THE MAGIX: CHAPTER 9: Confessions

The Firestar's crew was back in the Magix. It had been 10 days since Rain's arrival. The database signals were acting up more than ever. The crew was set to solve this mystery. And this time, they were prepared for a fight.
Horus, Neon, Amber, and Rain jacked in. Saph, Spiro, and Cherrybomb stood by at the controls, watching as the crew's POVs loaded into their windows. They couldn't interpret the signals from the feed alone. They needed more information. Whatever the agents were planning, it was going to be huge. The crew could stop at nothing until they knew what was coming.
Rain's plug slid smoothly into her jack. She felt that familiar electric jolt and plugged into the Magix.
When Rain regained her senses, she was back in the complex in outer Ponyville, the same place as when she last came here. Along with her usual halter and windbreaker, a few new items had been added to her rebel ensemble. A belt hung tightly across her waist with two holster pockets, each holding a fully loaded pistol.
She looked around at her crewmates. A similar belt had been added to Neon's leather jacket. Horus's weapons were well-hidden beneath his trench coat. Amber had a different sort of weapon-carrying belt, with a katana sword and scabbard at one side and two revolvers on the other.
Rain looked around at the familiar space surrounding her. "Do we end up here every time we jack in?"
"This is our HQ," Horus answered her. Rain turned around. Living with a mind-reader would take some getting used to. "It's a sort of safe haven in the Magix. We do all our inside work from here. It's also where potentials are taken before being transferred into the real world. It gives them time to consider their decision. If there is no preset destination, then yes, this is where we end up." He pulled his communicator out of a pocket and called the ship. "We're in, Spiro. Send us the signals. We can track them down from here." He shut the phone. A message blip sounded from it a few seconds later, then from everypony else's. "Now we're set. Let's go."

The signals led them to a large, basic office building on the thin line between Ponyville's lively city and its abandoned outskirts. It must have been five or six stories high, and colored all the same basic, reflective grey. It fit the agents perfectly.
"We've found the database. For once," Neon said.
Rain was confused. "What do you mean again?"
"The agents relocate constantly," Amber explained, searching her mane for a hairpin for later lockpicking. "It's their best form of defense; keeping us in the dark. It's safer for them if we don't know where their headquarters is."
"Well, now that we're here, how the hay are we going to get in?"
Horus already had a plan in mind. "If we move as a single unit, it'll be easier for us to get spotted. It's safer to split up. Amber, you're with Rain. Neon, stick with me." Neon nodded, and the ponies split up into their given teams.
"Okay, here's the plan. Two of us take the front door, the others break in the back. Once you're in, start searching for the central database computer. Follow the signals that Spiro sent you. The closer you are, the stronger they'll be. Avoid as many eyes as possible. Do not get in a fight unless it's completely necessary. It's too important that nopony gets hurt."
"Do you have any idea where the central computer is?" Neon asked.
"Knowing the agents, the central computer is most likely kept near the center of the building, where it is most easily guarded. Third floor is most likely in this case. The entrances may be heavily guarded, so be prepared for a struggle. If one of us finds the computer before the others, contact somepony via your communicator cell and tell them where you are. We're going in separated, but we go out together. Everypony clear?"
There was a chorus of "yes" and the four split off in different directions.
Amber and Rain stayed together. The two mares made their way to a fenced-off expanse of weather-worn dry grass behind the building. Just past the plastic-coated chain links there was a pair of large, heavily-locked metal doors.
"No problem," Amber thought out loud.
After a quick sweep for security cameras and finding nothing, the mares climbed easily over the fence. Moving with cat-like grace, they raced for the door. Amber slid a steel hairpin out of the thick darkness of her mane and made quick work of the locks. Then they pried the two heavy slabs of metal open.
Rain stared down the empty concrete hallway ahead of them. Her first real mission had officially begun. She took a deep breath and set foot into the hallway.
"Here we go."

Once Amber and Rain were inside, it was simply a matter of navigating hallways and avoiding security. They made their way upstairs, out of the basement and to the upper floors. As they stalked through the hallways, both mares noticed something odd. This was the database... But there seemed to be a strange lack of agents. No matter where they went in the endless labyrinth, the only ponies there were the black-clad unicorn and pegasus.
