[FFML] [fanfic][MLP:FiM][CL] Code Lyocolt, chapters 1+2

[Mythril Moth]

Oh dear GOD not again, right? c.c;;

You know the drill. Disclaimers, C&C, yada yada...

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1. Un monde sans amitié

It had started so innocently...

Twilight Sparkle had taken a day trip to Canterlot to visit with her brother 
and search for a few new books to take back to Ponyville with her--even 
though she lived in a library, she was still in a rural village, after all, 
and Canterlot got all the latest books more quickly.

After doing some book-shopping and spending a pleasant afternoon with 
Shining Armor and his wife Cadence, Twilight had decided to stop by the 
palace and pay her respects to her mentor, Princess Celestia. When she'd 
arrived, however, the princess had seemed unusually agitated about 
something.

"What's wrong, Princess?" Twilight had asked.

"Oh, Twilight, I'm glad you're here," Celestia had said, tossing her mane 
and pawing the floor with a hoof. "My sister unearthed 
something...strange...in the palace cellar. I honestly had no idea it was 
there, but now..." She had shaken her head. "Well, we're not entirely sure 
what to make of it. It's some sort of technology..."

The purple unicorn's eyes had lit up at this. "Technology?" she'd asked, 
tilting her head. While certain things were commonplace in Equestria, 
technology in general was still a rare enough sight that any new, unusual 
gizmo or gadget fascinated her.

"Yes, and I'm afraid neither I nor my sister are very good with such 
things," Celestia had said. "I've heard, however, that you've developed 
quite an interest in machines..."

"Oh, absolutely!" Twilight had replied, smiling brightly. "What is it? What 
does it do?"

"That's just it...we have no idea what it does. We can't figure out how to 
turn it on."

The purple unicorn had rubbed her chin with her forehoof, humming 
thoughtfully. "Can it be moved?"

"Possibly," Celestia had hedged, a hoof raised slightly.

"Well...if it can be moved, would you mind if I had it relocated to 
Ponyville?" Twilight had asked. "It might take a while to study, and I'd 
really rather study it in my own lab. Besides, if it turns out to be 
something dangerous, turning it on here in Canterlot could be...well..."

"Disastrous, yes," the princess had agreed. "Very well, we'll go inspect it 
together, to see if it can be moved. If it can, we'll arrange to transport 
it to the library in Ponyville."

By nightfall, the strange contraption had been transplanted to Twilight's 
lab in the basement of the library. It was a curious thing; black and 
gleaming with a cylindrical tower rising from a broad circular base. Deep 
grooves and indentations were engraved into the smooth black metal at 
seemingly random intervals; these indented areas were a dull amber color.

She'd spent all night studying it from every conceivable angle, probing it 
with her magic, hooking up electrodes to it to try to get a reading on it, 
even kicking it experimentally a few times. Nothing had seemed to yield any 
response from the mysterious, recalcitrant object.

An hour before sunrise, the weary, exhausted unicorn had slumped to the 
floor, hooves splayed around her. "I give up," she'd groaned. "This thing 
just doesn't want to do anything..."

She'd trotted upstairs and gone into the kitchen for a drink. After enjoying 
a glass of cold apple juice, she'd suddenly remembered one thing she hadn't 
tried. She'd smacked herself in the forehead with a hoof, then, and rushed 
back down the stairs to the basement, where the cold black machine stood 
silently, as though daring her to make it work.

She had then tilted her horn towards the device and funneled a powerful jolt 
of magical lightning directly into the cylindrical tower.

Abruptly, the amber sections of the device had begun to glow brightly; the 
entire tower hummed quietly with power, golden light pulsing upwards through 
it at clockwork intervals. The unicorn had cheered ecstatically...

However, after an hour, the thing had done nothing more interesting than 
glow, hum, and pulse.

Twilight had finally gone to bed just after sunrise, leaving instructions 
for her dragon assistant, Spike, to clean up the library and keep the noise 
down so she could sleep.

* * * * *

Just past noon, Twilight Sparkle awoke to an insistent knocking on the front 
door. She trotted downstairs just as Spike answered the door, and saw a 
massive crate supported by two pegasi. As Derpy Hooves was one of the 
deliveryponies, the crate was listing alarmingly to one side. Using her 
magic to help the ponies support the crate, she guided them into the middle 
of the room, where the three of them gently set down the crate. "What IS it, 
anyway?" Twilight asked.

"No idea, sorry," Derpy said, looking at her with one eye and a potted plant 
with the other. "But it came express from Canterlot..."

The two pegasi flew away, leaving Twilight to puzzle over the crate. A 
moment later, Spike belched out a smoking scroll with the royal crest on it. 
Unrolling it, Twilight read the letter from her mentor:

Dear Twilight Sparkle,

We found this equipment in a sealed antechamber near where the device was 
found. It seems to be part of, or at least related to, the device. 
Hopefully, you can divine some meaning or purpose to all this.

Princess Celestia

Twilight wasted no time opening the crate; inside was some sort of control 
panel and a number of flat screens attached to thin metal arms, and four 
broad golden cylinders, each twice as tall as the average pony.

