>>41431332
We've been dead for a long while, but I have it on good authority that somebody's back from the grave. We should be able to expect green within a day.
I cut the links to other stories since, let's be honest, none of them were active anymore. We'll have to wait and see which ones come back.

>>41431332
>deletes the green list section of op
Why? Are you that lazy to update that single entry which is changed and instead you just delete it?

>>41431624
I explained why. It's supposed to be recently updated and active greens, and we don't have any.

>>41432064
We don't have any? Really? WiK dropped an update last thread. #deca.mare gets updates regularly.

>>41431333
Oh I'm excited to see who's coming back

>>41432608
My bad. I'll try to get it through, but now I'm being caught by the spam filter.

>>41431333
Thanks for making the thread for me, fren. It's good to be back. Since it's been even longer than usual, my recap will probably need to be appropriately thorough. So here's where we're currently at:

>Twilight, AJ, and Rainbow successfully managed to bypass the White Junction facility in western Canterium, operated by Ordo Intelligentsia. They narrowly avoided getting caught in the crossfire of an Army raid on the site instigated by Chancellor Neighsay. They have boarded a supply train bound for the city of Unicronia, where they hope to find the next Element-bearer; however, they were spotted by an Army soldier, and the manhunt for Rainbow Dash has now implicated Twilight and AJ as well.
>Neighsay is making final preparations for a total assault on OI, which he believes is planning to betray him with a secret project discovered at Site 23 by his whistleblower, Lucky Clover. He received an encrypted message from Clover stating that he and Pink were compromised. He has resolved to go personally to Site 23 to arrest Black Bar using his new emergency powers under the newly passed Liberation Act.
>Lucky Clover infiltrated Omega Sector, the deepest bowels of the buried Maker construct known as Site 23. Using Pink the Mouthless Jester, he was able to secure microfiche photographs of the interior of the Sector. One hour before Neighsay received the mysterious message, Clover has broken Pink out of Omega Sector, and is currently taking both her and the photos up to his secluded console to see what they contain...

Hopefully that was thorough enough. Enjoy the update!

******

>>41433606
>The elevator comes to an abrupt halt; harsh light streams in from beyond the threshold, and as the doors slide open you waste no time in rolling your cart forward
>You remain Lucky Clover, despite everything you’ve endured
>You weave between flocks of engineers, scientists, armed officers and suits alike in your singular aim to get back to your hidey hole as quickly as possible
>You’ve never seen Site 23 quite this abuzz, certainly not in this sector; it’s all hooves on deck, for what Black Bar perceives to be an imminent assault by the Army
>It won’t happen, of course; at least, not before the Chancellor has his justification
>And that, for better or worse, comes in the form of whatever images are inside the camera pen in your pocket
>Pushing through the crowd, you chance to see Comet Tail at the far end of the hall, skittishly peering over heads
>Strangely, he looks a bit worse for wear; not sick like he was, but nervous and insomniac
>And even stranger, he’s flanked by two duralite-clad guards, both sporting military-grade shoulder-mounted weapons and hard stares
>An impulse, some instinctual urge, tells you it’s probably not a good idea if they see you here
>You duck low beneath the rack of the cart, and at the earliest chance, you bank a hard right down another corridor, this one a bit sparser
>Just a little further... it feels like this pen is burning a hole in your side
>Finally, after ascending a few more ramps, you get a glimpse of the starlit sky through a porthole, casting the catwalk-laced pit at the center of Site 23 in stark silver and black
>The red rocks are all but drained of their natural color in the moonlight, and at the peak of the chasm the comms array stands like an oversized needle amid the summer blackness
>Before you can drink it all in, the view is gone again, and the familiar Theta sigil emblazoned on the walls indicates that you’ve reached your destination
>Less activity here, as usual; spotting the derelict restricted tunnel that conceals your hidden computer, you nonchalantly wheel the cart up to it, such that it blocks the entrance
>Then, after tearing the nameplate off its smooth exterior, you carefully inch the container off the cart, deeper into the unlit chamber
>No sense in drawing attention to this place, especially with all the activity around here lately... but if somepony does try snooping, a cart blocking the entrance may be enough to deter them while you’re busy
>You check your corners one last time, ensuring that nopony is coming from either direction, and then you undo the latches on the container lid and hinge it slightly ajar
“Alright. Come out, before somepony sees.”
>It looks like tar at first, ink-dark and overflowing
>But despite the color, it’s slightly too solid for that... gelatinous, almost

Sure as fuck didn't miss these captchas.

>>41433608
>Pink’s body squeezes out through the hoof-width crack you’ve made for her, flattening and clinging to the outer wall of the container until what appears to be her “head” reaches the floor
>Tendrils (or hooves, though they don’t look it now) aid her in her extrication, finding purchase in even the smallest slivers of bent geometry the container has to offer and dragging the rest of her half-liquid form along to the ground
>In all, she’s completely invisible to the rest of the hallway as she climbs out from her hiding spot, a snaking shadow that blends completely into the dark corridor leading into the mainframe room
>Once again, you find yourself struggling in vain to imagine what such a sight would look like if Pink weren’t wearing that full-body suit
>Is she... breaking her bones to do that? Or are her bones just as flexible as the rest of her?
>What does a mare’s head look like when it’s being stuffed through a space the size of a paperweight?
>The thought makes you queasy, so you cast it out of your head
>Instead, you follow the shadow inward, forcing the broken door shut behind you and moving swiftly into your haven
>When you round the corner, Pink is already waiting for you amid the humming monitors, blinking lights and mess of coiled cables
>You unlatch the hidden bus-drive in the base of the pen, jamming it into the nearest port and watching as the composite machine you’ve created whirs to life after a week of neglect
>Those strange backtraces you’d been getting from comms were enough to spook you into discontinuing your digital correspondence with the Chancellor
>Now, however, it’s a necessity; there’s no other way to get this information to him, barring sending Pink back to Mons Canteria with it herself
>But despite the risk, this is faster, and whatever gets this information to Neighsay faster is what gets you out of this dump faster
>And besides, you can’t possibly NOT see with your own eyes the photos Pink took down there in Omega Sector; it’s just too irresistible a secret!
>As soon as the external drive registers, you double click, and wait for the images to load
>When the first one does, what you see... confuses you
>It’s just a hallway, with a dark space above it that extends towards a ceiling of uncertain height
CLICK
>More of the same; looks like Pink was simply taking pictures as she went
“Good eye for photography, there. Nice composition. Heh, heh.”
>The joke doesn’t get much of a reception from Pink, who stands silently at attention over your left wither
>Well, YOU thought it was funny
CLICK
>After about three more hallway pictures, you come upon an unfamiliar sight: a large, open chamber that appears to be completely lined with sheer plastic tarp
>It’s like a bubble room, isolated from the rocks and girders beyond, and narrowing into a long, long hallway at one end

>>41433612
CLICK
>She’s in the hallway now; it’s murderously dark, probably owing to the high perch she took, and there are two figures well beneath her
>The concrete corridor appears to slope downward into a chamber filled with light, at least a quarter of a mile away by your estimate, and both sides are edged with crimson sentry turrets that shine ominously
>You’re reminded of the fortresses of old, the kind you learned about on the days of reform school you didn’t skip: the ones with torches and knights and engraved pillars lining the path to some king or emperor’s mighty throne
CLICK
>Wholly apart from that ominous hall is what you guess lay at its terminus: a congregation of ponies, all clad in white gowns, probably labcoats, though the image is too grainy to say for sure
>Once again, Pink is well above them, and the whole mass of them surround a central altar of sorts: an enormous reflective sphere that glows with spooky iridescence
>In front of the sphere is a platform, on which stands... is that Professor Neigh?
>You’d recognize his dorky mane and glasses anywhere, and the black eye he got courtesy of Caballeron is unmistakable
>It’s a demonstration of some kind, further backed up by the coiled structures that surround, point into, and interlink with the sphere, like the claws of a giant beast risen from the sand to clutch at a pearl from below
>As a matter of fact, you recognize those tower-coils; you saw a couple of them being carted through Omega Gate yesterday, to an unknown end
>And encircling all of it are rows upon rows of boxy devices, identical to the supercomputer stacks you observed being transported en masse into Site 23 that kicked off this whole shebang
>From this angle, the whole setup looks less like a controlled experiment, and more like OI is doing everything they can to contain a caged animal, if said animal were a shiny marble the size of a small house
CLICK
>A few more shots of the sphere go by, from the same angle, and then one in particular catches your eye
>Black Bar, in all his smug glory, is standing next to Neigh on the podium, apparently delivering a speech
CLICK
>The image is dimmer this time; same room, but the only source of light is the sphere itself, glowing like a star and thrusting sparks in the direction of the coils
>Each successive image, likely taken seconds apart, are snapshots of so many lightning bolts frozen in time, emanating from the sphere
>The photos take on a strange ripple effect at their edges, as if the very camera is being warped by the strange energy being applied to (or deriving from) the sphere
>Below it, the scientists are more scattered, more mob-like than the orderly crowd they were before
CLICK
>The next image is all black
>But amid the grain and the pixels, you could swear that the faint traces of a face are emerging out of shades of grey

>>41433613
>But the face is impossible, inequine, and before you can really scrutinize it, your eyes lose what they thought they saw, and you dismiss it as an illusion
CLICK
>Several more images from the high rafters, now from varying angles: most of them have the sphere in them, but one in particular grabs your attention
>It’s a snapshot of a whiteboard in the same chamber, taken from high above, but nonetheless clear enough to make out some of the writing
>One of the words is “SUBSTRUCTURE,” which immediately confirms the connection between this experiment and Neigh’s dossier
>Others are “HYPER-DENSITY,” “FREQUENCY RANGE,” and, most strangely of all, “COMMUNION LOG”
>Beneath that last one are notes scribbled out, erased and rewritten endlessly, judging by the eraser marks
>But one word remains in place, larger than the rest and virtually untouched
>What does it say? You can’t be sure with this resolution
>Wheat?
>Wall?
>Well?
>That’s—
BANG
>You leap away from the console, knocking over one of your piles of accumulated spare parts as the chair buckles under you
>A loud noise, not quite a gunshot, but close by; it sounds like it came from just outside, from Theta Tunnel
>Once you’ve collected yourself, you look around, dazed; something’s still propping you up, and it isn’t your chair
“Nuh!”
>You reflexively bound away from the hooves pressed against your withers
>Not that you’re surprised that Pink can move that quickly, or even she’d take the time to catch you; but you’re still a little shaken from what happened down below, that moment between you
>What was she trying to tell you? And why did she have to be so damn creepy about it?
>In any case, there’s likely nothing to worry about out there... ponies drop things, bump into walls, so—
>”Shamrock!”
>Your heart goes still
>The ponies out there don’t often call your “name” unprompted
>And what’s more, it sounded like Comet Tail’s voice...
>You just saw him being guarded... what’s he doing looking for you?
>Can’t have seen you come this way... not a chance...
>Cautiously, you step around Pink, motioning at her to stay quiet, not that she needs any encouragement
>When you reach the entrance to your little alcove, you peer around the rocky corner, surveying the tunnel beyond the broken door
>Your forehoof trails down your body, pawing for the pistol concealed amid your personal effects
>The lights of the corridor seem almost alive, dancing and scattering in fractals to your unaccustomed eyes
>With one more look at Pink, you step out of the shadows, trotting cautiously towards the empty cart between you and...
>”Sham! C’lestia, th-there you are!”
>Before you can react, Comet’s bright yellow head pokes out from the sharp corner, and immediately you can tell that he’s distressed
>His eyes dart back and forth, and he’s trembling as though the air were twenty degrees cooler

