THE MAGIX: CHAPTER 13: Sacrifice

Amber's head was reeling. She gasped for air and stared in shock as Horus, her captain, her mentor, the one pony she truly trusted, disappear into the writhing mass of agent clones. The collective cloud of defensive programs slowed their chase after the crew and collapsed inward. They circled around Horus as he struggled to break through the wall of agents surrounding him. All at once, they attacked. Amber could hear his stifled screams as he fought desperately for his life. It was hopeless. He would never get out alive.
Neon and Rain had stopped midflight. They whirled around to see Horus gone and Amber glued in place, staring in horror at the cloud of agents. Rain twisted around and soared back toward the ground where her roommate was standing, frozen and helpless. "Amber! Move!"
She swooped down in front of the unicorn, blocking her view of the agents. "Come on!" she shouted. "You have to move! We need to get out of here!"
Amber pushed her crewmate aside. "No! I won't leave him!"
Rain turned and darted after her. She grabbed her by the shoulder and forced her to turn around. "Amber," she said, raising her voice over the noise. "Please. You don't know what you're doing."
Neon glided back and landed next to Rain. "Come on, Amber. We have to keep going."
Amber looked at the ground and sucked in a choked, shaking breath. When she looked back up at her crewmates, her eyes were glassy. She turned to Neon. "Would you do me one last favor?"
Neon's face went blank. "What?"
Amber reached out to him and took two of his guns from his belt. A tear fell from her eyes and left a darkened, wet streak in her fur. "Tell Horus not to hate me for this."
Without warning, she sprang into the air, soaring over the heads of her crewmates. She landed on the ground behind them and raced on toward the battle behind them.
Amber ran towards the swarm of agents, ignoring the tears that fell over her cheeks and blurred her vision. Holding Neon's guns out in front of her, she let out a bloodthirsty scream and threw herself into the fight.
She went blind with rage. Amber didn't know what she was doing. Only one thought filled her mind.
Find Horus. Get him out. I can't let him die. I can't.
She felt herself pulling the triggers of Neon's guns, firing wildly at everything in sight. Agents were falling dead all around her. The air was filled with the sound of the programs shattering into millions of pixels and shimmering out of existence. After a short time, the noise stopped. Amber realized she'd run out of bullets. She cast Neon's guns aside and snatched her katana sword from her belt. She slashed at everything her blade could reach, determinedly fighting her way to the center. To Horus.
With one final swing of her sword, Amber broke through to the center of the crowd. There he was. Horus was on the ground, covered in scrapes, cuts, and bruises, writhing and lashing out futilely as the agents lunged at him again and again, attacking him mercilessly as he slowly grew weaker. One of his eyes was dark blue and swollen shut, his left foreleg was bent at an unnatural angle, the deep, burning wound from the bullet in his flank still gushing blood.
The unicorn dashed to her captain's side. She turned and crouched in front of him, holding her sword out defensively. The agents surrounded them, their cold eyes staring heartlessly at the rebels behind their mirror sunglasses, poised to continue their attack on the both of them.
Horus stirred behind her. She heard his labored breathing become a whisper. "A-amber..." he rasped.
"It's going to be okay," she said. "You're going to be okay."
"N-no," he weakly protested. "You shouldn't have..."
"Horus, I'm getting you out of here. I won't let you die. Not like this."
"Amber, if you stay, they'll..."
Another tear streamed down Amber's cheek. "Stop, okay? Just stop. I'll hold them off for as long as I can. I want you to run. Go with Neon and Rain and get out of here. Okay?"
"I- I can't..." Horus choked as he staggered to his feet. He coughed. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. "Amber, don't do this."
"It's too late," Amber whispered, holding back tears. She raised her sword, ready to fend off the agents' attack as best she could. She stared indignantly at the clones surrounding them. Your move.
One of them lunged forward. Amber's sword came down. The fight started again.
The two rebels slowly fought their way to the edges of the hoard of heartless programs. Amber slashed relentlessly with her sword, dragging Horus with her as she pushed on further and further through the merciless crowd. Bit by bit, she pushed herself and her captain closer to the edge. Amber glanced over her shoulder. Her captain was sticking close behind her, fighting as best he could, completely unarmed, weak, bleeding, hopelessly injured. Amber bit back tears as she turned around to continue her fight to escape. The agents struck at her endlessly, never stopping in their effort to keep Amber and her captain contained. She had to fight harder and harder. They never stopped. How long had they been coming at her like this? She couldn't remember. Everything was becoming fuzzy. Her strikes were losing power. Her energy was falling. She couldn't go on like this much longer. Maybe a minute... Then it would all be over...
