Trouble in Neo Neighpon

by ZeroChill

Showdown

Twilight Sparkle walked down the seemingly endless stairwell. She was completely enshrouded in darkness. Finally, what appeared to be a light shone itself across the horizon of the steps. Twilight Sparkle mustered as much strength as she could and sprinted down the stairs.

Beyond the light was a world foreign to her eyes; rather than the neon lights and cybernetic lines she grew up with, brown gears and crystalline pods took their place along the walls. Though the area was large, only a catwalk that led to a circular platform existed as the only flooring. The space beyond the floor was pure darkness. The platform itself was as wide as the building she called home.

“I’ve been expecting you for some time Twilight Sparkle.” A voice echoed through the area. Twilight Sparkle focused her vision forward. In the center of the platform was what resembled the form of a pony, heavily augmented of machinery upon machinery. The only certain way to tell that it was a pony was that the left half of the face was fleshed out in a vermillion coat and an ice blue eye. The machinery looked as if it rendered its host immobile. Twilight Sparkle cautiously approached the center where the being was.

“…Is that you Sunset Shimmer?” She asked in a mix of horror and curiosity. Sunset Shimmer revealed an unnerving smile with both the biological half and the mechanical half of her face.

“The one and only! Do you like what you see here?” Her voice was half biological, but half mechanical.

“To be blunt, no I don’t. You look like some kind of mechanical abomination that needs to be put out of its misery.” Twilight Sparkle sharply chided. Sunset Shimmer stared daggers towards her.

“You better watch what you are saying, Twilight Sparkle! You only made it here in once piece because I wanted you to come here. Give me one more witty remark like that and I’ll have you dead on the spot!”

Twilight Sparkle scoffed.

“Why was it that you went through all the lengths of framing me for one of your crimes? Why do you even want me here?” Sunset Shimmer smiled once more.

“Because Twilight, you are the best student that the NUTA has to offer. You’ve cracked and hacked your way through firewalls that master hackers would even dream to go for. You have such a tasty talent for keeping a monopoly on technology. Instead, you waste your talent with making a program that would make limitless energy possible?”

“That’s right. You may not realize it, but all this technology we are implanted with cost me the lives of my parents. I lost my parents and childhood because their cybernetics ate them from the inside out. I wanted to make sure that this fate wouldn’t happen to any other ponies, so it is not a waste of talent.” Twilight Sparkle reasoned. Sunset Shimmer shook her head in disappointment.

“Silly, naïve Twilight Sparkle… you can’t build up a successful society like now without the cost of lives to found it upon. Those that died deserve to die because they were weak. This is Survival of the Fittest at its finest. Without that, we’d only be letting weaklings into our society, which will eventually devastate it. With everything I have put you through Twilight, you have proven yourself to have what it takes to do everything for survival.”

“What do you mean by that? I’m not some sick freak like you are, Sunset!” Twilight Sparkle retorted.

“Oh, are you not? Well tell me how you didn’t crawl through those waterfalls of feces, how you killed Blurred Horizons, or how you didn’t even stop to help that mare that was being beaten. The truth is that as long as you have a goal in your mind, you’ll stoop to even the lowest of levels just to complete them. In that way, you and I are alike.” Sunset Shimmer reasoned. “For those reasons, I’ll cut you a deal Twilight.”

“What deal do you have in mind, Sunset? The one where you will turn yourself in to justice and stop all this mess? I know what you’ve been doing. You’ve found bioweapons that will undoubtedly give you control over all of Neighpon. You’ve been kidnapping ponies and were harvesting their energy to fuel those disgusting aliens. The only problem in your plan was framing me in the first place!” Twilight Sparkle shouted out. Sunset Shimmer unearthed a hollow, malicious tone of laughter in her voice.

“You act as if I didn’t do so already. Who do you think was the one who made all those implants that are used in everyday life?” As these words seeped into Twilight Sparkle’s mind, her eyes widened in realization and a shocked gasp escaped her mouth.