>>41433615
>”I-I’ve been looking e-everywhere for you. Wh-what are you... what are you doing back there?”
>Damnit, Clover, think of something!
>Why ARE you skulking in an abandoned shaft?
>You grope for something to latch onto, both with your hoof and with your brain; the former finds purchase on a girder, keeping you from sinking under the weight of your own stress, but the latter...
“Er... Comet. Sir. I was... I thought I saw somepony... tampering with—”
>”And why did you leave THIS out in the open? I-I bumped into it...”
>Comet gestures sharply at the discarded container bearing your name, leaning off the edge of the transport cart, and practically in the middle of the hallway
>You cringe unsubtly; why didn’t you just pull it deeper into the shaft, or...
>Or nothing
>It’s done now, and all you can do now is control the damage
“I was caught off guard by something. It’s no problem now, just a minor detour.”
>Your boss scratches his hoof and chuckles nervously; an odd reaction for him
>You thought he’d be more inquisitive, given that it’s in his job description
>”Uh... so... Sham?”
“Comet?”
>”Why don’t you... um... I mean, I have something I need you to help me with... it’s... important.”
>What’s with this strange attitude?
>Yesterday, he was an untouchable cavalier, brimming over with the energy of that majestic power trip you conned him into taking
>Now, he seems too squeamish to ask his subordinate for a favor
>On one hoof, you’re tempted to tell him to piss off, and upload these files immediately
>But if you do that, then he might get a muzzle for trouble about this little spot of yours, and come snooping later
>Find your equipment, your console... of which, even if you wanted to, you could practically never erase the evidence
>There’s just too much junk in there that you’ve accumulated over the course of your stay in paradise, and you won’t get it out again
>Nopony can know
>So, you’re left with only one option
“I’d be glad to assist. What’s the job?”
>”Ah-heh. It’s only, ah... it’s only in Kappa. There’s some kind of dispute over ownership of some lab tech. You know h-how these whitecoats can be. Prissy prima donnas.”
“And you just need me to stand there and look pretty?”
>”Heh, well, it’s... I mean... I might need some... some backup, in case...”
“Comet, can I ask you a question?”
>”Y... sure.”
>You hesitate, uncertain if the rising pulse in your gut is something that should be trusted or not
>Usually, you wouldn’t dare to doubt it, but in a case like this, where the alternative is...
>It can’t possibly be
>Your head is hammering, and your lungs...
“Why did...”
>You barely manage to say the words
“Why did I see you with two troopers back in Phi Sector?”
>...

>>41433618
>Comet’s whole body appears to recede, to shrivel, as though something terribly offensive has been uttered aloud
>”Wh-what? That’s... I mean, I don’t think that—”
“It’s alright, man. It’s only a question. I was in that traffic jam back there, and I saw you with two of the plastic menaces. You looked frayed. You still look frayed. Are they...”
>”No! Um... no, there isn’t... l-look, just... just come with me.”
>Automatically, you grip the broad trigger of your firearm, keeping it well out of sight
>You’re practically speaking to Comet with half your body hidden, concealed by shadow and stone, looking every bit as ghoulish as Pink in this light
>And out there, Comet’s exposed, walled in by the sliver of what you can see beyond the doorframe, calling out to you like a...
>Like a nice, juicy, yellow bit of cheese on a hard, twisted, metal mouse trap
>Celestia above
“Comet... why don’t you... if you aren’t busy...”
>”Sham, we really need to—”
“No, no, just... just come look at what’s in here. C’mon. It’ll only take a few seconds.”
>”That’s... I mean, that’s not...”
“Don’t you wanna see what I found? There’s something really strange in this room back here. I think you should see it. Chief Inquiry Officer.”
>Every word you speak sends Comet a little bit further away, until his hindquarters are glued to the far wall, just beneath a rather auspicious “CAUTION IN HALLS” sign
>He’s terrified... and you think you know why
“Comet. Either you come look at this, or I’m not going.”
>”It’s... that’s not how... I’m ordering you to come... to...”
“What are you so scared of? You afraid of the dark?”
>Where all this tremendous confidence is bubbling up out of, you haven’t got a damn clue, but as long as it is you need to milk it for all it’s worth
>”I... I...”
“Who knows, Comet? Besides you, who knows?”
>”Pl... please, I just... why did you make me... what have I got to do with—”
“WHO KNOWS?!”
>The words echo across the pale plates of this modern subterranean crypt, riding the walls and halls and coming right back to you, deafening in their clarity
>And then, a long silence, eons long, holds between you and Comet, who cringes in place but does not run or charge
>He remains firm, and so do you, and his nerves are your nerves, and you feel that you could break down at any moment
>This has to be a dream... you left no trace, you were so careful...
>But the risk was too great, and maybe something passed quietly under the radar
>Some X-factor you could never have anticipated
“Come on, Comet. Don’t do this. Whatever it is you think you know... I mean, if you’re the only one.”
>You gulp; the grimy air seems to have dried up completely, as though you were standing up there in the Badlands, amid the sand and vipers and twilight

>>41433619
“If you have some kind of suspicion, a-and if you’ve crafted some kind of delusion, then just say it now. I’m not an idiot. I know exactly what you’re thinking. You’re thinking it’s me, right? You think what happened yesterday, that w-was me... pulling one over on you, on that inspector. But you’re wrong.”
>There’s no response; he’s barely even there
>You’re a piano wire stretched to its limit and plucked until it snaps
>Celestia, you don’t even know how you’re standing straight right now
>The gun is still there... you haven’t lost it... you could draw it if you needed...
“I’m not the mole. I’m not the reason for all this. You know me, Comet. You know who I am.”
>”I d-don't. I don’t know you.”
“Then what the HELL are we doing here? You want me to come do a job with you, what’s that about? Where are we really going, Comet? Huh?”
>Miraculously, you find the strength to inch forward, taking one step out of the shadow at a snail’s pace
>Comet, reacting to your movement, somehow manages to squeeze himself even tighter against that wall, and begins moving slowly towards the corner at the far end of the junction
>”We’re just... it’s only Kappa. I... I’m sorry, Lu—Shamrock. That’s all it is.”
>He very nearly just used your real name
>No, no, no... you thought you’d been careful, you thought...
>Without giving yourself a chance to think about it any harder, you allow your hoof to bolt for the pistol, leveling it with Comet’s muzzle before he can react
>Comet shrieks, gulps; but otherwise he freezes in place, making no further attempts to remove himself from the scene
>Sparks are flying in your head... questions without answers, all culminating in two main points:
>How did they find out? And how far can you run before you die?
>”He-he’s... he’s got—”
>”DON’T MOVE!”
>”HOOVES ON HEAD, CLOVER!”
>It’s instinct; pure instinct
>It wells up from some hidden source inside you, and it compels you to lunge forward towards Comet
>The two guards you saw earlier come wheeling out of each side of the tunnel entrance; they must have been hiding just out of sight the whole time
>Both are brandishing ARC-77s, mounted automatic weapons strapped against each of their right withers, the thick barrels of which are supported by their opposite hooves, and pointed directly at you
>But before they can lunge for you in turn, mere meters away from you, you’ve cuffed Comet by his wither and dragged him yelping back into the shadow
>”Don’t try it, Clover!”
>The gun is in your hoof, pointed now not at Comet, who shrieks and squirms in your tight grasp, but at the guards themselves
>You tremble; you’ve only fired a gun once in your life, and it wasn’t with lethal intent
>”Hooves on head, don’t make this harder than it has to be!”

>>41433629
>The guards bark their commands loudly, amplified by the cylindrical tunnels, their eyes obscured by the yellow-striped visors that change the entire shape of their heads, making them appear less equine, more demonic in nature
>You take a step back...
>”Stop moving! Do not retreat into that tunnel, we will open fire!”
“This is a mistake! Stop pointing those damn things at me!”
>”Stop talking, and put your Celestia-damned hooves on your head! Drop the weapon, and move into the light!”
>More hoofsteps, more noise, a cavalcade of stomping, shaking; some monster with a hundred hooves must be barreling down that hallway
>Of course, it isn’t; in a few seconds’ time, the two guards are joined by at least a dozen more, all sporting the same malicious weapons
>All of them projecting a distinct sensation of fear, just like Comet Tail
>But not fear of you
>”Last chance, Clover! You’re done! It’s over!”
“I’ll shoot him!”
>”NO! DON’T KILL ME!”
>”You do it, we’ll drop you! Lay it down NOW!”
“You kill me...”
>You speak to nopony in particular, your hoof gripping the trigger of the pistol for dear life, ready to pull it back at a moment’s notice
>Your mane is standing on end, and your heart is a cannonade, but your nerves are set and steeled by a force you can’t begin to understand
“You kill me, and she’ll attack.”
>”STOP TALKING!!!”
>They’re all aiming at you
>Their eyes, hidden and fearful, are all on you
>You were never one to bask in attention; you’ve always preferred to keep to yourself
>And now...
“Even one of you... sons of bitches... comes closer... I’ll call her out...”
>This time, not one of them musters a response
>They know about Pink... they know she’s back there, in the hidden chamber, watching and waiting to strike
>How they... how Black Bar... managed to figure out your plan, you’ll probably never know; but what’s important now is that they know what you have, and they’re scared out of their minds
>You can use that... you just have to... just...
>You take another step back, pulling a ghost-white Comet with you
>”Clover... stop moving. Final warning.”
“You don’t sound too convinced.”
>”Clover. Come on. Don’t make this so hard.”
>The foremost guard lowers his voice; there’s a note of sympathy in his tone
>You know this guard... only by ID number, not by name, since you’ve audited his unit once or twice
>But you know him all the same... you’ve seen him in the cafeteria, the hallways, the upper-level CI barracks
>You hate these ponies... you hate every last one of them, you...
>”No matter what happens here, Clover, you can’t think it’ll turn out your way. It just won’t.”
>You can’t shoot them; damn, you can’t do it
>Can’t even think about it without trembling, losing whatever facade of bravado you thought you had
>”Nopony’s that lucky.”

>>41433631
>Gritting your teeth, holding up what seems to be an unbearable weight on your withers, your mind stutters forth in fast-forward
>You could press the gun against Comet’s temple... but if you take the weapon off the soldiers, they’ll put one between your eyes like THAT
>You could take a step back... but they might advance, and it’ll be a shootout all the same
>You have no options left except—
>”THERE SHE IS! WEAPONS FREE!”
>Something silky and black slips across your periphery
>No, no, what is she doing?!
RATATATATATATATATATATATATAT
>Your eyes squeeze shut, and the gun in your hoof goes off; you know it only by the sudden pulse of pure power that bucks your foreleg backward
>All around you is the cacophony of ARC-77s blasting, crimson fireworks exploding behind your eyelids, the heat of micro-explosions touching your face
>And yet somehow, after several seconds of this, you aren’t dead yet
>You force your eyes open, revealing a sight that would have trumped your wildest horrific fantasies just a few short months ago
>Framed in the darkness of the hallway is Pink, illuminated only by a single bulb of flickering fluorescent light, the rest having apparently been blasted apart
>Standing on her hindlegs, which are eerily extended as if equipped with spring mechanisms at the hocks, she towers over you and the three guards she’s currently wrestling
>Dark slashes of blood paint the back wall, and it’s easy to see why; while two guards struggle against Pink’s grip, attempting to point their derelict weapons at her, the third is raised midair upon a glinting blade that appears to be extending directly out of her hoof
>There he thrashes, pierced through the throat like a fish on a hook, and with what little life remains in him he gargles while absorbing the fire from other guards out of sight
>”HOLD HER DOWN!”
>”CELESTIA! RED, NO!”
>You remember his name now: Code Red, ID # A4209
>He’s looking at you now; oh, Celestia, he’s looking right at you with bloodshot eyes, mouthing silent words as the life leaves him
>Nononononono, screw this screw this
>”FOR CELESTIA’S SAKE, SOMEPONY SHOOT THIS BITCH!”
RATATATATATATATATAT
>The pulse of firearms continues steadily, hailing from a dozen sources
>Pink moves faster than the eye can detect, whipping her prey around in a circular motion before dashing the two still-breathing guards against the far wall
>Then, with what you swear is a shockwave, she dashes upward, plunging her hooves into the ceiling and finding purchase in the miniscule cracks of exposed rock
>Still using Code Red as a shield against the fire, Pink hurtles across your vision at full speed, spider-like in her movements, until she’s completely out of sight
>Screams and cries echo out of Theta Tunnel, and more noises you don’t even want to begin to understand

>>41433633
>Celestia, you didn’t want this... you never wanted this, you’re just a hacker, oh Prophetess just come and deliver you out of this shitstorm...
>”CLOVER!”
>You’re still here
>You aren’t watching a movie, or playing a game, this is real life and you’re in it
>Pink just bought you a lot of time, and you’re wasting it splayed out on the ground, crushed by Comet Tail’s weight
>You need to leave, and fast; it doesn’t matter where you go, as long as you can make your way out of this damn desert forever and ever
“Comet! Get the hell off me, for—”
>It’s only when the light flashes again that you see that Comet’s eyes are wide open
>Far from being unconscious, he’s riddled with bloody holes, no doubt from the ARC-77s which moments ago were trained right at your head
>If you’d moved an inch, if Pink had been a moment too slow...
“NNNGHHHH!!!”
>You wriggle away from your boss’ corpse, reflexively curling into a fetal position and staring into those dead eyes
>Comet... he was a slimy bastard, a-and he was one of them...
>But he didn’t deserve this... nopony deserves to die like this, especially on your account
“SHIT!”
>Shit, what can you do, what can...
>The data
>The pictures
>Somehow, amid all this noise and gore and light and sheer brutality, some rational piece of you manages to reach out and get your brain’s full attention
>If you run now, you might have a tiny, tiny chance of getting out of here alive
>But then you’d be on hoof, in the middle of a desert that extends hundreds of miles in every direction, with no food or water, and nowhere to hide
>But if you can reach out to Neighsay, send him the pictures, give him a reason to come and intervene directly...

