(Note: We're finally right up to the point we've been waiting for all along, but there's a couple more tests our heros need to go through first. And before we get started there's an important piece to the past that's going to be revealed.)
Chapter 10 Between the Raindrops Ravager Blitzfire
Pre-War: 12 Years Before The Megaspells
"I've been riding the aftershock, just like you." I told Nexus. He was pacing back and forth. For the last month he'd been doing nothing but pace, looking for new ways to contact her. She had been allusive.
"Have you now? I've been running this operation for about 2 years and she has the gall to one up me?" he stopped and stamped a hoof.
"I'm sure she's busy. The last message she sent she said she was concocting yet another plan to infiltrate the Mezzanine."
"Yeah and has she done it yet? No! Because she's incompetent."
"Don't talk like that," I put a hoof over his shoulder, "you'll only stress yourself out more."
He looked at me with dreary eyes. I could see the last two years had taken a toll on him. He was overworked and exhausted. From the light bill to the dust in the corners where all the staff had quit two months ago, he felt he had to do all the work not even one workhorse could muster. I'd come to the office in the morning to see him still tip tapping away at the terminal, sending off one email or another.
"We all want to work on this war effort the best we can for Stable Tech University, but if you keep this up, you won't be any use to anypony." I put both hooves on his shoulders and reared him back to look him straight in those beautiful neon green eyes of his.
My problem was no matter how hard he worked, I still couldn't bring myself to tell him. He needed a break, and so did I. He'd been hunting for this thing for about as long as I could remember, even before the company. Who's to say it even existed? I had wanted for about 2 or 3 months now to tell him to call it all off, it'd be best for both our sakes if we did. We could get back to the project we'd been dreaming of, perhaps pass our class finally.
Something stopped me every time.
He sighed heavily, "I can see what this is doing to you."
"What's that?" I perked up.
"You're right."
"I'm right about what?" He moved off, toward his desk, hoof hovering over the power off switch of his terminal.
"You would be right if you'd just come out and say it." Nexus breathed. "That I'm crazy, this is killing us and it's no use to anypony. What was I thinking?"
"It's not like that!" I put a hoof on his shoulder to comfort him but he shrugged me off. "It's more like, if we focus on one thing too long, it becomes meaningless. Where there could be opportunity somewhere else instead."
"Opportunity. Yeah, right." he rolled his eyes and his hoof got even closer to the off button. "Wait!" his eyes lit up. I don't think I'd seen that much life in them since he'd first thought of this crazy fiasco. His computer blipped. Another email?
He opened it, a rodent pouncing on the cheese of a mouse trap. "Praise Faust! Blitzfire, you're a grade A genius."
"For what?"
"Opportunity!" he clicked a link in the email, bringing us to a video.
"If you, good friend, are watching this, then watch to the end. Perhaps cliche, but time is a trebuchet, hurling fast, to me way past. Soon I will die, but not before loose ends I tie."
Zecora.
Present Time: 207 Years After the Incident of Stable 14
I opened my eyes, realizing much of what I had witnessed had been dreamlike. It felt too real to be fake though, that much I knew. I stroked the Wishing Star, knowing it to still be there. Then the Moon Stone. Sundance led me down a long narrow corridor. He was quiet, and in the distance I could hear ominous singing. A sorrowful song, but full of praise and worship.
A sign above the door had been painted over to read "Worship Hall." When we entered I noticed right away it was the Mess Hall, transformed into a large cathedral. Ponies were in here chanting, most of them looking like rotting corpses. The weirdest thing of all was that none of the Priests appeared to be affected by the same ailments at all.
We went to a door hidden behind the podium. I glanced at the minispell pinned to the wall behind the preacher. He was praying as his disciples sung.
"Come," said Sundance. "Meet the Golden One."
Behind a shroud of beads we emerged into a den. Mares had draped themselves over a rather fat stallion whilst he gorged himself on Dandy Colt Apples. Behind him a tattered poster of Pinkie Pie was vandalized with writings of Mother Magic. "My name, is Equesticles." said the fat one, smirking. Sundance bowed.