"Where is everypony?" Rain finally worked up the curiosity to ask.
"I have no idea," Amber said, her voice just above a whisper. "Maybe there's something going on somewhere else."
"There might be a meeting going on or something."
"Or they're out in the Magix looking for you."
The mares stopped in yet another turn in the uniform white walls and gray-tan carpet. Amber did another sweep of their surroundings. Nothing, not even a security camera. "I don't know about you, but this quiet is getting suspicious. Either they don't know we're here, or there's an ambush coming soon. And I have a feeling that they know exactly where we are."
"Hm. We'd better be ready for anything, attack or not."
A hoofstep sounded from around the corner. The two mares quickly flattened themselves against a wall and waited. Sure enough, an agent strode obliviously down the hall, falling straight into their trap. As soon as their target was within reach, Rain and Amber pounced. They tackled the agent, forcing him to the ground. In seconds, both mares were on top of him, Rain holding a gun to his back and Amber with a hoof clasped over his mouth to make sure he didn't scream. She bent her head down next to his ear.
"Hold still. You make one move and you die. Got it?" The agent nodded his head tensely under Amber's weight. "Tell me. Where are Steel and all the others?" She slid her hoof away from the agent's mouth.
He stammered a reply. "Out in the city. Looking for Rainbow Dash. Rain. She's escaped."
"Do they know we're here?"
"They do now," he spat viciously.
"Amber!" Rain cut in. Amber looked up. Rain jerked her head towards a security camera that had suddenly appeared hanging from the ceiling. Amber's eyes widened. She quickly turned back to the agent.
"The entire system will be alerted," the agent continued. "Thanks to this little scene you've made, they'll be here in minutes."
Amber smacked the agent's head back onto the ground, forcing his mouth shut. "Sleep tight," she hissed. She pulled her revolver out of its holster and cracked the handle over the agent's head. He went limp instantly. The mares let go of him and stood up in one fluid motion.
Rain whirled around. The camera was still there, watching their every move. She turned back to Amber. "We've got to find the central computer. NOW."
The mares sped down the hallway and away from the camera.

On the other side of the building, things were just as suspiciously quiet. Neon and Horus traveled soundlessly down the empty hallways. The silence was getting to them as well.
"Something's not right," Neon cut into the quiet. "Nopony's here. The database is completely deserted."
"The question is why," Horus said, scanning the empty hallway ahead of them. "This is the right place. The signals are all coming from this location. But there's nopony here."
"Do you think they're planning something?" Neon asked, reaching instinctively for his handgun.
"It's all I can think of, from these circumstances. Either that, or this isn't the database and they've managed to confuse the feed and trick us."
Neon planted his hoof on the carpet. "I hate agents," he said. " I hate how stupid they think we are."
"You do realize that it's entirely possible that we're being recorded and they'll know you just said that, don't you?"
Neon shut up. Horus took another look at the feed being sent to his communicator. It was the same as before. The signals from this building were the same ones causing the spike on the mainframe's feed. This was definitely the database. So where were the agents?
The stallions continued on, navigating hallway after hallway, each one exactly the same as the last. It was taking forever. The labyrinth went on and on, never changing in the slightest. It was several long minutes before they finally reached a dead end.
"Okay. What the HAY is this?" Neon snapped, eyes flaring with frustration. "A wall? That's IT? You've gotta be kidding!"
"Calm down, would you?" Horus said with annoyance. "Look, whatever's happened between you and Rain, you're letting it get to you. She doesn't hate you, she doesn't have feelings for somepony else, and most importantly, she doesn't know about yours. If it's bothering you this much, maybe you should just tell her what's going on."
Neon froze. "Wait... You- you know about that?"
Horus laughed. "It was completely obvious, Neon. I could tell how you felt from the beginning. Your feelings were so strong I could sense everything."
"Even the- The spark?"
"Especially the spark."
Neon looked shyly down at the floor. Horus put a hoof on his apprentice's shoulder. "Rain will have to know soon enough," he said. "The spark is exactly what you think it is."
The dark pegasus looked up at his captain. He tried to speak, but when he opened his mouth no sound would come out. "You mean-" he choked out.
Horus nodded. "If you don't tell her, you know she'll find out somehow."
"Resonance," Neon whispered. "I never thought it really existed, but-"
"Believe me, Neon. It does."
