Exo's Journey

Chapters

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4

Chapter 1

The air around Canterlot was brisk and suffocating; Luna's moon shone brightly, if only a quarter full. It was the perfect night for a walk about town for a lone unicorn mare, despite the warnings of abductions given out by the guard.

Half of her white coat nearly glowed under the kerosene street lamps. A dark stripe ran from beneath her chin down her chest, past her belly, and went from the tip of her rump to the crook of her hind-legs. Atop her head sat one black ear and one white, the latter of which held two diamond studs and an earring. A messy orange and green mane had been done up in a pony tail as a pair of bangs ended in green tips around her knees. Her tail, same coloration as her mane, swept along the street behind her. On her flank rested a twisted stem with twin leaves at the top.

Her hooves pounded the cobblestone street she frequented during her walks. This trail wound through the fancier parts of the city. A few large houses with elegant shrubbery lined the street. Candles and fireplaces glowed from within as they radiated enough heat to warm the mare's chilly coat.

Across the street, a pair of patrolling guards gave her a stern look before nodding her away. She smiled warmly at them as she picked up her pace.

The mare rounded a corner, and saw a few stallions loading some possessions into a cart in the darkness. Merrily she trotted over to them.

"Good evening gentlecolts."

One of the stallions, a dark blue pegasus with a black mane and a whirlpool cutie-mark, winced at her arrival.

"Good evening miss," the navy stallion said with a strained smile.

"Exo," the mare said as she extended a hoof. "What are you guys doing at this time of night?"

"Well miss Exo," the dark blue pony said as he shook her overstretched hoof, "we are, uh... moving. All of the stuffy rich ponies do not want to see us with all of this stuff out here during the day, and that is why we are out here at night."

"Oh, that's too bad. This seems like a nice neighborhood, why are you moving?"

"Oh, we have heard that a lot of ponies have been abducted from this area, and we just do not feel safe anymore."

"Where are you guys moving to? If you don't mind my asking."

"Vanhoover," the pegasus said quickly.

"I've heard good things, is it nice over there?"

"It is uh, nice."

"And cold," said one of the ponies moving.

"And forest-y," said another.

"Yes, it is nice, and cold, and forest-y. Now miss Exo if you will excuse me, I have to go help my friends move some stuff." The stallion began to trot towards the others.

"Would you like some help?" Exo asked as she made her way to the stallion.

"That'd be great," said one of the movers.

With a skip in her step, the mare approached the cart, and was appalled at what she saw. Paintings and trophies were strewn about haphazardly; heirlooms and boxes had been tossed in with nary a care.

"Yeesh, what idiot set all of this stuff up?"

"That would be me, I'm the idiot," the navy pegasus behind her said.

"Oops, sorry, I didn't mean it like that."

"It's okay," he said with a sigh, "organization isn't my strong suite. And as you can see, we have everything under control miss Exo."

"At least let me organize this."

Before the stallion could consent, the alabaster unicorn had already flared her horn, and had begun levitating, moving, and rearranging the items in the cart. Before what had occupied a full cart now took up less than half of the space.

"You've got to teach me that trick," the stallion said with a touch of awe in his voice.

"Only if you give me a ride first."

"If you insist," the stallion replied cheekily.

"Th-that's not what I meant," the mare stammered hotly. "I-Imeantflymearound," Exo amended quickly.

"Trust me, it's not so great," the stallion said with a ruffle of his wings, "once you've been hit in the face with a few dozen bugs you'll change your tune."

"Oh, but it must be so amazing to be able to just take off, and leave without a second thought."

"Seeing the world at the drop of a hat."

"Yeah, some days you just feel like taking off and never looking back. Oh that would be so fun."

"Trust me, I'd much prefer to just lay down roots someplace."

"But it has to be amazing, looking down and seeing everypony looking like ants."

"I will admit, that is fun."

"So mister..."

"Name's Riptide, and drop the mister, I'm only twenty."

"Alright, Riptide, I'll trade you my horn if you trade me your wings." Exo extended a hoof.

"You got yourself a deal," Riptide replied, bumping his hoof against hers.

The rest of the night passed quickly, Riptide and Exo chatted as she arranged the items, and he oversaw the move. Finally the cart was filled to capacity. The unicorn smiled at her handiwork as she wiped sweat from her brow.

"Finally done," Exo said with a smile across her features.

Riptide, meanwhile was rummaging through a box on on the back of the cart. A few minutes later, he approached the mare with a small silver necklace with an inlaid black opal.

"Take it, as thanks," the stallion said as a blush crept into his cheeks despite the cold.

"I couldn't possibly accept this," Exo said as she returned the piece of silver to Riptide.

"Please," the stallion began gently, "it would make me much happier knowing that the necklace is being used by a pretty mare, as opposed to gathering dust in a box."

"Thank you."

"No problem." With that, the stallion flew into the night.

The mare sighed, exhausted, as she returned home that night.

A trio of loud, stern knocks at the door awoke the alabaster mare.

Glancing at her wall clock, Exo saw the smaller hand resting on the seven as the larger one sat on the two. It was far too early to wake up in the mare's opinion.

Another set of knocks filled the air.

"I'm coming," she shouted at the obtrusive pony at the door.

Shaking the sleep from her eyes, and giving a yawn, the alabaster unicorn got out of bed and headed for the door.

The pony on the opposite side of the door was cut off mid knock, as Exo flared her horn, and telekinetically pulled the door open a few feet away. Beyond the threshold to her home, the two-tone pony gasped as a pair of unicorn guards stared her down with their oppressive gaze.

"G-good morning," she said quickly, "would you like to come in?"

The marble mare winced as one of the guards flared his horn, pulled out a tightly wound scroll bound by a red ribbon, and an official seal.

"You are to appear in court promptly at eight AM on the fifteenth," one of the guards said.

"What? Why?" Exo blurted out more loudly than she meant to.

"The details are in the letter," replied the other guard. "Don't make us come back to take you there in chains."

"There's got to be some sort of mistake, I'm not a criminal."

"You are, Exo, a white unicorn with a twin leaf corkscrew shaped stem cutie-mark who lives at 8623 apple-wood lane, correct?"

"Yes," the mare said just above a whisper.

"Then there is no mistake."

The unicorn gulped as she saw both guards walk away in tandem.

Ripping off the seal, the alabaster pony read and reread the passage in front of her.

Dear miss Exo,

This letter is to inform you that charges have been brought up against you concerning an incident which occurred on the twenty-fifth of November in this, the eighth year of rule under the princesses Celestia and Luna. The charges are as follows: one count of organizing criminal activities, one count of aiding and abetting criminal activities, and one count of knowingly accepting stolen property.

Please report to the Cantelot city court on the date of December fifteenth, or else further measures will be enacted to ensure that justice is met.

The court date had arrived, she had acquired an attorney of some renown; even her parents had attended in a show of support. Walking up the marble staircase, flanked on either side by statues of Luna and Celestia, Exo could feel her hooves shaking as her shoes clacked against the stone floor. A knot formed in her stomach and bile rose in her throat as she reached the plate glass double doors of the court house. Pulling on the heavy brass handle, a wave of warm air and the smell of disinfectant washed over her. The knot on her stomach grew.

In the main room of the court sat a lone desk, a beige earth pony mare with a brilliant blue mane sat indifferently behind a magazine.

"I-I have an a-appointment here-"

"Second floor, room 207. Stairs are on your right," the mare stated without lifting her gaze from her reading material."

"B-but-"

"Look lady, we don't get many cases. You're Exo right?"

"Yeah."

"Then go, the judge doesn't like to be kept waiting."

Turning to her right, the alabaster mare trotted up the stairs as the knot in her stomach grew ever tighter. Upon arriving at the room, Exo's lawyer quickly escorted her inside and sat her down. Looking around, the two-tone mare noticed several upper class ponies whispering amongst themselves.

Without a word, an old gray stallion strode up to the podium, and began to read off a list of crimes that the unicorn had been accused of. His deep monotone voice lulled her into a trance as the trial proceeded.

Several of the attendants gave testimony of her at the home in question levitating items into a cart. The owner of the home had managed to keep several photographs of several of the missing articles, including a silver necklace inlaid with a black opal.

When she was called to the stand, Exo had given a description of the stallion she had unknowingly aided in the robbery, but the judge dismissed it a farce. When questioned, none of the witnesses had seen him, he had blended into the shadows too well.

The alabaster unicorn saw the look in the old stallion's eyes, she was guilty. After that, the mare felt her mind go numb as the world raced around her. The trial ran its course as her lawyer fought for her freedom, and her parents plead for an appeal. In the end, the gray stallion's decision was clear.

"Guilty. Twenty years at the Crystal Empire's Umbra prison." His old and powerful voice echoed through the chamber as the oaken gavel cracked against its base.

A pair of gray-brown unicorns clad in golden armor stepped out from behind the podium. Exo was lost, her eyes downcast, her face blank as hoof-cuffs were clamped around her ankles, and an iron clasp was placed around her horn, preventing magic use. The mare's parents wept as she was escorted away.

Upon exiting the court, a pair of guards led her to a waiting carriage. Hopping in, the unicorn felt an emptiness inside of her as the vehicle lurched forward.

The ride lasted hours, stopping several time to pick up other criminals from various holding cells along the way. Upon arriving, the brakes of the carriage gave a screech and jostled the ponies within.

"Everypony off," barked one of the guards.