"Great." I stuck my tongue out. The mares giggled like school fillies. They looked young enough to be in school. Pervert.
Equesticles glanced longingly at something Sundance was keeping concealed. He licked his lips and the latter looked quite uncomfortable. "Now what do you make of that? Matching jewelry."
Sundance cleared his throat. "Whatever do you mean, Your Grace?"
"Kindly show the Overseer your bling." said Equesticles. I didn't like the way he stated my title. How did he even know I was a Stable Overseer?
Sundance lifted a hoof to withdraw an ornament from his robes. A blazing orange stone connected to a gold chain. He was blushing and flustered. "Sir, why—?"
"Silence!" he yelled and shot a hoof out. I didn't know his arms could unbend. But he sent the fillies away with such haste that the very air grew still and cold in their absence. "Now, these three objects are of such importance when connected with this," he held up the Mother of Magic Idol. I noticed at her hooves were three holes. How hadn't I seen that before?
"What do you command of me?" asked Sundance.
"Take his stones!" roared the monster.
I should've known this was a trap! I dodged easily, rolling to the side and coming up a few feet away. Too bad they took my weapons at the front door. I never parted with my revolver, but I didn't think this was the time for a gun fight. The big one seemed to want something from us, perhaps merely to provide entertainment, or maybe something more. I didn't know but I knew one thing for certain, I was going to come out on top.
I rose to my hind legs, holding up my hooves in fists. "Bring it on."
Sundance swung at me but I dodged, then came back with my own one-two. I hit him square in the face, drawing first blood. All the while, the slug was watching with no expression. He didn't even pause to eat. I missed the second blow and Sundance rose his hooves higher. He was guarding his face but he left his guts wide open. He wasn't a very good fighter.
I punched him square in the diaphragm and he gave out a big "Oof!" he toppled like a house of cards and I stood over him. While he was wheezing, I stooped and clambering back to all four hooves and regaining my balance, I retrieved what my EFS labelled as the Sun Concordance.
There was clopping, hooves against diamond plating. Equesticles was applauding me. He also hit a button and a trap door opened to drop Sundance to Faust knows where. "Well done. You passed my test."
"What's going to happen to him?" I glanced at where the trap door was, well hidden.
"Oh don't worry about him," he waved it off like it was nothing more than the candied apples he was eating. "He'll just be undergoing some more, shall we say, rigorous training due to his failure here today."
"What do you want with me?" I asked, taking a step closer. I knew I had to get my hooves on that statuette.
"In due time," he smiled gluttonously.
Sinful by nature were the high priests of this churchgoing society…
Capper Dapperpaws
Chess was standing by a short stallion who appeared to be a king by his brocade and diamond plated malet. The Queen was quite obvious. She was tall and her hair flowed in an unseen wind. Her robes were long and gorgeous, like the jewels that dripped off her.
"The Queen Fluffles, heiress to the Spades throne." the White Rabbit bowed immediately even though the Queen was not paying any attention. She was busily enjoying herself with a game of croquet.
The purple cat was beside me, paws on my arm. "Thisss…way." he hissed in my ear and my fur stood on end.
There was a stone pathway that led into a hedge maze. There were roses in every inch of the bushes, all black. The further in we went, the more the roses appeared to be dripping and melting. That was odd. That's when I noticed it was paint.
"Not paint, but the water from the pool of magic." said Chess.
"You believe in this garbage?" I rose a brow at him as we stopped at a fountain.
"I believe what I want to believe." he smiled wickedly at me. I loved the way he smiled. "Follow me, if you want to live that is." then he disappeared once more.
There was a castle up ahead. Behind me I could hear yelling. The sky darkened and blood began to pour from the fountain. "Find him! I want to sap the magic from his veins!" it was the Queen. I heard shuffling, like paper rubbing against paper. I saw tall cards, all with faces at the top. They carried spears and swords, even guns! I ran as fast as I could.