“You mean… these implants on everypony, all this technological advancement and current society was because of you?”

“Now you’re getting it. You should have seen how life was like before I discovered cybernetics a long time ago; ponies were getting weak and sick, nopony had enough power to get work done quickly on time and we stagnated as a society. It was through careful research as well as the discovery of a meteor with alien metals that I was able to mold today’s society.” Sunset Shimmer revealed.

“Now things aren’t adding up here, Sunset. Just how did you do all of this and remain unknown in society? I’m pretty sure that ponies aren’t daft enough to not notice a meteor landing nearby.” Twilight Sparkle questioned.

“That’s where the Neighpon University for Technological Advancement comes in. All I did was just throw the money and the supplies as an anonymous patron. They built that school and popularized the implants. Now, life has gotten better for everypony in Neo Neighpon. The strong survive and the weak die off.” Sunset Shimmer proudly stated. “Now, it’s time to get back to the topic at hand. You are in trouble with the law and I’m friends with the law. If you join my side as my protégé Twilight, I’ll be sure to wipe your criminal record and you can enjoy your life serving for the greater good.”

Twilight Sparkle looked directly into the eye of Sunset Shimmer. It flashed with ominous honesty. She looked around as an imaginary lump set its place inside her throat. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and unveiled the angry whites of her eyes.

“I’ll never join up with somepony as twisted as you are, Sunset. I don’t care if you’re the military dictator of the entire planet, your version of a Utopia is sick. Society shouldn’t be where ponies fend for themselves, it should be where each individual life matters and we work together to achieve a common goal.”

“While I do like how you have ideals, I’m afraid that they can never happen. For a society like that to exist, everypony must be able to pull their weight. In your society, ponies that can’t, live off of ponies that do their share. This is why I hated those ideals and you clearly rejected my proposal. So, I guess the only thing left for you to do is to die!” At these words, the entire area shook with a large rumble.

---

Spike and Celestia walked down a long hallway in the complex. During that time, the entire area heavily shook. The two of them braced their bodies and hugged the walls.

“That can’t be a good sign.” Spike said with a concerned tone.

“We have to hurry. For all we know, Twilight could be getting mauled.” The moment these words passed Celestia’s mouth, a feminine voice echoed from above.

“Why should you be concerned with her when you have your own lives to worry about right now?” From the ceiling above, two robed figures dropped onto the ground and flicked off their hoods. Under the cloaks was an aqua-coated unicorn stallion with lilac eyes and a twist-style yellow mane and tail. To his left was a rose-coated pegasus mare with red eyes and a curled purple mane and tail.

“You know, that Twilight has caused a mess of things around here. Since you’re looking for her, you’re looking for trouble.” He replied. The stallion’s entire right hoof was a white prong with electricity bursting at the end. The mare’s hind legs looked as if they were turbines in bendable leg form. Spike glared at the two ponies before him.

“Well if it isn’t White Sound and his partner in crime Rose Thorn. I hear the industry’s been booming. Mind filling me in on what had happened?”

Rose Thorn maliciously giggled.

“Well if it isn’t Spike the Deserter! Sunset Shimmer has made you on the top of her hit list after you practically forced her onto life support. How’s life at the outskirts doing for you?” White Noise glanced over towards Celestia, whose stare bore into the center of his eyes.

“Fancy meeting you here princess! Remember me?” Celestia scoffed.

“The only thing I remember were those shocks you gave to your victims you vampire. The two of you have never been captured despite your staggering criminal records. I’ve been waiting for an opportunity like this since forever.” White Noise laughed as he held his prong hoof to his face. At the end, the prong sparked with life.

“They don’t call me White Noise for nothing. Let my sounds bring you into a deep sleep that you will never wake out of.”

“So it looks like it is a classic 2v2? Fine by me, I’ve never doing dirty work by myself anyways.” Rose Thorn stated with a bored expression. Her turbine legs suddenly covered themselves with sharp spikes.