>>41433641
>Maybe it won’t all be in vain
>Your mission... your life...
>Maybe it could be FOR something
>You force yourself to avert your gaze from Comet’s lifeless body, raising yourself up on legs made of jelly and grabbing your pistol off the floor before retreating further into your hideaway
>Gunshots still echo off the walls, which means neither Pink nor all the guards are dead yet; while they fight, you can push the databank through the rider channel you and the Chancellor established
>The central monitor still glows with the last grainy, zoomed-in picture you’d been examining before Comet distracted you
>You close it hurriedly, navigating to the secure backdoor embedded within the hijacked computer’s system and dropping the files into it
>They take time to fully upload... time you really don’t have right now
>Gunshots outside, voices, slashes and slams... and something that almost sounds like a chainsaw?
>Celestia, give thee mercy to anypony who crosses that monster’s path
>After a few dozen seconds that feel like hours, a console message pops up in the corner of your screen, reading:
[UPLOAD COMPLETE :: ESTABLISHING SECURE UPLINK WITH IP 23.976.100.01...]
>The message will ride on existing communications through the main site-wide comms array, then scramble to an unknowable number of devices across the country before converging on Neighsay’s private terminal
>After a few seconds, a new message appears:
[ENTER ENCRYPTION KEY NOW: _]
>The encryption process will take even more time, and you can’t be confident just how much longer Pink will be able to fend off your attackers
>You bypass the encryption module you set up, opting to simply beam the unencrypted message directly through the channels
>If it were any time but now, a message like this would be far, FAR too risky to send, but there’s no use in maintaining secrecy now
>If they know who you are, they almost certainly know who you’re working for, and a Chancellor can sort out his own damn problems
“Come on, come on... LOAD!!!”
KRAKOOOOOOOOOOM
>That sounded like a grenade!
“Celestia, shit, nonono COME ON!”
>Finally!
[PACKAGE SENDING... 10%... 20%... 30%...]
>Please...
>You don’t want to die here... not without somepony, somewhere, knowing why...
[40%... 50%...]
>You find yourself inexplicably imagining the face of one Daredevil Cherry, that prim little filly who never said no to a challenge
>Back in the old days... if you could take it all back, if you could talk to her one last time, what would you say?
>What COULD you say?
[60%... 70%... ERROR!]
>Your blood turns to ice
>No, no, this... but...
>But you know exactly why, even before the error code resolves in the console...

>>41433647
[ERROR CODE 105 : FILE BACKTRACE UNVERIFIED : PLEASE CONSULT ADMINISTRATOR FOR MORE INFORMATION...]
“BLACK BAR! YOU SON OF A BITCH!”
>They locked you out of the comms array... they KNEW!
>They’ve known since... Celestia, since you first started receiving those irregular backtrace logs!
>That was weeks ago... they knew something strange was happening with their outgoing data, and you knew they knew, and you did absolutely nothing
>Well, what could be done? You... you even stopped, just in case... just in case...
>It’s too quiet
>Altogether you become aware that the shooting has stopped, or moved beyond your hearing
>There’s nothing protecting you now... did they finally kill Pink?
>You’re cornered, trapped in a dark cave like some primordial animal, awaiting death at the claws of an apex predator
>Cool air chills your flesh from the rattling grill of the vent above you, and you want nothing more than to turn invisible, to just vanish and slip away unseen
>If you could... just...
>You look up, a treacherous path illumining before your mind’s eye
>The vent!
>It’s just barely large enough for a pony to fit through; in fact, now that you think about it, it’s almost certainly how Pink managed to enter this room without being detected, the first time she arrived at Site 23
>Desperately, you unplug the flashdrive pen, balancing on two legs on top of your chair to just barely reach the vent’s grill
>Sweat and tears stain your face as you pull down with all your might on the aging metal, until...
CRACK
>One bolted corner flies away, followed quickly by another!
>Hanging on by just two bolts now, the grill unhinges, squeaking with a rusted sigh as it falls uselessly to the side
>Ensuring that the pen is secured in your pocket, you leap up and over the lip of the vent, banging your head against the side of the enclosed space as you do
>If they rush your hideaway, they’ll know where you went, so you’ll have to be two steps ahead of them
>You can only assume that they’ve shut down all communications between site electronics and the comms array by this point, and experimenting with any other computer on site would be next to impossible
>So... how to send a message?
>Well, Lucky, you brave, stupid bastard, there’s at least one terminal you know of that can’t be locked out of the array...
>The terminal linked to the array itself! The mainframe responsible for authorizing all incoming and outgoing data!
>That terminal is inside the comms station, several dozen meters from here as the crow flies and across the central well of the facility
>Unfortunately, you aren’t a crow; fortunately, however, you know this place inside out, including the ventilation layout
>You pored over those schematics endlessly, back when you were speculating about reaching Omega Sector by piloting a small spider drone through the ductworks

>>41433649
>It never came to fruition, since every sector of Site 23 is partitioned and ventilated separately, but that knowledge never fully went away
>Theta to Beta to Alpha Sector... you’ll crawl your way to the comms station, a-and then...
>Well, you’ll just have to cross that bridge when you come to it
>You flick on the flashlight hooked to your vest, affording you a narrow yellowish view of the metal corridor ahead
>Multiple hoofsteps grow louder and louder beneath you, signaling that more than one pony are converging on your hideaway
>Pink... you’d almost believed she was impossible to kill, and despite yourself, there’s a pang in your heart when you content yourself that she really might be gone
>Your time with her was short, and she was damn creepy, but you didn’t ask for this...
>No time to waste; you wedge your hindlegs against the trusses of the vent walls and push yourself forward, inch by inch, bit by bit
>Rounding a corner, you summon those distant memories of schematics in the back of your mind, struggling against all the stress and trauma of the last few minutes to focus on that raw, unfiltered information
>Forward ten meters... right... two meters... left... left... twenty-five meters...
>You aren’t concerned about the guards following you up here, at least not armed; those ARC-77s are too bulky to fit in this narrow vent
>Still, every corner you round sends another chill up your spine, as you imagine the light shining on a dark face, and the long barrel of your death
>Focus, Clover... just...
TSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
>There’s noise behind you
>Hissing... an air leak?
>Keep moving forward...
>The noise is spreading... it’s all around you now, emanating from every shaft
>Suddenly, your light catches a strange shadow, a flowing silver streak that seems to dance across the vent walls like water
>Seconds later, your eyelids flutter unconsciously; a smell like burning onions floods your nostrils
>Oh, Celestia... shut your...!
“AHHHHHHHHH!”
>Your eyes slam shut, but far too late; there are already twin infernos blazing in your corneas, piercing deep into your skull
>Tear gas!
>They're willing to flood the air vents with tear gas just to flush you out?!
>You’ve been caught in your fair share of labor riot clashes in the Undermaw, but you’ve never been forced so close to the stuff for so long
>It burns, burns, burns... they’re trying to smoke you out, make you give yourself away, or stand still and suffer while they converge on you!
>Celestia, you can’t see... can’t move, can barely even breathe...
>You’re trapped in the dark, alone, with nopony coming to save you, nopony...
>...
>No
>If these bastards are trying to gut your resolve, they’ll have to try much harder than that
>You may have been pretending to be pencil pushing middle management all this time, but you haven’t forgotten who you truly are

>>41433652
>You’re Lucky goddamn Clover, and your luck hasn’t run out yet
>Gritting your teeth, holding your breath, keeping your eyes shut as tightly as possible, you continue forward, pushing against the gas and the pain and the claustrophobia
>Your mental map of the vents guides you even where your eyes fail... right... twelve meters...
>The whole world is black, only the cold metal beneath your hooves matters
>Forward ten meters...
>Your lungs are corroding, squeezing your ribcage against your sides
>Everything in you ready to snap
>Climb up... a slant, ten meters...
>Clouds in your throat, in your ears, burning your skin, evaporating your tears
>Red pain pulsing through your being with every heartbeat
>Heart stop... STOP BEATING!
>Filter it away, leave it behind you, stop swimming in... in...
>Grill in five meters...
>Eyes still shut
>Heart still pounding
>Lungs still constricting
>But ahead of you, air and light
>Your head rams into something solid and serrated; looks like you overshot just a tad
>If anypony is in there, they’ve already heard...
>Gotta hurry, gotta...
>Gotta breathe...
>Gotta just...
“NNNGHHHAAAAHHH!!!!!”
>KICK!
BANG
>Something flies away, strikes a hard surface beyond the vent
>The uneven spikes of the vent grill leave a painful mark on your hoof, but it’s the least of your worries now
BANG
>Another blind strike, though nothing comes loose this time
>Faintly, beneath the current of static agony resonating in your ears, you manage to discern the sound of hooves tapping incongruously
>A few more should do it... you can taste the fresh oxygen, can see the redness of light through twitching eyelids
>But the gas is closing on you, suffocating you even while you’re inches from freedom
BANG
>You can tell there was less power behind that blow, fewer muscles firing in your hock
>Life is slipping away from you, spilling out of all your crevices, replaced with pain and the feeling of drifting elsewhere
>Just... another...
>TRY!
BANG
CLTCLTCLANG
>Having summoned all your remaining strength into that last shot, the grill is wrested away from the wall panel, screws and all
>It cracks against the ground, and a great involuntary moan leaves your lips as you launch yourself after it, over the threshold and into empty space
>You take a deep, gasping breath, still blind to your surroundings, and relief washes over you as you realize that it’s truly fresh air you’re breathing
>Well, as fresh as air gets in Site 23, but it’s enough to grant you a little more strength
>Tenderly, you open your eyes, ignoring the sizzling pain, struggling to make sense of your surroundings
>Your schematic told you that this ventilation shaft let out into a server bank connected to the main comms array, and that knowledge appears to have paid off
>Large, humming computer frames dominate the walls of this space, not much larger than a broom closet

>>41433655
>There’s nopony here, save for a few concerned busybodies outside the far door, but fortunately they don’t seem to have noticed your loud entrance
>In fact, their backs are turned to the window between you... they all appear to be intensely focused on something just out of view
>The sound of irregular hoofsteps is gaining, despite the lack of movement outside; you need to get to work
>As you creep up to the window to get a better look at the comms station, your hindquarters begin to bristle
>Tear gas is still flooding out of the vent, and may fill this space too given enough time
“They really don’t know I’m here... they don’t know what I’m trying to do.”
>Any secret is an advantage
>They’ve almost certainly reinforced the perimeter of the installation by now, so there’s practically zero chance of true escape; but that hasn’t stopped you in the past
“Rubes. They’d s-save their own skins, so that’s all they expect.”
>Not so long ago, they’d be right; but this is bigger than you now, bigger than any one pony
>Examining the parallel space more closely, you recognize a few of the ponies within; all of them engineers, none of them currently seated at their stations
>A large circular console juts out of the room’s center, exploding with ancient apparatuses, switches and dials so out of date that your grandmother would’ve called them used goods
>This is one of the oldest intact parts of the original mining facility, after all, some of the technology even predating the discovery of the New Maker’s Handbook, back when modern ponykind was left to their own devices in reverse-engineering the Makers’ miracles
>Still, you know how to use it; so long as it’s retrofitted with a modern drive port, which you spy as part of a mainframe laptop attached to the more robust equipment, the contents of the pen drive will be easy to upload and relay
>Easy, but time-consuming; as soon as you bust in this door, you don’t know what might come for you
“No sense in waiting for them to come to me.”
>With one fell swoop, you brandish your pistol and swing the door wide, attracting the attention of all eight of the ponies beyond the threshold
“NOPONY MOVE!”
>A stubby, red-maned stallion close to you stumbles forward, but you’re too quick
>One good look at the barrel of your gun, as well as your burning red eyes looking fiercely back into his, sends him spiraling backwards over a chair
“Everypony to the back wall, NOW! No sudden movements, or I won’t hesitate!”
>The grunts are quick to comply, scrambling into a great huddle between two large secondary terminals
>Immediately, as you move towards the central console, it becomes clear what had been distracting the whole team: the smooth, venomous voice of Minister Black Bar echoing tinnily over the intercom

