Through a Mirror, Darkly

*Knock knock*

Rainbow bolted upright, looking around at the sudden noise and kicking Applejack awake while she did so, keeping her quiet with a hoof pressed to her lips as she cocked her head and listened.

*Knock Knock*

Rolling off her bed she cautiously approached the door and placed an ear to it, listening for anypony outside.

"Are you sure," *cough*, "This is the right place Pinkie?" The voice of what must be an ancient pony asked on the other side, it sounded like a bunch of dry leaves had developed the power to speak.

"Sure I'm sure, you know you're really light, I could carry you all day!" came the hyperactive response of another mare, this one sounding significantly younger

"Pinkie, focus." Again the older mare, Rainbow was having to almost strain her hearing to hear her, "I would kill for a glass of water right now."

"Just magic some up."

"Pinkie, that doesn't work, it may look like water and taste like water, but unless I gather actual water it will only be magical residue, and have no effect."

Rainbow takes her ear off the door perplexed by the conversation going on outside, one is clearly a unicorn and the other isn't even magic savvy. Judging from the fact that this 'Pinkie' was carrying another pony with no apparent effort pointed at her being an earth pony.

*Knock Knock*

Making sure Applejack was ready Rainbow unlocked the door and opened it slowly revealing the pair on the other side, "Can I help you?" Rainbow asked as she regarded the pair who looked her up and down in return.

"Maybe this is the wrong room Velvet," the pink earth pony told her companion, "I don't think Rarity was part of the Mares Pride movement."

Rainbow felt herself going red in the face, "Hey! That was one time! and they paid good money for a mascot!" she shouted at the pair who had raised an eyebrow each. She shook her head, "anyway you two know Rarity?" when the pair nodded Rainbow ushered them inside, closing the door behind them. "Where is she?"

Pinkie laid Twilight on Rainbow's bed, the lavender mare relaxing into the soft sheets with a groan of contentment, before she answered Rainbow's question. "Greenhorn and Ice Bitch shouldn't be far behind us, since she was stupid enough to walk in with a plan to only get her and 'shy out, Twilight had to telport us both as far as she could." her face goes green, "Teleporting tastes weird I don't recommend it..." she looks at Rainbow and Applejack, leaving the question hanging openly.

"I'm Applejack, this is Rainbow Dash, and y'all are?"

"I'm Twilight Velvet, call me Velvet, and that's Pinkie. Can I get a glass of water?" As Applejack pours a glass for Twilight the unicorn looks around the room, taking in details with a critical eye, "so this is a hotel, seems minimalistic."

"You never been to a hotel old timer?" Applejack asks the unicorn as she places the glass of water nearby.

"I'm twenty." Is the deadpan response.

Applejacks eyes widen in shock, "Twenty? But you look..." she indicated Twilight's body, getting a good look at it for the first time. "uh...." she stuttered as she tried to think of a way to break it gently.

"Like a corpse, I'm pretty aware of how I appear, there were plenty of windows on the way here." Twilight deadpans, her voice a little stronger after a few sips of water, using a little telekinesis she wraps one of her legs and lifts it off the bed, "my muscles atrophied a few years ago, as I am now I'm literally no stronger than a newborn foal." Lowering her leg she takes another sip of water. "but don't worry about my usefulness, I've developed a few techniques to get myself mobile, give me a few months and I'll be able to walk mostly unaided."

Rainbow looks at the mare uncertainly, "I did some basic stuff in biology, no way you could get you muscles back that fast, and magic won't cut it."

Twilight merely smiled, "I have my ways..."

Seeing she wasn't going to say any more Applejack turned to Pinkie, who only shook her head, "nope, not talking to you until Flutterbitch gets here, she's the boss for now!"

Rainbow narrowed her eyes, "stop calling Fluttershy that."

Pinkie stood up and squared up to the prismatic mare, "I'll call Bitchshy anything I want, she doesn't mind, do you?" Her gaze jumped behind Rainbow.

Dash's eyes widened and she whipped around to face the window, "Shy!" the exclamation died on her lips, there was nopony there, Dash felt her heart sink.

She was snapped out of it by a laughing Pinkie, "Hahaha! Are all Rarity's friends this much fun? I am so on board with this, and not just because I get to rip the princesses a new one, priceless." She rolled on the floor her sides heaving with mirth, on the bed Twilight also suppressed a smile

Rainbow virtually exploded, "Hey! Where do you get off doing that?" Pinkie stopped and looked up at the steaming cyan pegasus, "You have no idea what I went through when Flutters was taken to prison! I thought she was dead until I saw her that day!"

Pinkie sneered at her, "Some friend you turned out to be then, letting her be dragged into that hell hole alone."

Dash deflated slightly, "I did my best to get her out, I figured at the time I would do better from the outside." The pegasus lowered her head, "I can never make it up to her after what happened in flight school..."

Surprisingly it was Pinkie who reached out and enveloped the upset pegasus in a hug, "shush," she stroked the back of Rainbows head with a hoof, "it's good to see you can at least think straight when faced with a situation as fucked up as that, you did the right thing, nopony blames you."

"Well this is a first for you Pinkemena."

