Cyberpony Y2K

Vinyl Scratch opened the door into the throne room. The air shimmered slightly, as she looked past the shadowy guards at their posts, at the end of the room. Nightmare Moon, who lounged lazily on her throne like a great, pampered lynx. Her slit pupils focused on Vinyl immediately..

Vinyl turned on her heel, closing the door behind her, and walked the other direction.

She thrust open another door, at random, only to find Nightmare Moon there. Vinyl shrieked, leaping back and curling her hands to her chest.

"Not even going to say hello?" Nightmare Moon asked, sounding miffed.

"You stabbed me," Vinyl pointed out. "I am in no hurry to repeat the experience."

"It is a dream," Nightmare Moon pointed out. "You might not have much experience with them, but let me explain: dreams can't hurt you."

"Uh, it most certainly did!" Vinyl said. "I ended up on the operating table with Fluttershy telling me you narrowly missed my power core!" She rapped her knuckles against her chest. "You nearly killed me!"

Nightmare Moon stared. "That is impossible," she said flatly. "It is most assuredly, completely impossible for anything in a dream to manifest itself in reality."

"So impossible is also subjective now?" Vinyl asked.

"Evidently," Nightmare Moon said. "I am one of the two most powerful beings in the world. If I did not think it could be done, I can't fathom how it happened." She stroked her chin in thought.

Vinyl slammed the door in her face, striding off down the castle halls. She put a hand to her forehead, playing a dramatic sigh effect as she turned a corner.

"That was most uncalled for," Nightmare Moon said, once more standing in front of her.

Vinyl shrieked again, leaping away. "Fucking fuck fuck...fuck!" she screamed. "Stop doing that!"

"Thou hast slammed two doors in mine face this evening," Nightmare Moon said. "Thou hast been quite rude!"

"You fucking stabbed me through my chest!" Vinyl shouted. "Was that not rude?"

"That was..." Nightmare Moon hesitated. "Not intentional, as I explained. I did not mean to cause any actual damage. I did not think I could cause you any damage."

"That is not an apology," Vinyl said, folding her arms over her chest.

"Are you serious?" Nightmare Moon demanded.

"Perfectly so," Vinyl said.

Nightmare Moon folded her arms over her chest, puffing her wings out.

Vinyl turned around, walking back around the corner. She opened the door to the room, ending up in the room where Rarity stored her Diamond Duster equipment.

A second later, Nightmare Moon popped into existence. She sighed, pulling a chair away from the table and sitting down. "I apologize," she said. "Even though I didn't mean to hurt you, it was still...quite rude."

"Apology accepted," Vinyl said. She took the seat next to Nightmare Moon, pulling it out to face her while maintaining a foot of space between them. "So...you don't know how that happened?"

"No. It shouldn't be possible at all," Nightmare Moon said, throwing up one hand. "It makes no sense. Dreams are dreams!"

"But if we're in a dreamscape--"

"We aren't," Nightmare Moon growled. "Dreamscape? What even--we are in a dream. Tis no realm, and I'm not really even here. I'm just a telepathic projection."

"So...are you really inside the moon?" Vinyl poured her a glass of zap apple cider.

Nightmare Moon took it, sighing again. "Yes. The moon was designed as a prison for the worst creatures we found at the time. Impossible to get out of, even if they had more power than we did, simply because of the vast space between Equus and the moon." She downed the entire glass of zap apple cider. To Vinyl's previous observations, ponies who did that considered it a mistake briefly afterwards, and apparently, being an Alicorn did not make her an exception.

Her entire face briefly turned rainbow, and her mane shot out, crackling with magical power. She spat out the last sip of cider, coughing and spluttering, doubling over the table.

"You alright?" Vinyl asked.

Nightmare Moon picked up the bottle, staring at it. "What is this?" she demanded. "It tasted like one of those blasted Everfree fruit trees. Do they make liquor out of those things nowadays?" She paused, then slowly, ever so slowly, turned to Vinyl.

Vinyl sipped her own glass—or, rather, tipped it towards her head. Approximately one sip worth of cider disappeared from it.

"Where...didst thou...acquire this?"

"It's a dream, so I can do anything I imagine, right?" Vinyl shrugged, then took another sip.

"No. That's not how that works."

Vinyl looked at her, then stared down at her glass. "Then where did this come from?"