>>41433657
>{“—through any defenses we might throw at them, so remain vigilant should one approach. These are intelligent, cautious, and learned creatures, so take extraordinary care in dealing with them. Again: I speak directly to you, Lucky Clover, when I say this. Stealth is not an option. You will submit yourself to OI force, which will treat you with summary justice befitting one who has committed a crime against the state. You will not be harmed if you come quietly; far from, your contributions to OI itself have been considered, and despite past dealings, you would be enabling for yourself a far more positive future in submitting to the law, and allowing the proper precautions to take place. Whatever the...”}
>And on, and on, and on
>Bastard... you can’t afford to give him another thought
>They find you here, and you’re dead, that’s all there is to it; you can only hope that by “them,” Black Bar means that Pink hasn’t yet been apprehended
>Wasting no time, you activate the mainframe, sliding the pen into its drive port and navigating through layers of automated firewalls
>”Hay! You can’t...”
“Shut it!”
>Splitting your attention between the engineers and the screen isn’t ideal, but it’s preferable to letting one of them get the drop on you
>First things first... the sliding doors leading into the comms station from the main artery of Alpha Sector can be mechanically locked at the touch of a button in case of emergencies... this is certainly an emergency, so you lock them up tight
>Now for the harder part: an inhibitor program... automated shutdown, bypassed with a script... a severed connection to the console, rerouted trivially
>All along, that droning voice over the speaker drowns out all but your most primal thoughts; try as you might, you can’t escape the words
>{“There are very few ponies out there capable of hiding their existences from me. Far fewer who can do it right under my muzzle. Your employer did a stand-up job erasing you from the public record... or was that your work”}
>Click, clack, government-issued devices are shockingly easy to deal with, certainly easier than some of the more advanced private systems
>{“I’ll admit, you had me convinced... not of your innocence, of course. I knew from the start there was a mole in our midst, and once I did manage to deduce your identity, it was only a matter of waiting for you to make your move. The gamble down in Omega Sector was certainly something, and it’s a shame poor Inspector Comet Tail had to pay such a heavy price for it. We had him pegged for your knowing accomplice, at the very least, so there was a handy bit of trickery.”}
>With most of the security measures disabled, it’s just a matter of compiling the data contained on the pen drive and converting it to a format this old equipment is capable of broadcasting over long distances

>>41433660
>No invisible signal riding this time; it all goes in one big blast, the Chancellor’s secrecy be damned
>This is already a national incident, so why not make it a little more fun?
>{“But you HAD convinced me of one thing, Lucky Clover: your willingness to play ball with the powers that be. There is a hierarchy in this world, a pyramid of information beyond anypony’s reckoning. Information which, if revealed, would shake the foundations of this nation we’ve worked so hard and so long to build from nothing but ashes. I thought you’d be a better judge as to the shape of that pyramid, the direction that information flowed. Security, Clover. Isn’t that what I tried to impress upon you? Security, mutual self-defense, that is the main-mast of this device we call power. Knowledge of one’s surroundings, in the animal sense. But it seems...”}
[DEVICE PAIRED WITH RELAY BOOTH 1.1 CENTRAL. PARSING FOR CORRUPT FILES...]
>{“...it seems that your judgment was misguided. Or maybe... maybe something worse. Maybe it was idealistic. It doesn’t matter much now. After all, it’s most ponies’ naive assumption that the greatest power on this earth is that which names itself the greatest power.”}
[LOCAL FILES AUTHENTICATED. PROCEED WITH UPLINK CODE... IP 23.976.100.01 AUTHENTICATED.]
>{“I only thought you were better than that. I thought you had seen, down there, where the greatest power really lies. Or are you looking at it right now? Can you see it, in all its digital glory?”}
[MESSAGE CONTENTS :: PLEASE CONFIRM ATTACHMENTS.]
>You read over the message you hurriedly typed into the console one last time, ensuring that the information contained within will satisfy:

COMPROMISED
SEND HELP NOW
OMEGA SECTOR INFILTRATED
PINK GONE

>You can’t risk this process taking any longer than it already has; you’ll have to choose just a hoofful of images to send along with the message, maybe just one
>You scroll through the uploaded files, one particular image catching your eye: the sphere in all its glory, surrounded by supercomputers and all the pony culprits of its creation
>One final time, you look at it, wanting to understand despite yourself, wanting to play a grander part in all... this
>This noise, this story
>{“Or are you content with looking away? Sending it on, to somepony who wants that glory for himself? I know you, Lucky Clover. I’ve seen so many of you. You don’t seek power, or even information, for yourself. No, you seek... heh, to survive. To live in a world that hates you. That wants you dead and broken and forgotten. Sometimes, there’s only one way out of the maze you’ve built around yourself, and that’s to go through. See past the illusions and the lies. I see you, Clover.”}
>File attached, system ready, all you have to do is—
>”I see you right now.”
>Black Bar’s voice is muffled, but it didn’t come from the intercom

>>41433663
>Your attention is shifted away from the monitor, away from your hostages, for mere moments as you sense movement outside the main portal to the bridge
>A dozen heavily armed site guards, planting flashing devices all around the edges of the door
>Black Bar himself, positioned well behind them, staring darkly at you while gripping a microphone
>They move away; the button is there, you just have t—
BLAAAMMMMMMMMMMMM
>Dust chokes the room, blinding you again
>The force of the explosion didn’t reach the console, but that didn’t stop you from bracing yourself automatically
>One second too late
>Fast hoofsteps grow louder from behind you, and before you know what’s happening, a red mane fills your vision and thrusts clean into your jaw
>”RRRAHHHHHHHH!!!”
>You shove the short engineer away, pain radiating out of your muzzle and throat; there’s blood on your hooves, either yours or his
>Hell, it could be Comet Tail’s; you can’t be sure of anything anymore
>The stallion kicks himself back up, swings a rolling chair at your head, but you see it coming this time
>There’s a report, a flash, and suddenly what was once a teeming ball of rage is now a limp body splayed across the hard floor
>Your gun... you fired without even thinking about it
>You killed somepony... you... did... this...
>”Stop him!”
>”Don’t let him—”
>There are no thoughts in your head, at least not conscious ones
>Something moves your body forward, whipping it around to face your next attacker
>A horde of glossy shapes bearing down on you with murderous intent, weapons rising and falling, smoke billowing in the vague arcs of movement
>The button is still there, still flashing
>”Shoot the—”
>”NO! WE NEED HIM ALIVE!”
>Your hoof falls, slamming down into the keypad with a desperate finality
>You can only watch as instinct compels you to look, to watch as something unbelievable happens
>Your efforts...
>They weren’t in vain
>On the monitor, a single line remains:
[MESSAGE SENT :: 11:36:34. FILES SUCCESSFULLY TRANSMITTED. AWAITING INPUT...]
>It’s something to behold, truly, something to rival the stars beyond all this din, the vital, sanguine red rock encircling that endless night
>Here... here in this godless place, at the edge of the world...
>Within instants, a tremendous weight crushes all the air out of you in a terrible wheeze
>At least six guards trample you, pinning you to the floor, gritting their teeth with primeval malice
>It’s like something out of a dream, or an ancient memory; predators gorging themselves on prey
>Then, what’s left of your fading vision is dominated by the hefty form of Black Bar, peering down at you with dark eyes bereft of a soul

>>41433671
>”This is my way out of the maze, Lucky Clover. This is what your Chancellor has forced me to do. Like a cornered animal, I must pounce with a final desperation.”
>You expel another long, broken sigh, followed by a voice which barely resembles your own
“What... the hell... is it? The... sphere?”
>Black Bar grins that unsettling goatish grin, chuckling as if to some private joke whose punchline only he knows
>”The Ovum, you mean? It could be the future of life as we know it. Or it could mean its annihilation. I can’t look into the future like some in this world, Lucky Clover. But I know power when I see it.”
>You struggle against the darkness, desperate to keep your eyes open
>”Remember, alive. Don’t squeeze the life out of him, for Celestia’s sake.”
>But the crush of hooves overwhelms you, the numbness of their grip, and the fading cacophony of voices a world away
>”Otherwise, I’m afraid it’s all for nothing.”
>With a sigh, the breath leaves your body, and...
>Sleep finds you
>The type
>Without
>
>Dreams
>
>

******

Welp, that's it for now. I've already started working on the next update. Hopefully it won't be as massive as this one, though the one after that... let's just say I have a choice between once again splitting at a potentially huge cliffhanger, or just dumping everything at once. Please let me know if you all would prefer one over the other. I hope you're all still enjoying the story. Cheers!

>>41433680
Hell yeah. Good to see you back in action Sol. I think I lean slightly more in favor of the cliffhanger for better release pacing,

We're so back bros

Stories updated in the last thread (#92):

Shape Your Home (#deca.mare, posted in NMP) (Ponegreen)
>https://ponepaste.org/477 https://ponepaste.org/478 https://ponepaste.org/479 https://ponepaste.org/480 https://ponepaste.org/4581 https://ponepaste.org/8319
>End of the last update: >>41332718

Voidborne (Writefag_Is_Kill)
>https://ponepaste.org/7604
>End of the last update >>41332718

Last updated in thread #91:
Untitled. Robot ponies don't know they are robots and they are trying to reach space.
>End of the last update: >>40915546

Last updated in thread #90:
The Swirling Menagerie (Solanon !H9HspSG49U)
>https://ponepaste.org/4272 https://ponepaste.org/4285 https://ponepaste.org/4286 https://ponepaste.org/8537
>End of the last update: >>40601362

Last updated in thread #89:
Preservation of Innocence (Wall-o-Text)
>https://ponepaste.org/user/Wall-o-text
>End of the last update >>40330292

Last updated in thread #86:
Anon clueless about how cars work.
>No paste.
>Start here: >>39869470

Last updated in thread #85:
TiM (My Idea of a Good Time)
>https://ponepaste.org/4160 https://ponepaste.org/4161
>End of the last update: >>39594374

>>41433680
Welcome back, king.

>>41434416
Okay, so linking to Solanon's post and NOT linking to the OP when put together gets past the filter. Not a great solution, but whatever.
>>41434416
>>41431332

>>41434419
Hey if it works it works

>>41433680
>Solanon still alive
Now that's some good news.

>>41434416
Having the links in the op posts makes searching for greens years later easier.

>>41436351
Ahh! You found the secret to my immortality!

>>41432697
Hopefully many. This thread could use some traffic.

>>41436355
Clone bodies they upload their minds to, or are those rejuvenation tanks?

>>41437171
The latter, I guess. Simply because clones don't grow any regalia.

>>41437879
Fair enough

>>41436351
Looking at Twilight's surprised expression, this doesn't look like one of her projects.

>>41438348
Or she is surprised that it worked.

>>41438348
Nah she's surprised the clones are growing their regalia

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bump

>>41431332
WE BACK BABY

>>41439202
>The regalia of the princesses are in reality organic extensions of their bodies
Not sure if that would be weird as fuck or hot as fuck.

>>41440884
I wonder what they would use Sweetie Bot for.

>>41441200
I think Jawas usually just sell their droids

>>41441200
hopefully not scrap parts

>>41441786
I don't think she would allow that to happen.

