone melted into one of a mother. “It’ll feel weird, but it won’t hurt. Trust me.”
Ray nodded even though she couldn’t see her and plugged it in. His body instantly went limp as a wave of bugs crawled down his spine to the rest of his body. His whole body was unresponsive to his commands and all he could do was look up. The goggles above lowered slowly onto his eyes, but instead of blocking out all light… Ray could still see the room. Then…
The walls gave way and…
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Ray hit the floor. Everything around him was a sea of shimmering photons, the air of brown noise periodically drowned out by the pitter-patter of rain around him. He pushed himself up, only to be met with a reflection a breath away from his muzzle… but he was a golden nirik. Both stumbled back over their hooves. The nirik mimicked his movements perfectly.
“Stop copying me!” He was even thinking the same thing as Ray.
“Who’s me…?”
“I’m… Golden… Ra– oh,” He tightened his brow. “I understand.”
Ray chuckled. “Well, I hope so!”
“So, how do you want to deal with the whole name situation?”
Ray shrugged at himself.
The nirik cocked his head in response. “How about that old nickname we always wanted: Daybreaker?”
“Nah,” Ray couldn’t help but smirk as he booped his reflection. “Too on the muzzle.”
“You just wanna go with Golden, don’t you?”
Ray dramatically scoffed. “I never said that!”
“You didn’t have to, gluey. I am literally you.” Golden gave the most flat retort.
“Jokes on you, you made fun of us!”
“That’s a really stupid comeback.”
“I know…” Ray melted into his hooves.
Golden patted the air just above him. “Don’t worry about it too much, Ray Ray. We’re cringe together.”
The nirik’s body wasn’t completely black. Golden lines connected on him, not accentuating any body part particularly but the little sun centered on the collar bone weirdly stood out.
Ray studied the little lines coming off the sun, its rays… “What are you wearing?”
“Well I was about to ask you the same thing.”
Ray’s ears shot up and raced over to what appeared to be a nearby river. He was wearing the same markings but in a black suit that hugged him tightly. Even his glasses were missing. He swatted at the water, hoping it was an optical illusion, but the reflection remained. Only the wave changed, mirroring the color of his suit upon his touch: gold.
“Woah.” He felt around his neck for a seam or an opening but found nothing.
“Ray Ray.”
“Yeah?”
“Mission.” The word from Golden’s lips broke Ray out of his wonderlust with the new world.
“O-okay,” He stuttered a little as the nerves were getting to him. “So where do we go–”
Turning back towards his shadow, he finally noticed the world around them was more than just lines of colorless photons. It wasn’t the skyscrapers of Canterlot, nor the suburbs of Ponyville. The system around them was… it was a replica of both of Ray’s homes. Beautifully dark crimson Ashen Oak trees whose leaves fluttered to the ground alongside the rain droplets that seemingly came from nowhere. They were sitting together on one of many floating islands, each with little hills that divided the shimmering rivers flowing down its surface, off to whatever was below. Endless stormy horizons everywhere. What would’ve been an interesting mixture of kirin flora and huts built into zebra terrain was tainted by clusters of advertisements for lifestyle brands. It made Golden and Ray want to vomit. It was all a placid appreciation of what those cultures were really like.
Both of them could only express their inner feelings with a single word: “Woah.”
“I’m guessing that’s the place.” Golden pointed over to a larger island on which a massive tree with a home built inside sat. The only place where no advertisements were present.
Ray nodded and together they crossed the hanging bridges over to the home. They trotted up to it’s velvet wooden door, and while Golden pushed it open, Ray looked over to the sign next it:
Golden Oak Library
Before he processed what that meant, Golden gasped and Ray turned to look inside. There was neither a single book nor shelf. Instead, the inside was one long hallway. One much too long for the tree’s size. The floor and ceiling were stark, cold steel, briefly divided periodically by centrifuge-like, hollow, magenta rings. In the walls were similarly-colored circuits, growing closer and closer together as they approached the end of the hall, toward a singular door. As the two of them got closer to the other side, they started to see containers. Bright, colorless tubes, each with something suspended inside. Ray squinted at one, trying to make out what it was, and jumped back when he did. They were creatures. Not just any, but ones he was told cautionary tales about when he was colt…
Sombra.