The apparatus on Celestia’s chest projected a hologram of a blue beam sword shaped like a rapier. The beam rapier materialized and levitated itself towards her hoof.

With a growl, Spike held out his claws. The implants within them flashed for a brief second before they grew six times their sizes.

“Life or death, I am prepared for any outcome. I just hope you are prepared for death.” He stated. All four combatants dashed towards each other.

---

The walls within the depths of the complex shook so hard that some of the pods on the walls fell down into the dark abyss. Twilight Sparkle backed slightly and looked around the entire area with her mouth opened in fear. Sunset Shimmer smiled at the despair of the pony in front of her.

“Your fear amuses me Twilight Sparkle. How can somepony who has proven herself to be as tough as nails be so scared of a little rumble?” She stated while the floor she was on lowered itself into the abyss. “Maybe you aren’t as tough as your actions say you are. That means you don’t belong in my Utopia!”

In that instant, a mechanical spider about a fourth the size of the room jumped from the abyss below onto the platform. It was coated in green-caramel-colored armor and had several whirring gears, glass pods and a black mass of machinery on its back that resembled Sunset Shimmer. It had no eyes but its fangs looked sharp enough to cut through a single hair within the wind. Its legs were lined up with light blue arrows that transitioned upwards to its joints.

“A Mechanized Assault Spider Unit MKIII? Are you mad, Sunset Shimmer?!” Twilight Sparkle shouted.

“So you know your military technology as well! The instructors have taught you well. As for your question, this does not make me mad. This may seem like overkill, but with my current physical circumstances, I cannot resort to other methods of eliminating you.” From the walls within the area, giant arms made from scrap metal descended down towards Twilight Sparkle. “Invoking mechanical arms to make you easy prey for me does make me mad however.”

The mechanical spider opened its gaping maw and revealed a set of eighteen holes. From each of the holes, red missiles surfaced and launched into the air. They homed in onto Twilight Sparkle and flew towards her. The mechanical arms within the room dove towards the mare on the ground.

Twilight Sparkle’s teeth were clenched and her ears stood up in surprise. She ran across the room, sweating as the volley of missiles and arms pecked at her. One missile flew faster than the others and sped towards her direction. She looked back with her mouth agape. Sunset Shimmer smiled as the missile was a foot away from contact. Twilight Sparkle’s mouth turned from being open to a cocky grin.

“Looks like you forgot one thing about how these heat-seeking missiles work Sunset.” She stated as she jumped into the air with a backflip and landed on the missile behind her. Several screens came up on her left hoof. After seconds of extensive sliding and button combinations, the red missile had its color changed into a dark sapphire color. Both Twilight Sparkle and the missile flew up to the ceiling towards the cluster unit of the mechanical arms.

“What are you trying to do, Twilight Sparkle? Can’t you see that you will be captured by my arms?” Sunset Shimmer questioned assuredly but with a hint of disbelief. As soon as the hijacked missile was in a close enough range, Twilight Sparkle grinned and let go, dropping down into the volley of missiles. She galloped down each individual missile, jumping from one to the other.

The hijacked missile collided into the arms with a fiery explosion. The rest of the missiles homed in onto the explosion and generated massive explosions that broke off all the arms on the room from the connecting joint. Sunset Shimmer screamed heavily in pain and the mechanical spider strongly shook. Twilight Sparkle landed on the ground on all fours, avoiding any sort of damage on her.

“Your mistake was underestimating my knowledge on the weaponry of your spider. Heat-seeking missiles may be effective, but the explosive warhead lies at the tip of the missile while their sheer size means that somepony with decent athleticism is able to jump onto it. I merely hacked into the targeting system and aimed it towards the arms above. Not only did I remove one of your major weapons, but from the look of things, that seemed like it hurt you badly.” Sunset Shimmer seethed with anger as her mechanical body sparked.

“You’ll pay for that, Twilight Sparkle! Mark my words!”

---

Rose Thorn launched her right hind leg towards Celestia’s direction, who barely parried the blow and thrust forward. Jumping into the air, she flipped and threw her left hind leg downwards. Celestia jumped back a few frames before the collision. A giant crater emerged from the impact of her leg.