"Great, just what we need...more weird crap," Spike muttered.

Twilight bopped him on the head with a hoof. "Just for that, you can help me 
get this stuff downstairs," she said.

It took just over half an hour to move the new equipment array to the 
basement, where the black tower was still glowing and humming and pulsing. 
As soon as the new devices were ten feet from the glowing tower, the screens 
lit up, several displays flashing across them. Spike jumped away from the 
thing, alarmed. Twilight merely examined them curiously.

"Th-this stuff just came to life all by itself!" Spike exclaimed.

"I suspect...these screens draw power from the original device, and they 
have to be close to it when it's activated," Twilight said, stroking her 
chin with a hoof. "These other things are probably drawing power too, though 
I can't see what their purpose is at the moment..." Her eyes lit up with 
excitement and delight. "Isn't this amazing? I can't wait to find out what 
it is and what it does!"

"I can," Spike muttered. "I'll be upstairs having a snack."

Ignoring the dragon, Twilight settled down behind the control panel, 
examining it carefully. She spotted what appeared to be a headset, and 
levitated it onto her head, adjusting the earpiece and carefully positioning 
the microphone. "Hello?" she tried. "Testing..."

//Who's there?// a voice replied. Twilight jumped.

"Who--who is this?" she asked.

//...I don't know,// the feminine voice replied. //I just woke up...it's 
cold and dark here...I'm alone...//

A window popped open on the center screen of the control array, and a mare 
appeared. There was something very odd about her. She seemed 
artificial...not quite real. She was dusky pink in color, with a pale 
blue-white mane and sharp gray eyes. She smiled and tilted her head 
curiously. //I can see you now...I think,// she said, her voice now coming 
out of speakers attached to the control screens. //Who are you?//

"My name is Twilight Sparkle," the unicorn replied. "I'm in 
Ponyville...where are you?"

//I...I don't know,// the strange mare replied. //I've never heard of 
Ponyville...sorry...// She paused. //Come to think of it, I've never heard 
of anyplace.//

Twilight frowned. "Can you describe the place you're in?"

//Yes...// The mare on the screen replied, looking around. //I'm in some 
kind of...tower, I think. The walls are dark, but there's...hold on. I can 
show you.//

A new window popped open on a screen to the unicorn's left. The interior of 
the tower was dark and silent, with eerie lines of blue letters and numbers 
flowing vertically up the otherwise black walls. The floor was light blue, 
with a series of glowing concentric circles leading to a point in the 
center.

//Hang on...I think there's something else...// The mare trotted over to the 
wall of the tower and pressed a hoof against it. A concentric ripple of pink 
light expanded from her hoof; she gasped as her hoof passed through the 
wall. //Oh my!//

"Careful..." Twilight cautioned.

//Alright.// Taking a deep breath, the pink mare stepped through the wall of 
the tower. The screen on Twilight's left abruptly flickered and changed to 
show a rocky desert plain, littered with scrubby plants, brown stone 
outcroppings, and thick bundles of cable which snaked in and out of the 
ground seemingly at random, pulsing with electricity. //Wow...there's...a 
whole world here...//

"That's the strangest-looking desert I've ever seen," Twilight said.

//It's a virtual environment,// the mare replied. //Don't ask me how I know 
that. I just do.// She paused. //I think...I think I might be virtual too.//

"Virtual?" Twilight echoed, head tilted.

//I...and this world, I suppose...reside in the memory of some sort of 
computer,// the virtual mare replied.

"Computer...you mean this big black thing we moved here from Canterlot 
Palace?" She turned the center screen around on its support arm to face the 
glowing black tower.

//Yes! That's it!// the virtual mare exclaimed. //That's the supercomputer. 
I know, somehow, that this world...and me...are connected to that machine.//

"Hmm..." Twilight frowned thoughtfully, then turned the screen back around 
to face her. "So...you're not real then?"

//I suppose not...from your point of view, anyway,// the mare said, a note 
of sadness in her voice.

"Still, this is pretty amazing...a pony who exists inside a machine...a 
whole WORLD that exists inside the machine...! I've never heard of anything 
like this! I'm glad I figured out how to turn it on..."

//So am I...// The virtual mare paused. //I really wish I could remember 
anything useful, though. Like who I am, for starters.//

"Well, since you're virtual...how about I call you Virtua? At least for 
now."

//Alright,// Virtua replied, smiling. She frowned suddenly. //Something 
doesn't feel right...I'd better get back inside that tower. I get the 
feeling...I'm not entirely safe here.//

Twilight frowned. "What do you mean?"

Just then, something that looked like a hermit crab scuttled into view. A 
blast of energy shot from a strange-looking symbol on its shell, narrowly 
missing Virtua. The virtual pony shrieked in alarm and galloped back toward 
the tower, phasing through the wall. She collapsed to the floor, panting 
heavily. //That was scary!//

"And strange," Twilight said. "I think you'd better sit tight where you are, 
Virtua." She brightened. "Hey! I should go get my friends and bring them 
down here to meet you!"

