The Hacker Pwny

by Chetzi

Chapter 53: Will is stronger than any magic

"I refuse to... Ugh, where am I?" I said, as I broke out of the sleep I forced into. My vision was still blurry, and I couldn't feel my legs. I was in some metal single-cell prison, lying on the cold stone floor.

"He's awake. You so be glad you didn't kill him. You're dismissed, sergeant. Guards, drag the prisoner to the queen. And make sure he doesn't break anything on the way there," said someone. I couldn't see him, and my head was pounding. There was a squeak of the door opening, then something slowly dragged me out. I lost my grip on reality, and passed out.

I drifted in and out of conscience, hearing bits and pieces of random conversation. I was still being dragged down dark hallways, they looked like cave tunnels. Eventually, I stayed awake long to pay attention and think about what's going on. I still couldn't move, and it felt like I was hit with a hammer. I stopped being dragged, and was dropped onto the cold cave floor.

"Good, leave me and the prisoner alone. Disregard all noise. Neon," said a voice that I could instantly recognize as Queen Chrysalis.

"Chrysalis," was the only reply I could muster with my current strength.

"Neon."

"Chrysalis."

"Neon."

"Chrysa-"

"Okay that's enough!" She snapped.

"What do you want from me?"

"Ooh, getting straight to the point. I wanted to play with my toys a bit more." Feeling started to return to my legs, and I struggled to stand up.

"You can't keep me here. I will escape."

"Good luck with that, I have a demand for you."

"Shove that demand up your flankhole." I managed to stand up, albeit very wobbily. I was in some large cave, with a throne on the wall. Chrysalis was sitting in the throne. The whole place was dark, with dim green aura being the only thing lighting the place up.

"Enough, I need you to get Celestia to make it so we can live above ground."

"Why should I do that?"

"The love is running out. My people are starving."

"And you think I'm going to make it so you can just go around and manipulate ponies?"

"I only become Cadence because we were desperate. I didn't have a choice."

"Then explain the full-scale assault on Canterlot."

"My subjects were starving, they would have all died if they didn't get anything to eat."

"You had your chance. Everypony would be glad to help your kind, but you blew all that when you attacked the princesses. Don't drag me into this, when it's all your fault." Chrysalis levitated me over to her, and held me in midair. My legs dangled.

"You don't understand me. You're not me, you don't know what happened, you don't know the pain." I broke out of her magical prison with a quick magic shockwave, which I made in such a way that it acts like a dispel attack. I fell to the ground with a thump. Chrysalis watched over me as I struggled to get up.

"I don't know pain? You don't think I've lived worse than you? You think I've had it all good, while you've lived in a horrid cave, forced to lead your people?" A neon green glow started to form around me. "You live on a planet, where conflict is minimal, greed is nonexistent, power doesn't corrupt, everypony is friendly and nopony ever wants to hurt another pony."

"Don't threaten me, your magic is weak." Chrysalis shot a green blast at me, causing me to slam into the rock wall behind me. My skin burned, but I got back up. I started to trudge back to Chrysalis.

"Maybe it is. But it doesn't matter. I have something, something that will always make me better than you."

"Hmm? And what is this? A crystal? An orb? What is this object that you're talking about?"

"It's not a physical object, and never something you can have."

"Never, its power shall be mine. That's close enough." I kept sluggishly walking toward her. "I said, that's close ENOUGH." I gathered magic into my right forehoof. Chrysalis shot another beam at me, but this time, I was ready. I reflected it with my hoof, making it redirect into the cave ceiling. I smirked

"Not so tough now, are you?" She glared, and charged at me. She sunk her teeth deep into my neck long before I could see her. I shoved her off me, the poison already making me light headed. No, not going to pass out.

"Still standing, impressive. Now you will do what I ask, or I will make you face a fate worse than death."

"It's going to take more than a little poison to put my fire out."