She felt a rush of air somewhere overhead ruffle her dark mane. There was a soft thud as something landed somewhere behind her. She heard sounds of struggle somewhere deeper in the crowd. She spared one second to look over her shoulder one more time. Two pegasi, one dark and one light, trailed by splashes of color. Neon and Rain. They'd come to help her.
The battle raged on. The four rebels struggled against the dozens of agents that attacked them mercilessly from every angle. The crew was fighting harder than they ever had just to get out alive. But there was no hope. For every program they managed to shut down, another took its place. They seemed to be multiplying, getting stronger... There was no way this would end well.
Horus struggled to keep control, focusing all his energy on ignoring the excruciating pain that pulsed through his entire body. He had to fight alongside his crew. They shouldn't be doing this. He was their captain, for Celestia's sake. They shouldn't be defending him like this. If anyone was to die to keep the crew safe, it would be him. This was never supposed to happen.
The attacks kept coming. Horus wanted to fight. He had to. But no matter how he tried, his injuries wouldn't let him. The pain was too much. His avatar was weak already. And Amber... She wouldn't let it happen. He knew her. She cared about him too much.
The fight went on. The attacks became stronger and stronger. The wall of programs surrounding the struggling rebels seemed to thicken. And then, without warning, it broke.
Amber held her sword at the ready. There it was. A gap had appeared in the dense barrier surrounding her and the rest of the crew. They'd finally reached the edge. Her head whipped around as she scanned her surroundings looking for her captain. Horus was right behind her, trying futilely to fight back against his captors. Amber quickly turned around and raced toward him. Slashing wildly with her sword, she threw the attacking programs off of him. Grabbing the lapel of his trench coat in her mouth, she dragged him onward toward the edge of the swarming crowd.
The agents closed in on them and fought harder. Even though she was weakening, Amber knew she had to fight on. Ignoring the defensive programs clinging to her, striking her over and over, blasting pain through her entire body, she held tight to her captain and forced herself to keep moving. The gap was still there. No one had noticed. With one last flare of strength, Amber made a break for the small opening and shoved Horus through.
Horus felt himself being dragged along the ground. He was barely even conscious. Even breathing hurt. He couldn't hang on much longer. He sensed Amber. She was close, the one dragging him. And then there were the agents, swarming around them, attacking even when they knew they had already won. They were closing in. It was over...
Then Amber pushed him forward. Everything stopped.
Horus forced himself to open his eyes. A few feet in front of him was a swirling vortex of jet black and chestnut brown. The agents. And in the center of it all, right in front of him, there was a small glimmer of gold laced with shining black. His vision slowly cleared. The glimmer was Amber. She was fighting to get free. To get to him. But he could feel how helpless her avatar truly was. She was too weak. She would never make it.
Two colorful streaks shot out from the vortex. As his eyes followed them, he could see that they were Neon and Rain. They had broken free, taken to the sky and were swooping down toward him.
No. This can't be happening.
His eyes went back to the swarm of programs holding his Amber prisoner. She was still there, struggling against them. But he could feel her strength draining. She couldn't go on. She stopped fighting. She turned to face him one last time. Her eyes were filled with tears.
Horus could feel his heart breaking. It was over. He'd lose her, just like he lost Misty.
Tears were streaming down her amber cheeks, leaving dark, shining streaks. Amber's glimmering brown eyes stared deeply into his. She gave him a weak smile. She had won. Then the agents closed in and she was gone.
Horus heard screaming. He realized it was him.
"Amber! No!"
Two pairs of forelegs took his and dragged him backwards. He kicked and struggled against them. But it was no good. He was too weak to resist anymore. He glanced over his shoulder. Neon was there, dragging him away from the swirling vortex of agents. Rain was on the other side doing the same. He tried to speak. His words were choked and raspy. "A- Amber... She's... s-still..."
"Horus, we can't go back for her." Neon's voice. Horus looked back at him. "It's too late."
Horus tried to pull away in protest. "I can't leave her there. They'll kill her. They-"
Rain abruptly let go of his foreleg and wrapped hers around her captain. He could sense her sadness, the same as his own. Her cheek felt wet against his neck. "We can't save her," she whispered to him. "It's too late."
Horus nodded. Rain pulled away as he forced himself to stand again. Fighting back the pain that pulsed through his entire avatar, he dragged himself forward.
"We have to go on," he said, biting back the urge to scream. "She would want us to."

