Cyberpony Y2K

Vinyl kept her music low, but playing out loud for all to hear, as she lifted the cube in front of her. It circled around to her left, in a circle, along with two other cubes.

Three at once! she thought. Vinyl had played around plenty with her voice, using her magic to twist and change it as desired, but that seemed...almost too easy, compared with even the simple spell of telekinesis.

Unicorn magic was hard. Picking up three separate cubes was incredibly difficult, and to keep them all moving at once, she had to keep track of all of them at once. Being an android helped with that somewhat, as her brain thought faster than a regular pony’s, but it was still a challenge.

Whatever else she did, though, this was going to making DJing waaaay easier.

Though, of course, that lead to other problems. Vinyl had never wondered too much about the Alicorns--everypony knew, of course, that sometimes there were ugly sides to the government. Vinyl hadn’t yet seen much of what the Alicorns hid, but simply knowing how much she had been repressed was enough. Even just her magic felt like a part of herself, but she had also been forced to obey any order given by Fancy—which wasn’t something she’d particularly chafed under, but it had still stung sometimes. The real icing had been that she’d almost died simply for saving Octavia. Through no fault of her own, while helping to protect a heroic mare, she had almost died. Just so the government could go on about how she wasn’t a real pony, and thus, it was okay to treat her like dirt.

I don’t think it’s okay to treat anypony like dirt, she thought to herself. Everypony matters. Heck, everyone matters. I bet even the gryphon slavers would be missed by their family.

She moved her head slightly, watching one of the cubes as it drifted in its circular path. So, since everyone matters, can we really say it’s okay to hurt people, even if they’re the bad guys? I mean, if we could all love each other like we love ourselves...wouldn’t the world be just perfect? Then we wouldn’t need things like freedom fighters. We would all be free to just...play around, make music, and just...have fun with it all.

“I do hate to interrupt, darling,” Rarity said from behind.

Vinyl jumped, the three cubes making squeaky cries of pain as they collapsed inwards on themselves. Vinyl muted her music, turning to Rarity. “Yeah, what’s up?” she asked.

Rarity wore her more casual blue blouse and violet skirt, and had forewent her hat, for once. She hefted a briefcase, saying, “I was heading to Manehattan today to pay...well, for you, actually. I talked to Sunset, and we agreed it would be wonderful if you could say goodbye to Fancy. If you want to, that is.”

“Oh. Yeah, I’d like to go see him one last time,” Vinyl said, dropping all three cubes to the table. “When are we leaving?”

“Now. And here, take this,” she said, tossing a jacket to Vinyl.

Vinyl hesitated, then took off her bullet-hole-filled jacket. She set it on the nearest bench, and slipped Rarity’s on. A light, shiny blue, of a thicker, yet still comfortable fabric. She used her telekinesis to straighten the sleeves as, on a whim, she did up the buttons. Her Cutie Mark, or, what was roughly her Cutie Mark, was embroidered on the right breast. “Thanks,” she said, staring at the wrist cuffs. “Um...this is a really good jacket.”

“Thank you, darling, I do try my best,” Rarity said with a smile. It faded, however, as Vinyl continued to stare at herself. “Is something the matter?”

“I just...I’ve never had fancy clothing before,” Vinyl admitted. “Fancy couldn’t afford to pay for upscale clothing on all the androids, so...I always just made do with the one jacket.” She flipped the collar up, saying, “Thanks. Do I owe ya anything?”

“Your praise was enough, darling,” Rarity said, smile returning. “I spend plenty for my friends...or just my property, if anypony asks. Oh, some expensive androids can use magic, so no pony would question it, but you probably shouldn’t until you know better what you’re doing.”

“Got it. Do I, uh, need to wear a cloth bag over my head while we’re going out?”

Rarity stared at her for a second, before laughing. “No, no, nothing like that. For whatever her reasons are, Sunset decided to trust you. And assuming you could somehow track back the exact path, I don’t think it’s likely you’d do something like that.”

“And if I get captured or something?” Vinyl asked.

Rarity blinked. “Darling, if that’s a concern already, then, all things considered, we are quite screwed, as it were. Neither of us have, on record, done anything to make the Inquisitors look at us.”