Chrysalis.
Cozy Glow.
Tirek.
Why? He couldn’t understand why would they be inside? So long ago, each one was vanquished by… wait!
“Hey! What’s the rush?” Golden scolded Ray as the kirin pushed past his shadow.
Ray needed to know who was behind the door. He pushed with everything he had, including his hope, against the heavy steel door until it groaned against his strength. In the next room, all the circuits joined together into a ring on the floor around the only object inside. Another container. Another creature? Ray galloped over to peer into the glass. To look into the face of another character he was told legends about.
Twilight Sparkle, dressed in a similar suit to his, but with a star, laid peacefully in her tube, her chest slowly rising and lowering to the pulses in the lights. Golden was just as much in shock as Ray, though, deep down, it completely made sense to them. Of course she would be the architect of something so grand. It was always in her nature to push, but never pull, for knowledge. She wouldn’t have wanted this.
“Ray Ray, are you seeing like a… panel or anything on this?” Golden was studying the banal container.
Ray joined him with a sigh. “Nah, it’s just smooth on this side.”
“Huh…” Golden’s flames seemed to brighten. “Do you think we can rip it open?”
“You really are just my intrusive thoughts, aren’t ya?”
The nirik just giggled, not denying the truth.
“Though,” Ray scratched the back of his head. “How do we…?”
Golden shrugged. “We haven’t tried touching each other yet.”
He nodded and took the nirik in hoof. His fur and scales raced to change solid black, his hair turning ablaze with gold at the crack of his neck. Golden Ray dug into the lip of the tube’s lid and pulled. His flames and suit turned white as he groaned against the seal. He let out a blood curdling scream. The flames burst into shining cerulean as he ripped the lid clean off, and it exploded into particles.
Quickly the nirik form receded as Twilight’s eyes creaked open. “C-celestia?”
“N-nah,” Golden Ray stuttered, shaking his head while extending a hoof. “I get that a lot.”
“Ugh… my head. How long have I been out?”
“What do you last remember?” He pulled her onto her hooves. The princess of friendship wobbled a bit but eventually found her balance.
Twilight stared at him, causing Ray to blush. “Are you okay? You’re stuttering a lot.”
“I–” He looked away in a vain attempt to hide his blush. The words almost brought tears. “I thought you were… lost.”
The princess was taken aback, thinking on her next words carefully. She knew how important they would be on someone so impressionable. “I’m sorry. I didn’t get your name. I’m Princess Twilight Sparkle, but I think you already knew that. Right?”
He nodded before a thought jolted him into a quick bow. “Oh! My nana would’ve killed me for forgetting my manners. I’m Golden Ray.”
“Ray… like a drop of golden sun?”
“That’s right.” Ray Ray snickered.
“If you don’t mind me asking, what are you and who’s your na–”
Twilight was interrupted by the door of the room sailing over her head, the wind whistling as it barely scraped her ears. There he was, a centaur large enough to have to crawl through the doorway, and still ended up knocking chunks out of the wall. Tirek open-mouth growled at them. Ray Ray whipped his head around for another exit but found none.
“The plan can’t end here…” He whispered to himself. “Twilight, you built this place. What’s the fastest way to get out?”
She pointed at Tirek. “Through.”
“How?!”
“Punch your hoof out!”
Ray did as he was told, trusting his hoof into the air. The photons around it began to vibrate.
“Now pull it back!” She added.
He ripped his hoof back, the particles spun around his hoof forming a disk. The air shattered at the action, leaving a trail of gold that matched the light of the disk in his possession. The gyration of its outer ring reflected his own stare back at him.
“It’s a debug disk! Anything that edge touches that’s not you will be deleted!”