"Then I'll try a lot of poison." In a flash of light, her teeth went into my neck, injecting more poison. How does she keep doing that so quickly!? She let go of me, making me fall to the floor. But I didn't give up. I tried to get back up.

"I... refuse to... quit."

"How... How are you still awake?! That was more than enough venom to kill a pony."

"I'm different."

"Grr, I've had enough of you!" Chrysalis levitated me in the air, and slammed me into the rock wall, hard. Parts of the wall even shattered. But Chrysalis didn't stop there, she slammed me into the adjacent wall, then back again. After a few more hits, she slammed me one last time into the wall that was on the other side of the room. "Why won't you just die!"

(Play this while reading.)

"Because," I coughed, "that thing that I said I have, and you never will, it's called spirit. I will keep fighting, no matter the cost, no matter the pain. You want to know something? I lived alone. I lived in pain. All my life, I had to fight. I’m still fighting. And I won’t stop.” Chrysalis shot me again, but I held my ground. My hooves slid back a few feet as I did my best to keep going. I continued to trudge toward her, when she stopped. Blood was streaming out from my mouth. Every muscle in my body screamed at me to stop. But my legs wouldn’t stop moving. “I’m better than you. I fight for good, and I refuse to give up.”

“No... No! Stay back!” Chrysalis tried to throw me into the wall, but I broke the magic with a quick whip of my hoof.

“Never. In every fight I’ve been in, I’ve almost died. And the only reason I’m still alive, is because my friends help me. But this time, my friends aren’t here. They can’t help me. It’s all me. I can’t give up, I can’t let them down. This time, I will win. Without help.”

“Stop coming closer! Get away!” Chrysalis rapidly fired energy beams at me, to have each one have little to no effect.

“No. You won’t stop me. You took me, you tried to manipulate me, and you wanted me to do something nopony would want.” Chrysalis watched in fear at my relentless effort. She just stood there, shocked and motionless. “I have a reason to keep going, you don’t.” I was inches away from her, and my right hoof glowed with a white aura. The air around it turned hot, enough so to melt the rock floor it stood on. I reeled back my hoof. “This is for what you did in Canterlot,” I shot my hoof forward with the little strength still in me. “And for hurting my friends.” As the hoof made contact, I screamed, “AND FOR MESSING WITH ME!” A white sphere exploded from the impact, making us both fly into opposite walls. As I opened my eyes, I felt like I couldn’t move. All feeling in my body was lost, and my blood was in small puddles on the floor. I must be going into Hypovolemic Shock. I felt pain at every heartbeat, but I couldn’t quit, not yet. Chrysalis lied unconscious on the floor, a rough imprint of her on the wall. I dragged myself out of the room, holding the cut that blood was pouring out of.

I’m going to make it out here, alive.

---

The cave system was simple, but dark. I quickly found the only bright light, from outside, and did my best to make it. Once I saw the sunlight overheard, it was too much. I lost control of my body and passed out.

“Oh my Celestia, are you okay?!” Was the last thing I heard before my ears failed me.

---

“He’s... WHERE?!” Vinyl screamed at the yellow pegasus that raced over to tell Vinyl of Neon’s location.

“I’m sorry, somepony just found him out by a cave, covered in blood. You can go visit him, his room is number 203 at the hospital.” The pegasus left. Vinyl closed the door, and sat down on a nearby couch. She then whispered to herself,

“Darn it, I told you to stop getting yourself killed, Neon.”

---

“His condition is stable, but he’s not awake right now. It’d be better if you just let him sleep.” Nurse Redheart told Vinyl, as she went to go see Neon. Vinyl let out a deep sigh.

“Fine, but I’m coming back soon,” Vinyl said as she trotted out of the hospital. Another nurse walked up to Redheart.

“He’s not stable, with the amount of blood he lost, it will take a while. Don’t you have the right data?” The new nurse asked.

“Upsetting her wouldn’t be a good idea,” Redheart said. “And we don’t know, he could be fine.”

“And he could also be in a coma for months very soon, we can’t assume the best.”