Trouble in Neo Neighpon

by ZeroChill

Infiltration

Twilight Sparkle stood carefully underneath the metal stairwell next to a monorail station. Her body was covered in a cloak. She stood there patiently as her sharp eyes tracked the various ponies that walked up and down the set of stairs. After hours of fruitless waiting had passed, a quadruped figure cloaked in an orange and black robe walked down the stairs. As soon as the figure made it down the stairs, it bounced down the sidewalk. Twilight Sparkle silently stalked the figure.

Both the figure and Twilight Sparkle walked down the streets of Neo Neighpon. Other than an unusually stoic walk cycle, the both of them did very little to garner the attention of the other pedestrians. Twilight Sparkle looked towards the sky to her left and right. Her eyes picked up on various elements on the street; her eyes drifted off towards fleeing holograms that stated phrases such as ‘Tomorrow’s technology is just tomorrow. Invest in High-Performance Biotech Implants today!’ and ‘Equestrian Police Federation; now and forever’.

“These signs are awfully blatant on the ideas they convey. Then again, it’s not surprising considering where we are.” She thought to herself. As she followed the robed figure, her eyes came upon a body of an earth pony stallion that lied on the sidewalk. Though his coat was pale, she saw that it was indeed a periwinkle-colored coat. The stallion’s mouth was open widely, which gave a good glimpse of the mechanical implants within his jaw. His eyes were bloodshot and his oral region looked particularly swollen. The pedestrians ignored the corpse on the ground as they walked around it. Twilight Sparkle’s bottom lip quivered in disgust.

“How could ponies be so apathetic about a dead body lying on a major sidewalk? …His last moments were probably struggling for air as his implants slowly killed him. I’m willing to bet nopony bothered to help him either…” She thought to herself.

The two ponies walked for what seemed to be an eternity underneath the sloshing rain. Rather than the sidewalk, they both walked between alleyways that were literal labyrinths. At the slightest sound of a crash, Twilight Sparkle shifted her head towards the source. Her mouth became agape as she witnessed an earth pony stallion, a pegasus stallion and a unicorn stallion beating on a defenseless earth pony mare. Bile rose up her throat with each scream of pain from the mare.

“Why is nopony helping her? Where’s the EPF-wait, scratch that, I’m a wanted criminal. I don’t want the EPF around me.” Her eyes twitched back and forth between the figure in front of her and the mare being physically beaten, her heart rate accelerated when each leg launched into the mare’s body and her nerves screamed in anxiety from the screams of help. Her mane frizzled each time a spatter of blood hit the ground. By the time the beating stopped, the mare stopped screaming. Twilight Sparkle visibly winced as the stallions forcibly ripped the cybernetic implants off of the corpse's body.

Despite the series of propaganda, corruption and brutality on the streets, she maintained a stoic expression. The dark clouds and the neon flashes of the city transitioned into dark caverns and brown rivers. Her eyes watered immensely and her nose wrinkled at the odor of fecal matter displaced itself. She shook her head and shrugged off her malcontent feelings.

It passed an extra hour since she followed the strange figure through the city. The figure never looked back, as if its destination was its very lifeline. As it reached a dead end in the sewers, it looked to its left and detected a barred pipe where brown water fed the stream. The pipe looked large enough to fit even a pony with a very large build. The figure jumped into the air and kicked the gate off of the pipe. The sound of metal bending against pressure echoed loudly throughout the sewers.

Twilight Sparkle quickly hid behind the corner that led to the turn towards the dead end. As she witnessed the figure turn its cloaked head around, the figure gracefully hopped into the pipe and began to crawl inside of it. Twilight Sparkle’s face quickly became green as the scent of untreated water quickly filled her nostrils. As soon as the figure disappeared, she ran back towards the dead end and observed the pipe.

“I literally have to crawl through fecal matter?” Twilight Sparkle skeptically questioned. A disgusted groan escaped her mouth as her stomach suddenly knotted up. “The lengths I have to go through to clear my name…” She stated in disgust as she took a deep breath and hopped into the pipe. As soon as the thick water touched her underside and legs, her lower throat filled up with vomit. Nonetheless, she continued down the sewer as if her life was on the line.

---

Spike sat on his couch with a magazine in both of his claws, a box of tissues on a cushion to his right and a bashful grin on his face. On the magazine was an image of a pink-coated unicorn mare with a florescent blue mane with a mechanical torso. She was positioned on her side with her eyes partially closed. Her right front hoof was positioned dangerously close to her nethers. On the top were words that presented ‘Playcolt’ in bold lettering. As Spike’s attention was enraptured in the magazine, a series of knocks pounded on the door.

“Gah!” He squeaked out as his claws shuffled the magazine in the air. He shoved it inside a crack between cushions and he threw the box of tissues behind the couch. “Can’t a guy get some privacy around here?” He grumbled lowly as he approached the door. When he opened the door, a robotic hoof thrust itself through the crack. Spike’s eyes widened as he jolted back. The hoof pushed the door back, which revealed Celestia.

“Spike, we need to talk.” Spike gulped loudly and nervously twiddled with his claws as Celestia entered into his abode. Celestia planted her haunches on Spike’s couch and flashed a stare that drilled into his eyes.

“Look, I can explain whatever happened today.”