//I'd like that,// Virtua said with a smile.

* * * * *

An hour later, Twilight led Spike, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, 
Fluttershy, and Applejack into the basement. They looked around wonderingly 
at the strange equipment. "What--what IS all this?" Dash asked.

"I...I'm a little scared..." Fluttershy said, shivering as she eyed the 
black tower nervously.

"It's something called a 'supercomputer'," Twilight said. "But this isn't 
half of what I wanted to show you. I want you to meet somepony..." She 
trotted back over to the control panel and tapped a few keys. The center 
screen woke up, and the window showing the inside of the tower popped open. 
Virtua's face appeared in the window, and she smiled.

//Welcome back, Twilight,// she said.

"Whoa, who's THAT?" Applejack asked. "An' why's she look so...weird?"

"Applejack!" Twilight scolded. "Sorry about that, Virtua."

//It's alright,// the virtual mare replied.

Introductions were made, and Twilight explained--with difficulty, as she 
didn't fully understand it herself--that Virtua was an artificial pony who 
existed in an artificial world that existed inside the supercomputer. "And 
there's this big desert-looking world outside the tower Virtua's in right 
now, but it isn't safe for her to go outside because some kind of weird crab 
monster started shooting at her," she finished.

Her friends stared at her as though she'd grown a second head AND a horn out 
of her butt.

"Uh, sugarcube?" Applejack said, taking a step back and raising a forehoof. 
"That's uh...nice an' all, but...it all sounds jes' a mite far-fetched, is 
all Ah'm sayin'..."

"Yes, I know it sounds crazy," Twilight said patiently, "but it has to be 
true, because here she is, and even Princess Celestia had no idea what this 
supercomputer thing does, so--"

"Wow, one of these big tube thingies just opened up when I touched it!" 
Pinkie exclaimed, standing inside the hollow cavity of one of the cylinders 
which had arrived with the control array. She started bouncing up and down. 
"It's so roomy in here! I wonder what it does?"

"Pinkie, don't play around in there," Twilight cautioned. As she turned to 
admonish her friend, her tail brushed against one of the controls on the 
main board...

The tube Pinkie had opened closed with her inside it, and a series of new 
windows popped open on the screens.

"Uh, Twi?" Rainbow Dash said, eyes wide in panic. "Somethin's happenin'..."

Twilight spun around, eyes wide as she saw a three-dimensional image of 
Pinkie Pie appear on one of the screens, along with a series of graphs and 
other displays that were changing too rapidly for her to follow. With 
growing horror, she watched as the image of Pinkie dissolved into a 
wireframe, before disappearing entirely. "Pinkie Pie?! Pinkie?!"

//Whoa, there really IS a big weird desert here!// Pinkie's voice came from 
the speakers attached to the control array.

"Pinkie? Where are you?" Twilight asked.

//Duh! I just told you, silly! I'm in that big weird desert you were talking 
about! And I see that tower thingie...is Virtua inside there?//

"Virtua? Could you step outside the tower for a minute please?" Twilight 
asked.

//A-alright...// The virtual mare left the tower again, and the view on the 
left screen changed from the dark tower to the brown desert. The group in 
the basement gave a collective gasp at what they saw.

Pinkie had somehow become virtual like Virtua. She was wearing a spysuit in 
the colors of the balloons that comprised her cutie mark, and two miniature 
versions of her Party Cannon were mounted on her sides.

"Whoa," Dash breathed.

"Well, that was certainly unexpected," Rarity said.

//This is so cool!// Pinkie exclaimed. //How did I get here, though?//

Twilight's brow furrowed. "I think..." she said slowly, "these cylinder 
things send ponies into that virtual world...into the supercomputer."

"But...you CAN bring her back out of there, right?" Fluttershy asked 
nervously.

"I...*think* so," Twilight hedged.

//You should be able to,// Virtua said suddenly. //I believe what happened 
to your friend is called 'virtualization', and there is a reverse process 
called 'devirtualization'.//

"For a pony with amnesia, you seem to know a lot," Rainbow Dash said 
suspiciously.

//I just wish I knew anything useful, or could understand why I know what I 
do know,// Virtua replied.

Suddenly, the crab-like creature that had shot at Virtua earlier 
reappeared...and it brought two friends. One of them shot at Pinkie, whose 
flank flashed blue. //Hey! Ow! That wasn't very nice!// Pinkie shouted.

Twilight noticed that a graphic of Pinkie had appeared on one of the 
screens, and her lower legs were disappearing from the graphic. "Pinkie? Are 
you okay?!"

//Yeah, I'm okay,// Pinkie replied. //That really smarted though.//

"Uh...I don't think you want to get hit again," Twilight said, studying the 
graphics on the screen with growing alarm. "There's something on this screen 
that says you just lost twenty life points. I don't know what that means, 
but it can't be good..."

The crab-things started shooting at Pinkie again. She dodged, bouncing left 
and right. //Okay, I'm getting tired of these mean mean meanies,// she said.