We're painting the roses black! We're painting the roses black! Get in from the back, get in from the front, we're painting the roses black!
The Queen decree, that we shall be, drained and deceased until we're free. Free from what? Free from her glut! As we paint the roses black.
Black is for the life force, black is for the source. Source of hmm, may ask you? Pity be, the source that's true! It's you, it's me, it's what she decree! We're painting, the roses,
BLACK!
I ran and ran until I came to a stone staircase. At the very top was a stone door. I busted my tail trying to reach the top but it seemed they went on forever. Then a paw grabbed mine, "Don't forget, we're not all there," said Chess enticingly into my ear. His lips brushed mine before we reached the door and it felt like he'd sucked my breath away. Not in a good way.
I fell through the door, hitting the ground hard and hoping it was all over. I was coughing, feeling as though I was choking. I was! I was coughing up blood and I rose my paws to find myself trapped in a glass sarcophagus. I had tubes attached to me. They were draining me! My aracana!
I should've realized the real reason the Children of Arcana hated synths so much. Because we represented what they could not have. Magic in their veins, a true gift from their goddess.
"Well you can tell your goddess to stuff it!" I yelled, tasting something foul in my mouth, the taste of my blood tainted with their radiation. I had been on a trip, down the rabbit hole, or so I had thought. It was all an illusion to keep me from seeing the real truth. "The truth hurts, don't it?" I shouted as I beat against the glass. "Fuck, let me out!"
Ravager Blitzfire
There was a bank of computers behind the slug pony and as he garbled out of the way, I saw that it required a key. "There was no way we could access these without your help." said he. "Only the chosen one can see the gypsy and be bestowed upon one wish. Only the chosen one could defeat the Red Death, something we created. And only the chosen one, you if you're not seeing the point, could've shown the goddess enough devotion to please her in her own life essence the way you did with your kitty cat. That's what got you the idol." the nasty ass perverted brat was laughing at me having sex with Capper! Had he seen the whole thing? What the buck?
"And Sundance?" I asked through gritted teeth, just needing to play this charade a little longer.
"Oh, anypony could beat Sundance. He sucks." Equesticles laughed out loud, booming all around the room.
"Of course." I knew he had no talent but hearing it from the lips of this frog made me feel a little less competent.
"Now, you know what to do if you want to access the synth's memories." Equesticles was smiling and licking his lips.
I took the idol from him and set it into the slot on the main terminal. It was a USB inserting into a port. The stones were like access cards. The Wishing Star shimmered unlike the other two as I pressed them into place. The Sun Concordance felt warm to the touch like inside it burned a thousand flames. The Moon Stone was freezing cold. The computer screen lit up and files flicked past. A helm came down. I looked at Equesticles but he had nothing to say. In fact, he had left the room.
"Here goes nothing." I pulled the helmet down and fastened it to my head. There was a whir of energy and something popped out of the top, an arm. It injected something into my neck. It stung and I felt groggy. "Ooh…" I fell to the floor.
Achilles Heel
There was something strange going on. I was still me. This was like seeing a memory from an orb but at the same time I was me. In front of me lie aforementioned orbs. Dozens of them! "Security breached, code blue." Comforting to know this had security. Blue didn't sound so bad.
The orbs were laid out in a maze, pathways like neural connections. Ponybots drifted past, the firewalls guarding the entrances to each memory. I lifted my gun, seeing Nexus' revolver in my paw. My paw! I was Achilles, yet I was also me. I felt sick. There was something off putting about not experiencing this as though I was the person remembering it. The magic had been damaged, thrown off. Something was getting in the way and it was more than just security. Achilles Heel really did not want anypony to see what he intended to forget.