Ray absorbed what she said and ran head first at centaur. Tirek swiped at him. He ducked, sliding underneath Tirek, and cutting underbelly with his disk. Ray fell into a full on gallop, the disk vanishing, after clearing him. The centaur roared and gave chase. The ground cracked under every hoofstep.
None of the other villains were freed; they were still resting in their containers as Golden Ray bolted out the front door. He skid to a stop right at the island’s edge, little rocks falling into the void below. Twilight flew out only a few moments after.
“Where do we go?!” He screamed as she barrel rolled in a dive over the edge.
“Dive!”
“But I,” She vanished before he could finish his sentence. “Can’t fly…”
The rhythmic beats of Tirek’s gallop grew closer and closer. The door didn’t stop his charge towards Golden Ray. In that moment, Ray let instinct completely take him over, and jumped. Tirek’s claw barely missed his flank.
The air whistled past as Ray fell between two great waterfalls. Twilight braked right next to him. “Just summon wings, what are you waiting for?”
“You think I know how?!” He snapped, bringing his hooves level to his sides to stop wobbling so much.
“It’s just the disk. Reach out and will it into being!”
Golden Ray looked at each of his forehooves and closed his eyes, feeling the flow of the data surrounding him. Somewhere inside that sea of variables, he found a singular constant. A feeling, an emotion. A thread he reached out to strum. He tucked and rolled, letting the sound echo through his body, ‘til it crescendoed outward. Tiny flares on Golden Ray’s back grew into a large pair of wings that shone against the horizon. His eyes shot open as he danced between the waterfalls after Twilight, who flipped onto her back to gaze at sight with stars in her eyes.
The princess waited for him to catch up before saying, “You’re a really quick learner.”
“It kind of feels like something my nana told me about.”
“You need to tell me about this nana of yours soon–”
Twilight was cut off by a distant shriek. Both of them looked back to see a red dot divide into two, then four, and finally six symmetrical supersonic echoes. A formation of identical masked pegasi banked off to each side, rapidly approaching the pair.
“Daemons…” Golden Ray heard Twilight whisper. “Ray, we need to outspeed them! Slap your hooves to your sides and follow me, but don’t touch the trails!”
“Touch the–” He rolled to the side as a violet data ribbon was left in her dust. Ray slapped his hooves to his sides and sped off after her. The wind forced him into a squint as he leveled out with the princess. She nodded to him then dove hard past the cloud cover.
The neon washed lights of the city below gracefully embraced the ponies as they raced into the tight alleyways and streets of the skyscrapers. One of the daemons tried to turn too late, and crashed through the side of the building’s windows, rapidly tumbling across, their body shattered into pixels like the glass around them, until they exploded into light. Their crimson trail vanished instantly on impact. Golden Ray grimaced and tucked in closer to Twilight, as close he was comfortable with. He can’t imagine what it would look like, let alone feel like, hitting one of their ribbons. They ripped around corners, losing most of their pursuers… save for two.
“Shit!” The princess frowned. “Split up!”
She broke away, stealing one of the daemons and leaving Ray with his own. He nosedove closer to the streets below, sailing past programs and users alike. The daemon flew right under him, growling behind the mirror-like finish of their helmet. It pulled up, trying to cut Golden Ray off, but he did the same. Together, they painted the stormy sky with a beautiful crimson and gold double helix; a deadly tango to silent bio-digital jazz. The daemon boosted higher then, almost randomly to Ray, they cut off their stream and fell back, tackling Ray out of his flight. They tumbled in free fall, the kirin trying his best to dodge the pegasus’s wild punches. One of the hooves they reeled back turned a hot red as they tried to hook Ray in the muzzle. He quickly grabbed the pegasus’s wing and placed it in between them. The hoof easily crashed straight through the appendage, the pixels hitting Golden Ray in the face. Turning away, he saw the sidewalk rapidly approaching. He kicked away the daemon and boosted away, just barely scraping the asphalt. The program wasn’t so lucky, exploding into loose data on the concrete.