Stepping off of the vehicle, Exo saw that they had been taken to a large guard outpost on the outskirts of the city. The building was a simple wooden structure, adjacent to a railway. Progress was slow, as steel chains clattered below them in a strange and steady rhythm. The cold skies were overcast, blocking out the sun as a bone-chilling wind swept through the group. The hairs in her coat stood up as she made her way inside the building. The interior of the outpost was a stark contrast to the frigid weather outside. Warm pipes ran the length of the ceiling, heating the interior of the building.

"Line up," called one of the guards.

The group stood flank to flank as a unicorn flared her horn, removed their hoof-cuffs, and began to magically search all of the prisoners of contraband. A purple stallion on the end was found to be carrying a needle of some sort, but nothing more.

After the search, Exo was taken into a separate room where her hoof prints and mugshots were taken. Another guard escorted the unicorn to a holding cell where the rest of the inmates had been corralled.

The unicorn had tried to strike up a conversation, but none of her other cellmates had felt particularly chatty. Eventually the mare had succumbed to the fatigue from the long day, and fell asleep.

The alabaster pony was awoken by a fellow prisoner nudging her in the ribs.

"Get up," the green pegasus mare whispered, "the guards are about to load us onto the train."

Lining up, Exo saw a gray-brown unicorn at the entrance to the holding cell with a set of keys floating nearby. Unlocking the door, the inmates shuffled out of the cell, and into a wing on the side of building. In this section of the outpost, the outer wall had been replaced with reinforced glass which allowed freezing tendrils of cold to nip a the mare's legs. Just outside, a nondescript, gray locomotive screeched to a halt.

"Alright everypony," the guard escorting them said flatly, "you are going to board the train single file, and any resistance will be met with force. You are to find a seat, and stay there until the end of the trip. This train will be taking you directly to the Umbra prison located in the perpetually frozen wastes of the Crystal Empire in a land of eternal night. The trip, barring delays, is scheduled to take just less than twenty-four hours. Meaning that you'll arrive at around this time tomorrow." The engine gave a hiss as the doors opened. "Any questions... good. Hope you all have a safe trip."

When the glass doors opened, the full force of the chilling wind made itself apparent as the frozen air filled her lungs and chilled her from the inside. Another line of prisoners had formed next to Exo's own. This fresh throng of prisoners ranged from red to green to purple to navy blue. With feathers, and a whirlpool on its flank. Riptide.

Despite the guard's protests, Exo marched across the hall, righteous indignation in her heart as she strode over to the pegasus. In one swift motion, the mare put her hoof under the stallion's chin, and made him lock eyes with her. For a second nothing happened, until the pegasus' eyes widened.

"Oh sh-"

Exo drew back her foreleg, and cracked her hoof against the stallion's head, knocking the dark blue pony to the floor.

After her spectacle, the mare had been bound, a bit had been placed in her mouth, and a muzzle had been affixed firmly around her snout. A guard had levitated her into a seat. All of the other prisoners had given her a wide berth, save for one.

"I'm sorry, for what happened," Riptide whispered into her ear from the seat behind her.

Exo growled in response.

"I really am, and I admit that I deserve what you did back there. I meant for the necklace to be a gift, I didn't think that things would turn out like this." The stallion went from his seat to hers, and looked straight into her eyes. "I swear to you, that I will get you out of this." The alabaster unicorn stared daggers at the navy pony. "Or I'll die trying."

The train whistled as the wheels began to turn, and the locomotive steadily carried the prisoners to their destination.

Author's Note

So originally I wanted this to take place during the grand galloping gala, but I forgot about it until now. C'est la vie. Probably would have been easier to frame her, but it would have been more leading up to it, and a bit more to explain. IDK. now let's keep the ball rolling.

Chapter 2

"So... you got any family?" Riptide asked the restrained mare from the seat behind her.

Exo grunted at the stallion's question as she rested her head against the window.

"One grunt for yes, two for no."

No response.

"I'll take that as a yes. Not me though, I've been alone for a while. Before you ask, no, those ponies I was helping are not my friends, hell I doubt that I knew half their names.

"Must be nice though, having someone to turn to when you're alone. Someplace to call home." The stallion sighed deeply. "That's enough about me though. Do you have any hobbies? I mean, apart from gardening."

Two grunts.

"Not gardening? Hm. It has to do with growing at least."

One grunt.

"You... grow ponies?"

Three grunts.

"Sort of?"

One grunt.

"You help ponies grow?"

Three grunts.

"You help their ideas grow?"

One grunt.

"You help ponies' ideas sprout, you help them get through the tough parts."

One grunt.

"That explains why you helped me out at least. Thanks, most ponies wouldn't care to lend a hoof. Although seeing the outcome, maybe it's best if you hadn't helped."

Exo thumped her head against the window, and turned to look Riptide in the face.

Two grunts.

"No? You're glad you helped?"

One grunt.

"Because it doesn't matter who needs your help, you're still going to give it to them."

The bound mare began to nod furiously.

"Gotta say miss Exo, you're one of the good ones."

That cycle of questioning continued for a while longer, Riptide attempted to guess the unicorn's response, and she either grunted in confirmation or refutation. Eventually a guard came about pushing a cart of food, and distributed it amongst the prisoners. When he arrived at Exo however, a particular problem presented itself.

"You, blue guy, get away from her," he barked.

"Why?" the navy pegasus asked.

"Because she has proven herself to be a violent individual, and I don't want you getting inadvertently hurt."

"Fine," Riptide huffed as he backed away.

Flaring his horn, the guard magically undid the restraints which held the mare, unclasped her muzzle, and finally pulled the bit out of her mouth.

"Thank you," Exo said between coughs as she massaged her sore cheeks; before stretching her tired muscles.

"I'll be back after lunch, and if you haven't been on your best behavior, back into the restraints you go." The alabaster unicorn winced at his threat as she slowly nodded and whimpered a bit.

The armored unicorn passed her a brown paper bag before moving on to the next pony.

The navy stallion ruffled through his own bag before looking up at the mare.

"So what'd you get?"

"A sandwich, an orange, a brownie, and a bottle of juice," Exo replied flatly.

"I got a sandwich, an apple, a carton of milk, and a cookie. Wanna trade?"

"Su... Why the heck am I even talking to you?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that you got me tossed in jail you idiot," Exo replied as she ground her teeth.

"So?"

"SO? Ponies aren't supposed to make friends with jerks that got them tossed in jail."

"I'll have you know that it means a lot to me that you consider us friends."

Exo nearly screamed before she took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "Ugh, you're impossible."

"So is that a no on the trading then?"

"Sure," the mare said as a hoof met her face, "whatever, just give me your cookie."

"I'd like your orange then please," Riptide replied as he pulled the circular confection out of his bag and placed it into the mare's outstretched hoof.

The unicorn quickly devoured the morsel before removing the orange from her bag, peeling it, and eating it before the stallion's eyes.

"Come on, now you're just being mean," the navy pegasus whined.

"Life's not fair, get used to it."

"What would you know about unfair." Exo glared at him. "Oh, right."

Riptide grumbled a bit before eating what was left of his own meal.

"So, see any good movies lately?" the stallion asked as he sipped the last of his milk.

"Yeah, I saw this really cool one about this mare who gets wrongly accused of theft, and gets sent to jail."

"Neat, then what happens?"

"She finds the stallion that got her thrown in there in the first place. It ends with her strangling him in his sleep."

"Ouch, morbid."

"I don't know, I thought it was funny."

"You know what else is funny?"

"No, I don't know what's funny about being taken to a maximum security prison in the middle of a glacier, with an idiot," Exo replied dryly.

"The first strike I got on my record was over an orange."

"You don't say," the unicorn mumbled as she rested her chin on her hoof while looking out the window.

"Yup. So I lifted this orange out of the guy's cart right."

"You stole an orange?"

"Look, not all of us were born into the lap of luxury."

"Luxury? Both of my parents worked full-time jobs," the mare said indignantly.

"Yeah, sure, peanut butter whatever. So I take the fruit right?"

"Yeah."

"And just as I start to trot away, this little filly points to me and says, 'mommy, that colt took an orange.' Needless to say, I was pissed. Then this pompous windbag trots over to me, and demands that I pay for it."

"Let me guess, you're short on funds."

"Are you a mind reader? So yeah, I run, blah, blah, blah, the guards catch me, haul me off, and I get six months in jail."

"Six months is a little excessive for stealing fruit, isn't it?"

"I may also have, accidentally, punched one of them in the face."

"Why am I not surprised."

"Because you and I are now friends with a deep emotional connection, and special precognitive abilities."

"Not likely, idiot."

The mare and stallion continued talking, Riptide did anyways, for several more hours.

"Eyes open everypony," a guard shouted from the front of the car, "take a good look outside, because that is the last glimpse of sunlight that you lot are going to see for a long time."

Quickly, Exo pressed her snout against the glass and saw the sun sitting on the horizon; an indigo sky stretched behind them. The first stars had begun to appear in the darkness. Orange light bathed the travelers before the sun slowly shifted red, and sank beneath the earth. The sky behind them grew inky and black as more stars twinkled to life, and the pale silver moon appeared in the sky. The moon, now full, illuminated the night-scape, accenting the towering snow banks and revealing what little wildlife there was.

Slowly, the monotonous shaking of the rail car and the steady drone of the tracks proved enough to cause Exo to lay down, close her eyes, and fall asleep.

When the mare awoke, she was startled to see that the moon was still high in the sky.

"Psst, Exo," Riptide whispered.

"What do you want idiot?" the mare whispered back.

"Is it just me, or do you feel like it's still the middle of the night?"

"Yeah, I feel that too," the alabaster unicorn responded. "Damn it."

"What?"