White Noise rotated his prong hoof around clockwise and created a ring of electricity around it. With a single thrust of the prong, the ring blasted towards Spike’s direction. Spike slashed the ring of electricity with his claws and broke it in half. White Noise smiled.

“Well, I’m glad that your skills have not atrophied Spike. It would have been boring if they had.”

“Just because I became reclusive doesn’t mean that I neglect training my body and mind.” Spike dashed forwards with his right set of claws motioning in a stabbing position. The tip of White Noise’s prong sparked with electricity. White Noise dashed towards Spike with his prong aiming towards his center. Spike shifted towards his left and swung his right leg towards White Noise.

“You’re going to have to do better than that Spike.” White Noise stated haughtily, shifting the direction of the prong towards Spike’s knee. Upon the prong striking his joint, Spike’s eyes lit up in burning pain. Thousands of yelps were trying to escape his throat. “Didn’t like that, did you? Implants, powerful in their own right, tend to be vulnerable and vital to the body. Just a good strike there would put somepony in a coma.”

“You… forgot one thing…” Spike grunted through his pain. The struck apparatus on his knee changed into a red color. Turing into a slightly darker color, his leg felt completely limp. “I can individually turn off my limbs and turn them into insulators.” Opening his palm, he then slashed White Noise’s prong, chipping off the electrical tip. Clenching his teeth, White Noise’s eyes jolted open in pain.

“White Noise!” Rose Thorn shouted in concern while she was kicking Celestia. A rapier passed just by her head.

“You’ll have to worry about your own life before you can worry about your partner’s.” Celestia stated in a serious tone. Rose Thorn curled her eyebrows and jumped into the air, roundhouse kicking Celestia across her face.

White Noise looked at the sparking nub at what used to be his prong. He looked up towards Spike, who had a confident smile on his face. His right leg was awkwardly arched, but he still stood perfectly on his left leg.

“It looks like it is game over for you. I just disarmed you.” White Noise looked up towards Spike, a sadistic grin forming on his face.

“Just because you got rid of my prongs doesn’t mean that you ‘disarmed’ me. No, all you did was just open the gates into a true hell.” Suddenly, the nub of the prong sparked intensely. He aimed the nub towards Spike. From within it, a stream of electricity fired out towards its aimed direction. With no time to react, the electricity struck Spike in the chest, knocking him back into a wall.

Celestia looked back within a split second, distracted by the sudden noise. As she turned her head forward, her jaw met the force of a thousand rampaging rhinos. The spiked edge of Rose Thorn’s leg chucked Celestia into the air. Squatting, Rose Thorn jumped an impressive distance into the air. Above Celestia’s head level, she vertically swung her leg onto Celestia’s head. Celestia’s jaw dropped from the impact and her eyes jolted open, falling down towards the ground at breakneck speed.

“So, what was that about worrying about your own life before worrying about the lives of others?” Rose Thorn jeered. Celestia grunted lowly with her teeth clenching in pain. She slowly moved her head upwards.

Pulling himself out of the wall, Spike’s sight slowly cleared up. White Noise dashed towards him with his busted prong. With quick reflexes, Spike grasped the broken wall and sprung off of it, causing White Noise to miss him. He landed on his feet and turned around.

“How are you still in a condition to fight when I practically clawed off your hoof?” White Noise condescendingly closed his eyes and shrugged.

“I guess that I can’t keep it a secret no more. This isn’t really an implant. Rather, it’s an artificial limb that takes the place of my severed right front leg. Technology can be an amazing thing.” Spike narrowed his eyes, his sight burrowing into his opponent’s eyes.

“Cool stuff. It’s a shame that I’ll just have to tear off your other front leg then!” He shouted, leaping into the air on his good leg and aiming his left claw down towards White Noise’s left shoulder. White Noise smirked and pulled out his sparking prong and aimed it towards Spike’s left elbow. With a powerful surge, another stream of electricity shot out and hit its target. Spike’s eyes widened the moment that the burning pain struck his elbow. His entire left arm darkened and the apparatus on it turned a red color. He landed on his left foot and his right knee.

