The Hacker Pwny

by Chetzi


Chapter 57: A lie...?

As the distance between Pinkie and the 25-ish man closed, the man ran faster, but still not faster than Pinkie's odd method of transportation. Once she was mere inches away, she pounced and tackled the guy. All I could tell from this distance is he looked thin, very thin. Twilight ran up to them in seconds, and I just had my hand on wall, breathing heavily, about 20 feet away. Well, that was anti-climatic.

"I *huff* hate running," I said between breaths. Pinkie asked arbitrary questions, like what was his favorite food, did he like pets, stuff like that. "Pinkie! Can you stop doing that!"

"Yeah," she said in response.

"No, okie doki loki? Just yeah?"

"Of course silly!" And her personality is back. Well then. Pinkie Pie picked up the man and held him tightly so he wouldn't escape. He stood up slouched over.

"Name," I asked.

"Why the hell would I tell you?!" He replied.

"Twilight, is that a phrase used in Equestria?"

"No, but it's possible he picked it up somewhere," Twilight said.

"Maybe, but unlikely. You said he was antisocial, right?"

"Kinda."

"And he'd try to avoid people to make it easier so he wouldn't have to take the chance of messing up and looking suspicious."

"Then why did he run?" I know why, when you see a group of people yelling 'Is that him,' it's best to just run. Everyone's guilty in this world of gray.

"Look at his teeth, they're black and he looks anorexic. I'd say he used to do meth. Since you don't have it where you live, Twilight, I'll tell you that it's illegal and highly addictive. He would run because he felt guilty, either from the law or conscience. The point is, this isn't the right guy. Pinkie, let go of him." Pinkie then proceeded to literally drop him on the floor, leaving him a crumpled mess until he pushed himself off the floor, and walked off giving us the middle finger.

"Is that the human way of saying good bye?" Pinkie Pie asked.

"When you're older, now we really need to find this guy if it's as urgent as Twilight said it was," I replied. I started cross-referencing what Twilight has told me so far with my knowledge of this place. Let's see... that leaves the library, any advanced class, and possibly the science labs. That's too many places. Too many people. We won't be able to find him. "Twilight!"

"Y-Yes!?" She replied in shock at my sudden shout.

"You said the horn is the part that holds the most magic, correct?"

"Err, yeah," she said confused.

"And it's true that pegasi can use some magic as well?"

"No, they are just really light. But all ponies posses the ability to generate magic, it's just too weak to be able to use it without a horn focusing the spell."

"Good. So I assume magic exists in your human form, since it has to go somewhere." Twilight just looked at me confusedly, unsure exactly what I was getting at. "Ugh! Fine I'll just say it: you have a lot of magical potential, maybe enough to be able to feel out rooms that have traces off it."

"That's a crazy idea. And it just might work." She closed her eyes and became enclosed by a purple glow. She pointed at me, eyes still closed. "That way!" She then ran into me, causing us both to tumble to the ground. Twilight opened her eyes again, to see a rather angry me. She blushed, and awkwardly smiled. "Uh, sorry." She then got off me and stood up straight. Then I noticed something. She seemed off. I can't put my finger on it, no wait, yeah I can. Her personality, it's different. Not quite as predictable as she used to be, and also that was a mistake she wouldn't make. I'll have to keep a closer eye on her. But for now, I think I'll ignore it.

"I probably should have told you to filter out OTHER magic, but whatever." Twilight closed her eyes again, and the same purple glow encased her. She slowly walked forward, oblivious to me and Pinkie. She looked tired soon, despite this being a simple spell. At least she was making progress. As we walked, Pinkie got close to me and whispered,

"Ever taken a shower under a waterfall?"

"What kind of damn question is that? And no," I grumpily replied.

"Oh. Well I kinda want to it always looks so cool in those weird human cartoons."

"Have fun with that, the water is most likely going to be 30 degrees and will have enough force to knock you down on your ass and push you back into the lake the moment you touch it. Not to mention all the bacteria and other disgusting things such as possible trash, Algae, and rocks that could hit you." Pinkie looked at the floor, remembering that physics had to apply, albeit loosely, in this world. Still, odd question to ask at a time like this. With that distraction over, Twilight had already led us to a lecture hall that was 84% full of college students, and the class was on advanced bio-engineering. I put a hand on Twilight's shoulder to get her to stop from going into the classroom. Her purple glow vanished, indicating that she's not using magic. She panted softly, with a few drops of sweat crawling down her forehead. I held her up so she wouldn't collapse and let her catch her breath.

"Wha... what is it?" She asked.

"You can't be seen using a spell, people don't have purple auras. Now I want you two to follow me and act bored. Sit down next to me. I let go of Twilight, and continued inside, trying to blend in as much as possible. I took a seat near the corner in the back, away from others. My two followers did the same in the seats next to me. A lesson was going on, with most of the students looking bored. Except one, who was furiously scribbling down notes. His hair was a little odd, not blue, but it looked like a common hairstyle in Ponyville. He wore a plain brown fleece jacket, and just all around it didn't look like him. But it was worth a shot. I grabbed a piece of paper off the ground, broke off a small strip of metal from the desk, and turned it into a weighted paper airplane. Let's calculate this... if I throw it with this amount of force it'll go a velocity of... and then it'll turn over from the weight and drop the metal right over his head. Perfect. I throw the airplane, and it went the desired course. As it flipped over, the strip of metal fell out, but the guy below moves his head to the side and dodged it, acting like nothing had happened. That's him. I got up from my chair, and gestured Twilight and Pinkie to stay there. I quietly walked down to him, he was in an aisle seat. I told him,

"I need to see you outside the class, now."