"I just realized that I'm treating you like a pony instead of the despicable piece of garbage that you are."

"Yeah, life's a bitch like that... You got a favorite bird? Mine's a puffin, they look so cute and cuddly."

"Yeah, I like blue jays. They're amazi- Stop doing that!"

"Stop doing what?"

"Stop being not a jerk. I just want to hate you."

"You want me to be a jerk so that you can hate me?"

"Yes," the mare said with a sigh.

"But friends aren't jerks to each other."

Exo wanted to scream, but the threat of being restrained again made her rethink her decision.

"We're not friends you idiot."

"So we're strong acquaintances then."

"I can't believe that I was actually tricked into helping you."

"If you will recall miss, I didn't trick you into a damn thing, in fact it was me who was adamant about not needing your assistance. It was your own altruistic personality that inclined you to help. As such, I demand an apology for being demeaned, and falsely accused of coercing you into preforming misdeeds."

"Stop doing that!"

"What? Stop doing what?"

"Stop being right about stuff, and let me hate you."

"Um... I kicked a puppy one time."

"You're terrible. Do you know that?"

"I hear it more and more everyday," the stallion said with a smirk.

The ghost of a smile formed on the mare's lips as she turned away, and rested her head on the window.

Several tedious hours passed as Riptide attempted, and failed, to start a game of 'I Spy'. Before succumbing to boredom, Exo suggested another game, much to the stallion's surprise. They had to guess their fellow inmate's crime. After one try apiece they would ask the incarcerated pony, and whoever got the closest won. This too proved to bore after a while due to a lack of variety.

"At attention everypony!" a guard shouted. "We will be arriving at the Umbra prison in approximately ten minutes. After stepping off of the train, you will all be segregated, cleaned, numbered, and assigned a cell. Any who don't comply can ask my black and white friend here what happens to rowdy ponies," the guard said as he pointed to Exo. "Good to see that we all agree."

The ponies on the train held their collective breaths as the train screeched to a halt. With a hiss, the doors of the car opened, allowing the frigid air to permeate the area.

Exo recoiled as the first tendril of cold wrapped itself around her leg.

Blowing a whistle, the unicorn guard ordered the prisoners to line up, and exit the car.

When the two-tone mare stepped out of the train, the first thing she felt was the biting cold of the tundra around her. Looking about, Exo saw impossibly high walls of solid ice surrounding a great stone prison. Four massive towers stood at the cardinal points as a single spire erupted from the center of the building. Atop the tower sat a single massive crystal which emanated a lavender field of force, repelling the flakes of snow that managed to fall on it.

Out from the citadel came another group of guards, these were fuchsia, wore onyx armor, and glittered in the pale moonlight.

"Fillies and gentlecolts, welcome." One guard stepped forward, and began to speak in a low, ragged tone. "I am the warden of this fine establishment, Crystal Shard's the name, and you lot have been sent to my fine establishment due to your inability to conform to the proper standards of pony life. I am not here to tell you about this fine facility, no I'm sure that the stories you've heard are warning enough.

"But for those of who don't know, the Umbra prison boasts the lowest number of prison breaks in recorded history with none. Our kind and courteous staff will provide you with exactly twelve hours of light a day, three perfectly portioned meals, as well as, get this, flushing toilets. Isn't that amazing?"

"Exo," Riptide whispered, as the guard captain continued to ramble.

"What?" the mare whispered back, doing her best to avoid being caught.

"They're going to split us up, their system is designed to break you. I don't care what, or how, just find something to do. Polish rocks or write a book or something, just find something to do and throw yourself into it. Don't let this place break you, you're too good for that."

"Prisoner!" Crystal Shard shouted, "are you eager to make friends in the hole, or are you just stupid."

"You're just oppressing me because I'm blue aren't you, you purple bastard."

"What'd you say inmate?"

"I didn't stutter." Riptide's drawl became long and slow as he accented each syllable. "Or would you like me to repeat myself for you?"

"Now you see everypony," the warden began as he pressed his forehead against the pegasus', "what we have here is a failure to communicate. This little colt wants to look all cool, and impress all of his little friends. What he doesn't understand," the guard broke away and planted his fore-hoof firmly into into Riptide's abdomen, knocking the wind out of the navy stallion, "is that this is my prison." The dark-blue pegasus collapsed onto the ground, his hooves wrapped around his midsection. "Let that be a lesson to you all, don't be stupid... or blue."

With that, the crystal guards finished, and began to divide the group into males and females. Exo was corralled into a separate area with the rest of the mares.

The group walked single file through the cold, a thin coat of frost began to form on the mare's coat, and the piercings in her ear began to burn painfully. The herd soon reached the edge of the barrier. Taking a step forward, the mare could see the other prisoners passing through. When she arrived at the barrier, Exo flinched at a slight tingling sensation while passing through. On the inside of the force-field, the wind had stopped, and the cold no longer bit at her hide.

A female guard called the group over as she led the way into a separate wing of the prison. There, the mares were stripped of whatever clothes they may have had, the unicorn herself had her earrings and hair clasp taken away. Even the iron around her horn had been removed. The guard said that the shield also acted as a magic dampening field.

After being stripped, the mares were led into a salon. Sitting still, Exo felt the barber cut her mane short, identical to the others, with her tail cropped. A tear dripped down the alabaster pony's face as she saw orange and green locks of hair sitting on the floor before being swept away.

Following along with procedure, the herd was led to a fitting room where each was given a dark denim jumpsuit with an embroidered number.

987 she noted.

Once suited, the females were led to a large pair of double doors leading into the containment area.

"Alright ladies," the female guard spoke, "you shall now be assigned cells. When I call your name, make your way to your assigned cell. Any dilly-dallying will result in time in the hole."

Exo stopped paying attention as the mare prattled on, only taking heed of her words when her own name was called. Through the double doors, stood a high stone ceiling, crystal chandeliers illuminated the two story chamber.

"157," Exo muttered to herself as she looked for her cell, "157."

A guard adorned in onyx armor stood beside the gate to her new home. Stepping inside, the door behind her was slammed shut, trapping her in the claustrophobic cell. Looking around, a small, white jewel adorned the ceiling, lighting the room. To the right sat a pair of cots, one on top of the other. On the top bunk lay an emerald pegasus mare with a crimson mane. Any attempts at conversation were quashed by the green pony's gentle snores. In the back left corner sat a fairly new looking chrome toilet beside a small porcelain sink.

Small nicknacks, posters, and crude graffiti covered the stone walls, whether they had been made by the current occupant or a previous one, Exo couldn't tell. Crawling into her bed, the mare laid her head down on the lumpy pillow, and pulled the thin cotton sheets around her as she nodded off to sleep.

Exo groggily awoke in the middle of the night, the springs of her mattress had dug themselves into her spine. After relieving herself, the mare crawled back into bed, and rested her head on the uncomfortable pillow once more.

All was quiet in the prison, except for an almost unnoticeable scratching in the walls.

Great, Exo thought to herself, rats.

Just as her eyes closed and the darkness in her mind ushered her into sleep, a small tune echoed throughout the cell-block. The song was a simple whistle, melancholy and slow. For several minutes the whistler continued their song before one final low note marked its end.

The prison day began promptly at 6:00 A.M. and ended exactly twelve hours later. Thrice a day food was served, a sandwich, some sort of vegetable, a piece of fruit, and a drink. The meals were bland, simple, and small. Having just enough to kill the hunger, but never enough to truly satisfy. Evenly spaced, the guard with the cart of sustenance always arrived promptly a 8 A.M., 12 P.M., and 4 P.M.

After lunch, the inmates were released into the "yard", a frozen field where the entire block could stretch their legs for a time. Ponies of like race and color congregated in small groups, either for safety or amusement.

Now and again somepony would attempt to talk her, but her violent reputation made sure that her social contact was limited. Although one sanguine earth pony, an aptly named Red, proved his ability in smuggling. Beyond him, and occasionally Riptide, the mare shared little contact with the others.

Taking the navy stallion's advice, Exo read, and read, and read. When she wasn't reading, she was writing, when she wasn't writing, she was exercising. Anything to stave off the crippling boredom. She had already seen it's effects on several of the other inmates, now nothing more than shambling corpses.

The days soon blended into one another as the prison's cycle became ingrained into the mare's mind. Several months had passed since her incarceration, and her mane had grown back to Its previous length. Occasionally she had seen Riptide in the yard, he had offered a few gifts as reconciliation which she accepted reluctantly. An extra piece of fruit, or a small contraband item of some sort given to her via Red. The look in his eyes when he passed her the presents told her much. The ribs poking through his coat told her much more.

"3, 2, 1," Exo whispered to herself. Zero. A klaxon sounded as the cell doors were released, and the heavy hoof-steps of tired prisoners echoed throughout the massive hall.

The weathered floor had become familiar, the alabaster mare had taken note of every nook, cranny, and crack the stone contained. The unicorn had even taken notice of a shallow groove, carved into the stone by the pounding of countless hooves.

Through a pair of simple, massive, oaken doors waited the yard. By the time Exo reached the outside, several ponies had already begun to congeal into groups.

The alabaster mare trotted around the yard as she usually did, taking note of any disturbances, and keeping an ear to the ground for news of the outside world. So far, the only news of worth appeared to be disappearances taking place in Canterlot.

The two-tone pony yelped as she felt a flank rub against hers for an instant. Turning around, she saw the gaunt face of Riptide shooting her a perverted leer.

"What do you want?" Exo asked as she pushed the stallion away.

"I can't say hi now and again?" the navy pegasus asked between chews.

"Yeah, but there's no reason to rub up on me."

