THE MAGIX: CHAPTER 17: She is the One

Blip. Blip. Blip.
The sound of the heart monitor filled Neon's ears. He gazed down at Rain, still lying unconscious, a soft light glowing within her. He rested his head on her chest, listening to the steady pulse of her heart. He let out a choked sob. "Oh my Celestia. Oh my Celestia, it's true. She's real."
The sounds of the predator attack faded in and out. The ship shuddered with every strike, the huge, spidery androids still scratching at the ship's hull, fighting to break in. Neon lifted his head and turned around. The fiery red light of the predators' eyes filled the holodeck. The openings they had torn had been forced wider, the monsters outside scrabbling to get through. Horus and Amber still held the pulse guns, shooting at whatever the beams of electricity could reach.
Horus looked past the chaos to see Neon kneeling at Rain's side, looking over his shoulder, his eyes glassy with tears. He smiled. All at once, he understood. He'd been watching the POV in flashes. He'd caught every second, when Steel hunted her down, every bullet he fired, when her pulse line went flat. All at once he understood.
"She's alive?" he shouted to Neon.
The dark pegasus nodded. It was true. Rain had made it.
Neon turned back to Rain. She was still unmoving, her mind locked in the virtual dream. She radiated energy, a soft light glowing from somewhere inside of her. Neon put his forelegs around her, wrapping himself over the jack chair and resting his head against her shoulder.
There was a flash. Neon looked up. It was coming from beneath him, somewhere between him and Rain. The shock of electricity pulsed between them again, just as it had the first time. The light had grown brighter. It glowed in a vivid, multicolored spectrum, pulsing waves of energy shining out from Rain's heart. Neon pulled away, stunned. "H-how-"
Horus looked down from his position at the controls. He was smiling, hope glowing in his eyes.
"She is the One."
There was a sound, something like an explosion. Blinding white light flooded the holodeck. Neon screamed and shut his eyes. A powerful blast threw him backwards. A shrill, piercing ring filled the air. Then everything was still.

(jack in)

The first thing Rain felt was the heat. A warm, fuzzy pulse filled her entire avatar, flooding her with light. She gasped. She could feel her heart thudding in her chest. She was still lying on the floor, blood soaked into the carpeting, staining her fur and mane. Rain took another breath. She opened her eyes and blinked.
"No..."
Rain's eyes flickered towards the source of the voice. Agent Steel. He stood at the end of the hallway on the edge of the staircase, flanked by two agent clones. He was staring down at her, his cold blue eyes wide with disbelief. He whispered again. "No. It's impossible."
Taking in another deep breath, Rain forced herself to her feet. Her wounds were gone. The blood that had soaked into her clothes and coat had disappeared. Her magenta eyes blazed. She glowed with pure, unreleased power. Neon's words echoed in her head.
You are the One.
She turned her gaze on Steel. His icy blue eyes stared back. She took a step towards him. He stood his ground, unwilling to back down. The agents beside him aimed their guns at her and fired.
Rain stared ahead, her eyes blazing with light. She watched the bullets all speeding in her direction. She held up a single hoof. The bullets slowed down, as if being caught in an invisible forcefield. In seconds they were frozen, hanging in midair, rippling waves of air trailing behind them. Rain reached forward and tapped her hoof against one. It fell from its place and clattered uselessly to the floor. She lowered her gaze and the rest of the bullets fell. She raised her head and gazed intently at Steel.
Rain didn't say a word. She spread her wings. Rain closed her eyes and began to run. She sped forward toward Steel. Then she jumped, pushed her wings forward, and flew straight through him.
A sonic boom echoed through the deserted hallway. A spectrum of color flashed across the walls. Rain crashed headfirst into Steel's chest, knocking him backwards. He forced himself to his feet, prepared to kill her again if he had to. She was gone. At first there was nothing. Rain had disappeared without a trace. And then...
Pain was suddenly firing through Steel's nerves. His entire body felt as if it were on fire. A light glowed from somewhere inside of him. He screamed. He couldn't move, couldn't even speak. His entire body was burning. Cracks spread across his skin. A blinding white light spilled through from inside. He screamed again. It was over. It was all over...
Boom.
Light flooded the hallway. Agent Steel shattered. Pixels flew in every direction. He no longer existed. He was gone. And in his place, at the very source of the light, stood Rain.
Her eyes were calmly closed. Her rainbow mane was floating around her as if fluttering in some nonexistent breeze, gleaming in the light. Her avatar glowed, energy pulsing through her. She took a deep breath. The hallway rippled, the code of the Magix struggling to keep up. Rain raised her head and opened her eyes. They blazed with pure energy. She turned her gaze on the agents.
It took only a second. One agent let out a panicked cry. Then they both shattered into pixels and disappeared. They had no leader anymore. No purpose. If Agent Steel was gone, and so were the rest of them.
The light inside of Rain glowed brighter. The spectrum of color transformed into a pure, blinding white. The power pulsed through Rain, taking over every part of her. Her avatar had become a bright, glowing shape, a strange, powerful creature seemingly spun entirely from light. She closed her eyes again and slowly, her hooves lifted from the floor. For a second she hovered there, the power holding her cradled in midair. Then there was an explosion. The light flooded out, burning with a pure, powerful, unstoppable energy. A blinding white flash. Then she was gone. The light disappeared, leaving nothing but an untouched hallway behind.