“Fufufu Spike, that’s two limbs out of commission for now. I’ll make it four for four next.” With a gleeful smile, White Noise’s horn became enshrouded in a soft white light. In that moment, he vanished from plain sight.

"Where did he..." As these words passed through his mind, he suddenly felt a powerful swing strike his jaw. "Invisibility... that's clever." In that moment, the color of Spike’s eyes changed from an emerald color to a stylized red color. Through his sight, the entire room was slightly yellow with heat. Then, he detected a sudden surge of dark orange to light red heading towards his way. As the energy mass neared him, he jumped over it and, with his left leg, kicked it back. He smiled victoriously until a chilling voice whispered right next to his right ear.

“That’s a nice trick I did there, wasn’t it?” Immediately, he jolted back and slashed towards that direction.

“Where are you, White Noise?!” He shouted loudly. In that moment, the appearance of White Noise had suddenly phased into existence behind him.

“I’m over here.” He stated, taking his prong and sticking it into Spike’s right elbow. Spike had no time to scream as he felt his legs being tugged at. He suddenly fell onto the ground with a large thud. As he attempted to lift his left leg, a sensation of burning needles poked into his left knee. He sealed his throat as hard as possible, preventing any screams from leaving.

His remaining limbs have darkened and his last apparatuses turned red. White Noise hopped onto his chest with his sparking hoof aimed towards Spike’s face. “It appears that this is the end of our confrontation. Though, I’m generous enough to let my former friend speak his final words before I send him off towards a deep sleep. Choose your next words wisely.”

Spike looked around the hall. His eyes witnessed Celestia barely keeping up with Rose Thorn’s speed, parrying many blows with her rapier and having her chest and legs struck by other blows. He looked up towards the face of White Noise. A sudden burst of laughter emerged from his chest.

“You know what, White Noise? You may think that you have won against me, but I believe that you have just lost this skirmish.” White Noise narrowed his eyes.

“What is this loss you speak of? If I am correct, then you can’t move your limbs, I’m far away enough from your head to avoid any sorts of headbutts and bites, and my associate is keeping your partner busy. If anything, I have the most advantageous position over you. You can’t move and you can’t attack me.” At these words, Spike grinned.

“That’s what you would like to think now, would it? Didn’t you forget exactly what I am?”

“You are a dragon, but what does this have to do wi-“Just as these words passed through his mouth, White Noise’s eyes widened. It was then when he saw fire building up within the depths of Spike’s mouth. He moved his legs, but his hooves were practically glued onto Spike’s chest. “What kind of trickery is this?!” He shouted.

“Electro-magnetism app. Never leave home without it.” Spike’s words were engulfed within the fires of his mouth. The pressure built up rapidly until he couldn’t hold it in anymore. Opening his maw, a stream of fire let loose from his mouth. Cloaked in biting flames, White Noise started screaming to the top of his lung. His hooves detached from Spike’s body and he ran around the hallway, rolling around the floor as quickly and often as he could.

“IT BURNS! PLEASE, STOP THE BURNS!” He shouted loudly. With each passing second, his flesh slowly burned away. Eventually, the shock of pain proved itself to be too great for him. The flames eating away what remained, the figure that was White Noise slumped over and burned into cinders.

Rose Thorn, who looked towards the body, had her mouth and eyes widened as large as possible. In her lack of focus, she felt a pointed object pierce through her cheek and into her mouth. She glanced over to a badly beaten and bruised Celestia, whose eyes contained an indignant stare directed towards her. Rose Thorn’s eyes were dull and listless.

“Go ahead, cut me and end my life. All this fighting is meaningless if I can’t do it without my friend.” At these words, Celestia smiled and pulled back her blade as swiftly as possible. Rose Thorn suddenly fired up with a molten expression on her face. She kicked Celestia across her face with her spiked right hind leg and knocked her into the wall. Getting out of the wall, Celestia’s eyes drifted towards her attacker.