"What's the fun in that?" the stallion asked as he smacked his tail against the mare's flank.

"Plenty you perv, like not being molested. What are you even chewing on?"

"Gum."

"You got any more?" the mare asked hopefully.

"Nope, Red's last piece."

"Last piece huh? You must have traded him something pretty good for it."

"Various sexual favors," he said flatly.

Exo stared wide-eyed at Riptide as a grin broke across his face.

"That was a joke," the stallion said slowly.

"It's impossible to tell when you're being serious, you know that?"

"One of my many talents." The navy pegasus chuckled before walking off.

For the next hour, the alabaster unicorn galloped around the edge of the yard, attempting to beat her previous record of fifty laps. On her final lap, she noticed something odd, a group of earth ponies had surrounded Riptide, and were currently pushing him around. The dark blue pegasus was the first to throw a punch. One which impacted and rebounded softly against one of the earth pony's faces. Immediately the rest of the group descended upon him like a mob, beating and kicking the navy stallion into the dirt.

Turning towards the gang, the alabaster unicorn charged, shouting at the assailants. "Back off, he's my bitch!" Exo commanded as she skid to a stop in front of the navy pegasus. The other inmates scattered at her arrival.

On the ground, Riptide wheezed and huffed. Cracking an eye open, the dark blue pony quickly wrapped a fore-hoof around Exo's neck, pulled her in close, and planted his lips firmly on hers. The mare shuddered as she felt his tongue push her lips apart, and despite her best efforts, into her mouth. The alabaster unicorn nearly gagged when she felt the pegasus' tongue push a wet lump into her mouth. Pulling away, Riptide winked before collapsing onto the floor.

Raising a hoof, Exo delivered a blow to the stallion's head which landed with a crack.

After trotting away, Exo spat the ball onto the floor, and shuddered again. Looking down, she saw that it was rather large, white, and held many small designs written in black ink. It was a note.

What note had to be passed in such a way as to avoid suspicion rather than just tell her outright. The jailbreak.

Reluctantly, the unicorn picked the note back up, and nearly cried when she placed it back in her mouth.

A pair of guards picked up, and hauled a prone Riptide away. Soon after the time in the yard came to a close, and Exo would be free to read the note.

Back in the comfort of her home cell and accompanied by the ever-present snores of her cellmate, the alabaster pony once again spat out the note.

Carefully, the two-tone unicorn unfolded soggy ball of paper.

Dear Exo,

Sorry about that, but if my plan worked, I should be in the infirmary for the next three days. As you may have suspected, this note concerns a great breakthrough in the plan to escape. In three days, I'll be tossed back into my cell, and I need you to stay up well past curfew in order to attract as little attention as possible. Keep an ear on the back wall of your cell the night in question.

Me: Tap tap-tap tap tap
You: Tap tap

And please, for the love of Celestia, flush this damned note.

P.S. If you are not Exo, black/white unicorn with orange mane, then please disregard this message, and dispose of it immediately.

Giving a wry smile, the two-tone pony balled up the note, dropped it into the toilet, and flushed.

Exo did as Riptide's note asked, and kept awake well past curfew a few days later. The mare's snoring cell-mate was the only other soul she could perceive. Just as her eyelids grew heavy and her head began to tumble forward, she heard a dull scratching coming from the masonry. Cautiously the mare made her way to the bricks that formed the back wall of her cell. A series of complicated knocks emanated from the opposite side of the wall.

The mare responded with her half of the code.

A muffled response came from the other side, and with it, a brick loosed itself halfway. Gently, Exo took hold of the loose brick and pulled it free. When the stone was pried away, a navy muzzle poked out from hole and began to hyperventilate, drinking the air like water after a trek through the desert. Placing a hoof of on the pony's nose, the mare pushed the snout back into the darkness.

"What's the big idea?" Riptide whispered. "The airflow is horrible in here, on top of that I farted like twenty minutes ago, so I've had to put up with that following me this whole time."

The mare stifled a giggle as she spoke. "Idiot. So this is your big plan, tunnel out of here?"

"What, this? Oh hell no. My plan is far less stupid. It would take months if not years to get to the outer wall without the proper equipment. Besides, that means that the prison will still have our records, meaning that we will be a couple of fugitives, and I'm sure that neither of us wants that."

"Then what's the tunnel for?"

"It seemed like a good idea at the time. Besides, this thing was already half finished by the time they threw me in my cell. Apparently prison gives you a lot of time to do things besides mope."

"Why even finish the tunnel then? Why not just pass me more notes?"

"For one, this still factors into the plan. And two, this gives us the option of conjugal visits."

Exo could feel the stallion's leering gaze through the masonry.

"I'll have you know that I have a colt-friend, pervert."

"And I'm sure that he has one too."

"If all you came to do was hit on me, then go back to your cell before I call the guards." A white hoof picked up the brick and began to shimmy it into place.

"Wait wait wait," the stallion said quickly. The brick stopped. "Don't you want to talk a bit? You have to be as bored as I am," Riptide pleaded with the mare.

The unicorn thought of her own boredom for a second as well as the desperation in the pegasus' voice.

"Fine," she conceded, "what do you want to talk about?"

"Um... Uh... Hmm..." the stallion thought for a few moments, "I don't know."

Exo resisted the urge to shove the brick back into the hole, but she had a few questions for the pony that had vowed to free her from prison.

"So how did you get into this?" The mare gestured to the darkness after a long wait.

"What, prison? They hauled me off for fighting with some royal type. When they questioned me, they asked me how the fight went. I told them that the guy had me pinned, and started punching me in the face.

"They asked me, 'did you count how many times he punched you in the face.'

"I swear to Celestia, I looked the guard square in the eyes and said, 'no, I was too busy being punched in the face.'

"Needless to say, the other guy had a better lawyer. So including my past strikes as well as this last one, the judge barely saw my record, banged the gavel, and Bob's your uncle."

The mare giggled as she leaned against the brick wall, and looked into the hole Riptide had made.

"So how did it start?" she asked after a small silence.

"How did what start?"

"I mean, how did you start being a criminal?"

"Oh, that. It's a long, boring, and fairly cliché story. I'm sure you wouldn't want to hear it."

"It's not like I don't have time."

"Sure, why not," the stallion said with a sigh after a brief hesitation. "It started out when I was, I wanna say twelve or so years old. By that time I had already gotten my cutie-mark."

"What does it mean?" Exo asked as she looked over to her own flank, curious of the stallion's whirlpool mark.

"You know how these things are vague, and stupid, and stuff?"

"Yeah."

"So apparently, it means that I'm a jack-of-all-trades, a master of none. It's supposed to represent everything mixing into one place. I don't know. I got it after I tried a bunch of stuff, and nothing really stuck. I figured that maybe I was just okay at everything and great at nothing, then this thing shows up on my ass. That or it's just wasted talent I guess."

"I never would've guessed."

"Anyway, back to the story. My mom, she was an earth pony, and I don't give a damn about my dad. One day, she collapsed in the street, I flew as fast as I could for help. I didn't find anyone, but when I got back somepony had already taken her to the hospital.

"As it turns out, she had been suffering some sort of genetic disorder, and she had been in constant pain for the last few years. I guess that she just never wanted me to worry. The only legal pain medication that was strong enough to help was, unfortunately, very expensive. As these things tend to be. After that day, she couldn't work without doubling over in pain. I tried get a job, but no pony wanted to hire some dumb kid.

"Every day I saw the tired, pale look in her eyes, her coat lost its shine and she seemed lost, wincing in pain. Eventually she just laid there. A few friends of hers came over to cook, and clean, and things like that, but no pony had the money to help. For a while I blamed them for not helping more. Eventually, I blamed myself for not being able to do a damned thing about it.

"One day rather than moping, I took a walk. Just so that I wouldn't have to look at her suffer for a bit. I guess that when I wasn't paying attention, I made my way to the rich neighborhoods. Everypony outside was happy, healthy, and wealthy. I hated them. Smiles and laughter filled the air, and once I actually saw one little colt complain to his mother about not being able to do something or other. He even went so far as to call her by her first name. I was shocked to say the least.

"I guess that after that I snapped, I began to see all of these fancy things that these rich ponies had. I asked myself, why did they get to complain about the little things, why did they sit on top of the hill while the rest of us suffered on the bottom. And I noticed that they had a lot of things that they weren't using; a lot of trinkets that wouldn't be missed if lost. I just kept walking before I did something I would regret.

"After a while I arrived at a park. I remember that there was this old buck dressed all fancy, he was taking a nap under a tree. I could see a gold chain sticking out of his coat pocket.

"'He doesn't need it,' I thought to myself. 'Heck he's probably got a dozen more at home. He'll never miss it, and if he does, he can always just buy another one.'

"Carefully I tip-hoofed my way over to the guy, making sure that no-one saw me. I could feel my heart thundering in my chest as the smell of wildflowers filled my nose. Sweat dripped from my brow and my breath grew short as I gently unclasped the chain and pulled a pocket watch out of his coat. I hauled flank before the guy could wake up. When I got far enough away, I took to the air and pawned the damned thing in a part of town where no pony would ask questions.

"After that I went and filled my mother's prescription. She smiled for once, and asked where I had gotten the money. I lied, I told her that I had run a few odd jobs for some fancy type."

"And then what happened?" Exo asked, enthralled by the story. A few moments passed before stallion replied.

"She died... a few weeks later." The air grew tense as the snoring of the mare's cell-mate filled the lull in conversation. "I'd better get back to my cell, wouldn't want somepony to get suspicious."

