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Post by laserbolt on Jun 29, 2014 13:07:50 GMT
It clicked in his head, finally. He stepped closer and lowered his voice, speaking slowly and carefully. "Bonbon, this is going to sound a little strange, but I need you to answer. How much do you know about this?" If she knew anything, she'd be able to answer. "Do you know what happened to her?"
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Post by wanderingmagus on Jun 30, 2014 2:12:47 GMT
Neo passed between waking and unconsciousness multiple times, and how long he was asleep, he never knew.
"He still needs a lot of work."
A familiar face came into view. "Your muscles have atrophied. We're rebuilding them."
Why was it so bright? Why did everything hurt?
Morpheus smiled kindly. "If you're wondering why your eyes and muscles hurt, it's because... well, it's because you've never used them before. Rest, Neo. The answers are coming."
...
He awoke in a bed, with Morpheus sitting next to him, reading a book.
Bonbon looked at him uncertainly for a moment, wiping her eyes and sniffling a bit, then beckoned for him to lean closer. When he had done so, she whispered.
"Night Hideth All."
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Post by laserbolt on Jun 30, 2014 2:17:38 GMT
Laserbolt let out a sigh. "Day Hideth Naught. I was afraid this was more of the same." To be perfectly honest, he was getting a little tired of this secret agent nonsense. He was also a little peeved that somepony who, by all accounts, was one of the nicest ponies he knew, was involved in this mess. Hopefully he'd get it all cleaned up soon. "What can you tell me?"
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Post by Midnight_Aurora on Jun 30, 2014 6:23:34 GMT
The first thing Neo says, after waking is, "How long was I out? Ouch, my eyes still hurt a little." He just lay there, trying to get his eyes to adjust to the lighting.
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Post by wanderingmagus on Jul 1, 2014 2:17:40 GMT
Bonbon hung her head. "I didn't know the customer was a changeling. I didn't know how he'd managed to impersonate a Royal Guard, but Lyra didn't trust him... I don't know where she is now. But if there's hope, any hope at all..."
She leaned in and whispered even softer than before. "Ghastly Gorge, three bales from the left of the first cave. Moonrise. Remember the passcode, and neither say nor do anything else unless the countersign is given."
The mare looked up from her book with a grim smile.
"About a month, give or take. But more important than what is when."
She closed her book and looked directly at Neo. "You believe it's the year 2014 After Discord, when in fact it's closer to 2199. I can't tell you exactly what year it is because we honestly don't know. There's nothing I can say that will explain it for you, Neo."
She stood up, beckoning. "Come with me. See for yourself."
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Post by laserbolt on Jul 1, 2014 3:05:55 GMT
Laserbolt was incredibly glad that nopony else was in the shop right now. He looked Bonbon dead in the eyes, and said, very quietly. "I'll get her back for you, okay? I'm going to figure this out. There's something in motion, and it's all going to be okay." He turned, and walked towards the door. He'd seen that look on many ponies' faces. Nopony deserved to feel that way. He took his leave, and headed for the Gorge. One of the most disgusting places in Equestria, in his opinion. At least the Everfree had grace.
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Post by Midnight_Aurora on Jul 1, 2014 3:26:17 GMT
It took him a moment, still not use to using his mussels, but he got out of bed and follows the mare before him. He says, "You are Morpheus, no?" He seams to be gaining better control of himself.
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Post by wanderingmagus on Jul 1, 2014 4:12:01 GMT
The Ghastly Gorge lived up to its name. There was a stench that filled the air from the countless corpses of animals and unfortunate ponies who had been eaten by the Quarray Eels or starved to death after getting lost in the caves and brambles. He couldn't believe that just a few years ago, Rainbow Dash had forced her pets to race through this place.
It was dark as the sun set, casting ominous shadows everywhere as the wind moaned through one of the caverns high above. Darkness took the world, hiding deadly pitfalls and sinkholes...
Then the Moon rose.
It was... beautiful. Comforting. Not blinding and searing like the Sun, and never sweltering. Just constant, watchful as the gaze of Princess Luna Herself. Yes, the shadows hid many things, but they also gave ponies the chance to see the brilliance of the stars, the hoofwork of the Younger Sister. Night Hideth All, and the Walker of Dreams watched over Her subjects.
As the light of the moon fell upon the Gorge, a single beam of light marked a crevice exactly three bales to the left of the first cave where a Quarray Eeel likely made its dwelling.
The mare grinned and nodded. "Yes. I'm sorry if my appearance is slightly different than it was earlier."
She motioned at the large space that they were in. "This is my ship, the Nebuchadnezzar. It's a hovercraft."
They crossed a catwalk to a spacious section. "This is the main deck."
She opened a door, and passed into a room full of computers and strange electronic equipment and a small herd of ponies, some of whom he recognized. "This is the core where we broadcast our pirate signal and hack into the Matrix. Most of my crew you already know. This is Apoc, Switch, and Cypher."