"You...you imagined it," Nightmare Moon said slowly. "Tis not possible! Tis simply not—unless--" She stared at vinyl for a long moment. Then her face broke into a grin. "I wonder if Sunset knows what you are," she said.

"A klutzy unicorn android with an penchant for self harm?"

"You are so much more than that," Nightmare Moon said. "What is your name?"

"Vinyl Scratch."

Nightmare Moon repeated it to herself in a somewhat creepy fashion. "Well then, Miss Scratch," she said. "You are one lucky mare."

"I am?"

"There should be...a crystal tree out on the courtyard," Nightmare Moon said. "If it had been destroyed, I could have returned. Sunset might have walled it off, but she'd have trouble with that. Go to it. If...if I am right, then you will get your answer. And we will talk tomorrow."

"Why not just explain it to me tonight?"

Nightmare Moon smiled. "Because, silly little metal pony, it's not nighttime anymore. Rise and shine."

Vinyl Scratch burst upright. It was morning, with sunlight streaming through her window. She jumped up, looking outside at the crystal tree.

She watched as Sky and a griffon walked right past it. There was no warning signs to signal that ponies weren't allowed anywhere near it.

Vinyl rested one hand on her nightstand. "I guess I'll give it a look, then," she muttered. Then she looked down. She moved her hand.

Beneath it was a crescent moon pendant, on a silver chain. It most certainly had not been there the night before.

Vinyl picked it up, then put it around her neck. "Okay, lady. You and I are going to have a long talk about later."

She stepped out of the room, marching along the old corridors.

As big as the castle was, it should have been very easy to get lost, or stumble around blindly and scare yourself half to death with all the suits of armor and gargoyles and just plain creepy scenery. But thankfully, someone had already thought of that, so there were plenty of signs above the doorways that pointed out where you wanted to go.

Vinyl wished she'd been looking for them on her first day, but it had all worked out anyway.

She stepped onto the lawn, then paused, looking up at the dark clouds rolling overhead.

"Might rain later today," a voice said from her left.

Vinyl turned to face Sour Sweet, who added with a smirk, "Sure hope you're waterproof."

"What do you mean, 'might'? Does the Boss not share the schedule?"

Sour laughed. "This is the Everfree, rookie," she said. "The forest is the one who chooses when it rains."

"It's...it's a forest," Vinyl said. "It can't choose anything. Can it?"

"I dunno. That's just what the Boss said. Didn't sound like a metaphor." Sour shrugged.

"Huh...life...is subjective, too."

"What? No, that's not what I--"

"Hear me out," Vinyl said, holding up her hands. "It's not so much life as our concept of life. What we see as living. That's what the whole drama about androids is about, isn't it? That we aren't considered alive. Not that we aren't alive--"

Sour nodded. "Yeah, it stretches definitions a bit, but you are most assuredly, alive."

"Exactly! We're just not considered part of the concept of life." Vinyl nodded to the forest. "Would you say trees are alive?"

"No. They're just trees. They can't think or anything."

"If you think so," Vinyl answered.

"And what do you think?" Sour asked.

"That it stretches definitions a bit, but they are most assuredly alive," Vinyl answered.

Sour frowned. "Huh."

Vinyl picked up her necklace. "Someone put this in my room. You know what this is?"

"Just a necklace, I thought. Though...Knight has one that looks just like it."

"Knight?"

"Knight Watch. Sky's older brother. He should be back any day now." Sour fidgeted. "Should have been back yesterday."

"Trouble?"

"Who can say?" Sour said. "Some ponies are saying they ran into trouble, and...they are late. But their mission in Vanhoover went so swimmingly, so..."

"One last question," Vinyl said. "That crystal-tree thingie. Is it off limits for me to go over there?"

"Eh? No, knock yourself out." Sour tossed a hand into the air, adding, "Not much to see, but do what you want. It's just some old statue."

Vinyl clapped her on the shoulder, then headed towards the tree.

The tree stood about fifteen feet tall, looking like it was made of diamond. Spread across its uppermost branches someone had carved five symbols, and in the center of the symbols, someone had carved a six-pointed star. An old symbol that represented harmony, and unity.

Vinyl turned to the base of the tree. Thick vines with massive, jagged thorns coiled around its lower half, wrapping it tightly. Vinyl felt revulsion just looking at them.