Ray turned sideways to keep between the passing cars, before pulling up. From above he spotted Twilight’s light ribbon, and headed for it. The princess stumbled onto a roof, rolling under the daemon chasing her. The pegasus cut off their speed and slammed their hooves into the floor, kicking up dust while skidding to a sudden stop. Their hooves began to glow crimson, just like the last program. The daemon charged at Twilight. Golden Ray screamed while crashing into the pony’s helmet like a landing zone. They stumbled for only a moment before growling and charging the now landed kirin.
The princess’s jaw hit the floor as Golden jumped out of Ray out of nowhere. The nirik pulled out his own disk and tried to maul the daemon, but the pegasus kicked him off before he could do any real damage. Ray grabbed Golden’s hoof and threw him back at them. The nirik headbutted them, making an opening for the kirin’s freshly summoned disk to slice through their helmet. The daemon fell onto their flank and felt around the cut. Ray and Golden stood ready for a counter attack, but it never came.
The pegasus glanced up at them. A crack was left in the visor revealing a sharp pupil in a magenta sea. Ray dropped his disk as the daemon’s helmet folded away into their suit, letting the pony’s rainbow mane flow down.
Golden stepped back. “Rainbow Dash…”
She growled before looking over to Twilight. Rainbow’s face softened. The princess just stood there motionless. Rainbow Dash bowed to her, before she punched through her own chest, dissolving into photons.
“Twilight,” Ray cautiously spoke as if his words could kill. “What the fuc—“
She cut him off. “I could ask you the same thing. What are you…?”
Golden pushed Ray aside, “Nah, you got some explaining to do first. Then, we’ll talk. What the fuck just happened?!”
“It was an incomplete spell.”
“Spell?”
“Wait,” Twilight looked at both of them. “Do you not know what this place is? W-wha… why would you enter?”
“Because we had to. Now please—“
“Ray Ray,” Golden shook his head. “This doesn’t feel right.”
Ray rested a hoof on her shoulder. “Call me a dedicated optimist, but I trust you. Princess, what’s going on?”
“Tsk. If you won’t listen then I’ll just…” Golden disappeared, rejoining with Ray.
Twilight Sparkle took a breath, and a few moments to compose herself, then sighed. “It was perfect. My friends were happy, and so was the rest of the world. They were safe, but…”
She bit her lip, as her eyes began to glisten. “Life happened. Life always happens. First was her, then… I think you get it. I couldn’t sleep anymore. Every night, I was haunted by another mistake. So, I did what I do best. I wrote a spell to bring them back, using the Elements of Harmony. Celestia tried to warn me about the consequences, but what did she know? Her best friend, her sister, came back… Long story short, I should’ve listened. They don’t recognize me anymore.”
“But that was her, right,” Golden Ray tilted his head to the side. “The spell was successful.”
She shook her head. “It’s not them. I traded my element for them and what did I get but nightmares? So, if the elements wouldn’t help me, I’d go straight to the source. Even if it’s just for one last goodbye.”
“Wait… we’re in the elements?”
“No,” She chuckled a little. “The system uses the elements as a central hub for any user to cast high level arcana. In short, magic is being fed directly into you. You can make anything here, with enough time and determination. That’s what this place is. I’m just… trying to see them again.”
“Then what? You’re saying every computer, every basic cybernetic, is just controlled magic?”
“Welcome to the next age of magic. A miracle, isn’t it?.”
“Twilight, the world has gone to shit. We turned a garden into a parking lot. Your tools were squeezed for every last bit by corporations like SomaTech. They own this project, your dreams! This isn’t a miracle anymore; you just gave us the knowledge to chase our nightmares. But, that doesn’t matter if you're here! I can’t imagine what nana would say.”
“Why would she care?”
“Because Tia… Celestia is my family.”
The princess took an extra long second to process his words. Her face was unable to express her confusion. “You can’t be.”