Without warning, two big pink balls of lightning blasted out of her 
side-cannons. Two of the crab-things were hit dead-center and exploded into 
blue pixels.

"Nice shootin'!" Applejack cried.

"Yeah, you totally nailed 'em!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

The third crab, however, fired at Virtua, whose body flashed blue as she was 
knocked off her hooves.

"Virtua? You alright?" Twilight asked, as a new graphic appeared, showing 
that the virtual mare had also lost a number of life points.

//I...think so...// Virtua stood up, wavering slightly, as Pinkie dispatched 
the third crab.

Five more crabs scuttled into view.

"Hurry up and get back in the tower!" Twilight exclaimed.

//Right,// Virtua said. She turned and galloped for the tall white tower, 
Pinkie right behind her. However, while Virtua easily phased through the 
tower wall, Pinkie simply bounced off.

//Ow! I can't get in and my nose hurts,// Pinkie complained.

Five bolts of crab-fire struck her dead in the rump, and she exploded into a 
cloud of blue pixels.

"PINKIE PIE!" the group in the basement shouted, eyes wide in horror.

"No...she can't be...gone..." Twilight moaned in despair.

There was a loud hiss, and the group turned towards the cylinder into which 
Pinkie had climbed earlier. It slid open, disgorging a cloud of steam...and 
Pinkie Pie, who looked like she had a terrible hangover, but was otherwise 
unharmed.

"Wow, getting shot at that much definitely wasn't fun," she said. She looked 
around at everypony, blinking. "Um...why does everypony look like somepony 
just died?"

"Because we thought you DID die, you ditz!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, flying 
at Pinkie and tackling her with a fierce hug. "Don't scare us like that ever 
again!"

//I'm relieved your friend is alright,// Virtua said from the screen. //I'm 
sorry about...what just happened.//

"Well, it doesn't look like there's anything to worry about," Twilight said, 
examining the screen on the left. The graphic of Pinkie had turned red and 
winked out of existence; the graphic of Virtua was slowly regenerating life 
points. "It looks like when you go into a tower, your life points 
recover...I wouldn't go out again unless you absolutely have to, and I 
wouldn't get far from that tower."

//Yes, I figured that part out myself,// Virtua said. //But it looks as 
though if one of you gets virtualized, losing all your life points just 
means you go back to your own world.//

"That means we can totally explore that crazy virtual place!" Rainbow Dash 
said, suddenly excited. "Doesn't it?"

"It certainly seems that way," Twilight replied, frowning. "I'm not sure how 
much we should really mess around with this, though."

The mares and Spike unanimously agreed that it was time for dinner, and left 
the basement. Twilight apologized to Virtua and promised to come back and 
talk to her before she went to bed.

As they trotted up the stairs into the main floor of the library, nopony 
noticed the black shadowy vapor emerging from the supercomputer.

And as they left to go to dinner at their favorite outdoor cafe, nopony 
noticed that vapor slip silently through the shadows, to the outskirts of 
Ponyville.

And nopony noticed as the shadow flitted through the open window of a 
bedroom of the Apple house, surrounding a poorly-made rag doll which had 
been placed lovingly upon a red pillow on a large bed.

Nor did anypony notice the ominous symbol which suddenly flashed in the 
button eyes of the old doll...the same symbol that had been on the shells of 
the crab monsters in the virtual desert...

2. Smartypantszilla

//Twilight?//

The lavender unicorn opened bleary eyes and looked around sleepily. She had 
fallen asleep in the lab; the control board for the supercomputer was 
covered in drool. She yawned and stretched. "Ugh...oh...Virtua..." She 
ducked her head sheepishly. "I'm sorry...I was just so tired..."

//It's alright,// the virtual pony said with a friendly smile. //I'm glad 
you're awake now, though. It's way too quiet here.//

"You still haven't been able to go outside without getting attacked?"

//I haven't even tried,// Virtua replied with a sad sigh. //It's just way 
too risky.//

"Yeah..." Twilight frowned. "Well, sometime later this morning my friends 
are coming back over, and some of them are going to come in there and 
explore your world."

//I can't wait,// Virtua said. //I want to know more about where I 
am...maybe it'll help me figure out WHO I am.//

"I sure hope so..."

* * * * *

After finishing her morning chores, Applejack made one last round of the 
farm before heading over to the library. As she did so, she noticed 
something peculiar: Big Macintosh was frantically rooting through haystacks, 
bushels, barrels, and everywhere else.

"Uh...Big Mac? Y'lose somethin'?"

"Eeeeeyup."

"Need some help findin' it?"

"Nnnnnope."

"Y'sure?"

"Eeeeeyup."

"Whutcha done lost, anyway? Maybe Ah seen it somewhere."

"Nothin' important," the red stallion replied.

"...right. Well, Ah'm off. Good luck findin', uh, whutever."

Ten minutes later, Applejack was too far away from Sweet Apple Acres to hear 
her brother's terrified scream.

* * * * *

Twilight's friends had gathered once again n the basement lab, where an 
important decision was about to be made.