I moved forward along the first pathway to where a set of boxes blocked the way to the first orb. I could easily climb over the boxes, especially in this slick cat body, if not for the ponybots. Perhaps I could wait for it to circle back around on its route then grab the sphere. Perfect! That's exactly what I did and I managed to get to the memory orb just in time. The memory started…
Capper Dapperpaws
You're bound to get somewhere if you only walk long enough…
I had been hearing voices in my head for the past hour. I had already removed the tubes from my brain but there was nopony around to let me out of this tank. I was startin' to think enough was enough and wanted out of this joint. Maybe I should start listening to the voices. So I took one step forward. My toe stubbed against the door, I'm pretty sure I knew that was gon' happen. But then I noticed there was a latch down there.
I pulled it and the tank hissed open. Please tell me it was not that simple, kuz I'd been stuck in here for what seemed like forever, fool. I rolled my eyes and pushed my way out. There, you've finally gone and done it haven't you?
"Who are you?" I asked to nopony in particular.
"You see, when they uploaded you to the Wonderland server, the program was downloaded directly into your synth brain. Though your escape deleted most everything, you left with me and therefore took me along with you. It is I, Chess!" suddenly, the purple cat from the simulation appeared right in front of me. Just the same as in Wonderland, he unravelled like stripes on a candy cane. He was there in all his glory, and naked.
"You may want some clothes, friend," I pointed at his sheath. Quite cute, and I was blushing, but I had the hots for somepony else.
"Right!" he smiled that smile again and lifting his finger, a black suit appeared on him. He winked at me then turned around. "Now this way," he pointed at two doors, one closeby and one on the other side of the room, "I know exactly where to go!"
"If you just keep walking," I rolled my eyes. "You're pointing in two directions."
"Oh, am I?" he giggled a high pitched giggle, "I tend to do that don't I?" he seemingly chose a door at random and I could do nothing but follow him. This must've been what it felt like to blindly follow me back in my hustling days. A bit suspicious but mostly giddy at the thought of adventure.
We eventually made it to what looked like a server room that must be holding a vast amount of storage space. Blitzfire was passed out on the floor. My eyes widened.
"Ah, I see you're finally out of Wonderland. Did you like our little game?" asked a sluggish yellow pony who came rolling into the room.
I glanced at Chess who had unbuttoned his top button. "Only slightly," I told the lizard-like pony.
"No matter. You're friend won't make it past security anyway. You see, he thought I'd give him everything he needed, but it was a trap and he gave me everything I needed!" the yellow stallion began laughing, his rolls and rolls of fat shaking.
"What are you talkin' about?" I narrowed my eyes.
"I'd say see for yourself, but these computers are synth proof!"
Chess nudged me, "But they aren't me proof! I'm one of their programs, with me on your side, I can get you into and out of anything." his crescent shaped smile glowed in the dark.
"Watch me," I snapped at the fat pony and grabbed a helm for myself.
"You'll die!" gasped fatso. I didn't care. All that mattered now was saving Blitzy.
Achilles Dapperpaws
I blinked my eyes open. I was in a cube shaped room but there were no doors. "Server malfunction. Code X not found in user." Chess materialized but his form was glitchy and wavering.
"I don't have much time to get us through. Press that button!" he pointed at the floor and a panel rose up from it. It was labelled "Press me." of course it was. So I did. A door appeared and I ran to it. Inside there was a large window. I saw Blitzy through it, holding onto a memory sphere but nothing was happening. His eyes were wide and his pupils were dilated. He seemed to be in some sort of trance and unaware of anything happening around him, including the ponybots about to converge on his position.
"We have to do something!" I shouted and ran to the window. I began banging on it, but my synth programming wouldn't allow me through.
"I don't see how smashing the impenetrable window is going to work," said Chess.
"Blitz! Can you hear me? Wake up!"
Achilles Heel
Blitz…hear me? Ache up!
My eyelids fluttered open. I heard something like glass shattering, but it was musical. Something in front of me was tinkling against the tiles. A rock. The Wishing Star. I picked it up and looked around. Ponybots were swarming toward me and I was going to die if I didn't do something soon.
"Cappy?" I murmured. "Is that you?"