Amber was swept away from the edge and deeper into the vortex of attacking programs. She couldn't fight anymore. She just wanted to collapse. She felt a hoof strike against the back of her head, then another blow landed painfully against her side, throwing her to the ground. She couldn't get up. She just lay on her side, waiting for them to end it all.
I guess I deserve it. I shouldn't have been so stupid. At least Horus is safe.
But instead of going dark, the blur of color and noise stayed. The strikes had stopped coming. She felt hooves on her head and all of her limbs, holding her in place and pinning her to the ground. Her eyes darted around, looking at the mass of programs surrounding her. Nopony moved. They simply stood, still and stoic. They weren't attacking anymore. Just watching.
What? What's happening? Why did they-
Suddenly Amer felt a cold needle stab into her neck. Her gaze shifted to her shoulder. A syringe had been stabbed into her throat. She felt a freezing cold liquid drain into her body and pulse through her with every beat of her weak, terrified heart. Her vision went fuzzy. The noise faded into the background until there was nothing in her ears but silence.
Oh. Tranquilizers.
Then everything went black.

Rain's eyes opened again. The dark metal ceiling of the holodeck greeted her. She felt the sting of her jack being pulled out of the plug in her head. She shot up from her position and sat bolt upright, gasping as if she'd woken up from a nightmare. Her head whipped around. Horus and Neon were already awake, standing at the side of one of the active jack chairs. Cherrybomb and Spiro were there. Rain turned around. Saph was behind her, holding a deactivated jack in her claw. She stared at the shaking pegasus. "You okay?"
As an answer, Rain jumped up from her chair and raced to where everypony else was standing. She pushed her way through to see the motionless pony lying in the jack chair. Amber.
Rain choked. She stared at the still form of her roommate. Her eyes stung. "Is- is she..."
"She's still alive," Spiro answered. "See?" He jerked his head toward the monitor that hung next to Amber's jack chair. Sure enough, the wavelengths of Amber's pulse and breathing were still there. The small metal sensors stuck to her head and chest were still picking up signs of life.
"But why? She was there, and they were everywhere, and it would have been so easy for them to..." Rain trailed off. She didn't want to say it.
"We may just have that figured out." Saph materialized next to Rain. The young dragon looked up at the wavelengths on Amber's monitor. "What's the status of her brain activity?"
Spiro glanced at the pulsing waves on the screen. "Slow. She's probably sedated." He turned and walked back to the control panel. "It seems like everything's going according to plan. We've fallen straight into their trap."
Horus looked up from Amber's still, sleeping form. "What trap?"
Spiro logged into the mainframe's memory and opened the file that they had stolen not even an hour earlier. "While you were gone, we deciphered the file from the database. Turns out, we had been right all along. There is a threat. And it's serious."
Horus tore himself away from Amber to see the operators' findings. Displayed on the screen were the exact same code streams they had seen before,when only half of the file had been sent.
"This is exactly what we had found before."
Spiro nodded. "I know. That's exactly what I'm trying to get at. The file is strategically designed to have the confusing, meaningless stuff displayed first. That's why when we first tried to capture the file, this is all we got. The important part takes longer to send." He skipped over the streams of code and scrolled into an attached document. He clicked the attachment and opened it. "We finally found out what the programming software is meant for."
The document loaded onto the screen. It was pages long, and was written in the form of a report, like it had been meant as a presentation of a project for the entire company.