“I thought you surrendered…”

“I thought you were going to give me a dignified end. It looks like we can’t have things our own way, now does it?” Rose Thorn shouted, stomping Celestia’s body on the ground with her right hind leg. “Get. Up. And. Kill. Me. Now!” The stomping stopped after ten seconds, but it felt as if it went for ten minutes straight for Celestia. Celestia breathed heavily as she got up, looking towards Rose Thorn’s face, whose eyes were shut and mouth was curled into a somber frown.

“Rose Thorn… do you really want to die?” She asked.

“You don’t know how much I’ve been through, Commander Celestia. I used to be a successful model and had everything I could have possibly wanted. But… eventually, everypony lost interest in me because cybernetic hind legs were out. They all wanted cybernetic chests, which was something that my body would always reject. I was fired from my work and had no other place to go but into the criminal underworld to make ends meet. It felt… empty.” Rose Thorn revealed.

“But… why do you continue with your criminal actions if you felt empty?”

“Because… I met him.” She stated as she pointed towards the smoldering ash that was White Noise. “Unlike others, he saw my internal beauty. He didn’t look at me lustfully like how your friend was doing right now.”

“I resent that!” Spike interrupted. “I was… uhh… merely looking out for Celestia.”

“Yeah, right.” Rose Thorn snidely replied. “White Noise appreciated my mind, my personality and my killer instinct. He gave me a reason to live. Now that he’s gone before I could be gone, I don’t see why I should continue living. Ponies will treat me like how I was treated in the modelling industry; just another pretty face before I start being crap in their eyes. I could kill those ponies, but what is the point of doing that?” Celestia looked into the eyes of Rose Thorn, who looked as if she was holding back tears.

“She’s a criminal and speaks as if she was a killing machine, but her eyes tell a different story. She’s just as equine as anypony else underneath that stoic exterior. Must I really kill her…?” She closed her eyes and exhaled a sigh. She opened them somberly. “If you wish to die Rose Thorn, then I shall not hesitate to bring that upon you.” Walking up to Rose Thorn, Celestia held out her rapier. Her hoof shook rapidly as she aimed it directly towards her face. She shut her eyes and thrust her blade into Rose Thorn’s skull.

“Thank you… Celestia. Thank you for liberating me from this world of suffering.” Rose Thorn flatly stated with a smile curling on her face. Her stance began to weaken. Celestia pulled her rapier out of Rose Thorn’s head. Rose Thorn slumped over onto the ground, next to the ashes that are White Noise. Celestia solemnly walked towards Spike, who lied down on his back.

“Are you going to be able to get up, Spike?”

“Just… give me a minute. These apparatuses will soon bring life into my limbs. In the meantime, you got to go to Twilight. Who knows what kind of trouble she is in right now?” With a nod, Celestia sprinted down the hallway. Spike lied down on the ground, next to White Noise’s ashes and Rose Thorn’s body. A frown appeared on his face.

---

With a jolt of electricity passing through her, a smile cracked on Sunset Shimmer’s face.

“It seems as if two more of my people met their demise. It’s no doubt your favorite duo, Celestia and Spike.”

“Then why are you smiling about it? Shouldn’t you be sad that two ponies under you had just perished?” Twilight Sparkle asked.

“If they died, then they were weak. They were weak and sniveling fools who could not handle their opponents. Why should I care if they die? If I were you, I’d be more concerned with the pony before you right now.”

With these words passing through Sunset Shimmer’s mouth, the mechanical spider lifted the fangs covering a portion of its mouth and directed them towards Twilight Sparkle. Showers of sparks rained from the tips as an electrical beam shot towards Twilight Sparkle’s direction. Twilight Sparkle jumped over and across the beam before another one fired from a different tip. She yelped as the beam struck her square in the chest.

Before her eyes was a conflagration of static and various errors signs in a red color. An unintelligible noise escaped from her mouth.

