//------------------------------//
// Prompt #459-Breakout, Stage One 
// Story: Ponywatching 
// by ThunderTempest 
//------------------------------//

Like most prisons, the Lunar Noctis was designed to be inescapable. However, very few ponies ever thought of breaking into a prison. And yet, that was exactly what Trixie Lulamoon, picker extrodinare and all around annoyance was going to do. However, she wasn’t stupid, despite what Commander Armor thought. She knew that trying to get into the Lunar Noctis, the most secure prison in Equestria without support, or in the company of the Royal Security Force, would be suicide, so she had assembled through various means of recruitment (Mostly blackmail and coercion, though some had been bribed), a team to help her. Their muscle was Snowflake, a giant ex-bouncer, who had replaced his powerful natural legs with cybernetic upgraded ones, drastically increasing his bucking power. Next  was their grease pony, the one who was going to slip through all the tight areas, an undersized colt by the name of Pipsqueak, rather appropriately. Flitter was their hacker, who would handle most of the electronics, and Cloudchaser, her sister, would be handling any security cameras until they could get to the control centre. Trixie had one more pony, but she was already in place, inside the prison, thanks to an arrest the day before.

*****

Snowflake busted down the reinforced door to the main control centre of the Lunar Noctis with a single, overpowered buck, sending it flying backwards onto the two security guards behind it. Flitter was inside in a flash, already plugging her neural interface into the port on the computer. Pipsqueak and Trixie broke off from the group, heading for one of the traditional holding cells, where the sixth member of their team was waiting.

Finding the cell in short order, Trixie set to bypassing the lock, while the occupant of the cell looked on, amused. Two seconds later, the cell cracked open.

“Took you long enough,” said Fluttershy with a smile, “I thought I might have to do this all by myself.” Trixie offered a nervous smile in return. Truth be told, Fluttershy unnerved the heck out of her, but she was one of the longest surviving rebels, and thus had experience that Trixie needed to get into the depths of the Lunar Noctis. It was like Fluttershy had nearly forgotten what emotions were at some point in her career as a professional saboteur and mayhem causer.

“Come on, Flitter should have cracked the system by now. Then we can get who we came for, and get out of here,” said Trixie, passing Fluttershy a set of bags that the pegasus had entrusted to her the day before her intentional arrest.

*****

True to Trixie’s statement, by the time Trixie, Pipsqueak and Fluttershy reached the control room, Flitter had broken through the security on the computers, and had indeed found what the six had come here for.

“Princess Luna, former Diarch of the Night of the Diarchy of Equestria, imprisoned indefinitely for high treason,” said Flitter, displaying the alicorn’s location on a three dimensional projection of the prison, “is located here, deep in the bowels of the prison, in the Cryogenic Wing. Surpisingly, there’s very few guards down there-guess they aren’t worried about anypony down there getting out.” Fluttershy studied the map carefully.

“Can we not bring her out from here?”

“No can do, Flutters,” said Flitter, shaking her head, “that part of the prison’s on a different system, completely isolated from the rest of it. I can’t hack through connections that don’t exist. The only way to release Luna is to get to here.” A second glowing point appeared on the hologram, indicating a second control room nearly a kilometre below them.

“Right,” said Trixie, “So what’s the fastest way down there?”

Flitter and Fluttershy had the same idea at the same time, and turned to face the giant window in the control room, which overlooked a massive ventilation shaft running down the central spine of the prison. They turned to face the other four ponies and smiled.

***Time****

“Trixie thinks this is the worst idea you have ever had, peon!”