"Okay, so who's going and who's staying?" Twilight asked.

"I'm sure as hay not goin'," Spike said. "It's just too weird."

"I'm definitely going!" Rainbow Dash declared, ruffling her wings.

"Umm...I'll...stay here, if it's all the same," Fluttershy whispered, 
curling into herself and lowering her body to the floor.

"I'll go!" Pinkie declared. "Getting shot hurt, but shooting those crab 
thingies was kinda fun!"

"I believe I shall pass, if it's all the same," Rarity said, waving a dainty 
hoof airily.

"Ah reckon Ah might as well give it a shot," Applejack drawled.

"Right," Twilight nodded. She pressed a couple of keys on the control board, 
and three scanner tubes opened with a hiss. "In you go!"

As her friends stepped into the scanners, Twilight began working furiously 
at the controls. Windows popped up on the screens, displaying 
three-dimensional representations of each mare.

"Scanning... scanner Pinkie Pie... scanner Rainbow Dash... scanner 
Applejack...

"Virtualization!"

With a final keystroke, the images of the three mares dissolved into 
wireframes...

...and appeared in the rocky virtual terrain outside Virtua's tower.

//AWESOME!// Rainbow Dash cried. //I'm a Wonderbolt here!//

//An' Ah'm...uh...whut th' hay am Ah s'posed t'be?//

Twilight activated the viewer that showed what was happening in the virtual 
desert. Pinkie was once again in her party balloon outfit and armed with her 
saddlecannons. Dash had acquired a blindingly multihued variation of the 
Wonderbolts' flight suit. And Applejack...

...was an armored cow.

There was really no better way she could think of to describe it. The 
farmpony's virtual body was encased in armor with a distinctive Holstein 
heifer pattern. Her normal brown hat had been replaced with a similarly 
cow-patterned ten-gallon hat that had enormous steer's horns jutting out 
from the sides. Lastly, her hooves were shod in the gaudiest, shiniest white 
boots Twilight had ever seen, each with sharp spurs jangling at the heel.

Dash took one look at her and exploded with laughter. //Oh man, you look so 
ridiculous!// she howled.

Virtua emerged from the tower, looking around cautiously. She espied the 
three mares, and her forehooves flew to her mouth. //Oh my...//

Pinkie walked up to the tower and tapped it with a hoof. //So how come we 
can't get inside?// she wondered.

//I don't know,// Virtua replied. //But those monsters can't get in 
either.//

"I wonder..." Twilight mused. "Are those creatures a natural feature of that 
world? Or is somepony or something sending them after you?"

The virtual pony shuddered. //I'm not crazy about that notion,// she said.

//Well, I'll take a quick flight around and see what's up with this place,// 
Dash said. She stretched her wings and rose from the ground; as she flew 
off, a brilliant rainbow trail shimmered behind her.

//She's so fast!// Virtua exclaimed, eyes wide.

//That ain't nuthin',// Applejack said. //Wait'll ya see 'er really go.//

A bolt of energy streaked past Applejack, scoring the ground at her hooves. 
She and Pinkie whirled to face a new group of crab-monsters; Virtua eeped 
and galloped through the wall of the tower.

* * * * *

Big Macintosh was used to being, well...big.

Most of the time, he was the biggest pony in any given crowd. He was rarely 
around anypony or any creature bigger than him.

On this particular morning, however, he had encountered something much, much 
bigger than himself.

Many residents of Ponyville were astonished to see the sturdy red workpony 
galloping down the road at top speed, looking as though every foul thing in 
Tartarus was hot on his hooves. Nopony could imagine what could possibly 
have so thoroughly terrified Big Macintosh.

And then they saw what was chasing him.

Cue enormous pony stampede.

* * * * *

As Virtua charged into the tower, she felt her hooves slide underneath her, 
and before she could arrest her forward motion, she skidded to the edge of 
the circular tower floor...and over.

She screamed as she fell...and then stopped in surprise as she landed gently 
on a floor almost exactly like the one she'd just fallen off of.

//Virtua? Are you okay?// Twilight Sparkle asked.

"Yes...I'm alright. Just...surprised." The virtual pony frowned 
thoughtfully, then timidly approached the wall of the tower and stepped 
through.

Her eyes widened.

"I...I don't believe it..."

//What is it?// Twilight asked.

"See for yourself..."

* * * * *

The viewing window on the left screen flickered and changed, and Twilight 
blinked. "...what the hay?"

//I think...I've found a different sector of this world,// Virtua replied.

Indeed, the terrain around the virtual pony was no longer coarse brown 
desert, but rather lush green virtual forest.

"How'd you get there?" Twilight asked.

//I...I'm not sure...//

//Hey everypony!// Dash's voice burst excitedly from the speakers. //You 
won't believe what I found! There's a whole bunch of these towers all over 
the place!//

//What?// Virtua cut in. //Did you say there are more towers?//

//Yeah,// Dash replied. //You think maybe more virtual ponies live in those 
other towers?//

//It's...possible...// Virtua replied dubiously. //But I don't 
think--AAAAH!//

"What is it? What's wrong?" Twilight cried.