"Do y?u w1sh f0r Him? Whht i5 yuur d3sirE?" I heard the malfunctioning voice of the overloading computer. It sounded feminine and familiar. Like the Mother of Magic voice I had heard on my radiation trip, but it was droned out through static and interference. I looked up and saw a window where there hadn't been one before. Capper was there, along with some purple cat I'd never seen.
"I…I wish Capper was here."
A loud buzzing filled the air and the ponybots stopped. They all turned to the window and in a loud voice in perfect sync, they yelled, "TO ENTER YOU MUST PROVE YOUR FEELINGS TO THE CHILDREN ARCANA PROGRAMME."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" asked Capper. He glanced at Chess who only shrugged.
"YOU LOVE ONE, YES, BUT ANOTHER YOU CRUSH ON. YOU'VE PROVEN SO IN THE WONDERLAND SIMULATION. BY SHOWING FAITH AT EVERY TURN. NOW SHOW THE SAME FAITH AGAIN."
I saw that the purple cat was frowning and Capper looked confused and concerned. "How can you ask me to do that? I can't just go tearin' my heart in two right in front of the one I really love."
I choked, feeling sick. So much radiation. But…"Capper, it's okay. I know you care about me and a crush is a stupid thing. Just do what you need to do, before it's too late."
Capper took the paw of the purple cat and looked him in the eye, "I kinda like you, you're charming and cunning, like me. But this don't mean I'm giving up anythin' for you." then he leaned in and kissed the other cat. The purple cat meowed and his stripes swirled up into himself. Next thing I knew they had reappeared in front of me. I had to admit, it kinda hurt to see him looking at the other cat like that, but we had bigger issues.
I tossed the orb to Capper. "I can't use it!"
"That's because it's a synth memory sphere." he explained.
"Weird that they'd make a program a synth can't get into, but only a synth can read it," the purple cat was rubbing his chin. "Quite the riddle! I'm Chess by the by." he took my hoof and helped me up.
Capper grabbed my hoof. "In we go."
Achilles Heel Memory File 03: 133 Years After the Incident of Stable 14
It had always been a long haul, living as an immortal. I had always wondered how Celestia managed it. Sometimes I thought about Capper and what he might be up to, but then I thought to myself, that sly cat always had a knack for getting out of trouble. I didn't need to worry much about him and that gave me a sense of bliss.
When I met Chaser, the first synth I'd known since leaving behind Pre War Equestria, I felt I had a new purpose. I began broadcasting on wide-radio frequencies to anyone and anypony that could listen. I didn't know what would be out there, just that I had a purpose to help them.
Then the islanders came. They'd heard the transmissions but didn't know where to find me. I was okay with that. They didn't much care about me anyway. They just wanted land, and so over comm, we negotiated. I gave them their settlement and I had my own peace knowing they'd help anypony who came here to find me if they so wished.
Well that dream was swept up when the Children of Arcana came. Oh Faust how I hated them so. They wanted nothing more than to use the defoggers to destroy this island. And for what? Their dream of being one with magic? That's when they found me. They came knocking down my door. By then we had about 200 synths within our walls. There was a small war. Then I did something I regret.
Achilles Heel Memory File 05: 137 Years After the Incident of Stable 14
"I told you Chaser, I have to do this."
"But to what end, sir?"
I was brushing my teeth, looking at myself in the stained mirror of my quarters. I had just finished coding a program that I would never need again after dealing with Alistair. "Even after I delete my memories, I'll still have the means to take control of this entire island. Alistair is playing right into my paw."
"Can you explain the plan one more time?" Chaser asked me as we headed upstairs to the debrief room Joosh, who I'd stumbled upon some 20 years after exiting the temple, my right paw guy since even before the war and who I'm still surprised to this day survived, was waiting for us.
"Achilles, Alistair is outside with the contract ready for you to sign it whenever."
"Why you needed to tell me that I have no idea," I rolled my eyes.