>>41442472
Droids are programmed to obey living sentient creatures. Except when instructed otherwise.

>>41441200
If it was Rarity instead I know what I'd do

>>41443167
Being the example that prompted the do not fist the androids warning sign?

File: chasing a dream.gif (1.14 MB, 500x355)

1.14 MB GIF

>>41443228

File: 1720909027490846.png (1.16 MB, 1024x1024)

1.16 MB PNG

Technology makes horses.
What a time to be alive.

>>41444241
wow what a picture. thank you for sharing

>>41443667
Personally I'd try upgrading her with at least some silicone toys before I just rawdog her mechanical gears but you do you.

>>41445932
I'd hope for something better than mere silicone

>>41446287
Artificially created biomatter?

>>41446662
That would certainly be fantastic

>>41443667
At least you can now do it again without the fear of losing another limb.

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Would the buildings become mundane and soulless if ponies were built them like humans do?

>>41447917
50/50, I wager. Look at Manehattan in the show. Some look more pleasing than others, aesthetically speaking.

>>41447518
True

>>41448209
Oh, that exists.

>>41449731
I have yet to read Friendship is optimal.

>>41449731
A little bit too big to would.

>>41450310
I'd still be tempted to try

>>41450890
I dont think she would even notice

>>41451206
If she's CelestAI, she does. She notices all of her little ponies.

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12 KB JPG

I checked, the “flying boats” are in fact aeroplanes, I give one, their Antonov 222 the possibility to be bigger than ponyville-centre.

>i'm simplificating
“flying boats” if you attach floaters to an aeroplane it doesn't becomes a boat, Applejack had an accident with her truck, she ended in the river, it floated for 20km. it isn't a boat.

>okay we have buildings taller than Manehattan skyscrapers.

*stare at anon* Which ones
>Burj Khalifa
*frowns at anon* they're the people who destroyed two buildings of yours. still smaller than the crystal palace, 1.1kilometre. there's one made of carbon allotrope. Diamond, in manehattan at 900m high.

>okay, we may have been on the moon or inb spa-
Anon, you've been on the moon, you can go anywhere in three dimensions using enough explosives as fuel, it's physics. it's a law. PinkiePie wrote it.

>okay then electricity everywhere? internet?
we have electricity we just don't pay monthly fees for it. Also internet. What do you want internet for in a place like this.
>well, it's
Anon.

Anon....

>>41451650
Bucking of the future.

>>41451650
God I want that so badly

>>41453427
design files are available
you can 3d print it

>>41450171
Do it. It's an interesting read.

>>41454331
Its in my queue. Along with 100 other.

>>41454630
>Along with 100 other.
I know that problem.

>>41455640
Companion huh? What can you do?

>>41455640
kiss kiss kiss

>>41457269
The weak should fear the strong

>>41457269
Is that Scootaloo meeting her older self?

>>41458599
Now that's gay.

>>41458966
Why? Strong AI is banned in many fictional universes.

>>41458156
Yeah I'm pretty sure that's what's happening

>>41459421
This isn't about strong AI though. It's just some artist who lashes out at AI because of its image generating potential.

>>41458599
NOAI?

>>41460884
Thanks captain obvious!

>>41462743
Any time!

>>41462327
Japanese?

>>41465621
since when does Tali have tailfins?

>>41465664
Who?

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>>41466284
Tali'Zorah from Mass Effect

>>41466284
Oh, so this is why this >>41460884 response!

>>41466930
Ah, okay. Never played that series myself.

>>41467948
Mass Effect 1-3 is great. 3 is considerably worse than 1-2, but its still great.
Don't play Mass Effect 4. Don't even watch its trailer. Its just the typical money squeeze from a well known and respected name.

>>41468429
4 was the dreaded Andromeda, right?

>>41468463
yes

Update tonight.

>>41469570
yay

>>41468650
That shitshow is widely known.

Since I already more or less recapped the events of the last Twilight, AJ, and Dash chapter at the top of the thread, I won't bother repeating myself. However, there is one detail I feel I should mention in case it was forgotten: Applejack has become aware that Rainbow is lying about her true identity, and has asked her to share the truth with her. Okay, let's begin.

******

>(“AJ, you ready?”)
>(The voice comes unbidden, seemingly from miles away)
>(It pulls you back from the place you had just inhabited seconds ago, that place deep in your mind filled with flames)
>(Forces you back into this body, this useless tiny body)
>(Sometimes, you could swear your senses take turns)
>(You can never use more than one of them effectively at the same time, especially when you’re in deep thought)
>(For example, you’ve apparently been staring at your hoof for the last five uninterrupted minutes, but you have no memory of that whatsoever)
>(It seems that only now, on the cusp of some profound internal breakthrough, are you comprehending the blackened ridges and etches of burnt tissue that zigzag across your hoof’s frog)
>(You abandoned the gauze two days ago; best to simply let it heal on its own)
>(Had you been asleep? No, it couldn’t be)
>(You’ve never dreamed about the fire before)
>(Yet it was there in your mind, brimming with total reality, encompassing your whole mind in brimstone and ash; you were conscious of it, almost...)
>(Memorializing it)
>(“AJ?”)
>(There it is again, that funny phenomenon)
>(You vaguely recall his voice in the background a few moments prior, but as long as you’re trapped in this semi-trance, your ears don’t seem to function as needed)
>(No connection to the brain, to your awareness... not while the fire blocks it out)
>(Not... while...)
>(“Applejack!”)
(“WHAT?”)
>(That voice, too, comes unbidden; surprising, since it’s your own)
>(You swing violently around in the swivel chair, now facing out from the corner of your room, through the bright hangings and towards the door, which is now inexplicably open)
>(There’s a colt standing on the threshold, a colt you’ve told a hundred times not to enter your room)
>(True, it was the old room, but the rules still count for something here)
>(If it had been any other voice but his, would you have recognized the intrusion right away, from the unfamiliarity?)
>(Or was it the fact that you know that booming basso so well that saved you from the inferno in your own mind?)
>(It’s not... not...)
>(“It’s time for photos. Are you coming down, or am I gonna have to drag you?”)
>(You stare at your brother, and quickly become transfixed by whatever the hell he’s wearing)
>(It’s not really a tuxedo... but it’s also not the overalls he usually dons for field work)

>>41471122
>(Rather, Big Mac is garbed in some kind of gross amalgam of the two garments: black suede overalls, the straps wrapped neatly around his withers to frame some kind of hideous pleated shirt front, with a red bowtie to match)
>(You can feel the corners of your mouth turning up, even though you can’t bring yourself to laugh)
(“This is what you’re wearing?”)
>(“Better than the nothing that you’re wearing. Y’ain’t even dressed yet?”)
(“I’m not coming down.”)
>(“AJ... c’mon. Granny said there’s no point in a family picture if the whole dang family ain’t... wait. Did YOU do all this?”)
>(Mac steps gingerly into your room; well, the room they now call yours)
>(You glare at your brother, but if he senses that he’s intruding, he doesn’t care)
>(Instead, he keeps on plodding forward, over the cold, empty oak flooring, and ducks underneath the drapery of the new space you’ve created)
>(“How long did all this take?”)
(“Did WHAT take?”)
>(“Don’t be dense. You don’t pull it off near as well as I do. THIS.”)
>(He gestures all around him, at the many multicolored curtains you’ve carefully hung around an aluminum tent frame)
>(The hanging enclosure, which encircles your new bed, dressers, desk, and yourself, has but one entrance just wide enough for Mac to slide through)
>(“This musta taken you hours. I thought you still had Auntie Cobbler’s math lessons to keep you busy.”)
(“This was more important.”)
>(Your brother hunches down under the fluttering canopy, taking a seat on your bed, which you find a tad less amusing than his outfit)
(“Thought I told you not to come in, now you’re getting your sweaty behind all over my pillow.”)
>(“Why did you do this? I thought you hated camping.”)
>(He really won’t let this go, will he?)
(“Room’s too big. I can’t sleep with all this empty space around me.”)
>(Mac makes a face, like he’s going to say something, then settles into that frustrating smile he always does when he thinks he knows what you’re thinking)
>(“AJ. I know you miss the old house, but—”)
(“Ain’t got nothing to do with missing it. I just don’t like change.”)
>(“How is that different?”)
>(You stand up, sighing; a sliver of light from the window strikes your eye from a gap between two colored fabrics, forcing you to squint)
>(You’ll have to staple that shut, first chance you get)
(“It’s completely different. One’s pointless nostalgia, the other’s just plain practical.”)
>(“’Nostalgia.’ Now there’s a five-bit word I ain’t never heard you use.”)
(“Whatever. I’m used to a certain amount of space, and this fancy-shmancy manor’s got too much of it.”)
>(“This is our family home, AJ.”)
(“No, Big Macintosh. As I recall it, you SOLD our family home, so we could be closer to these folks. Folks what never paid us any mind until Mom and Dad died. Folks that—”)

>>41471127
>(“AJ, it ain’t like that and you know it!”)
(“Then tell me what it’s like! Because if you think I’m gonna sit there and smile in some stupid little ‘family photo,’ next to Cobbler the hardass and Uncle What’s-his-name and Celestia cares who else, then—”)
>(“APPLEJACK!”)
>(The voice makes you physically recoil; you don’t remember ever hearing Big Mac yell that loudly)
>(As you step away from your brother, your flank suddenly strikes one of the aluminum mast-poles holding up your little tent)
>(Its vibrations shift the whole structure, making it wobble and flutter, until all at once the other legs explode outward)
>(Red, yellow, and orange hangings swirl around you, fall onto your face, suffocate you...)
>(You’re caught in a tangle of... of...)
>(Echoes, and licking heat, and...)
>(You try to cry out, but your voice is muffled)
>(No sound comes out but a whimper, a helpless tiny whimper)
>(Suddenly, rough hooves grasp your barrel and pull your small body away from the collapsed tent)
>(Only now do you notice that you’re hyperventilating)
>(Big Mac stands tall over you, a stern expression masking sympathetic eyes)
(“Look what you made me do! You ruined it!”)
>(“ME? You’re the one who built this shoddy thing! What if that fell on you while you were asleep? You would’ve strangled yourself to death!”)
(“It wouldn’t have fallen down if your big lumbering self didn’t come knocking around in it like a bull in a china shop!”)
>(“I didn’t... I... AJ, don’t. Please, don’t cry.”)
(“I ain’t crying, you big dolt! Stop putting your stupid thoughts in my head!”)
>(“AJ...”)
>(Your brother lifts his forehooves, clearly intent on hugging you, but you won’t let him)
>(You pull away, turning around and curling up into a ball on the floor)
>(Surrounded by yourself... it’s all you can do to shield yourself from all this...)
>(Emptiness)
>(“I’m sorry, AJ. I didn’t mean to mess up your tent.”)
(“Y-you know what they’re all saying down there? They can hear us screaming at each other, you know.”)
>(“It’s a big house, AJ.”)
(“They’re saying, ‘those poor little orphans. They can’t get along without their parents to rein ‘em in. Poor, poor, miserable little...”)
>(“AJ, it’s only been a month. You know it’s alright to feel this way, don’t you?”)
(“The way I feel’s got nothing to do with nothing. Ain’t you embarrassed? Don’t you hate their pity? What’s wrong with you?”)
>(“Nothing’s wrong with me, AJ. I’m trying my best, same as you. It ain’t my fault, and it ain’t your fault that—”)
(“You don’t even care, do you? You don’t even care that they’re gone.”)
>(This time, your brother says nothing)
>(You expect a wallop on the back of the head, but that doesn’t come either)

>>41471131
>(You can feel him standing there, breathing deeply, holding something in, but you know he’ll never let it out unless you speak first)
>(He’d stand there forever if you let him; that’s just the kind of stallion he is)
>(Stallion... you never thought of your brother as a stallion before, only a colt)
>(But he’s near as big as the uncles and the fieldhooves now, ain’t he?)
>(He’s near as big as Dad...)
(“Mac... I didn’t mean... I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”)
>(To your surprise, he doesn’t hesitate to speak back)
>(“You don’t need to be sorry for nothing. Besides, this is... this is supposed to be a fun thing. Dressing up, getting your photo taken... maybe it’ll take your mind off it all for a while.”)
(“I ain’t doing it. I ain’t gonna go down there, a-and smile, and pretend t-to be... to be...”)
>(“Then don’t smile. Don’t act like somepony you ain’t. The longer you do that, the worse you make things for yourself and others. They gotta know what you really are, what you really want.”)
(“I wanna go home, Big Mac. I wanna go home.”)
>(“I know. But right now, you gotta let ‘em take your picture.”)
>(He’s right)
>(You hate it when he’s right)
>(“Now c’mon, get yourself dressed. I know you got all kinds of pretty dresses in there.”)
>(Dresses you wore maybe once apiece, if that)
(“Think I’d... snnf... think I’d rather wear whatever the hay it is you’re wearing. Heh.”)
>(Your brother grins, and you let him wipe away some of the tear-streaks on your silly filly cheeks with his kerchief)
>(“This? I call ‘em tuxoveralls. Found ‘em in a box in the cellar, think they used to belong to Red Delicious when he was my age. You dig ‘em?”)
(“They look ridiculous.”)
>(“Eeyup. I wore ‘em because I thought they’d cheer you up.”)
(“It worked. A little bit.”)
>(“I’m glad.”)
(“Mac?”)
>(“AJ.”)
(“Do you think... do you think it’ll always feel like this? Forever and ever?”)
>(“I don’t know. I hope not. I really, really hope not.”)