(jack out)

The soft, worn surface of a jack chair brushed against Rain's skin. She felt something else, something soft, warm, and living. She felt a cool, electrical pulse wherever it touched her. It moved. She heard a voice. "Rain?"
Her eyes fluttered open. There was Neon. He was leaning over her, his glowing green eyes locked on hers. He didn't say a word. He took her face in his hooves and leaned closer. Rain closed her eyes. She kissed him.
The electricity flooded over them again. The spark formed between the two pegasi. Rain didn't let go. She wasn't afraid anymore. The spark grew, glowing brighter, stronger, energy sparking off and shutting out all else. Rain slipped her forelegs around Neon and held him closer. She felt his heartbeat against her own. Electricity flowed through her. She felt high, her mind fuzzy. Rain let go and let the resonance take over her. Her and Neon were entwined, connected, perfect. It felt so right just to be here, close to him, safe in his arms. Rain heard Neon's voice whisper in her head. The resonance link had been completed. I love you.
I know, she whispered back. And I love you.
Ever so slowly, Neon drew back. The spark flickered and faded away. Rain opened her eyes. A hot, wet feeling drenched her face just below her eyes. Tears. She hadn't even realized she was crying.
Neon reached a hoof out and wiped them away. Rain looked up at him. He smiled.
They were connected. She was the One. The battle was over, and all was right in the world again.

The holodeck was a mess. The predators had completely torn it apart. But then the unexplainable had happened. Rain had survived. From her energy, she had set off an EMP of her own. The predators were gone and the crew was safe. Sort of. The damage would take a long time to fix. The Firestar would be immobile for weeks. But that wasn't important. Rain was the one. She was alive. The crew had survived, and that was all that mattered.