Gently, the mare replaced the brick before laying down in her cot, and bringing the thin cotton sheets over her head. Sleep did not come easy for Exo that night as she contemplated Riptide's story.

Chapter 3

A few weeks had passed since Riptide's late night arrival, and Exo had seen neither hide nor hair of the navy pegasus. The mare had even gone to ask Red, their mutual acquaintance, but to no avail. He had been instructed to keep quiet on the matter, and the price for his treachery was too steep.

One day, during her usual exercise routine in the yard, Exo spotted a familiar shaggy black tail amongst the rabble. Slowing to a walk, the mare moved incrementally closer to the dark blue pegasus. As she neared Riptide, the alabaster unicorn noticed somepony beside him, an emerald pegasus mare with a brilliant crimson mane.

Skirting the crowd, Exo regarded the ponies from afar. Looking at the pair more closely, the two tone mare saw that Riptide had one of his wings draped over the emerald pegasus' back. The two chuckled at a few jokes made by the crowd before locking lips and kissing passionately.

Exo felt surprisingly sad about the affair, not because she had feelings for Riptide, nor did she feel a stab of jealousy. No, she felt sad for the other mare having to suffer that idiot's tongue squirming around inside of her mouth.

Shuddering, the unicorn turned away, and continued with her usual routine.

The rest of the day had passed surprisingly quickly. Now Exo laid in her cot pondering what she would do if, when, she got back home.

"Psst Exo," an unfamiliar voice whispered in the darkness.

The alabaster mare jumped, slamming her forehead against the metal supports of the bed above her before falling to the floor with a thud. A painful ache throbbed in her head as she clutched her head on the floor.

"Geez, wake up the whole block why don't 'cha."

"Riptide?" the mare asked as she got up off of the floor.

"Nope, my name's Slipstream. Riptide slipped me a note, told me to give It to you." The emerald mare jumped down from her cot, opened her mouth, and stuck out her tongue, upon which sat a soggy ball of paper.

With a trembling hoof, Exo took the note from Slipstream's tongue unfolded it, and began to read.

Dearest Exo,

How are you. I am fine. Sorry for not writing more, but after you punched me in the face, I didn't want to take that risk again. The bearer of this note is Slipstream (green pegasus with red mane). I have come to understand that she is your cellmate. Over the past few weeks I have come to build a fake relationship with her to avert suspicion and to more efficiently pass notes. Slipstream knows of the escape, and is critical to its success.

This evening I shall once again be behind the wall, please stay up so that we may discuss the plan.

P.S. We will have another member apart from Slipstream joining us, Red.

P.P.S. Flush the damned note.

P.P.P.S. If you pulled the note off of her tongue then that means that you are the rightful king of Griffland. Actually it means that I lost a bet, and owe Slipstream an apple.

"What's it say?" the emerald pegasus asked eagerly.

"Riptide wants us to stay up so that when he gets here," Exo gestured at the back wall, "we can all talk about the escape plan. Also he says that he owes you an apple."

"Aw yeah."

The alabaster mare shifted uneasily and shot Slipstream an awkward smile as both of them failed to start any meaningful conversation. The cycle continued for several minutes until a knocking at the wall drew their attention.

After tapping out her half of the code, the brick fell away, caught by Slipstream's deft hooves as a navy muzzle poked out of the hole.

"Red... had beans," Riptide said between labored pants.

After a few minutes the alabaster mare pushed the dark blue stallion's muzzle back into the darkness.

"Oh please god no," he plead as his nose went back behind the masonry.

Several choking coughs came from behind the wall as a cloud of stink poured from the hole. Exo recoiled in disgust; Slipstream's face contorted into a pained grimace as she flapped her wings in an attempt to clear the odoriferous fog.

"Suffer as I have suffered," Riptide hissed as a deep baritone laugh echoed in the walls.

A few minutes later, and the stink had faded away, leaving all present with a horrible taste in their mouths.

"Alright, here's the plan," Riptide began, "the tunnel is already finished, so all we have to do is carefully take the wall apart, get you two into the tunnel, and put all of the bricks back into place. Once inside we'll split into two teams Exo and I will go to the records office and firebomb the place with a bag of pruno I've been fermenting for a month now. It should be nice and flammable. Meanwhile, Red and Slipstream will keep going to the top floor, and take out the shield crystal. From what I've gathered, the guard's observation room is relatively close to the records office. Exo and I will then sneak into the observation room, and hit the cell release button. I've convinced a few gangs to riot when it happens. This will hopefully provide a decent distraction for the guards to deal with."

"Riot? You mean that these ponies are going to try and kill each other?" the alabaster mare asked, trepidation in her voice.

"Actually they're going to be fighting the guards and each other."

"That's still pretty bad, the guards, heck everypony in here has friends and family on the outside. What are you going to tell them if somepony gets hurt during this."

Riptide grit his teeth and sighed.

"I don't know. But we can't back out now. Those two groups are ready to kill each other, and if we can escape during the ruckus, that's better for us."

"I don't know if I can do this. Knowing that we're going to be putting 'innocent' ponies at risk just so that we can run away."

"This is going to happen eventually," Slipstream offered, "either in the yard, or someplace else. If it can help us get away then so be it."

"I've known many of these ponies for years," Red began. "Some of them have become institutionalized, and are just stayin' here because they don't have anywhere else to go; this is all they know. How are you just going to let them be swept up in the fightin' like that."

"I don't know, I don't know, I don't know," Riptide muttered as his head thumped against the wall.

"You're the leader, think of something," Exo demanded.

"Since when the hell am I the leader?" the navy stallion asked incredulously.

"Since you started making decisions, planning, and organizing this little group," the Slipstream retorted.

"Gotta say," the sanguine earth pony started, "I ain't seen no pony try a crazy stunt like this before. Knowin' that its you almost make me think that maybe we can actually pull this off. You's the leader."

"Come on idiot, think of something," said the alabaster mare.

"Fine, I'll come up with something when we get there, but for now let's finish with the plan."

For another hour, Riptide explained the ins and outs of the plan, detailing each of their individual parts. When all was said and done, the group returned to their respective cells with their new knowledge in mind.

The promised day had arrived, a flurry of butterflies raged in Exo's stomach as she waited for Riptide to arrive.

"You don't think that he forgot about us, did he?" Slipstream asked the alabaster mare as she paced around the small room.

"I doubt it, he's kept his word all these months so I doubt that he'd lie to us now. Besides, you heard the plan, everypony is necessary."

Slipstream seemed to calm herself with Exo's reassurance, sitting still and taking a deep breath.

One final time a series of taps came from behind the wall

"Just push the stupid brick already," the alabaster mare snapped.

The scratched red brick loosed itself before Exo pulled it free.

"You've no sense of drama, do you know that?" Riptide replied coyly.

"I've had enough drama to last a lifetime," the two tone unicorn retorted indignantly.

"Would you two love birds quit yacking and let us get on with this," snapped Slipstream. Red chuckled in the background.

Before Exo could reply, another brick fell out of the wall, landing on her hoof. Wincing, the alabaster mare felt her foreleg throb and tears well in the corners of her eyes.

"Pick up the bricks, and keep quiet. We've got to do this quick."

One by one the bricks were removed, allowing for a hole just big enough for the mares to pass through. Carefully, Exo replaced the bricks.

The tunnel was long and dark, a pair of glowing green sticks held by Riptide and Red were the only source of illumination. The former of which had a pair of plastic bags strapped to his flanks. Motes of dust swirled in the low light as the navy stallion took the lead down the hall.

Riptide soon came to a stop, gesturing Exo to his side, and allowing the other two to continue on their mission. Placing an ear to the wall, the navy pegasus listened intently for a few minutes before pulling several of the bricks free.

Stepping out of the tunnel, Exo saw the wan glow of opaque crystals lighting a room in front of them. Quietly the pair pushed the door open, and stepped inside. Within sat row upon row of cabinets, each contained numerous papers detailing the names, crimes, and description of each prisoner.

Exo took her place at the door as lookout, as per the plan. Unstrapping one of the bags from his flank, Riptide opened it, and the pungent stink of alcohol filled the air. The stallion spread the mixture all around, making sure to coat the cabinets especially well. When that phase of the plan was completed, the two left for the guard's observation room.

Inside of the room sat a couch, a few screens, and a bank of consoles which held the mechanism for opening the doors en mass. The alabaster mare made her way to the consoles first. As Exo gazed upon the colorful lights and switches, the sounds of struggle came from behind her. Riptide had his forelegs wrapped around the neck of a crystal guard.

The purple pony thrashed and gasped against the navy stallion's grip. Slowly, the dark blue pegasus' forelegs began to shift, and with it the guard's head. Flecks of spit flew from the onyx clad stallion's mouth, landing on Exo's coat. Riptide gave one final swift jerk upwards.

A loud crack echoed throughout the room.

The alabaster mare looked on, horrified, as the guard fell limp, and the pegasus released his hold.

"W-what was that?" the two tone pony asked in disbelief.

"That was me not getting us caught, and having this entire operation with months of planning and hard work being flushed down the toilet," the navy stallion snapped as he stepped up to the console.

The pegasus' normal wide-eyed gaze had been replaced with a stern glare, and his usual smirk had turned into a scowl. Exo backed away as the stallion's gaze turned onto her.

"N-no, if t-this is h-how you're g-going to do things, then I'll go back to my cell." The mare's rump pressed against the wall as Riptide took a step forward.

Eventually the dark blue pony turned back, and flipped a large red switch at the edge of the console. A siren screamed outside as orange warning lights flashed around the cells below.