“I can.”
“Please explain.”
“My mom is zony and my dad is kirin. My mom’s mom is Celestia. That’s it.”
“That’s it?”
“Were you expecting more?”
“I guess just ask her.”
It was Ray’s turn to be confused. “How?”
“What?”
For somepony so ambitious, so insightful, she was blind to the world. The realization only brought him sorrow.
“What…?” Twilight repeated again.
“She’s gone.”
The princess bowed her head as she collapsed onto her flank. She whimpered silently, shaking as her tears fell to her hooves. Ray could empathize with her current emotions, but for him, the experience was decades past. He’d come to terms long ago.
“I-I took too long. I took too long…” Twilight said between rocking back and forth.
“But her dreams still live on,” He ran a hoof through his locks. “Hope. It still lives on.”
Her sniffling slowly turned into giggles. “I don’t know if you’re lying or not… but you do remind me of her.”
Golden Ray smiled a little at that, and offered his hoof to her. “I can settle for that.”
“Does that mean you’ll tell me what you’re doing here?”
“I didn’t really know before,” Ray walked over to the edge of the roof to gaze at the ad-filled city below. “But now… things are different.”
“Different how?”
He grinned at her response. “You. You can fix this! All of this. Destroy this digital world, bring back real magic! Maybe even tear down the whole system outside! We just need to get you out.”
“Now you really remind me of her. Even in death, still relying on me to get shit done.” Twilight shook her head.
“So, destroying and escaping…” She continued. “We’ll have to head south, then. It shouldn’t take more than a few minutes to reach the Everfree, though I can’t promise we’ll succeed.”
“We will– Wait, we’re flying? But if everything's magic then why don’t we just teleport there?”
“I can’t cast spells, and you don’t know where it is. Flying is the safest option.”
Ray groaned. “These things suck to use.”
“You get used to them.” Twilight took to the sky, followed closely by the kirin.
Together, they activated their boost and sailed through the clouds, towards the city’s perimeter. The users below didn’t even pay them mind. Not like they did before, though, even with a dogfight literally happening on top of them. They just continued mindlessly existing. This… began to bug Golden Ray. A lot. He spoke up after they exited the city’s airspace.
“Why can’t we cast magic anymore? Here or out there?”
“But you can.” She was vex with her tone.
“I broke into a SomaTech server for admin privileges. Plus, I didn’t know any of this was magic to begin with. I don’t think anyone but the crazy did.”
Twilight let out a small ‘hmmm’. “I guess the problem is just with the average pony. There’s something deeply ingrained within us. Intelligence can’t get rid of it, neither can dumb luck. That’s the thing about ideas: They’re invasive, but also what we want, to keep ourselves sedated. Spell casters are different. The idea becomes an obsession. We can already bend reality to our emotions, so it was only a matter of time before we tried to conquer the impossible. What would other ponies do in that situation? Become static and fold? Probably… but our obsessions turn to paranoia. What happens if we can’t conquer it? Well, we try our best to ignore it, and focus on what we can do. That expression of will is different for everypony. You seem to want to hack despair, while I hack life itself.”
She blushed a little before adding, “Sorry for rambling.”
“No, no. That’s the most honest anyone has been with me since nana left. It felt… nice.”
“Glad I could help.” The princess gave a weak smile before slowing down to land in the forest.
Golden Ray had never been to the Everfree Forest, but he was told about it. The imitation they landed in was exactly how he pictured it. The flowers bloomed wherever they desired, The trees twisted and bent asymmetrically. Wild grass softly rubbed against his hooves, And the raindrops that made it through the canopy just to add puddles below created a blanketing bliss. Each moment, Ray forgot little by little what was so fake about something so real. What an impossible place… but for him, dreams were never about what was possible.
A shiver ran up Twilight’s spine. “This place is still unsettling.”
Ray ignored her comment. “So how much further?”