She wasn't quite sure why.

Vinyl stepped close, looking up at the tree. Nothing happened. She stepped really close to the tree, and then put her hand against it. It was...vibrating. She felt it from deep within the tree, pulsing outwards, in...music notes. Two notes, repeating.

Dun-dun, dun-dun, dun-dun...

"A heartbeat?" she asked to herself. "Are you...alive?"

The tree didn't answer. Vinyl grumbled to herself, then stepped back.

She really didn't like the looks of those vines.

"I don't know what to do," she muttered to herself. "Nightmare Moon told me to come out here, but...there's nothing to do. Am I supposed to remove those vines? But...if this thing's important, I shouldn't mess with it. With...you. Sorry."

The wind picked up, blowing a chill into her. Cold didn't have any effect on her, unless it was really, really cold, but the tree...the heartbeat...slowed. Just a little.

"You need a blanket or something?" Vinyl asked, sitting down, leaning against it. The vines...leaned away from her, just slightly, but refused to give up their tight grasp on the tree.

Vinyl began to play a light music track, to play in the backgruond while she worked out her thoughts. A little into the song, she noticed something.

The tree was humming along. Just a beat behind her, the music was bouncing back, from within the tree.

Vinyl continued playing. Without her DJ setup, she was limited with her options, but she had a number of recorded songs saved on her hard drive.

She played the song, increasing her volume a little for the tree's sake. The tree hummed a long, heartbeat sounding in the background, as the two sat there.

Then weird things happened.

All at once, the branches of the tree expanded outwards, spreading out to a full length. The tree began to glow, from deep within, light coursed through it, and all the vines around it vaporised into dust.

Vinyl scrambled to her feet, backing away from the tree. She tripped over one of the holes in the ground, left by the vines, and fell onto her flank. Groaning, she looked up at the tree, listening to its hearbeat grow loader, more...firm.

Then, one of the symbols lit up, and...fell off. Vinyl leapt forward, catching it before it hit the ground.

The symbol had changed—she wasn't quite certain what it had been before, but it was now a music note. Her...her Cutie Mark. The exact same note, on a deep, blue gem, sitting in a golden necklace. How? How was it her Cutie Mark?

As she stood up, she heard a somewhat familiar sound that took her just a second to place. Sunset teleporting.

She turned around to find the Alicorn right behind her, looking directly into her optics. "What the fuck did you do?" Sunset demanded.

After another long day, Lancelot left the Manehattan Police Station, tired, worn, and above all, fed up. Every day was the same. Another several cases, all virtually the same, which left ponies dead or injured, and usually, the perpetrator got off Scott free. A vicious cycle, ever continuing, ever onwards.

All that meant that after so many years on the force, he knew something had to change, and soon. Otherwise, Equestria was going to be in trouble very soon.

Perhaps, he thought, seeing a small filly sitting on the side of the road, it was already in trouble.

"Mister," she said, "please spare a coin."

He quickly noted her ragged clothing, black eye, and chipped tooth. Probably, she'd been robbed her recently, or perhaps, one of his officers hadn't liked her begging in their parking lot.

He tossed her a bit. "There you go, kid. Now you should head off. Begging's not allowed on this street."

"Thank you, kind sir!" she squeaked, snatching up the coin and scrambling to her feet. He smiled to himself as he got into his car. Equestria may have been in a bad state, but at least, sometimes, for some ponies, he could do something. Minuette could do her best, but the Inquisitors could never clean Equestria as fast as it got dirty.

He started the car, driving off and heading home. He never noticed the green flash of light from behind one of the police cars in the lot, followed by something moving away very fast.

Less than a minute later, a large Earth pony stepped into a store on the bad side of town. The store owner adjusted his spectacles, frowning. "H-hello, Tuffson. You're, uh, a-a little early this week, huh?"

"Relax, you're rent's not due for a few days," Tuffson growled. "Just drew the short straw and had to run a little...grocery errand." He reached into his pocket, pulling out a sheet of paper. "Can ne'er make out her hand-writin'...you got these in stock?"

The owner took the list, reading it carefully. "Yes, yes, I can have them in a bag in just a moment. These are...a little unusual for your friends."

"Don't you know better than to ask questions?"