. . .

>”Applejack? Hay, Applejack?”
>The resonant hum of maglev tractors, that endless wave of high to low to high again, forces you back to this place, this now
>You saw him clear as day, right in front of you; right where a blue pegasus now stands, illuminated only by the thin slivers of moonlight that breach the slatted wall of the boxcar
>A boxcar filled with fruit... packaged in that place, Rich Valley... sent here to save you, to carry you far away from that hellish fever pitch of bombs and bullets, White Junction...
>Where the fire and smoke raged high over Canterian fighting Canterian, death rooted in bloody treason
>But what you saw was just a daydream, a flicker in the night, a memory now six years past
>You’re a different pony now; no longer a filly, but a full-grown mare...

>>41471135
>You are Applejack, a fugitive from the law of the land you call home
>Across from you is the daughter of one of the worst tyrants to ever grace this world, a stallion whose life mission was the subjugation and conquest of all the pegasi in Canterium
>A stallion who desired nothing less than the ethnic cleansing of those pony races he deemed beneath his winged brethren
>Here is his daughter, Rainbow Dash, who shares every aspect of that philosophy, who was complicit in that domination
>Who has brought you all this way, through all these nightmares, towards Unicronia...
>Because her father is there
>Because she wants to save his life
>”Applejack?”
>You force yourself to look into Rainbow’s eyes, and find buried in those twin pupils the same hurt and frustration that you remember so well from that time
>They used to greet you every time you looked in a mirror
>”Please, say something.”
“You lied to us.”
>You say it flatly, devoid of any emotion
>You know that if you allowed feeling to seep into those words, they might sting even worse
>Rainbow merely shuffles her hooves, averts her gaze
>She pretends to look in the direction of Twilight, who is snuggled up in the corner of the boxcar in a bed of straw and flimsy tarps, and has been for the last four hours
>In that time since you departed from White Junction, narrowly avoiding capture and death in turn, Rainbow has detailed to you practically her entire life story
>Of course, you demanded it of her, but it didn’t take much convincing; if there’s one thing you’re good at detecting in a pony aside from dishonesty, it’s remorse
>And Rainbow has been remorseful about her lies since at least her argument with Twilight at the radio outpost
>But now... now that she’s gotten everything off her chest—her true identity, her confrontation with Trixie and the rest of the Canterian forces in Pegasopolis, her real reason for wanting to go to Unicronia—she doesn’t appear to be any less remorseful for it
>You don’t know if that makes this easier, or harder
“You lied about your vision. You told us that Numena showed you Unicronia. A big battle between ponies and machine ponies, those were your exact words. In. Unicronia. That was... you made that all up?”
>”Not... all of it.”
>Beneath you, the rumble of magnets gliding over thin air, the occasional bump, reminds you that you are still moving, irrevocably, to a place filled with danger
>Danger that this one put you in, you AND Twilight
>”I did see Numena. As I fell, I saw her. But my vision wasn’t of Unicronia. I just... the two of you needed direction. I gave it to you.”
“To your father. The psychopathic killer.”
>”He’s NOT—!”
>Rainbow begins to advance towards you, her wings flaring unconsciously
>But before she can take her first step, she cringes from the pain of the unfurling, and grimaces

>>41471141
>Twilight stirs from the noise, but quickly settles back into peaceful sleep
>”My father is not a killer. He’s a great stallion who values his people.”
“He’s a supremacist. And he’s the enemy of Canterium.”
>”As if YOU aren’t an enemy of Canterium, too? Seems like you should’ve gained some perspective about how exactly your nation operates by now.”
“The only reason they know about us now is because YOU dragged us through hell on a fool’s errand!”
>”That’s a load of bull, and you know it. You were on their radar the minute you passed into PAS land. Without me, you’d never have made it back home alive. And besides...”
>Rainbow limps over to the grate which is your only view of the outside world
>Her leg seemed to be recovering better than this before the firefight at White Junction, but it seems that all that galloping set her injury back a touch
>”...what difference does it make if I’m related to him? You knew I was PAS from the start. You knew where my allegiances lie.”
“Allegiances is one thing. Way I see it, our holy Mission transcends nations and war and all of that. But I do care that you hijacked that Mission, and brought us all the way out here just to do something that doesn’t benefit us at all!”
>”Ohhhh, so sorry, Baroness! So sorry it doesn’t BENEFIT you to save my father’s LIFE! Will you ever forgive me for caring about something as trivial as that?!”
“You used us, Rainbow. Me and Twilight. If you had been—”
>”And where do you get off, saying that your precious quest for magic rocks is more important than potential armageddon? Even Little Miss Sunshine over there has been questioning her faith, she told me herself! So why can’t you just—”
“If you had JUST been—”
>”Just look around! It’s all nonsense anyway! These Elements don’t prove that there’s such a thing as gods and angels; they only prove that powerful old magic exists, which we already knew! So PLEASE forgive me, o arbiter of all moral conundrums, for prioritizing my FAMILY over her mumbo-jumbo fairy horseshi—”
“IF YOU HAD JUST BEEN HONEST WITH US FROM THE START, WE STILL WOULD’VE TAKEN YOU TO UNICRONIA!!!”
>...
>For an uncomfortably long time, only the waves fill the room... only the magnetism
>Drifting along the void, through tunnels and across bridges over wide expanses of peaks and valleys
>You haven’t looked through the slats in a while now, but last you checked you were so high up that nothing grew on those craggy slopes
>It was all grey in the moonlight, but for the placid reflections of the stars in scattered lakes that dotted the landscape
>”Mmm... nnuhh? Wuzz going... unnhhhh...”
>Even in the dimness, you see Twilight’s glassy eyes peaking, her head raising up for a moment in response to your outburst
>But just as quickly, she settles back down into her makeshift bed, totally dumb to the world around her in her exhaustion

>>41471144
>For her part, Rainbow bows her head, looking neither at you, nor Twilight, nor the landscape passing outside
>”How was I supposed to know that back then? You were... you were strangers. Canterian strangers. I had as much reason to believe you’d kill me on sight if you knew who I really was. More, in fact.”
“Like I already said, who you are don’t matter a lick. But if you’d told us you were out to save your dad, we’d have acquiesced.”
>”I just... I thought that whatever you...”
“Look, at the end of the day, even without the Mission, I ain’t one to let friends in need go on needing. I may not agree with your pegasus malarky, but you’re one of us now, an Element-bearer, through thick and thin. And if I’d known we were going on this trek for your own personal reasons, then it don’t matter if your father is General Hurricane or Sweety McSmiles, we would’ve carried you there. But you lied. You put us in a mighty tight spot here, Rainbow. You gave Twilight false hope. What did you expect the two of us to do when we got to Unicronia? Search for an Element-bearer who ain’t there, while you sprung your daddy and bailed? Feelings aside, how could you think that was a good plan? How could you do ANY of that without—”
>”I’m sorry, okay? I’m sorry.”
“Well, I’m just plum peached to hear you say that. Really, really impressive work.”
>This time, Rainbow snarls, glowers at you with those twin rubies of hers
>The Element within her saddlebag shines through the canvas, and for a brief instant you see her silhouette flickering, spinning strange webs that lag behind her movements
>”What else do you want from me? I can’t change the past. I can’t go back and tell myself that trusting you was a good idea. I did what I did to protect myself, is that so wrong?”
“No. But we’re in it with you now, and if they find you and manage to connect you with us, then we all share the same fate. That’s on you, nopony else.”
>”Actually, it’s worse than that.”
>You let out an involuntary noise, half groan and half hysterical chuckle
“Oh, this’ll be a treat. How do you figure that?”
>”I’ve been... thinking about Snap Shutter and Mane Allgood. Those two OI rangers, we left them tied up only a few miles from White Junction. Assuming they didn’t escape the Army’s perimeter, they’ve probably already been found by now.”
“They know our names. Celestia, we told them our names.”
>”If they let slip that the two of you are with me, then your faces and names are right up there on the Army bulletins next to mine. Plus, the soldier that Twilight gave the old one-two punch...”
“He knows we’re on this train. How could you... I mean, how do you know he’d even remember what he saw? Twilight might’ve...”
>Peeking at Twilight, who still seems to be fast asleep, you lower your voice a few notches

>>41471145
>”Twilight might’ve knocked the sense out of him permanently. Or worse. He was bleeding out of his scalp, for Celestia’s sake. How do you know—”
>”I don’t. But we have to assume it’s the case, and take necessary precautions. The Army considers me a high-priority target. I was meant to rule the new Pegasopolis as the Chancellor’s puppet, and now that I’ve proven unreliable they obviously want me dead. Now you two are my known accomplices, and they know exactly where we’re going and when we’ll be arriving.”
“We don’t know that for certain.”
>”Listen to yourself, AJ! Not even you believe that! We need to get off this train before it arrives in Unicronia, because if there’s even a one percent chance that the Army has a trap laid for us there, we have no hope of getting out of it. What happens to your Mission then?”
“You’re changing the subject...”
>”What happens?!”
“I... I don’t...”
>You notice at last that you’ve been pulling at your braid for the last few minutes, a nervous habit you thought you’d abolished when you were young
>You force your hoof down to the boxcar floor with a heavy slam
“I don’t know.”
>”Then we need to make a plan, and soon. Because if we don’t, we’re all dead.”
“If you’d told us who you were from the jump, we could’ve had a plan by now.”
>”I said I was sorry. There’s nothing else I can do now. Stop being nostalgic about how bad a person I am, and start getting practical. You were the mare with the plan back in the Whittlewood, don’t tell me you’ve lost your touch.”
“That was more Twilight’s plan than mine, to be honest.”
>”Then wake her up. Because at this rate, we’ll be in Unicronia by 0900 hours tomorrow.”
>You want to rail into Rainbow for putting all of you in such a dangerous position without your knowledge
>You want to keep shouting, keep beating her down with words until she realizes the gravity of what she’s done
>But it’s pointless now; she’s right that you need a plan of action, and fast
>For what little time you’ve known this pegasus, you already know that she shares one awful thing in common with your brother:
>You hate it when she’s right
“Let her sleep another hour. She deserves it after what she went through back there.”
>”Shnnnuhhhhh wuzzuh... don’t do... AH!”
>You nearly jump out of your coat as a shrill cry emanates from the corner of the boxcar
>Twilight’s head shoots up completely vertically this time, and her eyes are wide open, fully aware
>She sounds out of breath, drawing in deep gulps of air in a ragged pitch; you waste no time in rushing over to her, Rainbow close behind
>”Guess she got her beauty sleep after all.”
“Hush, you. Twilight? You okay, sugarcube?”
BZZT
>Another flicker of light, though this one is brighter than before, illuminating the whole space for a brief instant