//Some kind of bug monsters...//

"Get back in the tower!"

//I can't! I'm surrounded!//

Twilight cursed. "Hang on...there's gotta be some way to send everypony over 
to where you are..." She began furiously working at the controls, studying 
incomprehensible window after window of readouts and data. Finally, she 
found--or hoped she'd found--what she needed. "Okay, gang, I'm sending you 
to the forest sector!"

//Huh? Wait, what?//

* * * * *

Pinkie, Applejack, and Dash blinked in confusion as the desert terrain 
around them blurred and became blocky, and moments later was replaced with 
green grass and trees. "Okay, that was weird," Pinkie said.

"Help! Over here!" Virtua cried. The mares turned, only to find the virtual 
pony surrounded by wicked-looking giant hornets, stingers gleaming evilly. 
The eerie eye symbol they'd seen on the crabs was also present on these new 
monsters.

"I've got this!" Dash cried, charging into the fray. As she picked up speed, 
the rainbow contrail behind her became a blazing rainbow flame; she plowed 
through the hornets, which caught fire and exploded in showers of blue 
pixels.

A lone crab scuttled out from behind a tree. Applejack charged it, lowering 
her head like an angry bull. The ridiculously long horns on her absurd hat 
caught it up and pierced it, and it too vanished into blue pixels and 
nothingness.

"Aww, nothing for me to blow up?" Pinkie pouted.

"You'd better get back in the tower, Virtua," Dash said.

"Right..." the virtual pony agreed. Before she had taken a single step, 
however, she stiffened, eyes wide. "Did...did you all feel that?"

"Feel whut?" Applejack asked, tilting her head.

"I felt...some kind of...pulsation..."

"Oh! Oh! Maybe you have a Virtua Sense, just like I have Pinkie Sense!"

"...huh?"

//Ignore her,// Twilight said abruptly. //What do you mean you felt a 
pulsation?//

"I don't know...it's just..."

//Twilight! Something DREADFUL is happening outside!//

//Huh? Oh--excuse me a minute everypony.//

"I wonder what's goin' on?" Dash asked, looking up at the digital sky, worry 
creasing her brow.

"Somethin' sure as horseapples don't feel right," Applejack said, frowning.

"I agree," Virtua nodded. "I feel like...something bad's about to happen..."

* * * * *

Twilight stepped out into the bright sunlight, only to find chaos erupting 
all around her.

"What...what..."

"It's some kind of terrible monster!" Fluttershy squeaked, ducking behind 
the unicorn and peering out from between her legs. "I saw it--everypony's 
running right for the Everfree Forest, and it's right behind them..."

"A monster? What kind of monster?" Twilight asked.

"I couldn't say for sure," Rarity answered, "but it was certainly the most 
hideous thing I've ever seen."

"And it was HUGE," Spike said. "Like, dragon huge."

This observation was rather unnecessary, as whatever had stomped through the 
town had left considerable destruction in its wake.

Twilight shifted her hooves uncertainly, torn between competing disasters. 
Her friends should be okay in the virtual world, she knew...or hoped...but 
this monster, whatever it was...

"Spike?" she said. "I need you to go back down to the lab and keep an eye on 
everypony in the supercomputer. You don't need to do anything except make 
sure Virtua doesn't lose all her life points. I'm pretty sure if she does, 
she'll disappear for good. If the others lose all theirs, they'll--"

"Be okay, I know," Spike said. "I just need to watch what's happening then, 
right?"

"Right. Fluttershy, Rarity? You're with me. We're gonna follow that 
monster."

"Oh goodness...oh dear..."

"FLUTTERSHY!" Twilight snapped. "Now is NOT the time! Ponies are in danger!"

Fluttershy's jaw tightened, her eyes hardened, and she nodded. "Right." 
Soundlessly, she took off, following the path of destruction. The two 
unicorns were soon galloping behind her. Spike watched them until they were 
specks on the horizon, then turned and walked down to the basement.

* * * * *

"So...what d'y'all reckon we do now?" Applejack asked.

"I think I'll take a look around," Dash replied. "Virtua, get back in the 
tower. Pinkie, AJ, you two look out for monsters. If any more show up, take 
'em out."

"Got it!" Pinkie chirped, saluting.

A few minutes later, Dash returned, brow furrowed. "There's a whole bunch of 
towers here too," she reported. "And one of 'em's glowin' red."

"Red?" Applejack asked, tilting her head.

"Yeah. Red. Like, really angry red."

"That's weird," Pinkie replied, looking up at the tower they stood at the 
base of. "This one and the one back in the desert were glowing blue."

"I know," Dash said. "I've got a really bad feeling about that red tower."

* * * * *

//Did you hear that, Virtua?// Spike asked.

"Yes," Virtua replied, studying the walls of her safe haven with a puzzled 
frown. "I don't know what it means, but..."

* * * * *

"Oh...my..." Fluttershy said as she got her first good look at the 
terrifying monster.