“So says Diamond Duster,” Vinyl mentioned, walking past Rarity.

“Oh, pfft-t-kch!” Rarity waved the concern off. “Please. I bear no similarities whatsoever to some walking scrap-heap with a pony heart inside.”

Vinyl stepped in front of her, holding up her fingers to observe Rarity like a photo. “Mmmmm...”

Rarity narrowed her eyes, one hand on her hip.

“Yeah, you don’t,” Vinyl agreed, letting her hands fall at her sides. “Gotcha, though, didn’t I?”

Rarity hefted her purse, and Vinyl thought she caught a brief glimpse of a translucent gun inside of it before Rarity snapped it shut. “Well, that you did. Come along then.” She swept up her hat as she walked past, fitting it over her head.

“So,” Vinyl began, “what do you actually do around here?”

“Mostly, we stop ponies like Filthy where we can,” Rarity said. “We need tools to actually fight the Alicorns, so between building those, we save androids. Occasionally, we steal them from brothels and the like—there’s a large number of rescues like yourself around here. And, of course, most have us have more legitimate jobs that we must attend to.”

“Excepting androids like me and Rainbow Dash?” Vinyl asked.

“Exactly,” Rarity said, stepping into the throne room. She trotted down the halls, but paused. “Vinyl?”

Vinyl ran her hands along the side of the throne, thinking. “Do you ever think about who owned this place before Discord came along?”

“Nopony, I thought,” a voice said.

Vinyl turned to the other entrance, watching an off-yellow earth pony slip into the room, with a buttoned blue jacket and a flipped up collar. Over her right eye was a metal plate, with a staticky, red glass. She eyed Vinyl, with a smile.

“Um, right,” Vinyl said. “Why do you think that?”

“Because most of the damage is actually fake,” she said. “The broken tiles don’t move, and the vines growing along the outside are fake.” Then, in a wildly different tone, she added, “Pretty easy to notice, I thought.”

“Right,” Vinyl muttered.

“Vinyl, this is Sour Sweet,” Rarity introduced. “Sour Sweet, this is Vinyl Scratch. She’s a rescue.”

“Oh, yes, Octavia and I were just talking about you,” she said. “Or, at least, I was talking to her.”

“Right,” Vinyl muttered again. “Well, nice to meet ya, then!” She extended her hand.

Sour Sweet hesitated, then stepped around the throne and shook it. “Are you looking to help out, or...” She shrugged with her spare hand. “Just survive?”

“I’m not sure yet,” Vinyl admitted. “I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about it, though.”

“Well, fighter or not, we could always use the help,” Sour said with a nod. “Gods don’t slay themselves, after all.”

“They’re not gods, they’re tyrants,” Rarity interrupted. “They’re evil ponies, not deities, darlings.”

Sour shrugged again. “Where Alicorns are concerned, the name game hardly matters, Rares. Anyway, I’m going to let you get on with your errand now, but I’ll stop by the Boutique tomorrow, okay, Rarity?”

Rarity nodded. “Alright, I’ll see you then! Ta-ta!” Rarity said, waving as Sour Sweet disappeared back into the castle.

“Well,” Vinyl said, “she had spirit.”

“She’s troubled,” Rarity said sadly. “She installed that eye to help her with a graphic art job, but regretted it when she noticed the psychological problems it was causing.”

“Yikes,” Vinyl said. “That’s...can she, like, get rid of it?”

“Probably, but I don’t think she wants to,” Rarity said. “She makes do, but she can be...aggravating, to some ponies.”

“Gotcha. Well, does she have a job around here?”

“Infiltrator,” Rarity said, beckoning towards the castle’s front doors. “Come along, darling, there’s work to be done.”

Vinyl looked back into the castle, then followed Rarity out the doors. “So most ponies don’t know the castle isn’t fake?”

“Some say nay, some say yay,” Rarity answered smoothly. “The reality is, Sunset’s spell is well beyond the potential of any non-Alicorn. If you don’t know who our leader is, fake is much more easy to believe.”