Riptide turned his attention to a small button in the center of the instrument panel and spoke. "Attention prisoners, all those that do not wish to be caught up in the ensuing riot please stay in your cell, they will be closed momentarily." After a few minutes, the crowd below stopped moving, and the klaxon sounded once more, closing all of the cells. Soon after, the mob descended into chaos, fights broke out as several guards charged into the situation.

"Come on," the stallion commanded.

"Why!?" the mare demanded. "Why did you do it?"

"Specify, kill him, or warn them."

"Both, he had a family and friends, hopes and dreams, now he's got nothing. Do you know how many lives you just affected."

"DO YOU THINK THAT I DON'T KNOW THAT!?" Riptide shouted as he took a step towards Exo. "DO YOU THINK THAT I DON'T UNDERSTAND THAT THERE'S GOING TO BE A FAMILY OUT THERE WITHOUT A FATHER, A MARE WITHOUT A HUSBAND, PARENTS WITHOUT A SON, AND FRIENDS WHO ARE NOW GOING TO HAVE TO ATTEND HIS FUNERAL. I'M GOING TO BE HEARING THE CRACK OF THAT GUY'S NECK UNTIL I'M DEAD." The stallion had backed the alabaster unicorn into a corner.

"Why did you warn them then?" she asked coldly.

"I'm not a monster," he mumbled to himself as he looked towards the floor,

"Now we have to go, we can't let his sacrifice have been in vain."

Exo and Riptide ran out the door, sprinting down the hallway, and back to the record's office. Removing the bag strapped to his flank, the navy stallion pulled out a pack of spark rocks.

"When I toss them in, run."

Th unicorn nodded. Taking a peek inside, the dark blue pegasus made sure that the coast was clear before tossing the bag inside. The bag landed, the stones inside cracked against one another creating a spark. The room went up in a mighty gout of flame. Once the smoke had cleared, fire alarms sounded, and water began to pour from sprinklers in the ceiling.

"RUN!" Riptide shouted as he made his way toward a stairwell. "We've got to get outside and to the top of the wall quickly."

"Why," Exo asked.

"Gotta generate enough lift to get us both far enough over that ice field so that we, hopefully, won't have to walk far. Let's just hope that Slipstream and Red have already taken out the crystal."

"Why, what's going to happen if they don't take out the crystal?"

"You ever seen a bug zapper?" Riptide asked as they raced up the stairs.

"Why not just flap your wings and carry us over the wall?"

"No offense, but those walls are at least fifty feet high, and with all of the added mass, I doubt that I'd be able to get that high."

Exo scoffed as she chased the navy stallion.

All around, the sounds of fighting grew louder and louder, rhythmic chanting had come from the prisoners demanding the guard's deaths. The guards likewise had donned riot gear in order to quell the uprising. Occasionally the pair crossed paths with one group or the other, careful to sidestep anymore violence.

Soon enough, the duo reached a door that led to one of the few bridges that connected the prison to the outer wall. Exo jiggled the handle, but to no avail, it was locked.

"Get out the way," Riptide said. Just as the mare got out of the way, the navy pegasus turned and bucked the door into splinters.

"Hurry up," Exo cried as she kept a lookout for any ponies in the vicinity.

Pushing the wooden fragments aside, the dark blue pony held a plank open as the mare passed through. Soon after, the pegasus followed.

"Shit," Riptide commented as his eyes fell on the shimmering purple barrier in the distance. "Go, we still have time. Hopefully." Both ponies galloped across the frozen bridge, and onto the wall.

"STOP RIGHT THERE!" commanded a cruel and callous voice.

Looking back, Riptide and Exo saw a pony dressed in full riot gear. Gleaming black ceramic plates were held together by Kevlar, and reinforced by hardened rubber at the seams. A carbon fiber helmet with an air filter and thick, impact resistant glass adorned the pony's head. Around his hooves, sat a pair silver cuffs which crackled with an electric pop.

"Did you two miserable pieces of chicken shit honestly believe that you'd be able to get away with this?" the pony asked as he took a step forward, charring the floor beneath his hooves.

Riptide stepped in front of Exo.

"Ain't that sweet?" the pony asked rhetorically. "Trying to protect your marefriend from the big, bad guard I see . Well, what you don't understand," the guard said as he stomped towards the pair, "is that I'm the hero in this story, and you two prisoners are going to be hanged along with your little friends in the control tower. Don't worry about them though, my boys are already on their way to deal with the problem."

Both Riptide and Exo gasped as the riot gear clad pony took a step forward.

"I told you, this is my prison, and you're stupid to think otherwise. I knew about your plan from the start. Don't worry," Crystal Shard chuckled, "none of your little friends said anything, honor among thieves and all that. Then again, they didn't have to. I have this place so damn full of bugs, that I even heard that sappy story you told the girl there about your momma."

"Leave my mother out of this," the navy pegasus growled.

"What, leave some stupid, filthy dirt-pony alone, that is where you left her isn't it, buried beneath an old fruit tree." Shard chuckled. "Who knows, maybe when this is all over, I'll go pay her a visit. Piss on her grave and tell her what happened to her worthless, blue, chicken-shit of a son."

Riptide roared as he charged the armored stallion. Crystal Shard dodged every blow the navy stallion threw at him. The warden laughed as the dark blue pony landed a hit on his helmet, Riptide's hoof throbbed as it recoiled against the material.

"Maybe you don't get it, stupid," Crystal Shard said as he punched the navy pegasus in the stomach. "I'm the law here. There are no gods, no demons, only me." The warden charged his bracelets with electricity before striking Riptide in the jaw. The navy stallion fell backwards in spastic convulsions. "I am the absolute ruler of this prison. My word is law."

"Back off!" shouted Exo as she neared the wheezing dark blue pony.

"Haven't you heard a word I've said, girlie? I decide who lives and who dies within these walls. I am the judge, jury, and executioner." Crystal Shard stepped next to Riptide, lifted his hoof with a crackle of blue sparks, and planted it in the prone stallion's side. The navy pegasus howled in pain as electricity racked his body.

In a flash, a black and white blur slammed into Crystal Shard, causing him to fall backwards.

"Maybe you don't get it jackass, Riptide's my bitch, that means that I own him. And until the day that he completes what I have ordered him to do, then he won't so much as pick his nose without my say so, and you can bet your ass that I'm not letting him die here."

The warden chuckled as he dusted himself off.

"Gotta admit, you got balls girl. Too bad I'm gonna have to rip 'em out of you." Crystal Shard stomped his hooves, and a set of three inch blades slid out of the armor.

"Bring it," Riptide said from behind.

"Stay back, you're still hurt," Exo commanded.

"It'll take more than that to kill me."

"That's nice, easier to write off killing two attackers than one mare."

"Exo," Riptide said slowly, "I'll hit him high, and you hit him low."

"You got it," the mare responded.

The navy stallion galloped from behind the alabaster unicorn, spread his wings, and jumped over both of the earth bound ponies.

"I'm fighting one of you on either side, at least make this a challenge," Crystal Shard taunted.

"I guess you could call this a gang bang," Riptide said with a smirk.

Exo groaned.

"And why would that be?" the warden snapped.

"Because we're going to fuck you right up."

Crystal Shard laughed heartily. "I'm almost going to regret killing you."

Riptide launched himself forward, taking the armored pony from behind. The warden turned, drawing his clawed hoof back to strike, when he lost his balance. Exo had knocked the stallion on his flank, and one navy hoof slammed into the visor of his helmet, knocking his head to the ground.

"That was easier than expected," Riptide said as he walked over to Exo.

"You think that Red and Slipstream failed?" Exo asked the navy stallion.

High above, the tip of the central tower exploded in shower of debris. A red and green blur fell down the side of the tower before pulling up, and gliding into the distance.

"Nope."

"What the hell!?" Shard screeched as he stood up.

"Looks like your guards aren't as tough as you give them credit for," the alabaster mare taunted.

Now it was the guard's turn to roar as he charged the two. Crystal Shard's strikes were wild and erratic, more than once ,his claws had dug into the floor.

"Exo," Riptide shouted as he dodged swiping claws, "see if you can remove his helmet."

A cloud of green magic surrounded Crystal Shard's head as the alabaster mare pulled furiously at the clasps in the neck.

"You've got to hold him still, I can't concentrate on such a small target," the unicorn shouted.

"You got it."

Pulling free of the emerald aura, Crystal Shard charged the mare. Claws extended, he slashed at the unicorn's face. Three shallow gashes bled across Exo's face. The mare grit her teeth before backing away.

From behind, the navy stallion tackled the warden, wrapping his legs around the other's torso. Riptide held the thrashing guard in his grip. Again and and again the back of Crystal Shard's head met the front of the dark blue pegasus' snout.

With a flare of her horn, Exo concentrated on the metal claps, and with a flick and a jerk, pulled the warden's helmet off.

Crystal Shard's normally glittering lavender coat had now become dull and listless. Acid green splotches grew in the corners of his eyes.

With one last heave, the armored guard tossed Riptide away, and began to advance on Exo, claws clinking menacingly against the floor.

"Hey!" the navy stallion shouted as he pushed himself off of the floor. "What was the name of that guard in the observation room? Doesn't really matter now though does it."

"And why would that be?" the warden growled as he stopped to face the dark blue pony.

"I killed him."

"LIAR!" Crystal snarled. "He was one of my best."

"I snapped his fucking neck. Went down like a rock."

The armored guard charged the stallion, driving both sets of steel claws into Riptide's side. The two locked eyes before Crystal Shard gave a sadistic smile, and the bracelets around his hooves glowed blue.

"Die."