“What was that? Mechanized Assault Spiders don’t have dual electrical lasers, and they shouldn’t be capable of having those kinds of upgrades.” The mechanical spider opened up its maw beyond the missile silo. Within it was a silver meteor that was large in size and sparkled in eternal light.

“This meteor is home to incredible power; not only did it form the implants such as the one on your hoof, but it is also organic in the sense that it continuously grows. With the power that emanates from it, I was able to upgrade this particular Assault Spider beyond an MKIII model. Now, I’m afraid it is time for you to die, Twilight Sparkle!” Energy warped around the fangs of the spider.

Twilight Sparkle shut her eyes as tightly as possible and waited for the grip of death to catch her. It passed a few seconds, but she felt nothing. When her eyes opened, she gasped in shock; before her face, Celestia held out her rapier and absorbed the energy directed towards her.

“Celestia!” Twilight Sparkle screamed out joyfully. The concentrated energy within the rapier fired towards the mechanical spider. The fangs of the mechanical titan were blasted off by the beam.

“Do not thank me yet, Twilight. I’m glad that I made it just in time to save you from Sunset Shimmer.” She stated. The mechanical spider metal whirred with tortured noises.

“Celestia… How long has it been since we last met face to face?” Sunset Shimmer asked.

“Long enough to not know that you were working behind the government’s back when the EPF after we cut a deal with you all.”

“Wait a second, what deal?” Twilight Sparkle questioned. Celestia sighed with a heavy tone. Sunset Shimmer cackled loudly.

“It was the deal where, as long as I provide all of my information to the EPF, my ponies get away scot-free with their crimes involving biotech. It was quite a prosperous deal for the both of us, wasn’t it?”

“Except that you clearly hid research from the EPF surrounding the mystery of the implant technology. Plus, that mare who successfully got out of the complex was held hostage to your cruel machinations. That was not a part of the deal and you have crossed the line.” Celestia vehemently opposed.

“You know Celestia, you may have power within the EPF, but the council’s not going to believe you. What you are suggesting means taking out one of their biggest patrons just to fulfill your own virtues. In fact, I can make it look like you were defending a criminal while I was taking care of her on my own. Neo Neighpon’s ponies would look at me as a mysterious savior who took out not one, but two criminals.” Sunset Shimmer’s words slowly seeped into Twilight Sparkle’s psyche until realization struck her in the form of a neurological impulse.

“I don’t care if I am branded as a criminal for becoming a renegade; you hurt innocent ponies and blamed it on my beloved Twilight! You will not get away for these actions.” She stood in awe and bated breath as Celestia stood up for her. Courage filled up within her soul and life sparked within her eyes.

“I don’t care if I am branded as a criminal. If Celestia can be strong enough to accept that fate, then so can I.” The words that came from Twilight Sparkle’s mouth sparked a mechanically monstrous laughter from Sunset Shimmer.

“You act as if the two of you will get out of here alive! It’s so funny that it is pitiful! Just give up and lose hope. You two will die here!” She shouted, rearing back one of the sharp legs of her mech. Just as she jabbed forward, another surge of electricity wreathed around her. She winced and screamed in pain. From the stairs, Spike ran down onto the battlefield with all feeling back in his limbs.

“I hope I’m not late for the party.” He stated as he joined up with the group. Through her pain, Sunset Shimmer looked down upon Spike with a gnarling smile.

“It’s so good to see you again Spike. You know, I’ve enjoyed the parting gift that you gave me long ago.”

“You mean that computer virus that attacked your biological systems? I’m surprised you are still alive after that. It was my greatest creation… and my biggest downfall.” Spike stated with a voice pregnant with regret.

“At first, I cursed your name out for the first few days as my biological body slowly disintegrated away from it. However, thanks to you, I was able to gain this form you see here, allowing me to take my position as a literal goddess of technology. All it took was eighty-six percent of my physical body decaying away.”

“So is that why you look so disgusting, Sunset Shimmer?” Twilight Sparkle snidely remarked.