“Hmm. Okay, so...” Vinyl looked around the mostly empty courtyard. A few ponies were taking shots at a target they’d set up, a few clouds drifted lazily past, and Rainbow Dash flew overhead into the forest. “Is there a car we can take? Oh, maybe, like, a helicopter or something?”

“No, darling, we’re taking the secret tunnel,” Rarity said, pointing to a large, square, storage shed.

“Oh,” Vinyl said, feeling slightly disappointed. C’mon, Vinyl, they’re cyber-terrorists. You’ll get to ride in a helicopter some day. Rarity opened the door, examining the space inside the shed.

Vinyl jerked her head around, focusing on the light flashing in the direction Rainbow Dash had flown in a rainbow pattern.

“Uh, Rarity? Is that okay?” Vinyl asked slowly.

“Oh, yes,” Rarity said. “Rainbow keeps the worst nasties in Everfree at bay. She’s scaring off an Ursa minor that wandered too close.”

The gunfire died down as Rarity stepped fully inside, then pulled a lever. The floor slid back, revealing a staircase underground.

“That’s very, very visible,” Vinyl commented.

“Darling, this is what it looks like from inside,” Rarity said. “Once they get here, a secret entrance that leads here isn’t going to be useful to anypony.”

“I guess that makes sense,” Vinyl admitted.

“Just wait until you see the other end, darling,” Rarity said, descending the staircase. Her hooves tapped politely as she trotted down, tail kept close by her side.

Vinyl looked back to the other two ponies. One stepped away from the other, laughing at something, a pair of massive bat wings stretching out. When she saw Vinyl looking, she smiled and waved.

Vinyl waved back, then took the steps two at a time, lighting up her horn. A mellow, blue light filled a short hallway, showing mostly earth walls with some wooden supports to keep the roof up.

Rarity let out a light gasp. “Why, whenever did you learn to do that?” she asked.

“After Doc finished patching my chest this morning,” Vinyl said. “I moved to using telekinesis on three cubes, and discovered that I could turn myself into a flashlight.” She did an air-guitar, saying, “I can also do rave-lights, but figured that wouldn’t be useful here.”

“Agreed,” Rarity said, moving to the end of the hallway.

“So, secret passage now?” Vinyl asked, examining the completely featureless earth wall.

“Yes,” Rarity said, placing her hand on a seemingly random spot. It sank in, and Vinyl heard a click, before the wall slid over to the right, slowly.

“How do you remember where that was? A code or something?”

“Practice, darling,” Rarity said smoothly. “Fluttershy showed me, and I simply had to remember it. Is this hidden to your liking?”

“And beyond,” Vinyl admitted, stepping into the next room. Contrary to the past several days of dusty old castle rooms, she stepped into a room of polished chrome, with several computer panels showing various charts. Four sealed metal doors lead out, as well as two separate vents that seemed to be keeping breathable air in the room.

The door closed behind them, as Vinyl looked to the computers. “What now?” she asked, turning off her light.

“Noooow I come down from the ceiling!” a familiar voice chirped to the sound of metal grinding. Vinyl slid back, before relaxing as the Pie Sisters rappelled to the ground, from a series of metal pipes on the ceiling. The vague shape of a large, four-hoofed horse stood before them, with a large number of metal cables floating around in the air around her. The four eyes were connected at where the horse’s neck would have been, but the whole thing had an...unfinished look. Several of the plates didn’t match, and were too big for the parts they were attached to.

“Remind me to ask about your story sometime,” Vinyl said slowly.

“Okie-dokie!” Pinkie said, saluting with a cable.

“It’s rather boring,” Maude put in. “We don’t have the tunnel to the Boutique finished just yet, Rarity. Sorry about the inconvenience.” They trotted over to the computers, hoof-steps thudding loudly. The cables floated about, tapping some buttons on the panels. “Will Golden Oak be fine?”

“Yes, that will do just fine,” Rarity said. “How’s progress coming on the interstate tunnels, anyway?”

“Uh...” Pinkie’s eye turned to look down the window on top of the far left door. “Slowly.”

“Mm-hmm,” Marble agreed.