Neon grabbed his communicator out of a pocket in his jacket, desperate to get off the subject. "We'd better find our way back from here." He opened the feed being sent to his communicator. "Whoa! What the heck?"
Horus had opened the feed on his communicator as well. "You're getting these readings too, right?" Neon nodded. "The signals are going insane. We must be close."
The Earth pony studied the blank wall ahead of them closely. "I have a feeling that this dead end isn't what it seems."
He placed an ear against the plaster. Muffled clicks and whirrs, like an operating laptop, were echoing from inside. Horus slid to the wall's right edge. The almost imperceptible noises grew the slightest bit louder. He ran a hoof along the flawless white surface. Suddenly, he hit something. There was a tiny seam in the wall, a microscopic split his hoof could just barely detect. Horus pressed his hoof forward. A seamlessly hidden switch sunk into the wall. The plain white panel shifted sideways, revealing an expertly hidden room.
"And there you have it," he said triumphantly.
The door opened full-capacity. The stallions stared in wonder at the room before them. It was massive, a perfect sphere. The walls were a metallic silver and covered in millions of multicolored wires, meticulously organized, running neatly over the walls like tiny technicolor highways. Lights raced along the wires, information being sent hastily throughout the database. At the center of the room was a dark metal cube, some kind of modernized desk. Sitting on the top surface was a huge computer monitor and a pristine white keyboard and mouse. The monitor's extensive screen was completely black except for a single glowing green word plastered across the middle. Welcome.
"Exactly as I thought," Horus murmured. "The central computer."
The two stallions stepped into the room and the door slid shut behind them.
"How did you find this place?" A low, angry voice sounded out of nowhere.
Horus and Neon snapped into a fighting stance. Four agents suddenly shimmered into view and stood in formation, ready to attack. The ambushed stallions stood back to back, facing opposite directions. Horus whispered a command to Neon.
"There's four of them. We're outnumbered, but I think we can do this. They're divided equally. I'll take two of them, you take the others. Don't hold back, got it?"
"Yes. I think so."
"Good. On three, we go."
Neon nodded. He knew exactly what Horus meant. Three seconds would be far too long.
"One..."
The rebels split off in opposite directions. Not knowing who to shoot for first, the programs automatically went for the one who mattered most: the captain. All four ganged up on him and attacked, unaware of the dark shadow rising up on silent wings until he was right on top of them, fighting for al he was worth. All hell broke loose.
Neon tore two of the agents off of Horus, tossing them carelessly to the other side of the room. One of the two still attacking him noticed the absence of his accomplices. He turned around and hurled himself at Neon. His attacker distracted, Horus slipped a pistol out of his trench coat and shot the program in the head. The other turned around at the noise, momentarily distracted from shredding the pony in his grasp to pieces. Seeing his comrade dead on the floor, he whipped around, smacked the gun away from Horus and started beating him mercilessly.
Meanwhile, Neon was on the other side, hovering in midair, the frustrated, ground-bound agents shooting furiously at him. The pegasus was darting wildly in random directions to avoid the flurry of bullets being fired at him, shooting sparingly with his own weapon. Suddenly the noise was cut in half. One of the agents had run out of rounds. Neon fired a single bullet at the now unarmed program. The program stiffened for a second, then went blurry and reappeared in a new position just in time to see Neon's bullet hit the wall where he had been standing less that a second before. Another shot rang out. Pain fired through Neon's right wing. He cried out and fell helplessly to the ground.
Horus was fighting hard. The agent on him threw yet another punch at his ribcage. He coughed, and a trickle of blood escaped his lips. Thinking fast, Horus kicked with all the strength he could manage at the agent's chest. He had a few precious seconds to spare. He dragged himself away from his assailant and faced his back to him. Thinking he had an advantage, the agent dove at him and flipped him over onto his back. Suddenly the barrel of a gun was trained on him.
"Surprised?" Horus said. Then a single gunshot rang out and it was over.
Blood was everywhere. The bodies of the four agents lay still on the ground. They grew pixelated and shimmered out, revived and placed elsewhere in the Magix. Neon and Horus collapsed in front of the cube-desk, gasping for breath, Horus covered in cuts and bruises, Neon with a bullet in his wing. The pegasus stretched and relaxed his injured wing. The pain was starting to fade. He carefully picked the small shard of metal out of the feathers and flesh. The wound stopped bleeding and began to scab over. Neon's talent of fast healing was certainly useful.