Riptide screamed, as the wounds cauterized around the glowing weapons.

"You first," the navy stallion hissed as he slammed both hooves into either side of the warden's head. All of the electricity that had been passing through the dark blue pony was now charging through the guard's head.

Crystal Shard fell with a thud as the metallic claws slid out of the gashes in Riptide's side.

"Can you stand?" Exo asked as she approached the navy stallion.

"Yeah, come on let's go."

"Go where? You're injured, and the prisoners are still rioting."

"We're gonna fly."

The mare's eyes widened as the weight of his words sank in.

"You can't be serious, that drop is fifty feet at least, we'll die if you fail."

"It's a good thing I don't fail then isn't it."

Crystal Shard groaned as he slowly started to rise from the floor.

"Run!" Riptide yelped as he galloped towards the edge of the wall.

The alabaster mare skid to a stop at the edge.

"Jump!"

The armored guard roared as his claws tore into the floor.

"Are you retarded!?"

"Only a little bit."

With a scream, Exo jumped off of the wall. The frigid air cut through her coat like razors as she plummeted to the frozen ground below.

With a jerk, the mare felt somepony grasping at her abdomen. Above her, the navy pegasus' wings flared outward, catching the wind. Riptide grunted as he struggled to pull up. Exo looked down and nearly screamed again, the ground was nearly at them. Flapping furiously, the dark blue stallion pulled the two-tone pony out of the dive, skirting a snowbank with the mare's hind leg.

The alabaster mare looked around, millions of opalescent dots rested on an indigo blanket. One great silvery orb sat in the sky, their guide in the darkness.

"This is amazing," Exo remarked as she gazed into the distance.

"Just try not to poke me with that thing," Riptide replied as her horn nudged him.

The pair had been flying for about twenty minutes, and the prison had become a speck on the horizon. The navy stallion wheezed as he dropped lower.

"What's wrong?" the mare asked, her voice thick with worry.

"Get ready for a rough landing," Riptide huffed as the ground raced beneath them.

The alabaster mare fell with a thud onto her rump as the dark-blue stallion continued to fall forward. Riptide slammed into a hill of snow before Exo rushed over to him.

"Get up," the mare plead softly as she pulled him out of the snow.

"I... I think, that I'll just-just t-take a nap," the stallion said between labored pants. Slowly the navy pony's eyes began to close.

"No, don't you dare close your eyes," the mare said frantically.

"So... tired. Hard to..."

"Wake up!" the unicorn shouted as she slapped a hoof across the stallion's face. Nothing. Taking the pegasus' shoulders, Exo violently shook the stallion. His head fell forward.

"Tired," Riptide groaned as his head slumped back.

"Come on," the mare said quickly, "keep talking to me, just keep talking."

"Talk... what?"

"Tell me about your mother, what did she look like?" Exo asked as she poured magic into her horn, praying for a spark, or any semblance of warmth.

Riptide chuckled, catching the mare off guard. "I can't even remember her face anymore." A small teardrop fell to the frozen ground. "Pretty sad, isn't it?" There was a weariness in the stallion's voice that the unicorn hadn't heard before. "I mean the only reason that I still remember her cutie-mark is because I had to carve the damned thing out myself." The pegasus' head slumped forward into the snow.

"Come on, don't fall asleep, tell me that story. Please," the mare begged as she felt a warm glow envelop her horn.

Riptide chuckled, darkly, as he picked his head out of the ice. "You remember, how I said that my mother died a few weeks after I got her the medicine?" Exo didn't respond, she focused on keeping the warmth from her horn alive.

"We were still broke, and no undertaker was going to bury her for free." The stallion laughed again, but these touches of mirth quickly dissolved into wet sobs and crying. "I had to dig her grave myself." The mare gasped as she looked at the navy pegasus. "It was cold and rainy, I was crying, and I had to dig a shallow grave for my mother on a hilltop." Riptide gave cold, hollow laughter. "I remember that I could feel my hooves bleeding as I raced against the storm so that I didn't drown in that shallow ditch. She looked so peaceful as I placed her into the grave. The worst was having to scoop the mud back into the hole, and onto her face."

Riptide shuddered from the floor. "It's not all bad, there's a nice little pear tree next to her. God I love pears. Her cutie-mark, it was a fruit-bowl. I remember that she always liked to have fresh fruit around the house."

"Then what did you do?" Exo asked hesitantly as sweat poured down her face from the exertion.

"What do you think, I stole a piece of slate, or marble, I don't even know anymore. Thankfully at the time I still had a quilt with her cutie-mark on it, so it was easy to carve it into the stone."

A dull thud sounded in front of the mare.

"Riptide? Riptide!" The stallion had collapsed into the snow.

The alabaster unicorn could feel her strength giving out as the glow covering her horn began to die down.

"No, please," she plead, "don't go out yet."

The mare's blood raced as her she tried vainly to pour more power into her horn, but it was too much strain on her body. With a sizzling pop, Exo collapsed into the snow beside Riptide.

Author's Note

Originally I wanted chapters 2&3 combined, but size issues and all that.

Any mistakes?

I could just end it now, but I'm not.

Chapter 4

Exo drifted in and out of consciousness as she felt flakes of snow beginning to envelop her body. Far behind her, several sets of hooves crunched in the snow, an axle creaked along side. From the sound of them, they didn't seem to be going in her direction.

Her breaths had been shallow and painful, but now the unicorn's chest rose high as she opened her mouth to scream, yell, anything to be heard.

Nothing.

Another idea struck Exo. The mare began to lick flakes of snow from her cheek. The ice melted, and the unicorn licked her chapped lips. Forming an "O" with her mouth, the alabaster pony blew, and blew, and blew. Tears formed in the corners of the mare's eyes as she whistled the sad song she had heard so long ago.

"Hey look, there's a pegasus... and a unicorn," one of the ponies in the distance cried.

With a tired sigh, Exo passed out.

Exo ached all over, the base of her horn throbbed painfully. Her bed at least, was a bit soft, if not smelly, better than being dead. The mare was too tired to open her eyes, but feathers tickling her side, accompanied by a myriad of soft snores, assured her of Riptide's survival.

The unicorn awoke to the sounds of grunts and struggling, a pair of burly earth ponies had taken a hold of Riptide.

"Get off me!" he yelled as his wings flapped uselessly against the hold of his abductors.

"Leave him alone!" the mare shouted as she lunged at the pair, but found shackles clamped around her fetlocks. The captors dragged the screaming pegasus away before slamming the cell door closed.

Exo looked around, this place reminded her of the prison, only worse. The mare lay on a soft bed of moldy hay, in the corner a small hole led into the ground, and a bowl of gruel sat beside her. The chains around her legs led up to the wall, and into a large rusted iron plate, bolted into the brick. She sat in a small dank stone room, the only illumination was that of a gas lamp in the hallway. Across from her cell sat an identical set of bars. Within was a colorful lump of flesh slowly moving up and down.

"Psst, hey," the mare whispered at her fellow inmate.

The lump didn't stir.

Searching around, the alabaster unicorn found a rather large chunk of rust that had broken away from the iron plate in the wall. Breaking it into smaller pieces, Exo tossed one at the pony opposite her.

It moved, a bit.

Flecks of detritus showered her companion before a particularly large piece gave them a slap on the rear. With a yelp, the pony was up.

"Hey," Exo whispered again, "do you know where we are, and why we're chained up?"

"Are you stupid or something?" the earth pony replied with more vitriol than she thought possible. "We're in some sort of prison, they kidnapped me from Canterlot a while ago." Exo gasped. "All I know is that they drag ponies off to experiment on them, when they come back, they're... less."

"What do you mean less."

"Can't talk now, guards might hear. Sleep as much as you can, that way you don't have to face this horrible reality."

"Wait, don't go back to sleep yet," the mare pleaded, but it was too late, that pony had curled into ball once more.

Giving an aggravated sigh, the alabaster unicorn fell to her haunches.

"Hey," Exo cried into the hallway, hoping to gain the attention of one of the guards. "Guards, I need to use the little fillies' room."

"Shut up," came the pained whisper of pony in the opposite cell.

"Guards!"

"Shut up, just please shut up," the pony cried.

"Why? Are you going to talk now?"

"Yes please, just stop calling the guards, and shut u-"

"What do we have here?" came an eerily familiar voice.

Down the hallway came a pair of stallions. Both were earth ponies, one purple the other yellow. The lavender one wore a pair of sunglasses despite the low light.

"Lookie what we got here?"

"Crystal Shard," Exo gasped.

"If it isn't my... second favorite prisoner?"

"A mare?" the yellow one began, "you mind if I take her out back an-"

"No!" Shard snapped. "I've got plans for this one. If I see so much as one hair out of place, I'll skin you alive myself. Best get your shut-eye girl, lest you see what monsters crawl around in the dark." Crystal Shard gave a sadistic cackle before sauntering away.

Giving a defeated sigh, Exo laid down on the bedding, closed her eyes, and nearly cried.

In the distance, she could hear Riptide shouting. Shouts degraded into bloodcurdling screams as heavy iron shackles echoed throughout the hall. Motors spun, and the navy stallion screeched.

Exo got no sleep that night as Riptide's screams filled the hallways. When the cries of anguish eventually did fade away, they still rang in the mare's ears, eyes closed and hooves clasped around her head.

At some point, Exo had given into her weariness, and fell asleep. She was awakened to the sound of her cell opening, and a dull thud on the floor.

Looking around she saw a dark blue lump with a black mane, Riptide. Their captors hadn't bothered to chain the stallion up, opting instead to allow his prone form to lay free.