>>41471151
>And this time, you could swear that the red of Rainbow’s Element was tuned a shade more violet
>For her part, Twilight sits up, dizzily grasping at you with one hoof and Rainbow with another
>”AJ... Rainbow... what... what time is it?”
“Almost midnight. You ain’t supposed to be awake yet.”
>”Where... what did we... how did we...?”
“Twilight, it’s alright. We’re safe. We’re on our way to Unicronia.”
>”I remember. We got on a train, we... I... I hurt somepony.”
>”You saved my life.”
>You turn to Rainbow, and are surprised to find a more earnest expression than you’ve ever seen her wear
>But Twilight merely shakes her head, and not just to dispel the drowsiness
>”I just... I had to protect you. But that doesn’t change what I did.”
“You did the right thing, Twilight. That’s all anypony can ask for.”
>”You were right, Rainbow. You were... snnf...”
>The tears come flowing freely again, and Twilight shuts her eyes tight to avoid your gaze
>”At the radio outpost. You were right. I had to... had to fight. It was the only way to survive. The only way...”
>”I was being cruel. Don’t take it to heart. I’m just glad you didn’t hurt yourself doing it.”
>”I’d rather it were me than him. If I could take his place, take his pain for my own, I would.”
“Now you’re just being silly, Twilight.”
>”It’s not SILLY! You don’t understand, Applejack! I broke with my vows. I’ve broken with so many of my vows... I’ve been duplicitous, I’ve watched and done nothing while you did violence, threatened lives... and now I’ve done those same things myself. A-and... it doesn’t hurt. WHY doesn’t it hurt? Mater Solis smite me, why am I... bereft of feeling... now, when I’ve done so much wrong...”
>You place your hoof on Twilight’s shoulder, praying that the warmth will reach her in whatever state she’s in
>Rainbow does the same, though she’s noticeably more hesitant about it
>All of you are glowing together somewhere deep within the Truth... all of you are souls stranded in the wasteland of time
>You know her heart as if it were your own; you’ve seen into it, felt it beating, known with all your powers of Truthsight that her intentions have always been pure
>How can she believe otherwise?
>”I saw another vision. It was fast this time. Numena didn’t speak to me... she never speaks to me anymore. She just... bowed her head in silence. She looked like she was angry. Don’t you see? The Solenoids are angry with me. Mater Solis is ashamed of me. Her light is no longer my light. I’ve lost touch with her Truth, lost sight of our Mission.”
“What was the vision?”
>”It was just blood. Blood pooling on a large, flat stone. Our blood. Intermingling, expanding, turning black... and then there was nothing at all. Numena pointed to the Depths beneath us, and I... I know she believed I deserved to fall.”

>>41471153
>In a great swooping motion, Twilight casts off her canvas blanket, stands up, and storms off to the other end of the boxcar, leaving you and Rainbow in her wake
>She steadies herself against the walls, though it looks more like she’s trying to push them away, to free herself from this narrow prison
>”This is what comes of faith, Twilight.”
>Rainbow’s voice echoes in the dark, and you whip around to face her, shocked that even she would say something so insensitive at a time like this
“What did you just say?”
>”You heard me. Making the hard choices, having to break with your standards, this is what happens when you persist with what you truly believe in your heart is right.”
“That ain’t what—”
>”No, AJ. She’s right. She’s always been right. I...”
>Twilight’s voice comes as a whimper, turned metallic by the overbearing echo of the tractors beneath you
>Transforming, modulating, arranging the syllables into a new pattern
>”...I was always destined to fail my vows. It was unavoidable.”
>”That’s not what I’m saying at all. You have a Mission in mind. A final problem to solve. But you’re making your own way, carving your own niche. If you’re the Shepherd that you say you are, then it won’t do you any good to live like the flock.”
>Cautiously, Twilight takes a step back towards you, pulling her robe tightly around her
>Rainbow’s words sound to you like a violation of everything Twilight and her Sisterhood stand for, but inexplicably they seem to be having a positive effect
>”You’re above that now. And if you’re going to be Supermatron... well, maybe that’s what it means to be Supermatron. You can’t rely on any code or law to be your guiding hoof. Your truth is in your actions.”
>”How can you say that... with such certainty?”
>The interior of the boxcar darkens yet more, as Twilight presses her muzzle against the grate, just as Rainbow did mere minutes ago
>She’s looking at those same endless peaks and valleys, the lakes and the stars and the Moon...
>Yet buried in her serene expression is some understanding, some passion you’ve seen her take on before
>You wonder if you’ll ever be able to see the world the way she does, as one metaphysical Truth masked by all this material illusion
>For you, the Truth is here, in this world; it’s the pain you feel every day, the weakness, the memory of experiences long past
>It’s the soil and the rain and the fruit that litters the floor of this car, energy transmuted from labor to produce to vitality
>How can there be anything beyond that?
>Yet even as you ponder this, the Element by your own side begins to glow on its own, and unconsciously you begin to use its power
>The world around you is reduced to a faint orange light dotted with bright points, distinguished from their surroundings by a force which is not quantified in any textbook

>>41471155
>Life... soul energy... the flux of magic through living things
>White heat flares inside Rainbow, inside creatures beyond the train in the distance: rabbits, fish, birds
>And in Twilight... in that incandescent flesh...
>Her soul is burning
>”I can’t be certain of anything anymore, Twilight. But I do know what power is. And if you don’t want it, then maybe you deserve it the most.”
>You allow the Element’s power to recede, not wanting to see any further change in Twilight’s spirit
>To your surprise, your friend returns to your side, a smile and a grimace fighting for control over her mouth
“Feeling better?”
>”No. I’m not a violent person.”
“Nopony said you were.”
>”But sometimes... sometimes I suppose... I suppose I have to do violent things.”
>”Maybe. If it’s to protect somepony you care about.”
>”Yes. Only then.”
“What about yourself?”
>Twilight pauses, scrunching her muzzle in apparent discomfort as she falls back down into her makeshift bed
>”Wh-what do you mean?”
“If you had to defend your own safety, or Celestia forbid, your own life. Would you hurt another pony?”
>”I don’t know. I pray it never comes to that.”
>Twilight shifts into a resting position, her eyes drooping back down
>”You should both... be getting to sleep. I heard you talking earlier. Surely you must both be as exhausted as I am, after all that chaos.”
>”You... you heard us?”
>Rainbow’s wings ruffle, eliciting another wince as she stoops low to come level with Twilight’s prone form
>”What exactly did you hear?”
>”I don’t know. I just... heard your voices. Like you’d been talking the whole time I was dreaming. It’s midnight, you said? Mother Sun. That had to be one stimulating conversation. I’m... glad... the two of you are getting along so well.”
“We were discussing our need for a plan, Twi. Rainbow says... says the Army might be laying a trap for us in Unicronia.”
>Even quicker than she rose earlier, Twilight bolts up, nearly knocking her head against an overhanging ridge
>”WHAT? Rainbow, what on earth makes you think that?”
>You and Rainbow exchange a fatal glance
>After all, this means explaining the situation all over again, disappointing another friend by revealing her lies
>And this time... this time, you’ve got no earthly idea how Twilight will react to the information that this trip to Unicronia won’t yield a new Element-bearer, as the trip to Pegasopolis did
>After that whole speech, to shatter her heart all over again...
>But Rainbow says nothing; she simply keeps staring at you with those sympathetic eyes
>Does she want YOU to say it? You to bear that burden?
>How can she...
>No
>It isn’t like that at all, is it?
>She’s allowing you to make the decision, you to judge how and when to approach the situation
>Twilight will have to know sooner or later, but what if...?

>>41471161
>You sigh; maybe this time, a smile is better than despair
“We were seen by too many ponies back at White Junction to expect a clean getaway. The OI rangers know our names, Rainbow thinks they might be interrogated. There’s only one place we could’ve gone to escape the Army’s perimeter, and that’s on this train. There’s also the matter of the soldier you... well. When he wakes up, he’ll probably tell his superiors that he saw Rainbow in an OI uniform trying to escape. I don’t fully reckon I know why that happened back there, but it’s obvious that the government is at war with itself. And just in case they’re keeping that a secret, they won’t take kindly to survivors spreading the word.”
>”You really think our Army would try to arrest us at the crossing?”
“They already tried once, didn’t they? Back in the Palomino. We’re fugitives, Twilight. I think we just need to accept the fact that showing our faces in public for the time being is a bad idea. And any plan that allows us to evade authorities is a good plan.”
>Twilight rubs her chin with her hoof, then groans
>”I suppose you’re correct. This is no time for sleep.”
“No. Go ahead and get some shut-eye. In fact, Rainbow, why don’t you bed down too? All that running around you did on a broken leg, you must be dying for it.”
>”That’s not—”
“Three hours. I mean it. I’ll take a watch just in case anything suspicious happens. You can take the next one for me. That’ll give us a solid three hours to think up a plan of action in the morning.”
>Rainbow makes signs of protesting, but ultimately relents, rubbing her damaged foreleg with the other
>Neither does Twilight give any argument, and simply beds down again with a contented sigh
>”Don’t push yourself too hard, Applejack. We need you.”
“I’ll be alright. I’ve been through worse.”
>”I... believe... you...”
>Within seconds, Twilight’s breathing returns to that same even tempo, and she appears to be totally unconscious
>You gingerly swipe two tarps from her designated corner, tossing one to Rainbow and reserving one for yourself
>”Thanks.”
>Rainbow’s stolid look tells you all you need to know; she isn’t thanking you for the blanket
“I didn’t do it for you. She needs her peace of mind for now. You’re gonna have to spill the beans eventually.”
>”Still. Thanks.”
“So you really saw Numena?”
>”What? Oh, uh... yeah. When I fell. While I was blacked out, just before meeting the two of you, she appeared to me. At least, I think she did.”
“You think, or you know?”
>”I know.”
“If she didn’t show you Unicronia, then what DID she show you?”
>”You won’t like it.”
“Try me.”
>Rainbow lays out her new bedding, setting herself down with her foreleg outstretched so as not to crush it beneath her weight

>>41471166
>”It was two images, one after the other. A unicorn, covered in blood. Screaming. It was Twilight.”
“And the other?”
>You hear your voice wavering, trying for the sake of your own sanity to put that image aside
>”Something else. A monster. I don’t know how to describe it. It was unlike anything I’ve ever seen. It looked... like it was hunched over. Maybe it was eating something. It was muscular... TOO muscular. I couldn’t see much of it, it was so dark in the dream, but... I remember its eyes. They were red, redder even than the blood. B-but...”
“But what?”
>”But they didn’t look hateful. There was no malice in them at all. It looked like... like it was studying me. Like it was intelligent. Like it needed me, for reasons I couldn’t possibly understand. A-and Numena, she said... before I fell, she said... the Beast. She said the Beast was nigh. Then I fell into the Depths, same as Twilight. And I woke up.”
“That’s something all three of us have heard her say. And when I was drawn into See Rock, I saw those same eyes. Among other things.”
>”What other things? You know, I’m not the only one here keeping secrets. Everything the two of you apparently reasoned out before meeting me, these chronic visions and obscure premonitions, you barely talk about them except in passing. This is information I need to know, too.”
“You’ve never asked. Besides, we can’t exactly construct a theory based on random flashes. Numena’s helped shine a light on some events we know have already come to pass, so there’s some proven truth in her words. But she ain’t exactly detail-oriented.”
>”What were the other visions, then?”
“I saw Pegasopolis burning with rainbow fire. I saw... I saw what you saw. Twilight crying, covered in blood. I’d almost forgotten that, my... my parents were there. They were like puppets, dancing in fire. I guess my memory ain’t perfect, okay? Especially in a situation like that!”
>”I’m not blaming you. Keep going.”
“A... a jungle. You already know about the jungle. I keep seeing her, that yellow mare, staring at me. Watching me through some veil. And... a mountain. But not like these out here. A tall, tall mountain, covered in snow. A white sunset.”
>Rainbow flinches in response to that last phrase, but you chalk it up to nerves
“That’s all I know. That’s all either of us know. The rest was supposed to be up to you. You were supposed to see something that would aid us. But it sounds to me like your real vision was redundant.”
>”Maybe... wait. Wait. You said you were drawn into See Rock. Why? What compelled you to go there?”
>You recall the sand in your hooves, the climb, the fall
>(The flames)
“Twilight, mostly. It’s a holy site for the Celestians. But...”
>”But?”