"That... was close," he panted. "Lucky it was only four of them. And they weren't even the difficult ones."
"I've had enough," Horus rasped beside him. "If any more show up we may not be so lucky. You contact the girls. Let's get the plans, get this over with, and get out of here." He grasped the edge of the cube, pulled himself to his feet, and started through the motions of hacking the network.
Neon dialed Amber on his cell phone. "Amber, it's Neon. We found the central computer."

Seconds later, Amber and Rain were racing down the same hallway Horus and Neon had so recently traveled. They followed the step by step directions Neon had given Amber over her communicator. The mares no longer cared about stealth. They simply ran as fast as they could for the dead end. The agents knew they were here. They were coming. They just had to get the plans and get out before they were caught.
The mares finally reached the dead end of the corridor. Amber rapped six times on the wall with a hoof. "Creature of the night?" a voice called from inside.
"We rise at dawn," Amber said, repeating the resistance password.
The wall slid sideways, revealing the spherical room covered in glowing wires. Neon stood in front of them, beaten and spattered with blood. Horus was hard at work hacking the central computer mainframe, looking just as broken as Neon. The mares quickly slipped through the doorway and the panel slid shut behind them.
"What the hay happened in here?" Amber said.
"We ran into a bit of trouble," Neon answered.
"Have we cracked the mainframe yet?"
"We're working on it."
"We have to hurry," Rain said. "Me and Amber ran into an agent on the way here, then this camera showed up out of nowhere-"
"The agents know we're here," Amber cut in. "They're coming for us. We don't have much time."
A cheery technological blip sounded from the computer, followed by a triumphant "Yes!" The three ponies turned to see Horus at the computer, one hoof held victoriously in the air. "I've gotten in. Almost impossible, with their security system." He held out his communicator and pressed a small hidden switch on the side. A USB plug extended from the bottom of the cell phone. Horus plugged it into the back of the monitor. The central computer chimed again. "I've found the file. It's sending right now. Just a little longer and we're free to go."
Sending: 10% complete an automated voice droned.
"Keep watch of the entrances," Horus instructed. "The agents know this place a lot better than we do. If they're onto us, we don't stand a chance without a warning.
"You got it, Horus," Amber answered. Neon and her took position at the two doors, one on each opposite side of the room. The doors had been securely locked from the inside. The agents would have to break through the doors to get in. Not that it would be difficult for them.
Sending: 20% complete.
Everypony else had been given an assignment, leaving Rain with nothing to do. She took to observing the room, mapping out any possible escape routes. All she saw were the two doors. But as she studied the high ceiling, she noticed something. At the highest point in the concave ceiling, sunlight streamed through a glass circle set into the smooth surface. A skylight.
Sending: 30% complete
Rain knew for a fact that they couldn't go back through the corridors. There was no way they could possibly find their way back, and the agents would doubtlessly be waiting for them. But the skylight gave her an idea...
Rain looked down from the ceiling and to Amber keeping watch of the second door, still working out the escape strategy in her head. Suddenly, Amber's body went tense.
"Amber?" Rain said. "What's going on?"
For a moment everything was totally quiet. Then, in a soft, scared voice, she whispered, "I hear them."
Sending: 40% complete
"Horus?" Amber said warily.
"What is it?" he answered, tearing his focus away from the computer.
"They found us."
Behind his dark sunglasses, Horus's eyes went wide with fear. "Everypony, away from the doors!" he shouted.
Amber and Neon backed away from the entrances to join Horus and Rain in the center of the room. Seconds later, an earth-shattering slam! erupted outside.
"I know you're in there!" The hard-edged voice of Agent Steel blasted at them through the wall.
"Now what?" Rain shrieked out over the noise.
"The doors are locked," Neon said. "They can only be opened from the inside. But when the agents break through..."
"We're screwed," Amber deadpanned. "Whether we have the download or not, we're all screwed."
Sending: 50% complete
Another slam sounded from the doors, then another. "Forget this!" Horus shouted. "We're running out of time!" He snatched his communicator away from the computer, cutting off the connection. The USB device retracted back into the phone's shell.