"No," was his only response. Alright then, he asked for it. I retreated back up the stairs, and plopped down into the seat next to Twilight, and took off my shoulder bag. I slipped out my laptop from the back and started accessing anything that could be remote controlled of the school. There was the sprinkler system, lights, certain doors, speakers, fire alarm, etc. I compiled all the accounts on the network into a large list, from highest to lowest privileges. The one at the top had sa72027394 as its username. The sa must stand for system admin. I ran a dictionary crack on the account, until I found the password within three minutes. 'Fall12'. So it seems like he needs to change it every season, and it can't be an already used one. And yet because of that I was able to get in within mere minutes, with a common program no less. Oh the irony. I went back into the now open control system, checking if the permissions worked. Everything's running just fine. Now let's think of the different scenarios. I could pull the fire alarm, it'd get him out of the class, but would create such a panic I wouldn't be able to find him. Sprinkle system, no I don't want to get wet. Hmm, lights. This room has all its blinds down, so it just might be dark enough. But it'd be hard to get him. Okay then, combo time. I started a delayed command for the sprinkler system, and the lights. In exactly 5 minutes, the lights will turn off, and the floor should be slippery. I put my laptop up into my weather-resistant bag, pulled out another bag that held a few snacks, dumped that out, and started walking down the stairs, toward our target. The bag is big enough to cover his head, so I'll do just that, and then drag him out of the room in the confusion. I don't know what he'll do, like how strong he is or what tactics he knows, so I can't do this Sherlock style. I stood steps away, the countdown having seconds left.

I stepped on the stair level with his chair, and all of a sudden the lights flashed on and water should pouring down. Only in the class and around in the hallway, I don't want everyone finding out all at once. In the mass confusion, I threw the bag over his head and pulled him from his seat up the stairs. I couldn't see, but I remember the placement of everything here. I dragged him up the stairs with all my strength, as other people raced passed us in mass panic. Once we got outside the room, there was a bit more light but the floor was extremely slippery. From a sudden jerk left, I lost my balance and grip and slammed into the wall along with the target. He pulled the bag off his head, an almost insane look on his face. He said, in a crazed slow manner,

"Why me... I didn't do anything..."

"Jeremy, is it?" I asked.

"Yes..." In a situation like this, you don't say your name. Looks like I'm right about who he is.

"I've been ordered by the princesses of sun and moon to have you captured and detained until the princesses can bring you back."

"So you're a high-level royal guard... no, no no no no... you can't... I WON'T LET YOU!" He charged at me in a bloody rage, arms swinging. I managed to dodge, but he tripped over my left leg making us both sprawl to the floor. I noticed Twilight and Pinkie leaning against the wall, eating my snacks. I wanted them to help, but getting them hurt or used as hostages won't be good. Jeremy smashed his fist into my cheek and pulled us both up. I head bashed him and we both dizzily took steps backward.

"Stop this!" I demanded.

"WHY!?" He screamed back, before launching himself back at me. I managed to grab his shoulders and hold him back a bit.

"Because sometimes it’s not worth it. There’s a limit for everything and hurting others for the sake of science is it’s limit.” He pushed me away, into the wall.

“No... you’re not a guard... I know you...” He said that with a creepy, deranged tone as his hair dropped down in front of his face. “Neon, was it? Everyone was fooled for so long... except me.” I kicked off from the wall and tackled him, but I lost my footing on the slippery ground, and he caught me and threw me past him. “ I've been watching you, a lot of people have. We could smell the falseness a mile away.” I coughed and pushed myself back up.

“Who’s ‘We’? I thought you were just some crazed pony that escaped to find human test subjects.”

“So that’s what they told you. Yes and no, but that’s not important for now.” I ran at him with a fist behind me, using all the momentum I could to hit him in the Solar Plexus. He took a ready stance, and simply dodged to the side, but with a reaction time and speed that couldn't be matched with mine. “You think you’re fighting for good? Is that it? Oh, no, this is a world of gray after all. You’re just slightly lighter than I am. Well know this: this is nothing more than a test, and you passed with flying colors.” He dashed toward me with blazing speed and pushed me up against a wall. “ You've gotten soft, it wouldn't be these ponies would it? You let a few cartoon characters change your personality? I say we should put this into perspective. Luna’s the one who brought you here, for the reason of find love. Or at least that’s what she thinks. The real reason can’t be revealed just yet. And for some reason, Celestia sent Twilight to get you. I wonder why, picking her student to do a job as dangerous as this. And she Pinkie along too. Think about this, it doesn't add up. It doesn't fit.” He let go of me and I collapsed onto the ground. “I’ll tell you this much, but then I must leave. You hold a key. A key that everyone wants. You must pick who's good and who's bad. This maze you’re in is a web of deception, and only you know the path out. Don’t trust your friends. Don’t trust your enemies. Don’t trust yourself.” He then just vanished. As if he were never there. I looked over to where Twilight and Pinkie were, and they were gone. Then I noticed I wasn't in a hallway, this was my room... back when I was living with Twilight. When I first came to Equestria. The sun was in my window, reminding me of the time, two P.M.

“Neon? You awake, Spike made breakfast if you’re hungry,” Said a voice on the other side of the door that sounds like Twilight. Breakfast? But it’s two o'clock.

“Twilight,” I asked, “what time is it?”

“About eleven A.M.” I glanced back at the sun, it was way too low for it to be eleven. Not to mention being on the wrong side of the sky. I can see right through this illusion.