“We’re already here” She pushed aside a couple of large, low hanging leaves to reveal a weathered castle, its detail ornate with stars, moons, and suns. The sight caused a flutter in Ray’s heart and a hot blush.
“Just a small problem.”
“Huh?” Twilight’s statement broke him out of his thoughts. He trotted next to her, and together they stared at the front door. “What’s up?”
“The door needs alicorn arcana to open, and I can’t use my magic anymore.”
“Pfft. What stops me from just…?” Golden Ray reached for the doors. Hairline away from touching it, a massive tail swung out of the forest and right into his stomach. One second on his hooves, the next on his back at the base of the tree, gasping for air and coughing up spit. The princess walked over to him to shook her head.
“The magic isn’t for the door. It’s for Spike.”
Ray groaned, sat up, and got a good look at Spike. The young dragon of old stories wrapped his whole body around the castle, snarling at him. His pupils were like blades, piercing through even the kirin’s scales.
“I’m sorry,” Twilight continued. “But we can’t go any furth–”
“No,” He cut her off, pushing himself off the ground. Ray was speaking through his teeth. “Too much was done for this.”
He worked his way to Spike. The dragon puffed a smoke right into his eyes, causing them to water. Golden Ray wiped them away and stood his ground. Spike studied him, slowly enwrapping his tail around the kirin’s body. All Ray could do was watch as the dragon pushed his face right up to his own. Spike looked down at his subject, a single one of his eyes towering over Ray. Twilight turned away from the expected result…
That never came.
Spike let go of the kirin and bowed, before opening the door for Golden Ray. The princess was wrong; he was the descent of Celestia. Twilight galloped over to him. The inside of the castle was a cylindrical room and, much like the one where he’d found Twilight, rainbow colored circuits connected to the center: the Tree of Harmony… but, altered. An inky black silhouette of a unicorn was wrapped around its jagged bark. Though Ray saw it as an infection, the tree didn’t seem to agree, instead embracing the creature as its own flesh and blood.
“How did you do that?” Twilight voice bled with anxiety.
“I did tell you,” He shook thoughts away and gave a warm smile. One for Twilight that mirrored her old mentor. “Now we got world to sav–”
Ray screamed as he was flung across the circular room. He flared his wings to slow himself enough to slam his hooves into the ground. Tirek was back, but he couldn't understand how he could get there so fast. There wasn’t any time to think about it. He charged. Golden Ray ripped his disk out of the air mid-run and launched it at Tirek. The minotaur opened his mouth and the disk slowly unraveled back into photons as they traveling into his mouth. He wiped his lips and grinned. Ray’s brow tightened as he spun himself into the air. Dodging Tirek’s arms, he landed on his head and grabbed hold of his hair, screaming for Twilight to run, although he was sure she couldn’t hear him.
Tirek fruitlessly reached around for the kirin. The air around Ray shimmered, turning crimson as Tirek grasped his leg with his magic and spiked him into the ground. Golden leaped out from Ray and threw his body around his other half. The nirik winced and cried as they bounced off the ground like pebbles on water. They fused together again once they skidded to a halt. Golden Ray panicked, and looked over to see if Twilight was okay.
She… hadn’t moved. The princess was frozen, emotionless; like she couldn't see what was right in front of her. That sight made something in him to snap, letting his nirik form completely take over. For so long he was dedicated to being happy, that every little moment of rage over his life was left piled into the back of his mind. The wall had finally given way with Twilight’s continued inaction. It was out of character for her…
“Twilight! What the hell is he?!” Golden Ray howled at her, his flames beginning to singe the floor.
“The firewall…” He barely heard her murmur. “What better protection for a world of magic than a creature that consumes it?”
“How do I delete it then?!”
She gave him a wistful, longing look before shaking her head.
His flames burst into cerulean. “Fine!”
Golden Ray left the ground with a flap of his wings. The air around him was engulfed in flame as he boosted directly into Tirek’s chest. The centaur laughed and opened his mouth again, sucking the magic out of Ray’s body and his self made wings. But it was Ray’s plan; he rammed his hind hooves into Tirek’s face, and the giant fell back.