Magix Defense Agency

Project Regenerate

Status: Incomplete, successful thus far. All experimental subjects have been fully assimilated. All were currently attached. No free subjects have been found, possibility still in question.

Results: Loss of memory and emotion, no recognition of former familiars. Subject becomes fully controllable. When left alone, subject acts normally until further direction is given.

No risks or malfunctions have been found yet. Subjects remain controlled and non sentient.

Spiro scrolled further into the document. The others left Amber's side to read the new findings. As the document read on, the text changed, no longer a report but a list of instructions.

Ensure subject is awake. If sedated, the assimilation of the software may be slowed or interrupted upon awakening.

Insert jack. Though often unidentifiable in the Magix, neural socket can be found by creating a circular incision at the nape of the neck, at meeting point of subject's mane and coat.

Connect jack to central computer network. Software will load into connected computer.

Memory wipe will begin immediately. Because of the potency of the software, subject may find the experience painful or fall unconscious during the procedure.

Set download to begin. Downloading time may take between several minutes to an hour. Assimilation may take 4 hours or more.

Subject will most likely fall unconscious during download and assimilation. While unconscious, keep subject contained.

Subject will awaken in a trancelike state and will remain so until instruction is given.

Horus ripped his gaze away from the screen, unable to read any further. He looked to Spiro. "This..." he stammered, looking from him to the screen. "What is this?"
"An experiment. And as far as we can tell, they've been pretty successful."
Saph piped up from her swivel chair. "The agents have been erasing ponies, downloading the software codes into their brains and reprogramming them. The software is supposed to delete the subject's consciousness and memory and turn an ordinary pony into a mindless slave. And as far as we can tell, you wouldn't even know it until it's too late."
Neon listened and his face gained a shocked expression. "How can they do this? Wouldn't the subject's consciousness eventually regain control? Wouldn't their mind resist?"
The operator shrugged. "They must have found a memory wipe strong enough to erase a pony entirely."
Rain stared at the document, reading the lines over and over. "Why would they have to do this? I mean, they're agents. The agents. The super-powerful, indestructible, immortal guardians of the Magix. Any ordinary pony would be useless to them."
"There's their dilemma," Spiro answered. "Their power only exists in the Magix. Out here, they're nothing but ones and zeros. With this..." He gestured to the file being displayed on the monitor. "They can end that."
"If they can control a regular pony, who can roam free of the virtual world, they're not only powerful in there, but out here, too," Saph added. "They'll be able to fight us anywhere."
Neon nodded. "Okay, but they still haven't managed to get a subject who's free. And there's no way anypony who would get sucked into a scam like this could ever be freed."
Horus gazed contemplatively at the monitor. "Then what do they want with Amber? They've never tested it on..." Horus's sentence broke off and his eyes widened in shock. "No."
Spiro nodded, the same stunned sadness on his face. "She'll be their first subject."
The Firestar captain whipped around to face his operator. "They can't do this to her. We can't let them."
Neon looked at his captain. "There's only one way we can stop it," he murmured, biting his lip.
Horus nodded, his eyes downcast. "I know."
Cherrybomb shrank back and let out a tiny, choked gasp. Horus bowed his head and gave the little filly a soft nuzzle on the top of her head. She looked up at him with tear-filled eyes. "You can't. We can't do it. There has to be another way."
"I'm sorry,"he said softly. "But we don't have a choice."
The filly bit the corner of her lip and sobbed. Horus stroked her mane and leaned his head next to hers again. Rain thought she heard him whisper "It'll all be okay."
When Horus had straightened back up, the crew left the monitor and moved back to the circle of jack chairs, where Amber lay motionless, awaiting her fate.