"It's even more hideous than I thought!" Rarity exclaimed, collapsing on her 
handily-summoned fainting couch.

Twilight's left eye and right ear twitched. "It's...it's my old Smarty-Pants 
doll," she said flatly.

"Your WHAT?" Rarity exclaimed.

"My Smarty-Pants doll. I made her myself, when I was a filly. She was my 
favorite toy..." She frowned. "I never did find her after that whole mess 
with the Want-It Need-It spell..."

"Well, darling, I'd say you just found her," Rarity drawled.

"Why did...you make such a huge, scary doll...and make it so poorly?" 
Fluttershy asked timidly.

"She wasn't this big when I made heWHAT DO YOU MEAN POORLY?"

"Nothing!"

Smarty-Pants turned to face the three mares, and let out a terrifying bray 
that shook the ground. Her massive button eyes flashed...and in each 
enormous mismatched eye, a staticky grey symbol flickered...

...the same symbol on the monsters in the virtual world.

"Did...did you see THAT?" Rarity exclaimed.

"I sure did," Twilight replied, mouth set in a grim line. "I don't know how, 
but whatever made Smarty-Pants grow big and alive and...and evil...is in 
that supercomputer." She scowled. "I've gotta get back to the library. You 
two...just...keep her busy. And don't hurt her! She's very precious to me!"

"Us...hurt...HER?" Fluttershy demanded, eyes wide with fright. But Twilight 
hadn't heard her, as she had already teleported several times and was 
halfway to the library.

* * * * *

Twilight appeared with a pop and a flash, startling Spike, and hurriedly 
levitated the headset onto her own head. "Virtua!" she called. "This is 
Twilight! Can you hear me?"

//Yes!//

"Everypony else hear me okay?"

//Loud an' clear, sugarcube! How's everything out there in Ponyville?//

"Wrecked," Twilight replied. "Listen, did anypony see anything unusual 
there?"

//Yeah,// Dash said. //One of the towers in this forest is glowing red.//

Twilight rubbed her chin with a forehoof, then nodded. "Right. I think...you 
need to get Virtua to that red tower without anything killing her."

//To the red tower?// Virtua asked uncertainly. //Are you sure about that?//

"No," Twilight admitted. "But whatever's been sending those monsters inside 
the supercomputer is causing trouble out here in the real world too."

//No way!// Dash exclaimed.

//Whut kinda trouble?// Applejack asked.

"...no time to explain," Twilight said hesitantly. "Just...trust me. I 
really think getting Virtua to that red tower is what we need to do."

//Alright, if you say so...// Virtual replied shakily.

* * * * *

Virtua stepped out of the safety of the tower and joined the three 
virtualized mares, who nodded grimly at her and moved to shield her. 
Wordlessly, the four mares set off into the forest, Dash taking point.

For several minutes, nothing happened. The tension was thick and heavy in 
the air.

"I see it," Pinkie whispered. "Wow, it reminds me of that time you had that 
really really bad zit, Dashie..."

The malevolently glowing red tower loomed ahead of them.

"Might take us a spell t'git there," Applejack said softly. "Ah reckon--"

A hornet divebombed her from above, stinging her right in the flank. She let 
out a holler and bucked straight up, sending the digital menace flying into 
the trunk of a tree. Pinkie shot it with her saddlecannons, and it 
disappeared.

"Dang that hurt!" Applejack grumbled.

//You just lost ten life points, AJ,// Twilight cautioned. //Be careful.//

"Right..."

A few seconds later, an entire swarm of hornets descended upon the mares. 
Pinkie's cannons spat blazing pink electric death at dizzying speeds. Dash 
zoomed around, setting hornets ablaze with her rainbow flame trails. Any 
bugs that got too close to Virtua, Applejack dealt with, either by horn or 
hoof.

After a few minutes of intense combat, no enemies were left, and only Dash 
had lost any life points. "Oh yeah!" the rainbow-maned pegasus cheered, 
pumping a hoof. "We totally kick butt!"

"Sharp, POINTY butt!" Pinkie added.

//No time to horse around, girls,// Twilight admonished. //You've gotta get 
Virtua to that tower right away!//

It only took the quartet a few more minutes to reach the base of the tower.

Unfortunately, they encountered a welcoming committee.

"Okay, whut th' hay are THOSE?" Applejack said.

Two large iron spheres barred the group's path to the tower.

"Big...metal...ball...thingies?" Pinkie ventured.

The spheres split open vertically, revealing glowing eye-symbols. They 
flashed red, and two massive vertical waves of fire spread out, creating 
perfect circular walls of death.

"Big metal fire-wall making ball thingies!" Pinkie yelped as she dove for 
cover. Virtua scrambled out of the path of the attack, but was clipped on 
one hoof, and let out a cry of pain. Dash flew down to check on her.

Applejack didn't make it out in time. "Son of a buckin' b--"

"APPLEJACK!" Dash cried.

//It's okay, Rainbow Dash. She's safe. She's back in the lab.//

"Oh, yeah, right," Dash replied, heart hammering. "Still, that was scary."