Sent: 52% ; Status: incomplete the computer droned.
"How long do we have?" Amber asked, her voice cutting through the assault on the doors.
"Thirty seconds... maybe twenty," Horus answered. "Once they get in, we'll be dead in seconds. We need an escape route."
Suddenly, Rain remembered. "Skylight!" she shouted without thinking, pointing skyward.
A glimmer of hope appeared on Horus's face. "Good idea," he murmured. He pulled a hand held machine gun from the recesses of his trench coat and aimed at the glowing circle in the ceiling.
"What're you-" Amber began. Then she and Neon looked up at the ceiling. "Oh."
Horus opened fire on the window, shattering the thick wall of glass. He cast the unloaded gun aside. Another slam exploded from the entrances. The panels cracked and plaster dust sprayed into the room and settled to the floor.
"Here goes nothing," Rain said to herself. She stood up on her hind legs and extended her wings, wrapping her forelegs around Amber's waist as Neon did the same with Horus. A final slam sounded from outside and the doors fell apart like blocks of flimsy styrofoam. The pegasi held tight to their flightless cargo and shot up to the ceiling. Agents swarmed into the room, firing furiously at the escaping rebels. Horus and Amber shot desperately back at the army of attackers, hitting nothing. Racing ahead of the bullets, Neon and Rain soared up through the sharp-rimmed opening and out into the open air, carrying their crewmates with them.
Minutes later, the crew landed safely in the Ponyville streets. Rain and Neon finally let go of the unicorn and Earth pony they carried. After doing a 360 of the area, they knew they were safe.
"That was one of the closest calls I have ever been through," Horus said, shaking bits of shattered glass off of himself. "I owe you thanks, Rain. If it weren't for you, we'd be dead by now."
Rain's cheeks blushed bright pink. "Really, it was nothing. Just an idea, not much..."
"An idea that saved our flanks!" Amber praised, brushing glass shards out of her mane. "How did you know the skylight was there, anyway?"
"I was studying the room while we were waiting for the files to send. I saw it, and I thought maybe we could use it as an escape route, but Horus really finished the strategics himself."
"Speaking of the file, what are we going to do with that?" Neon cut in. "The send never finished."
Horus nodded, checking over the half-sent message on his communicator. "We've managed to get 52% of it into our possession. If we can decode what we have, then we might be able to tell if the activity spike is a threat or not." He stowed his communicator back in its place. "I'd say we've been here long enough. We need to jack out."
The remainder of the crew agreed and set off to find a suitable location, unaware of the little pink mare slinking after them like a spy.

The crew finally settled on a phone booth in a relatively empty spot somewhere in the streets of Ponyville. Horus contacted Saph and set up a jackout connection. The others waited patiently for the first ring. Nopony noticed the candy-pink foreleg stretching stealthily out of the dark divide between two shops, or when it wrapped itself around Rain, or when a twin foreleg clamped its hoof over her mouth. Without warning, Rain was dragged off into the shadows. The stunned pegasus had no time to react. The stranger dragged her deeper and deeper into the darkness, away from the crew. Rain struggled against her captor, reaching out for her friends, trying desperately to break away when a forceful whack to the head knocked her unconscious.

When Rain finally woke up, she was on a rooftop. The sky had gone dark, and the moon glowed in the sky, shining a dim silver light over the city. Hours must have passed. The crew would be going crazy by now. Rain shook the last strains of dizziness away, pulled herself to her feet, and tried to extend her wings to fly away from here and back to her frantic crewmates. She couldn't.
The confused pegasus looked over her shoulder. Her wings had been fixed to her sides with silver duct tape. No matter how she struggled, the tape wouldn't tear and the adhesive held fast, pulling at her feathers and gumming them together. Her phone was gone. So were her weapons. Rain continued to struggle against the tape and searched all over the rooftop for her little black cell phone. Everything was hopeless. Finally, she gave up. Rain sat down and took in her surroundings. She was leaning against a tiny shack that was nothing more than a cover for the stairs to the roof. She tried to open the rusted metal door, but it was firmly locked. A quick look over the edge told her that here was no way she'd survive the fall. Rain rushed back to the tiny shack. There was no way out. She was trapped. Her head spun. Suddenly a high-pitched voice cut through the confusion.