"R-right, sorry," the owner apologized. "Here, let me get those bagged up for you." He shuffled off, into a back store room, where he kept the significantly harder to procure items that weren't quite as legal as the rest of his stock. With professional speed, he came back out, handing the bag to Tuffson. Tuffson dropped some bits on the counter, which the store owner quickly counted.

And then counted again.

"Ah...sorry to bother, but you're...missing one," he said.

"What?"

He let out a nervous chuckle, rubbing his hands together. "W-well, consider it a gift. Here, take it, take it!" He shoved the bag quickly at Tuffson, who grunted in affirmation. Without further ado, he took the supplies and strode out the door.

The store owner mopped his brow, turning just slightly. "I have got to move shop," he said firmly, missing the green flash outside his door.

Halfway across town, a completely unremarkable colt carrying a bag knocked on the door of a rundown apartment.The door opened a crack, just enough for the person inside to peek out.

The newcomer blinked three times, and each time, his eyes changed color, from red, to blue, to green.

"It's red, green, then blue," the person inside hissed.

"Ponies can't change their eye colors anyway," the other replied. "Just let me in already, Pharynx."

Pharynx scoffed, but acquiesced, letting him in, pointing his shotgun to the side. "If you can't memorize even basic code phrases, you'll never make a proper infiltrator, Thorax."

"Yeah, yeah," Thorax muttered. He pushed past Pharynx, then dropped the disguise. The Changeling quickly rushed into the back room of their hideout, meeting the third Changeling in the doorway.

"I got everything you asked for," he said, showing off his bag of supplies. "There was a bit of a scare because everything cost one bit more than you said it would, but it worked out in the end."

Ocellus winced. "I'm sorry, the prices must have been increased again," she said, checking the bag. "The Wonderbolts are really cracking down on herbal remedies here lately...it's a miracle we have any dealers left."

A low moan sounded from behind her. "Whoops," Ocellus said, before rushing to the side of the cot set up.

"How...how is she?" Thora asked.

"Not good," Ocellus said, quickly unpacking the bag. "Let's see, let's see...here! Chew this, Your Majesty." She pulled out a small tin, scooping some leaves out and putting them in the mouth of the Changeling queen lying on the cot. Queen Chrysalis coughed, but began to chew, without opening her eyes.

"Still hasn't...said anything?" Thorax asked.

"No. She doesn't have the energy. She's not really even conscious," Ocellus said. "I'm...doing all I can. But she's not going to last much longer like this." She looked to the side, where a small pile of bandages covered in green, sticky blood lay.

"She has to pull through," Pharynx said. "If she dies here, we're fucked. She's the last Queen. We need her."

"I'm doing my best here!" Ocellus shouted. "I don't have any of the things I really need! I'm having to make do with second hand items from shady, cheapskate dealers and scavenged tools! If I had proper equipment, I'd give her fifty-fifty, but like this...she's...she's...Mother's..." She choked up, looking at Chrysalis's face.

The bullet holes had mostly repaired themselves, including, thankfully, the one in her head. The bullet had hit awkwardly, and been stopped by her carapace.

If it had gone much further, Chrysalis would have died much earlier.

"We need to do something," Thorax said. "If what we've been doing isn't enough, we need to do more."

"What do you suggest?" Pharynx asked. "There's no one we can trust this to. We'd need someone who is firmly against the Princesses, but open enough to accept us."

"Discord," Thorax suggested.

"Absolutely fucking not!" Pharynx shouted immediately. "Her Majesty explicitly stated that we could not trust them, and that the Changelings need to handle problems on our own!"

"We can't handle this on our own!" Thorax argued. "And if we don't take the risk, Her Majesty is going to die! Let her be angry afterwards, at least she'll be alive!"

"Assuming Discord doesn't shoot us on sight," Pharynx said.

"They let the thestrals in," Thorax retorted. "I'll take responsibility for the decision."

Pharynx sighed. "No, I will; I'm supposed to tell you not to do the stupid thing." He looked up at the rotting ceiling, closing his eyes. "Ocellus. How long does she have left?"

"I don't think more than a week," Ocellus replied.

Pharynx cursed to himself. "Alright. I'll see if I can get into contact with their Manehattan branch. You'll stay here and guard. Anypony, and I mean anypony, tries to get in without me with them..." He held out the shotgun he'd been holding to Thorax. "Kill them. Got it?"

"Got it," Thorax said. "Long live the Queen."

"Long live the Queen."