The soft voice causes both Dash and Pinkie to stiffen in shock, as one they turn to the window where Fluttershy is now hovering, "I have to say I'm surprised that you're actually fixing a pony's head, rather than breaking it." Her eyes switched to Dash, "Hello Rainbow Dash, its been a while."

Dash leapt to her hooves and she charged at the pegasus mare, "Fluttershy!" she cried as she grabbed the mare in a tight embrace, "You're all right." she breathed, another shudder racking her frame, "I'm sorry I never came to get you."

Fluttershy returned the embrace, "It's okay Dash, I heard everything from outside." She lifts the pegasus' gaze until it meets her own, "I don't blame you in the slightest."

Applejack steps forward, "Sweet as this is and all, where's Rarity? She should have been with you."

"I'm right here darling," Rarity stated as she walked through the door, depositing her saddle bag on a nearby hook, "Rarity reporting in, mission successful."

Applejack smiled at her friend, "Glad to hear it Rares, anything interesting happen on the side?"

Rarity looked at the three former inmates, "I learned that these three actually share our goal."

Applejack raised her eyebrows in surprise, tilting her stetson back with a hoof, "Really now?" She looked at the three ponies in question, "well that's good to hear." She turns to face them and clears her throat, "Greetings to y'all I'm Applejack, you've already met Rainbow and Rarity." She gestures to each mare in turn before continuing, "Now, y'all know that our objective is to remove the Princesses, and that we ain't fussy in how it gets done, that's where you come in. Y'all have the experience to aid is in that pursuit."

Fluttershy looked unimpressed, "and how do you help us? We bring the experience and the muscle to the table, what about you?"

Applejack smiles at the yellow pegasus, "We bring knowledge and certain skills, like Rare's expertise in getting y'all out of under the guards noses."

Fluttershy smirked at the orange mare, "When we left the alarm was on," Applejack's smile faltered a bit, "Greenhorn and I were running for our lives," Applejack's smile weakened considerably, "and Twilight Velvet and Pinkemena only escaped when I told them my plan." Applejack's smile vanished.

From the bed Twilight muttered, "Sloppy planning and poor execution, D-." She looked over at Fluttershy, "Also, call me Velvet."

Fluttershy spared the emaciated unicorn a glance before continuing, "You've got guts I'll give you that, and you have some skills. But having them and using them are two different things. You got lucky tonight, next time you might not be so lucky."

"We've been fine up until now, everything else we've done has gone under the radar." Rarity coughed slightly, "Yes Rares I know, it wasn't until we decided to break y'all out that we were a little unprepared." Applejack admitted to the still unimpressed ex-prisoner.

"And that almost came back to bite your flank."

The two stared at each other across the room, the tension could be cut with a knife. After a while Applejack finally spoke again, "All right then, what would have y'all done differently?"

"For starters I would have asked about the layout of the prison from ex-inmates, they're easy enough to find thanks to the records bureau, from that I would've made a basic map of the layout of the prison. With that done I would observe the prison for several days and gather intel on the number of guards on patrol and the schedule for changes. After I have all that I would check the weather schedule and wait until conditions were ideal to get into and out of the prison with my rescuee, making accommodations in the plan for more if possible." Twilight spoke from the bed her eyes closed as she mentally listed off the steps. She opened her eyes and regarded the room, "although they say hindsight is 20-20."

Applejack sighed, "Y'all are right. We could have planned this whole thing better." She sat on the edge of the bed, "The plan sounded good on paper, though I guess it didn't translate that well in the end."

"Plans rarely survive first contact, with anything." The voice of Twilight once more issued from atop the bed, "Also, I can guarantee that there will be guards out searching for us, you don't just break three ponies out of a maximum security prison and expect nothing to happen, so, what's the plan now?" She looked pointedly at Applejack.

Applejack nodded appreciatively, thanking the lavender unicorn for the second chance she'd been given silently, "If y'all would follow me I have that covered." She stated, pulling a simple briefcase from beneath the bed.

-9:58 that same morning-

"Granny come on, we'll miss the train!" A middle aged pegasus stallion called. The guards looked at the elderly unicorn passing below their vision, her hooves shaking as she supported herself with a cane.

"Do you need help ma'am?" one of the guards asked approaching the elderly mare.

She looked around at them before smiling toothily, "Aren't you a gentle colt! thank you deary but I think I can manage. I may be old but I am not helpless yet!" The mare rambled as she continued down the platform to the waiting train, where the pegasus stallion waited impatiently.

"Come on granny the rest of the family's all on board." The stallion hurried and fussed about the old mare guiding her onto the train much to her chagrin, "Let off you damned fool, you'll bust me hip!" The argument continued down the carriage as the pair tried to find their seats. Entering a compartment they found themselves in the company of four other ponies, who stared at their abrupt entry.

"Sorry, wrong room." The stallion mumbled to the surprised occupants before ushering his elderly charge along.

When the door closed the four ponies looked at each other and shrugged, before returning to their conversation.

Outside the conductor looked at his watch before blowing his whistle, waving his baton at the train, and hopping into the rear car. In the engine box a team of ponies shovelled on more coal and with a groan and spinning of wheels the train pulled away slowly, the eight pony team at the front digging in as they set off, out of the city.