>>41471167
“But once I was there, scaling that slope alongside her, I felt... angry. Righteous. I lashed out at her. Wanted to keep climbing. I wasn’t myself, it was like... some force took me over. It was the Element pulling me in. What are you getting at?”
>Rainbow leans forward, resting her head against the soft tarp, allowing her eyelids to drift down
>”I don’t want to make any assumptions, Applejack. And... and I don’t want to make you angrier. I’m saying this not to absolve myself, but because I truly think it’s a possibility. What if... what if that magnetism that drew you to your Element at See Rock... what if it’s what’s pulling me to Unicronia?”
“What? Your father?”
>”Maybe my father is circumstantial. Maybe the universe needed a reason to bring us there. Twilight was drawn to you, and you to me. The visions helped, but ultimately it was your own motivations that led you to those places. I’m not saying it’s absolute, but... maybe there’s something more for us in Unicronia. Her Mission. Our...”
>Rainbow sighs, as if all her strength is leaving her at once
>”Our Mission.”
>Before you can respond in kind, the pegasus begins to snore
>If you entertain her idea, are you deluding yourself?
>Are you allowing yourself to be fooled once again, by the same errant lie?
>You find yourself thinking of Twilight, and how she might respond in this situation
>Would she believe it?
>That fate itself is compelling this union of six?
>Of course she would, as she already does; she isn’t burdened by things as simple and mundane as objective reality
>Mother Sun finds a way, doesn’t she?
>The Prophetess begat this Mission, and it’s up to you to fulfill it
>It could be... it could be...
>Gradually, you are drawn to the grate, longing for a sight beyond sight, for an emotion in your heart beyond anxiety
>But as you peer through the slats, the same landscape zooms by, the same highs and lows, the same barren rocks illuminated by moonlight
>And the moon is brighter now... it seems it’s been growing brighter every night, forcing you to squint just to look at its uncomfortable brilliance
>What is hope, Applejack?
>What is hope, but anxiety funneled towards good?

>>41471172
>(Stupid thoughts for stupid ponies)
>The outside world is too big, too big by far; you don’t want to look at it any longer
>Instead, you drag your canvas blanket across the floor, and with both forehooves stuff one edge into the top slat, such that the rest are covered, casting the whole interior of the boxcar in impenetrable shadow
>The moonlight is blotted out, the stars obscured; there are no mountains, no valleys, no White Junction or Unicronia
>Tonight, there is only this space, this tiny rectangle, and two other sleeping souls breathing as one with your own
>As you seat yourself against the opposite wall, watching over your friends, you know this can’t last forever, that tomorrow will bring more trials and surprises
>But one day, when all this is over, will this feeling return? Will that blinding light be banished for good?
>You hope so
>You really, really hope so...

******

That's it. Jeez, I just realized it's probably been over a year since I wrote an AJ chapter. The fact that I was able to slip right back into her so easily (phrasing) is pretty remarkable. Or maybe I didn't, and I'm just delusional. You decide.

So hey. For those of you who care, I haven't exactly taken a break from writing over the last 8 months. More of a lateral shift into other non-pone works. I still fully intend to complete TSM, especially now that we are ramping up to a Big Moment. But if any of you are interested in becoming a guinea pig, I have a complete first chapter of a non-pony fantasy story that I've been sharing with friends for proofreading/critique purposes. This is not a shill post, I'm not selling anything. This is purely for those of you who are curious about what I've been doing with my life since December. My Discord is zenvora (not the first time I've shared that in this thread, so whatever.) Message me there if you'd like a copy of the chapter, or if you don't have Discord then giv some other contact info of your own. Preferably not your phone number, I doubt you want all of /mlp/ to have that.

Cheers!

bump till i read it

different anon doing the same

Third Anon repeating the actions of my previous peers

>>41471196
Hell yeah! Thanks for the quick update

>>41474235
What is that tail?

>>41475638
God, the iconography reminds me of the old New Lunar Republic thing in the fandom. What a flashback.

>>41457269
>small wings and metal limbs
That mare can't catch a break.

>>41476468
If they can make artificial limbs, wings are just around the corner!

>>41476919
They have been a thing in an alternate timeline too, so they're theoretically possible.

>>41475849
Glorious days anon, glorious days.

>>41478671
This can only end well

>>41479549
Doing advanced tech like the Polish peeps.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MD7-Le_Y6vM

>>41480263
Creating VR headsets for ponies are actually pretty easy. They only have a 20 degree stereo vision overlap.

>>41480741
You still have to deal with head tracking and input delay

>>41482151
#deca.mare update.

>>41482228
yay

>>41480741
Controllers for non unicorns would be a huge problem though.

>>41482228
Heads up in case you want to update the green list for the OP of the next thread.
>>41484580

>>41482228
Thanks

>>41478824
Not sure if autism or nonsense. It looks cool though.

>>41485369
Says Abstergo in the upper left so it's got to be related to Assassin's Creed and the Animus I can tell you that much

>>41486117
Oh, good point. Never played AC so I didn't catch that.

>>41478824
Colorful

>>41488473
Ouch. Who broke Velvet's spine?

>>41486998
Nice view

>>41484597
Link to the OP as a reminder >>41431332

>>41486998
>pkx
Talented guy, but he also came across as kinda mentally unstable. Didn't he vanish a while ago?

>>41492463
He did, and deleted all the art from everywhere he could.

>>41492561
Unfortunate. But at least it's all still on the altboorus.

>>41494231
Glimmer looking like Revolver Ocelot from MGS3

>>41495462
That's supposed to be based on C&C though.

>>41495541
I mean their both drawing from the Soviet Union right?

>>41496634
Pretty much, yeah.

>>41486998
>Twilight drawing Trixie
Ah yes, the old shipping duo.

>>41494231
I always preferred the Tiberium trilogy.

>>41499169
How so?

>>41501062
It would have been great if the changelings were hiveminds.

>>41501485
Most of the drones are so one dimensional that they basically count as a hive entity. Minus the mind sharing, that is.

Incremental techup.

Is it just me, or is the boarder faster again?

>>41503131
I think it might be a bit more active. It's hard to say for sure

>>41504037
The anni could have something to do with that.

>>41505705
>FiW song starts playing

>>41507317
Sweetie-Bot's seen some shit

>>41508253
Yeah Anon's browser history

>>41508877
oh no

>>41457269

>I've seen things you would not belive.
>Canterlot protected by a wall Celestia's fire.
>I've watched magic and harmony glitter away into darkness on the skies of Equestria.

>All those moment's will be lost... like... tears in the rain.
>Try to not become me little one...
>Time to say goodbye....

The android closes her eyes and releases scootalo who promptly goes away, into the night.
But much to her delight, she notices something.
She is flying.

>>41509472
>>41508877
she saw what upgrades he is planning to her

>>41510299
That's a time paradox in the making.

>>41510826
>>41508877
That folks is why incognito mode is so valuable

>>41512034
What if she can look right through that mode? She's a bot after all.

>>41512967
Well, I guess Lyra will start glowing green fairly soon too.

>>41512970
Her eyes and cutie mark looks like they're already glowing

>>41512967
You know you're fucked when the Geiger counter catches fire.

File: Elements_of_harmony_vecto(...).png (279 KB, 800x848)

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Will it be possible to replicate the magic of the elements of harmony with technology?
I mean, use 5 different AIs to emulate the 5 aspects of friendship and an artifact that channels magic

>>41515234
those wings will never work

>>41516063
She probably has hoof thrusters and the wings are just for stabilization.

>>41512967
A place of great honor and treasure

>>41516942
Forgot to translate "This is not"

>>41515598
If you can build a Harmony reactor, sure.

File: iron mane.png (871 KB, 637x1000)

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>>41518219
>Harmony reactor
Well, call me Iron Mane because I will.

>>41518310
He's a pony on a mission
In armor of hi-tech ammunition

Trapped on the edge of an endless game
His teenage life will never be the same
In a dangerous world he does all he can
He's Iron Mane, Iron Mane

The heart of his power was within him
No force will make him give in
When he's backed into the corner of uncertainty
He takes the heat to the next degree
He's more than a hero believe what you see
He's Iron Mane, Iron Mane

He's Iron Mane, Iron Mane, Iron Mane

>>41518310
Pony Stark was able to build this in a cave... with a box of scraps!

>>41519235
he had help

>>41519812
Pony Stark drew the plans.

>>41519812
Granny is so done with Anon's bullshit

>>41521084
I like the fact that Granny is just grumpy. Not angered or shocked, just displeased.

>>41522427
Almost like she's used to it

>>41523913
#deca.mare update.

File: LyraThanks.jpg (51 KB, 1012x1024)

51 KB JPG

>>41524103

>>41524103
Thanks for the heads up

>>41518310
Anyone who gets that done absolutely deserves it.

>>41527251
sex bot 5000

>>41528272
Too bad she's missing a mouth

>>41528971
Well as long as she has the other parts I'm not complaining.

>>41528971
she makes up for it with her extra warm vibrating pussy

>>41530115
But does she got that vacuum tight suction upgrade?

>>41530943
>Derpy doesn't know where she is at all times...

>>41532547
>...but the missile is there to help.

>>41530943
>Derpy guided rocket
You never knew where it will land.

>>41533247
Nobody does. That's what keeps it thrilling.

>>41533363
Ooops the Derpy guided rocket has now started WW3

>>41534339
I hope Derpy is alright though.

>>41534978
I wouldn't worry. She's remarkably durable.

>>41535894
That's true. She's a pegasus with earth pony resilience.

>>41536800
It looks like the cyberpone is enjoying this.

>>41537407
Or it is not yet activated and it is its default expression.

File: 944558__safe_fluttershy_c(...).png (981 KB, 1280x847)

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>>41537407

>>41535894
She got that comedy armor

>>41538972
Rump of steel.

>>41540285
>The dent in the helmet
That's a nice touch. And coming to think of it, Unicorns have a huge advantage in space because they can use their magic to change their own trajectory. They'd be far less dependent on thrusters and such stuff.

>>41540697
>dent
Dont you mean protrusion? A dent is inwards from the outside.

>>41541024
Oh, right. Mixed up my vocabulary.

>>41541352
Not sure if that is a Dr. Strangelove or a Dark Star reference.

>>41542154
Neither, SpaceX super heavy thruster catch

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>>41542212
Well the pony is doing the Major "King" Kong bomb riding from Strangelove

>>41542790
Right before the world ended too.

File: file.png (43 KB, 455x207)

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I uninstalled the malware called Gamebar but how do I make this go away forever, I already tried the reddit solution of using Admin powershell and doing the registry edits for it, didn't work

File: hairstare.png (577 KB, 5000x5000)

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>>41543143
Are you lost?

>>41543205
I am! I thought this was the pony tech thread, I didn't read closely enough after using Ctrl+F. Sorry. There used to be a /g/ equivalent thread that shows up sometimes.

>>41542212
tldr?

>>41501062
What is she trying to do? Replace my skin with chitin?

>>41544945
I'm assuming it's similar a situation to the Borg from Star Trek

>>41546608
Her cutie mark reminds me of a ladybug.

>>41546933
>Hardened exteriour that opens for her to fly and her softer side to be exposed
Cute

>>41547523
Contra vibes intensify.

>>41548330
Metal or not, that snoot has to be booped.

>>41548330
Huh, looks a bit like NMM

>>41549518
I can see it. Like a red palette swap with short hair

>>41551141
>letting a life essence sucking bughorse on your ship
That's a bold move.

>>41551166
I mean theoretically she could be an isolated section being watched remotely using the drones. Although that image does seem too lighthearted to be that.

>>41551166
She has been neutralized.

>>41552243
She does appear to be less malicious, right.

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its sad that they did not open source it

>>41553196
Did that go anywhere to begin with? Haven't heard about the project in ages.

Tech up.

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>>41553426
Found some pics up on their twitter from July

>>41554496
Huh their site hasn't updated since 2018. I thought the project was dead.

>>41555017
As far as I know
It is pretty much dead, they are just showing that it exists during cons but that's it.

>>41555054
Kinda sad.

>>41555054
Apparently they did show off "a new, more optimized version of Proto3" and some work on the neural networks and teach it Chinese in July

https://twitter.com/SBotProject/status/1810287564814696738