“I may look disgusting to you Twilight Sparkle, but that’s because you are more biological than you are a machine like Spike and Celestia. Clearly, you three have not resigned to the urges of your biotech. Now, kneel before a true mechanized goddess!” Sunset Shimmer responded haughtily.

“Kneel before this instead.” Spike stated as he pulled out a blue hand cannon with a sharp spike protruding out of the hole. The spike blasted out of the gun and aimed directly towards Sunset Shimmer’s fleshy cheek. With red 0s and 1s pumping into her, Sunset Shimmer screamed at the top of her voice. “That is a special virus that amplifies the effects of other viruses currently in your system. I designed it just in case this day would come.”

“You… you disgusting biological-loving creature! I was supposed to have led this world into a glorious age of technology! I’ll… I’ll kill all of you ponies one daaaaayyyyyy!!!!!” She screamed as her remaining flesh disintegrated into bone before it disappeared as well. Her mechanical body slumped over and the mechanical spider shut down.

“It’s… it’s over…” Twilight Sparkle worded out in awe.

“It’s far from over Twi. In fact, we may have worsened the current situation at hand.” Spike stated. “Sunset Shimmer wasn’t kidding when she said that the economy of the world depended on her. With her out of the picture, the entire world is going to be facing an economic crisis. This world is going to develop into a hell, and the three of us are going to be blamed for it.”

“There’s no other choice but to run away. Unfortunately, our implants are easily traceable by the EPF. There’s no way we can run forever.” Celestia said in a lower tone.

“Then we’ll just have to get rid of our implants, now won’t we?” Spike rhetorically questioned.

“Wait, you can do that?! But… removing implants would kill the host. Biotech implants are too deeply rooted into our physical system for safe removal.” Twilight Sparkle stated. Spike confidently walked over to the maws of the mechanical spider. His claws extended and with a powerful swipe, the mouth of the spider broke open. Within it was the meteor.

“If this meteor is what brought implants into our world, then maybe I can find out how it removes ours… The only thing I don’t know is how I move such a large meteor out of here.” Twilight Sparkle looked at the mechanical spider; despite a few scratches and buffers, it was intact for the most part. She proceeded to smack her forehead with her hoof.

“You know, just because nopony is piloting this thing anymore doesn’t mean that it doesn’t work Spike. Let’s just use that to take the meteor and leave this place before the police begin to suspect murder.” Spike looked up towards the cockpit of the spider and narrowed his eyes.

“That doesn’t sound like a half-bad idea, Twilight. Let’s go with that.” He stated with a hesitant tone of voice. Twilight Sparkle, Celestia and Spike clambered up the legs of the spider. Celestia placed her right hoof on a door on the top of the head, causing it to open.

Blue lights within flickered to life. At the moment red eyes flashed upon the mechanical spider’s face, a blue screen within the cockpit illuminated. Celestia gulped while Twilight Sparkle and Spike hopped into the cockpit. Twilight Sparkle turned her head back and noticed that Celestia stopped.

“Commander Celestia, aren’t you coming in?” Her hooves trembling, Celestia eyed the entire room.

“I’m coming, but…”

“I know how it feels to do this Commander. You have essentially betrayed the entire city and EPF just to assist me. If this recent adventure taught me anything, it is that once I start going down the point of no return, there’s no going back. I just have to keep going and see where it leads me. Now you just have to do the same.” At the mention of Twilight Sparkle’s words, a small grin appeared on Celestia’s face before she walked inside of the cockpit.

“You certainly have grown from this conflict. You not only proved that you had the skills to survive, but you also taught me something new.” The doors to the cockpit shut tightly. The mechanical spider whirred loudly before it stood up. With a powerful leap, the mechanical spider breached through the ceiling and began to claw its way through.

Author's Note:

The last chapter before the exciting ending! Let us see what happens in the epilogue, together. Also, I'd like to give a round of thanks to the Shin Megami Tensei series for some philosophy within this chapter.