"Oh, good! You're awake!"
Rain looked toward the source of the voice. I should have guessed...
There stood Pinkie Pie in all her desperate, crazy glory. She was wearing a catsuit and had a black scarf tied around her head like a ninja's bandanna. She held the little that remained of the roll of duct tape that Rain's wings were trapped with. Despite the scary situation, she seemed overjoyed at seeing her best friend again.
"Pinkie Pie!" Rain shouted angrily. "What the buck is wrong with you? Are you crazy?"
Pinkie's smile faded. "I just wanted to talk to you. Really talk, not just hello-sorry-can't-explain-
goodbye."
"So you freaking kidnap me?" Rain struggled with the tape over her wings. "Get this off me right now! I have to leave. There are ponies somewhere out there waiting for me and are probably going insane trying to find me. So let me go! Now!"
"Sorry, Dashie. I can't do that," Pinkie said, turning away and assuming a detective-like tone. "I will let you go, but not until I get some answers."
"Answers?" Rain gasped. A horrible thought hit her. "Pinkie... you're an agent?"
The pink mare fell out of character and wrinkled her nose. "Agent? What are you talking about? I just want to know where you've been all this time."
Rain breathed a sigh of relief. "Pinkie... I wish I could tell you, but-"
"Dashie, please," Pinkie Pie begged. "I've been torn up like a candy wrapper over this. I can't get it off my mind. I need to know. What happened to you, Rainbow Dash?"
Rain took a long, deep breath. It would only take a few short minutes to let loose all the information she had sworn and worked so hard to keep a secret. If it'll get me back to the real world, she thought, I'll have to do it.
Pinkie sat down in front of Rain, waiting expectantly for an explanation. The silence stretched on. Finally, Rain gathered her courage and began.
"First of all, my name isn't Rainbow Dash anymore. It's Rain..."

She told Pinkie Pie everything. About the Magix, the real world, and Harmony. She explained about the resistance and the agents. Rain told Pinkie why she'd had to leave and everything that had happened since: her new life, her new friends, and the tragic incident of her first "love." She told her the story of the One and that the crew believed that she was her new form, the pony they'd been searching for. The fate of Equestria could possibly be in her hooves.
"And that's why I have to leave," Rain said, finishing her story. "Now please, Pinkie. Let. Me. Go."
Pinkie Pie only sat, spellbound. She whispered, "I don't believe it. All this time..."
Rain put a hoof on Pinkie's shoulder. "I know it's hard to accept, Pink. I didn't believe it, either. But it's the truth, and I'm living it now. I know what's real and what's not. I've seen Equestria for what it really is. You have to believe me, Pinkie Pie. You have to."
The dumbstruck mare stared up at her best friend, her baby-blue eyes blurry with tears. "I do believe you, Dashie," she said. She went silent for a second. "And I want to come with you."
Rain's heart stopped. "What?"
"I want to go with you."
"You- you'd leave all of this behind... for me?"
"We're best friends. We're the Elements of Harmony. We stick together, no matter what. That's what you always told me. I'm sticking with you, even if that means leaving Ponyville behind forever."
"Pinkie..." Rain didn't know what to say. Pinkie, her best friend for three years straight, was willing to give up all she'd ever known just to stay with her.
"Can I come? Please? I'm begging you, Dashie." She threw herself to her friend's feet. "I'd rather die than never see you again." She looked on the verge of tears.
"Are you sure about this, Pinkie?" Rain asked, unsure of her friend. "It's a huge decision. Once you leave, you can never go back."
Pinkie only squeaked in response, straining to hold back tears.
"Okay. I'll set you free. You'll see the real world. We'll be together again."
Pinkie burst into tears of joy. She threw herself at Rain and hugged her like it could save her life. "Thankyouthankyouthankyouthan kyouthankyouthankyouthankyou !"
Rain held her bubbling friend back to look her in the eyes. "But you can never tell anypony any of what I've just told you. This is a huge risk. You have to swear you'll never tell. Understand?"
Pinkie Pie nodded vigorously.
"Pinkie Pie swear?"
"Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!" she chanted.
Rain hugged her again. "I knew I could count on you, Pinkie Pie."
With that, Pinkie peeled the tape off of Rain's wings. She flew off into the night.