“If you’re just a program, a spell,” Ray reeled his front hooves back, the photons in the air swirling around each one, before slamming them down back on the centaur. “Then I can dispel you!”
Lines raced from each hoof all across Tirek’s body. He tried to scream and suck away the magic, but it was too much. He wasn’t real, and Ray thought if his grandmother beat him– if Twilight could beat him– why couldn’t he? Golden Ray practically pressed his face into the centaur, screaming as he began pulling him apart. Tirek’s body split into two golden pieces before dissolving back into the magic that formed him. Ray dropped onto the floor, turning back into his kirin form, wheezing while the world shook.
He turned back to look at Twilight as he pushed himself back onto his hooves. “Let’s get you home. We need you.”
Golden Ray turned to the center of the room, to the Tree of Harmony. The equine shadow creature was staring at him… studying him. Ray approached it, and it bowed its head. The other shadows around the room began to shift and wobble. Unintelligible voices whispered from the circuits all around. The creature’s horn began to glow as its eyes melted into formless pale jade husks. Ponies began appearing out of thin air, but they weren’t programs like Tirek. They were something transparent, something else.
It was then that Ray saw her among the crowd that had formed. Her presence was radiant, a warmth felt all around. The ivory alicorn knelt down and kissed Ray on the forehead. It didn’t matter that it wasn’t real; it was real to him. Real enough to overflow him with pride. Enough to make him forget how exhausted the journey had made him. Golden Ray eagerly looked back at Twilight. She was practically encased by five other ponies: her friends. He didn’t know it, but she was crying as everyone tried to hug her tighter and tighter.
But Twilight wasn’t like Ray. She felt nothing. No warmth, No pride. Just… loneliness.
Golden Ray turned back to the tree, and approached its base. Upon stepping in front of it, the bark clicked, and sections of it folded away, revealing a violet disk floating inside. The disk suddenly began to spin in place, picking up tremendous speed. Golden jumped out of Ray one last time. The nirik kicked away his other half as the disk shot out of its container splitting him in half. Ray screamed, feeling everything Golden did. The nirik quickly dissolved into photons. Ray, alone and trembling, picked himself up. The disk whistled through the air into Twilight’s magical grasp. She looked away as Ray’s gaze landed on her. His face twisted from shock, to tears, until finally he was just left exhausted and aghast.
“W-why?!” He screamed at her.
“Ray… you just wouldn’t understan–”
“What is there to understand?!” Ray retrotted. His rage exploded but he didn’t turn nirik. He looked at himself confused. “What?”
Twilight stared him down. “I'm sorry, but I can’t let you destroy everything I’ve done.”
“No! What about the world? When did you stop caring to help others?”
“When did Celestia’s bloodline become so afraid?”
“What are you talking about?” Ray squinted at her.
“You’re just like her! I can’t understand what changed.”
“You changed!”
“No,” Twilight shook her head. “I just know I’m nothing without them. We saved the world, not just me! Don’t they deserve something more than… this?”
“Then why help companies like SomaTech?”
“That wasn’t the point…” She growled her last word. “They just had the resources to help bring them back. I don’t support their cause.”
“But you’re acting like inaction doesn’t have consequences. With you ponies would be braver and not just be content in barbed wire. I am not sitting by while more folks are enslaved, and friends could just disappear. What's your excuse, huh? Making this whole place for SomaTech?!”
Twilight pulled her disk real close to her cheek, her eyes tuned to dead television static. “It was never for them.”
She tossed the disk head on at Ray. He charged, pulling out his own, and deflected it upward. The violet disk stopped mere meters above him and shot back down. Ray flicked it away again, but the onslaught was relentless. Twilight effortlessly summoned two more disks and cast them at him, both screeching through the air with deadly velocity. Ray did his best to dodge and roll as each violet disk took turns assaulting him. He had to close the distance between them, but how? He wished he had more time to thin– No… he didn’t need to.