“Spike, I’m not mad with you. I just wanted to talk.” Celestia stated calmly as she lied her body down across the couch. “I’ve tracked a magic signature from a pony the two of us are very well-acquainted with to the wasteland around this area.” As she said this, she extended her front legs outward and stretched her body. She turned towards Spike and flashed a sly smile. Spike’s cheeks reddened massively as he watched Celestia stretch her body in unimaginable ways on his own couch.

“…Are you done doing that?” He sheepishly asked. Celestia glanced towards him and winked innocently at him.

“Of course, since the magic signature was around your home,-”She said in an ignorantly cheerful tone as she sensually rubbed her legs from their tops down to their nether regions. “-I was hoping you would know something about her whereabouts.” She looked towards Spike, whose face was not only cherry red, but his wings unfolded fully erect. He shook his head and relaxed his wings with his claws.

“So what is in it for me if I know where she is? My information isn’t exactly cheap.” Spike condescendingly replied. Celestia slowly rose up from the couch and playfully strutted towards him. She placed her right front hoof on his nose.

“Let me remind you that I’m the commander and you are the bad boy here. When I come over here, I expect answers to be handed over to me. Otherwise, I’ll have to go for some… disciplinary action.” She stated in a highly sultry and domineering tone. “So, are you going to play nice and tell me, or am I going to have to deal out some punishment?” Spike scratched the bottom of his chin nervously.

“Ehehe, I don’t want to be punished…” He stuttered out. Celestia walked towards his right and stomped the ground with her right front hoof. From the apparatus on her chest, a black cord materialized and levitated towards her left front hoof. She grasped it, then leaned her head next to Spike’s glossy ear and smiled.

“If you don’t want to be punished, you better tell me everything you know about her current plans. Otherwise, you and I will have a date with Sting here.” She whispered as her tongue hung out of her mouth. Spike’s entire body shivered as these words hit his eardrum.

“Okay! I’ll tell! Just please stop. You’re making me feel uncomfortable.” He shouted. Celestia returned her head back and smiled. Spike took a deep breath. “Twilight Sparkle is currently infiltrating the Sunset Suicide Squad. She wants to clear her name as well as investigate some interesting stuff Sunset Shimmer found.” At these words, Celestia’s eyes widened and her jaw dropped. After a few seconds have passed, she shook her head and regained her cool. She walked towards the door with a rock-solid expression on her face.

“Thank you for your cooperation Spike. It looks like I didn’t need to do anything drastic to get information out of you.” She stated strongly. She looked back towards Spike and flashed a promiscuous smile. “Also, you really should find a better hiding spot for your pornography. Between the cushions isn’t really the greatest place to store it, especially when you have visitors sitting on them.” She teased as she walked out of the room and closed the door. Spike stood there for a few seconds with a stiff body.

“...I need a cold shower…” He stuttered to himself as he uncomfortably waddled into another room.

---

Fresh air struck the nose of the muddy Twilight Sparkle. Waterfalls of garbage and other sources of filth splashed onto her mane and coat. She crawled faster as soon as her eyes traced bright lights at the end of the tunnel.

Her head peered out of the tunnel and saw a large complex before her eyes. With her eyes, she picked up the robed figure, who was in front of a door with a series of cybernetic locks on it. The figure disrobed itself and revealed a white-coated pegasus mare with a mint-green mane and cyan eyes. Unlike her biological left wing, her right wing was made entirely of metal and biotechnical augmentation. She placed her eye in front of an apparatus and placed her right front hoof inside of a slot. She twisted her hoof inside, where the apparatus unveiled a plate of light that scanned down her eye.

“Welcome Blurred Horizon.” A mechanical voice echoed from the door. The sounds of clicks and movement from internal mechanisms behind the door boomed loudly. The mare pushed open the door slightly and slipped through the crack. The door closed, followed by a series of clicks and connections.

Twilight Sparkle hopped out of the pipe and down towards the ground. She stealthily moved around the area and hid behind blue container units. Her eyes scanned the entire area. Her jaw dropped when she noticed one peculiar feature about the area; outside of the laser-barred gate at the front and the door, there were no security surveillance systems. There were no cameras and there weren’t any guards around either.

“Something fishy is up with this, and I don’t like it.” She said with a skeptical stare directed towards the cyber lock on the building door. Out of curiosity, she dropped her cloak onto the ground and ran towards the door. As soon as her eyes and the scanner met each other’s line of vision, she examined it. She held out her left hoof and pressed a series of buttons on it. A holographic screen flashed itself above it. She placed that hoof in the slot near the door. As data loaded into hoof, a remarkably simple code appeared within the screen.

“Now this really is unusual. Simple code, next to no security, it’s as if they’re practically inviting me in…” She cautiously mused to herself. She tapped several buttons on her hoof and cracked the code. The mechanisms behind the door motioned before the door’s lock was undone.

Pushing the door slowly, her heart raced in her chest. As the light revealed itself through the crack, Twilight Sparkle held her breath. When the door opened, a bright hallway was revealed. She tilted her head around all angles of the hall.

“No cameras in here either.” She softly said to herself. Butterflies filled her stomach as she moved her hoof into the hallway for her first step. As her entire body went past the door, the door shut itself. Twilight Sparkle whipped back and saw no way to open the door from the back. An annoyed frown curled on her face. “Whatever greeting this is, I can’t say that it is anything but warm…” She stated as she looked down the hall. She stood tall against the menacing chill of her reception.

Author's Note:

Well then... that was an awkward scene there...