The crew gathered in silence around the jack chair. Rain stood at the amber unicorn's side, gazing blankly at the form of her roommate and would-be best friend. Horus stood beside Amber's head. He ran a hoof through her short, dark mane spread l carelessly over the headrest. Moving with a pained slowness, he wrapped the cord connecting her mind to the virtual world around his hoof. He looked up at his crew before lowering his gaze back to Amber. Horus took a deep breath and bowed his head.
"Amber," he began, emotion dragging at his voice. "You've been with us for seven years. You've become a true rebel, heart and soul. You are one of the most dedicated and loyal ponies I have ever known. I am so sorry that I have to do this. I want you to know that we will never forget you. There will never be another mare like you, Amber. I- I'll miss you."
Suddenly the world around Rain seemed to stop spinning. The speed of reality dragged down into slow motion. Her heart stopped, her breath caught in her throat. As she stared at Amber, motionless, dreaming peacefully in her jack chair, tears stung at her eyes and blurred her vision. It was her fault. She had made Amber kill herself to save Horus. If she hadn't told Pinkie Pie the truth, then maybe Amber would have believed in her enough to save herself. If she hadn't betrayed the crew Amber wouldn't have to die. She'd screwed up. And now it would kill her best friend on this ship. This is my fault. Blame me. I shouldn't have let it end like this.
She watched Horus's foreleg tense up and begin to draw back. Once she was unplugged, Amber would be gone forever. I don't want it to end like this.
Then it was there. Rain didn't know where it had come from. But it appeared out of nowhere, a blast of power that hit her like a plexiglass wall.
I will not let it end like this.
"WAIT!" Her foreleg shot out and grabbed Horus's hoof. Startled, he gasped and dropped the cord. He turned his head to look at her with an expression of total confusion. The rest of the crew stared at her.
Neon broke the silence. "Rain, what are you doing?"
Rain looked at the dark pegasus, then turned back to her mentor. "Don't do it. Please. There's got to be another way. I'll do anything. Just please don't kill her."
Horus gazed into her magenta eyes, sending through her a wave of pain even worse than her own. "I'm sorry, Rain, but we have no choice. This is the only way we can save her."
Rain jerked backward, staring her captain in the face. "No. It's not. It can't be."
Neon took a hesitant step toward her. "Rain, please..."
"If we don't do this," Saph cut in sharply, "then Amber's going to become the agents' little science project. They're going to turn her into a mindless robot, and then they're going to make her turn on everything she ever believed in. But, no, maybe they'll fail. Maybe she'll take over her own mind again. And you know what'll happen then? They'll kill her anyway. I'd say dying this way is a better alternative."
Spiro nodded. "Saph's right. If she dies now, she won't have to suffer."
Rain's head pounded. She swiped at the tears in her eyes and breathed out heavily. She looked back up at the others surrounding her. "You guys... this is my fault."
Saph sighed. "What? This again?"
Rain scraped her hooves against the floor. She had to tell them. "I'm serious. I made her do this. I've... I've done something horrible. Something really, really stupid that I never should have even thought about."
Horus walked to the front of the group. "And how does this affect Amber?"
Rain took a deep breath. "I... I told an outsider about us."
For a second the entire crew went silent. Finally Horus spoke again. "So let me get this straight... You told somepony who was still attached to the Magix about the real world and the resistance?"
She nodded. "It was so stupid, and I know that I was wrong and I could have put the entire crew in serious danger, but I didn't think I had a choice. It just slipped out, and-"
"Hold on, hold on," Neon said, cutting her off. "Two questions. Who did you tell and why were you so desperate?"