Remembering what Twilight taught him, Ray slammed a hoof to the ground and willed the ground to protect him. Each time a disk came at him, the floor would bend and mold to his spell, deflecting the disk back. He smirked at his work, before looking at his own disk. It wouldn’t do. With the time she gave him, Twilight watched as Ray grabbed the magic in the very air around them and played with it. He recognized what photons actually were: musical notes, in free space. Now, it was time for him to make his masterpiece. Ray stretched the pure light in his hooves out as far as he could, summoning a golden spear. He smiled as it floated around him, multiplying into seven identical weapons.
“Those aren’t yours.” Twilight snarled, reaching out towards him.
Ray tilted his head to the side as nothing seemed to happen until the shadow pony from the tree raced past him. It slammed into Twilight’s chest, and her coat absorbed its inky body, forming a cast of hardened armor around her. She took to the air and before Ray could blink, she was suddenly in front of him. The spears spun around him as he backpedaled, dissipating all the spells Twilight slung at him in a colorful display of caustics. She pushed him back until he was pressed against the tree, and kept pushing.
She screamed in between each spell, unleashing her rage. “Those. Belong. To. Celestia!”
Ray put an arm behind him in a vain attempt to keep his hoofing. Eventually, though, his back hit the tree, as Twilight began destroying his spears, one by one. The Tree of Harmony began to glow in response, passing its light to him. The kirin felt a wave of adrenaline wash over him. Ray picked up his hoof and punched at one of the princess’s spells. It exploded on contact sending her back.
She dug her hooves into the ground and looked up at the tree. Her old element shined bright, its heart emitting gold. Twilight charged at the new bearer of magic, slinging every spell she knew. Ray dodged or broke all of them as he got close to Twilight. He tackled her to the ground and ripped the creature off of her. It dissolved into embers, as she looked up at the kirin that bested her. Ray held his disk at her with a scowl, as a memory of hers joined him. Celestia stood next to her grandson, disappointed at the sight of her student. Twilight closed her eyes and waited for what came next.
… Nothing happened. She opened her eyes to see his face, softening with a warm smile. “You were always my favorite.”
Twilight began to sob at what she’d done, as Ray whipped around and threw his disk into the open slot in the tree. It accepted the new disk. He raced over to the Tree of Harmony and raised his hooves in the air for one last spell. The photons he pulled this time turned into large, eldritch runes, and he bent them around his body. He felt his being begin to fade as the spell pulled more and more from him, but it didn’t matter. When his grandmother and great aunt died, the magic went with them. He would bring it back. Ray gazed at the tree, and noticed the element of magic’s color had reverted back to violet… just in time to feel a hoof push him away from his spell.
Twilight Sparkle, the bearer of magic, took control of the runes. For the first time in decades, she played the music of the universe, instead of fighting it. She returned his smile. “You’re just like her… if not better.”
She cast, and the whole system was engulfed in a violet glow.
≫⊂＝＝＝＝＝ ⋈ ＝＝＝＝＝⊃≪
Golden Ray walked out of the SomaTech building, and onto the fog filled streets of Canterlot. It was a long night; the bags under his eyes proved as much. The sun had begun to rise over the mountain. He quickly fixed his glasses, to make sure what he was seeing was actually real. Ray was sure it was. A little notification appeared on his glasses; a call from Vinyl Scratch. He accepted, without a second thought.
“Holy shit. What happened?!” She screamed into his ear.
He smiled. “I’ll spare you the details but… I think we won.”
“A major victory for sure. All of the megacorps are freaking out about losing administrative privileges to the system. Hell, no one can gain them anymore! You’ve gotta tell me what you did.”
Ray snickered, growing into a full, hearty laugh as he began the walk back home.
“I didn’t do anything. A real hero did.”
Author's Note
I liked to dedicate this section to my great friend: Cupute and her art of Ray Ray.