The seedy stallion from before grinned slightly. "Hi."
Morpheus pointed to the rest of them. "The one's you don't know, Tank and his big brother, Dozer. The little one behind you is Mouse."
Each pony, griffon and diamond dog smiled and raised a hoof in welcome as the mare walked up to a reclined chair covered with wires and turned back to him.
"You wanted to know what the Matrix is Neo?"
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Post by Midnight_Aurora on Jul 1, 2014 4:33:39 GMT
Neo raises a hoof in greeting to the others. He turns back to Morpheus and says, "I guess that is one of the reason you got me out, isn't it? I do wish to know what the Matrix is. What's next?" He walks over to Morpheus and stands waiting for an answer.
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Post by laserbolt on Jul 1, 2014 18:37:02 GMT
Laserbolt silently climbed down the rocks, regretting that, once again, he had forgotten to stop by his lab and get his things. He would teleport, but that makes noise, and would alert anypony who would do him harm. Once he had finally gotten to the cave, he waited, to see if the eels were awake. Nasty creatures.
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Post by wanderingmagus on Jul 2, 2014 0:29:42 GMT
Morpheus sat down and lay back in one of the chairs, motioning for the stallion to do the same. "Lean back and relax... this may feel a little weird. Trinity?"
The crew began bustling about, connecting various strange apparati to the chairs as Trinity walked over to Neo's chair. "I promise, this won't hurt. It will feel strange at first, though."
"-going to tell you anything."
"Oh, but I think you will, Ms. Heartstrings. It's quite impressive for you to have resisted the truth serum for so long. Most mares your age wouldn't have lasted an hour."
There was a grunt from somewhere. Was it inside the wall?
"Go to Tartarus."
"Now, now, do you really want to talk that way to the changeling that's got you strapped to an operating table? Oh, the things I have to deal with these days. Can't leave scars, can't leave traces, can't kill, can't even use proper memory wiping Obliviate charms anymore, much less False Memory charms like the old days. Let's see, we've tried poison joke, gigglemint, rainbow oil, sleepydust... and we don't want to actually break you, that would defeat the entire purpose... I suppose I really should have simply continued pretending to be your fillyfriend, it would have made most of this so much easier, but no, you just had to be wearing the tinfoil hat despite all the propaganda we put out..."
"You think you can keep me here even another hour?"
"Oh, please, Ms. Heartstrings, who would possibly come chasing after you? Your little fillyfriend is scared out of her wits, the Royal Guard won't believe her story, and everypony in Ponyville thinks you're a conspiracy theorist nutcase anyways."
"You know what they say about nighttime missions. Night Hideth All, and that's not just you."
"Boo-hoo, throw another of your pithy sayings at me, foal. We'll see how you hold up after this little cocktail-"
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Post by laserbolt on Jul 2, 2014 1:19:03 GMT
Laserbolt grinned in spite of himself. A secret entrance? Really? His horn glowed, and the entrance to the cave lit up, allowing him access. As he stepped into the cave, he caught sight of the changeling. "Call me racist..." -He started striding towards him quickly, a smirk on his face- "But I never liked you bugfolk. Always in the wrong place at the wrong time."
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Post by Midnight_Aurora on Jul 2, 2014 16:53:27 GMT
Not sure what to expect, Neo puts himself in the chair. His horn a faint glow, releasing a soft musical hum that seams to be calming to those around him.
[Minor unicorn spell, cast on instinct, Calming Musical Note.]
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Post by wanderingmagus on Jul 2, 2014 22:18:46 GMT
The changeling whipped around, snarling as Lyra took advantage of the distraction and finally got a hoof free, kicking him hard in the gut. He jumped up and flew to the far corner of the room, using his telekinesis to toss syringes and acids in Laser's general direction as Lyra struggled to get out of the way.
"Bag, corner, pellet!" shouted Lyra, still pulling at the ropes holding her to the table. The changeling dove at the bag, trying to keep Laser from getting the pellet launcher.
It was [smear:000000]straAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH[/smear:FFFFFF]
Whiteness. Endless whiteness.
" This is the Construct. It's our loading program. We can load anything from clothing, to equipment, weapons, training simulations, anything we need."
Morpheus was standing right next to him, grinning at his bewildered look as she sat down in a recliner that looked exactly like the ones back in the hotel from their first meeting, the same table, except the fireplace was replaced with a television monitor.
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Post by Midnight_Aurora on Jul 2, 2014 22:35:08 GMT
Within this world, he looks as he did when they first meet, but this time a set of metallic wings are upon his back. Within the center of these metallic wings is a glowing ring and what looks to be flat speakers of some sort. From the speakers comes the calming hum that was heard from the outside world.
Neo takes a set, the metallic wings not hindering him in the slightest. He asks, "Are we inside of a computer? Why are we here and what will we do now?"
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