"It was my old friend. Pinkie Pie. You know about the elements of harmony. And I'm pretty sure that you know I'm one of them. All of my old friends are. There's magic, generosity, honesty, laughter, kindness, then me, loyalty. Pinkie Pie and me... When I was still attached, we were really close. And when I disappeared after you guys freed me, she went crazy missing me. And then, when we went back to erase all my records, she saw me. She tried to talk to me and find out why I had disappeared on her and the rest of my friends like that. But then I just left her hanging. So when we jacked in again, she must have followed us somehow. Then she... Well, she kidnapped me, locked me on a rooftop and duct-taped my wings down so I couldn't fly away. I thought she was going to kill me or something. But really, she just wanted to know the truth. She wasn't going to let me go until I told her. I knew that you were somewhere out there waiting for me, and if I didn't tell her what had been going on I would never be able to get back to the real world. So... I told her. I told her everything."
The crew listened intently to her story. After a moment, Horus spoke up again. "So now that she knows... is she going to tell anyone else what she found out about the world?"
Rain violently shook her head. "No. She never would. She swore herself to secrecy. Pinkie said she would never tell anypony any of what I'd just told her. In fact, she told me... She wants to join us. She doesn't want to live in a fake world with only five of the six elements. She wants to come and live out here. With me."
Neon nodded. "Okay. But what does this have to do with Amber?"
"She..." Rain hesitated. She remembered that night, when every hope of a friendship with Amber was crushed. Her voice, the look on her face, the tears, her sharp, venomous words... "She found me out. I told her what had happened, and then... She was so upset. She said that I'd betrayed everyone. She told me... She said I didn't belong here and I should never have been freed. She'd just lost faith in everything. And when she went in after you..." Her magenta gaze lingered on Horus. "She must have been thinking about what I'd done. She thought that I didn't care if she lived or died. But the truth is... I do."
The entire holodeck fell silent. Even the soft, steady hum of the mainframe and chairs seemed to stop. Everything quieted as the crew let the painful truth sink in. Cherrybomb finally broke the silence with a tiny squeak. "Is- is that why she just- let go like that?"
Rain bit down on her lip and looked down at the floor. "Yes," she murmured. "I'm the one who made her do this." Suddenly she lifted her head and looked bravely into the eyes of her crewmates. "And that's why I'm going to be the one to bring her back."
Everypony went wide-eyed. "W-what?" somepony stuttered.
Rain boldly pushed her way through the ponies surrounding her to the circle of jack chairs. She approached the chair she had so recently been detached from and thrust herself down into it. "Spiro, I want you to jack me in," she said definitively, staring boldly at the ceiling. "I'm going back for her."
"What?" Neon burst out. "Rain, have you gone completely freaking insane? You are going to get yourself killed!"
Rain rolled her eyes sideways to look at the dark pegasus now standing beside her jack chair. "If Amber didn't care, then neither should I."
He stared back at her indignantly. "Fine. If you're going in, then so am I."
Rain sat bolt upright in her chair and whipped around to face him. "Um, no, you're not."
As an answer, Neon slid himself into the jack chair next to hers. "Yes, I am. Look, Rain, Amber has been one of my best friends for years. She means more to me than almost anypony in the world, real or virtual. I know for a fact that she would die for any one of us, and I would do the same. If you are willing to risk everything for her, then so am I. I am going with you, whether you like it or not. And if you even try to tell me otherwise, then I firmly believe that you can get sent to the moon."
Rain sighed and looked to her hooves. When she turned back to him, there was a faint smile on her face. "Okay. You're in too, then."
Horus walked up to another jack chair in the circle. "As am I." Rain shot him a skeptical look. She heard him breathe out softly, a sound that was almost a laugh. "You'll get killed otherwise."
The faint smile on Rain's face grew stronger. "Thanks."
She laid back down in the jack chair and closed her eyes, waiting for the familiar jolt of the jack being slid into her plug. She heard Horus's voice. "Spiro, set the location for Sweet Apple Acres. We have a rescue mission on our hooves."
Rain felt the cold touch of electrified metal at the back of her head. Her eyes flashed open as the jolt of energy filled her head. Immediately, they drifted shut again and her mind traveled at lightning speed back to the virtual dream world.
I will not fail you, Amber. I promise.