//Virtua, you lost twenty life points, and you don't have a whole lot,// 
Twilight admonished. //Whatever you do, don't get hit again.//

"I'll try not to," the virtual mare said.

The iron spheres had closed up again. Pinkie started shooting at them, but 
her lightning balls just bounced off the smooth metal. "Okay that's not 
fair," she pouted.

"I bet you can only blow them up when they're opening up to shoot," Dash 
said.

A moment later, the spheres opened again, their malevolent eyes glowing. 
Dash frowned and charged the one on the left. The air in front of her began 
to shimmer, and a sonic boom shook the forest. A rainbow shockwave spread 
out from the pegasus; the sphere she had charged exploded violently, while 
the other was merely rolled over onto its side. "Get it now, Pinkie!" Dash 
cried.

"Right!" Pinkie fired again; this time, her shots struck true, and the 
second tank dissolved into pixel dust.

"You're all clear, Virtua!" Dash yelled. "Get in the tower!"

"Right!" With a firm nod, Virtua cantered through the outer wall of the 
tower.

* * * * *

She had expected the inside of the red tower to look more...dangerous. She 
had expected, perhaps, an ambush, more monsters...

Instead, the tower was as peaceful and serene inside as any other she'd 
seen.

The virtual mare trotted slowly toward the center of the floor; as she 
crossed each of the concentric rings, they lit up brightly, with an echoing 
digital chiming sound. Once she reached the center, she found herself lifted 
into the air; she tilted her head back, eyes closed, as she ascended to 
another level.

She landed gently on a floor almost identical to the one below; the rings 
here made the same pleasant echoing chime as she crossed them. When she 
reached the dot at the center of the circle, a holographic display appeared 
in midair before her. She reached out with a forehoof and tapped it. Her 
digital hoofprint pulsed brightly, before words appeared on the screen:

DIGITAL DANCER

CODE:

LYOCOLT

As soon as these words finished forming, the shimmering digits ascending the 
walls suddenly plunged violently downward. Somewhere at the base of the 
tower, a surge of energy erupted skyward...

* * * * *

Fluttershy and Rarity trembled in each others' grasp, watching with 
wide-eyed horror as the crudely crafted giant doll closed in on them, 
killing intent in her mad, mismatched button eyes...

...and then suddenly, Smarty-Pants shrank back to her original size and fell 
limply to the ground with a faint, comical squeak.

* * * * *

The virtual mare examined her flank, where a cutie mark depicting a graceful 
ballerina made up of zeroes and ones had appeared.

//Looks like you were right, Twilight.//

Twilight wiped sweat from her brow with a hoof. "I'm glad it worked. Good 
job, Virtua--"

//Digital Dancer. That's my name...I finally remembered.// The virtual mare 
beamed happily out of the viewer window on the control monitor. //And I know 
what this world is called now, too. It's called Lyocolt.//

"Lyocolt?" Twilight asked. "Weird..."

//I'm still not sure where this world came from, or where *I* came from for 
that matter, but...at least now I know who I am.//

"That's great, Virt--I mean, Dancer." Twilight tilted her head. "Any ideas 
about that...whatever-it-is we just fought?"

Dancer shifted uncomfortably. //Yeah. There's...something in here besides 
me. Something evil. I don't know what it is, but...//

Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie emerged from the scanner tubes. Dash shook 
herself violently. "We gotta shut this thing down, Twi. We gotta shut it 
down NOW."

"No," Twilight said firmly. "If we shut it down, Digital Dancer..."

//No, I agree with Dash,// Dancer replied. //The supercomputer is too 
dangerous to leave running.//

"But..." Twilight looked around at her friends, and at the virtual mare on 
the screen, then sighed and lowered her head. "You're right." She frowned. 
"I'm not sure how to shut it down, though...I mean, I barely figured out how 
to turn it on in the first place."

//There should be a master bypass switch on the supercomputer mainframe,// 
Dancer said.

"There aren't any switches on it anywhere," Twilight replied. "I've examined 
every inch of it. And this control board doesn't seem to be able to turn it 
off..."

"A good buckin' oughtta do it," Applejack said. She backed up to the 
supercomputer, reared, and...

...bounced off a forcefield.

"Yeah okay can't buck this bronco," the farmpony muttered around a mouthful 
of floor.

Twilight scowled and probed the forcefield with her magic. "It's...strong," 
she said. "I can't break through it..."

The mares and baby dragon looked helplessly at one another.

"So...what do we do?" Spike asked.

//We do what we did today,// Dancer supplied at length. //Whenever 
this...*thing*...launches an attack in your world, we find the red tower, 
and deactivate it.//

Twilight nodded thoughtfully. "I guess...until we understand more about 
Lyocolt and the supercomputer, that's about all we *can* do..."

* * * * *

In a trampled, twig-and-leaf-strewn forest clearing on the very edge of 
Ponyville, a large red stallion bent his head and gently picked up an old, 
battered, poorly-crafted rag doll. With a happy sigh of contentment, Big 
Macintosh trotted home.