It was a while before Rain could get up. Every move she made took a huge effort. It was as if every ounce of energy had been forced from her body. Neon stayed by her every minute, sparks flying from every place where he touched her, until Spiro called him away to gage the damage in the rest of the ship. Amber and Horus watched as the ship regained power and the mainframe rebooted. Amber laughed. "You seriously can't get up?"
Rain twitched, forced her forelegs behind her back and sat up, just a second before she fell back down. "Um... almost."
Amber laughed. "Well, you seemed to have plenty of energy to make out with Neon."
Rain giggled, her cheeks flushing pink behind her sky blue coat. She shifted back into the position she was in before. She let out a restrained sigh. "I feel so drained."
"I can tell. Seriously, Rain. What the hell happened in there?"
She thought back as hard as she could. All she remembered was the pain, the noise, the light and ringing slowly fading away, and then- "I don't know. I was dead, then suddenly, there was this voice-"
Her roommate smiled. "You were flatlining. Neon started screaming, then all of a sudden he just calmed down. It was weird. Then he started talking to you, even though he knew you were dead, and then the heart monitor started picking up a pulse again. You started glowing, for some reason. Then there was this huge explosion-"
"I remember. There was one in the Magix too."
"What was that, anyway?"
"I don't know. But wherever it came from, it saved everypony."
Rain stayed lying in the holodeck for another hour, slowly recharging from the explosion. Spiro had left to take care of Pinkie. The others were gone. Neon was the last to leave. Rain had known he would be. Soon enough she could stand up on her own. As soon as she'd found her footing, she set off for the sickbay. There was someone there waiting to see her.

When she walked through the doorway, the sickbay was empty. The lights were on, filling the small, sterilized room with a hazy white glow. It was packed with almost as much technology as the holodeck, all kinds of machinery beside the exam table and the two small beds against one wall. A soft gray blanket covered one, a small shape hiding underneath, moving with the steady rise and fall of breathing. Rain made her way over to the bedside. A pony was laying there, relaxed and peacefully dreaming. Sterile white bandages covered her coat, wrapped tightly over the wounds left by the plugs Spiro had just removed. Her mane was scattered over the pillow in short, curly pink tufts. Rain leaned in and gently nudged the sleeping pony with a hoof. "Pinkie?"
Pinkie Pie stirred and made a soft, sleepy noise. Rain poked her again. "Pinkie Pie. Come on, wake up. Even for a second. It's me. It's Rain."
She moaned softly in protest. Her sleepy blue eyes fluttered halfway open. "Dashie?"
The pegasus smiled. "Pinkie. It's me. I'm- I'm so happy you made it out." She leaned over the bed and wrapped her up in her forelegs, her face buried in the fluffy strands of her cotton-candy mane.
The half-conscious mare looked up at her friend. She breathed in. Everything was so different in the outside world. Even Rain was different. She was so much more... real. Pinkie could feel her, see her, even smell her. She smelled like safety. Friendship. She lifted a hoof and touched Rain's rainbow mane. "Dashie. Your mane is short."
Rain laughed. "So is yours," she said, brushing a hoof through Pinkie's shortened, puffy mane. She let her back down and lay her gently on the bed.
"My eyes hurt," she mumbled.
"You've never used them before."
Pinkie shifted around and snuggled herself back into the blankets. She looked up at Rain from under her heavy eyelashes. "Dashie. I can still call you that, right?"
"Of course you can," Rain said.
The sleepy pink mare giggled. "You're my best friend." Her eyes drifted closed again.
Rain let out a quiet laugh. "You're my best friend, too, Pinkie Pie."
A few seconds ticked past. Everything stayed silent. Rain turned away to leave.
"Dashie, wait."
Rain turned around. Pinkie was still awake. She had forced her eyes to open again and was looking to Rain. She turned around and came back to the bed. "What is it?"
Pinkie's eyes fell closed again. "I'm not Pinkie Pie anymore," she murmured. "My name is Pixy."
Rain laughed. "Okay. Pixy Pie."
Pixy's chest shuddered in a quiet burst of laughter. Her breathing became relaxed and even again. Rain smiled. "Goodnight, Pixy,' she whispered.
As Rain walked back to her dorm, the memories replayed in her head over and over. It was clearer than ever now. She didn't doubt it anymore. It was true. All of it.
She wasn't Rainbow Dash anymore. Her name was Rain. It would stay that way forever. Her ordinary life in Ponyville was gone. She was the One. Everything had changed. Harmony would be her home now. The crew would be her new family, and her heartless past was erased forever. Rain had no idea where the real world would take her next. Only one thing was for sure.
Nothing would ever be the same again.