Limestone scoffed, her red eye turning back to Rarity and Vinyl. “Now that we’re near a populated town, we have to stop using explosives or ponies will notice. The drilling is taking time, and we can’t head far enough out to handle it.”

“Why not?” Vinyl asked.

The beady red eye focused on her, but Vinyl avoided flinching back. “Cuz we’re needed here,” Limestone snapped. “We have so many projects here, so many things to build. Other ponies are the ones doing most of the mining now, when we can spare them.”

“Now, Limestone,” Pinkie said chidingly, “it was just a question.”

“I know, but I’m mad about it anyway,” she snapped. “Sunset keeps coming up with new tools for us to build, but never anything for us to use. Anything we’re gonna do is gonna be done in the far, far future.”

“Because six Alicorns are very hard to kill,” Rarity put in. “Midnight and Spitfire moreso.”

“Well,” Vinyl said tentatively, “do we have to kill them?”

Rarity and the Pie sisters all looked to her. “I mean, Sunset turned nice, is what I’m saying,” Vinyl put in. “Maybe the others can turn nice?”

Rarity put a hand to her chin in thought. “A lovely sentiment, certainly,” she admitted. “But I don’t know if it’s feasible, darling. Logistically, we’d have to do all the work to be ready to kill one before we could try to reform one, in case it didn’t work.”

“And some ponies don’t like having their beliefs questioned,” Limestone said simply. “I don’t think it’ll work, Vinyl.” Several cables shot out, pushing buttons, and the door on the far right opened.

“I would love to hold them all a great big party where we could talk out all our problems, but Sunset says that’s not too likely,” Pinkie admitted. “She’s especially firm on Cadenza dying.”

“Why the Princess of Diplomacy?” Vinyl asked. “Is she worse?”

“Not on the surface level,” Rarity admitted. “The Inquisitors are responsible for most random ‘disappearances’, to be sure, but the Princess of Commerce is in charge of making sure the nobles stay richer than everypony else. The Princess of Diplomacy allows gryphon slavers to slip across the borders, and has been the one to conduct genocides. The thestrals, the dragons, and the changelings, all persecuted on the crime of being unfavored by a raving madmare.” She grimaced. “We must be going, though. Ta-ta, Pies!”

A chorus of goodbyes, and one ‘mm-hmm’, followed Vinyl into the tunnel, where a small pod sat on a rail line. “Subway,” Vinyl said. “Cool.”

Rarity opened the door, smiling. “After you, darling.”

Vinyl slipped into the pod, then buckled herself into a seat. She looked out the back window, at a cargo wagon that sat empty. “Can I ask a question?”

“Sure,” Rarity said, buckling herself in.

“What’s a changeling?”

Rarity paused, then sighed. “Extinct,” she said. “And wiped from history.” The pod jolted as it started moving, slowly, down the tracks.

“Have fun!” Pinkie’s voice chimed as they departed.

“History is subjective,” Vinyl muttered to herself.

“I beg your pardon?”

“Eh...nothing much, I guess. What was the deal with the Changelings? I know the thestrals reminded Princess Celestia of Nightmare Moon, so she started killing them, but what about the Changelings?”

“Where did--” Rarity stared at her. “Where did you hear about the thestrals?”

“Um...Nightmare Moon?”

Rarity stared at her. Vinyl tapped the part of her chest that Fluttershy had patched that morning, saying, “I kind of pissed her off last night. Sunset said she’d look into what happened.”

Rarity shook her head. “Discord’s operated out of this castle for almost twenty years, Vinyl, and yet, none of us spontaneously manifested damage marks.”

“Um...anyway, what about the changelings?”

Rarity smiled, but let the conversation change topics. “Well, darling, that’s a matter of some debate, even for those who know the name. The fact is that only two ponies know about them, and neither of those are particularly trustworthy sources on the topic.”

“Princess Celestia and...”

“Princess Cadenza,” Rarity said. “I...never asked about the details from Sunset, admittedly. I know they were...shapeshifters of some sort.”

“Hence the name,” Vinyl chuckled. The pod slowed down, coming to a stop.

Rarity popped open the door, swinging her purse with her spare hand. “Well, darling,” she said, “are you ready?”

Vinyl nodded, steadying herself.