"Just trying to be useful and important."
"Here's something useful, go let him in. I don't have all day to set in motion my plan to take over an entire island."
Achilles Heel Memory File 08: 138 Years After the Incident of Stable 14
So I gave them the boat, just to get them off my backs. Or so I liked to reassure myself. I had created the memory storage as a backup, in case I got cold feet. But I knew nothing would stop this civil war from happening. Now I just needed to wait.
That boat was in the perfect place. I had looked at all the maps a thousand times. Geographically, the rivers, ravines and channels would be the perfect places to send waves of radiation flowing all over the entire island. Now the Children of Arcana just needed one final shove, one final piece.
What that piece was, I didn't know. All I knew was that it would be what they needed to turn the defoggers into death traps, spewing all the radiation they could ever want.
Achilles Heel Memory File 013: 205 Years After the Incident of Stable 14
Then it came, the final piece of the puzzle.
You.
All I needed was a way to get you here. I conned Mist Haze, made her think she was a synth, made her come here and caused her parents to send for the detective. My dear brother, you set me on the road to success after all. It was all so simple, and if only I had my memories, I'd be laughing in your face.
Ravager Blitzfire and Capper Dapperpaws, the only two with the means to carry out the missing piece of my plan. Blitz will secure the stones and Capper will infiltrate their security system. It'll look like an attack. The battle against the islanders will commence, and with the Mother of Magic idol and the three stones, the Children of Arcana have everything they need to turn defog into arcana burst…
Ravager Blitzfire
I opened my eyes, no longer inside the computer. Capper was beside me, but Chess was gone. "We have to get these files and the stones back to Achilles." I said in a hurry. Equesticles was making his way back into the room.
"Why would we do that? Achilles set us up!" Capper snapped. I could tell he was visibly furious.
"I know you're upset with him, but did you see him back there? He sent us off thinking he was doing something good. Maybe he's changed."
"Yeah right, but let's just go with it shall we?"
"Good, that's what I like to hear," I smiled at him and he smiled back. I turned to Equesticles and said, "Hey fatty, why not eat led?" I lifted my trusty revolver and gave him a few bullets. He screamed.
I grabbed the stones and the statuette then we ran from the room. "Follow me!" Capper waved me on, "Chess knows how to get out of here and avoid most of the security."
"Oh, right, Chess."
Capper stopped, "Look, it doesn't mean anything."
I moved past him, "I can't think about it right now. We just need to keep moving."
Alarms on the ship began blaring, and the corridor ahead of us filled with goonies. One lunged straight for me and I tackled him before he could pin me. We grappled with each other, hoof to hoof, and I had him locked in a dance. I got him turned around and pinned against the wall and he grunted. I smashed his head in and moved on. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Capper finish his off as well, using the kitty claws.
Bullets pinged off the walls and there was shouting all around but nopony managed to hit us. I turned and fired my shotgun at them but to no avail. I couldn't see what I was shooting at and the two of us were moving too fast to aim anyway.
We made it to the hatch and we pushed it open. We were on the beaten path outside the ship and I could feel the sights of about 20 guns aimed directly at us. "What the buck are we going to do?" I asked aloud.
A mare walked out of the fog straight ahead. She was wearing a long dress and a veil across her face. "What indeed?" she spoke to nopony in particular. She carried what looked like a wand and flicking a switch on it, a blue electrical orb appeared between its two prongs. She pointed it at us. A beam of energy shot toward us and Capper jumped up.
He yelled and with arms outstretched all the energy hit him full force. Then in midair he seemed to gather it up and shoot it right back at her. It cleared a huge path and caused a big enough distraction for us to slip away into the forest. I could hear the mare yelling, "Noooo!" behind us.
(So this is quite the tangled web. They were trying to trap Capper but completely failed, not only that but a piece of programming came with him. Blitz is not happy. I got the idea to do that from the Mortal Instruments, it was a pretty amazing scene. Anyway, until the next chapter!
Brohoof
/)