"Riptide!" Exo cried. "Are you all right? What did they do to..." The mare's words fell short as her eyes wandered over to the stallion's back. Where had once sat a pair of majestic wings, dark as night, now was covered in filthy, bloody bandages.

"Oh no," the alabaster unicorn whispered as she took the navy pony's head into her lap.

Exo could hear the stallion's muffled whimpers in the darkness. After a while, the sounds stopped, replaced not by sobs, but grunts of effort.

"What are you trying to do?" the two-tone pony asked as she forced Riptide's head back down. "Stop that, you'll kill yourself if you strain too much."

"Can't stop. Have to... leave."

"How, you're half-dead, and I'm still chained up."

Slowly, the stallion pushed himself onto his haunches, lifted a foreleg to his muzzle, and with a flex, pulled the broken tip of a needle free with his teeth. A small trickle of blood ran down his hoof, and onto the floor.

"Let me see the shackle."

Lifting a shackled foreleg, Riptide set himself to work freeing the alabaster mare. With a pop and a click, the first of cuffs was off.

"How did you-"

"Do you really think that the door was open when I robbed that house?"

"Good point," Exo said as she lifted another leg in the stallion's direction.

Slowly, the remaining shackles fell to the ground. Giving a tired pant, Riptide caught his breath.

"How are you holding up?" the mare asked as she propped the navy pony up.

"Nothing that's going to kill me. Come on, let's get to work on the door."

The broken stallion limped through the halls, leaning heavily on Exo. The pair traversed the dimly lit corridors, narrowly avoiding a pair of patrolling guards.

Stumbling, Riptide gave a wet, raspy cough as a pool of blood splattered on the floor.

"Can you still move? There has to be an infirmary around here somewhere," the mare said frantically as she pulled one of the stallion's hooves over her shoulder.

"It's not gonna kill me," Riptide replied as he wiped a dangling strand of bloody saliva from his face. "Let's keep moving."

With that, the two wobbled forward.

Several tense minutes later, a sign pointed them towards the infirmary. Giving a short thanks to the heavens above, Exo tossed an agitated navy pony onto her back, and raced towards the medical bay.

The alabaster unicorn slid to a stop just before reaching the entrance to the infirmary. Gently she pressed her hooves against the door, careful of any excess noise. Seeing no pony, Exo slid her way inside and carefully laid Riptide down on one of the examination tables.

The two-tone mare rifled through the drawers and cabinets, looking for anything of use. Exo's heart pumped painfully in her chest as place after place came up empty. Finally her blood froze as she saw a cabinet full of pristine syringes still in their packaging. Turning them over, they were all color coded: red for epinephrine, blue for morphine, and green for penicillin.

"What are they?" Riptide asked from his prone position on the bed.

"Syringes: morphine, adrenaline, and penicillin."

"Great, bring me two of each."

"You're not seriously going to inject yourself with these, are you?"

"I just need something," the stallion gave a wet raspy cough, "something to kill the pain."

Digging through more cabinets, Exo found a roll of gauze, a pair of scissors, cotton pads, and a bottle of alcohol before returning to the navy stallion.

"I'm going to have to replace your bandages, or else you run the risk of getting an infection."

"Alright, but can I get a shot of morphine first?"

"Sorry, but I need you to tell me where it hurts worse bec-"

"Because you're cruel," Riptide snapped.

"Because I have to make sure that there isn't an intramuscular infection which would need to be sucked out, and get a shot of antibiotics."

"How do you know all this?" the navy stallion asked.

"I read a lot of books while you were planning our escape," the mare responded simply.

Levitating the scissors, Exo carefully slipped the metal blades beneath the bloody gauze strips.

"Careful," the dark blue pony said as he clenched his teeth, and squeezed his eyes shut.

Slowly, snips filled the air, and stained crimson strips of cloth fell away.

"Oh."

"What? What is it?" Riptide asked as he began to turn his head.

"Nothing," the alabaster unicorn added quickly as she telekinetically held his head forward.

On the navy stallion's back were a pair of bald patches with jagged, ugly stitches.

Ewww, the mare thought to herself.

Blood had caked around the wound, and thin wisps of cotton hung from the hardened scabs.

"Close your eyes, and think of Celestia."

"W-Why?" Riptide asked, trepidation in his voice.

"Alcohol tends to hurt."

"On three, okay. I'll count."

"Alright."

"One... two... two and-a-half..."

"Three," Exo said quickly as she poured the alcohol onto the stallion's back.

Riptide would have screamed had it not been for the cotton pad the alabaster unicorn had shoved into his mouth last minute.

"Quiet," the mare chided.

The navy stallion whimpered as the smell of alcohol filled his nose.

"Calm down big guy, I'm almost done. Does it hurt here?" the alabaster unicorn asked as she carefully pressed around the stitches.

Riptide slowly shook his head as a tear fell from the corner of his eye.

"That's good, but I still think that you should take a shot of penicillin."

A low whine emanated from the stallion's throat as Exo gently pressed the cotton pads into place, and wrapped the navy pony in bandages once more.

When the mare gave the all clear, Riptide tore one of the morphine syringes open, inserted the needle into his foreleg, and pushed the plunger. All of the aches and pains that had previously racked the stallion's body were now washed away in a wave of warm tingling. A numbing euphoria racked his body as his mind went blank.

"That feels nice," the dark blue pony slurred before injecting himself with a green syringe. "Let's go," the stallion said as he hobbled off of the bed, cracked his neck, and planted his hooves firmly on the ground.

"We have to free the rest of the captives," Exo said firmly.

"Why?" Riptide asked through his drug induced daze.

"Because if we don't," the mare pressed her muzzle against the stallion's, "no pony else will. On top of that, whatever Crystal Shard is doing to them can't be good. We have to stop him. Not to mention that we have no idea where we are, so a little direction would be nice."

"What's the plan then?"

"First, we have to find the guard's room, there's bound to be a skeleton key to the locks, and hopefully a map of some sort. Secondly... I'll think of it when we get that far."

"I've heard stupider ideas. Lead the way, boss."

The alabaster mare sighed as she pushed the infirmary door open.

"How the hell are we supposed to find the guard's room?" Riptide whispered after several minutes of making their way through the darkened halls.

"Well um... the guards are sure to have a set pattern, if we follow one of them, he's sure to lead us to the room."

"Good idea."

Time seemed to drag on as only two sets of hooves echoed throughout the halls. Exo led the way, shushing the stallion when his morphine addled mind drifted into the realm of talk.

Magically jerking on Riptide's tail, the mare stopped the navy pony from walking as a pair of masculine voices reverberated down the halls.

"Come on Duke, we're due for a shift change already," one of the voices said.

"Sure, I'm getting bored anyways," the other replied.

The two-tone unicorn nodded to the stallion, gesturing to the guards. Nodding back, Exo could feel Riptide's breath on her rear. Giving a huff, the mare slowly began to track the pair of stallions.

For several tense minutes, the alabaster unicorn followed closely behind the guards, until a wheezing gasp reminded her of Riptide.

"What's wrong," she whispered as the two guards rounded a corner.

"Morphine's wearing off," the stallion replied through clenched teeth.

"Must have been diluted. Keep steady, I need you clear headed for this next part."

"What do you need me to do?" the navy pony asked as his breaths became long and labored.

Exo peered around the corner.

"I can see the guard's room at the end of the hall. The guards are almost there, I need you to sneak up behind one, while I sneak up behind the other. Once we're close enough, were going to choke the guards, DON'T kill him, just get him to pass out."

"Sounds easy enough."

"We'll have to be quick about it too, they said that they were due for a shift change."

Riptide nodded.

"Let's go."

Muffling their hoof-steps, Exo and Riptide crept up behind their respective targets. The guards continued unaware of their attackers.

The navy stallion tilted his head towards his mark. The alabaster unicorn grimaced as she shut her eyes, flared her horn, and created a small magical barrier over her victim's muzzle.

The guard thrashed and flailed for a few seconds before his limbs went still, his eyes closed, and his body began to slump forward. Carefully Exo took hold of the guard, and gently placed him on the floor. Looking to the left, the mare saw Riptide next to an unconscious stallion of his own.

"How do we get in there without the guard inside noticing?" the stallion asked as the two reached the door.

"I've got an idea," the mare said slowly.

*tap tap tap*

The tumblers in the lock clicked into place, as the knob turned, and the door swung open.

"What took you guys so long?"

"Ding-dong!"

*POW!*

One more unconscious guard now sat on the floor.

"Effective," the dark blue pony remarked.

Stepping inside, the room was furnished with a bank of consoles, a few chairs, a table, a large cabinet, and a wall of monitors.

"Careful, we don't know if there's going to be anypony else coming in here."

Riptide grunted in confirmation.

"You dig through the filing cabinets, I'll see if I can't find something useful on these consoles."

Another grunt from the navy stallion.

Exo poured over the controls, hoping for some sort of mass release switch, anything to expedite the process of freeing the captives. No such luck though.

"You having any luck?" the mare asked as she turned to the stallion.

"I found a set of keys, they look like they fit the cells. I also found this." The dark blue pony set a parchment scroll on the tabletop, and unfurled it. The page depicted a map of Equestria with several red X's and O's.

"Where do you think we are?" Exo asked the stallion.

"If I had to hazard a guess, I'd say... here." Riptide placed a hoof on the northwestern corner of the map.

"Why do you say that?"

"If the Crystal Empire is here," Riptide said as he pointed to a colorful crystal tower overlapped with a red X. "And Canterlot is here." The capitol city held a crude drawing of both the sun and moon encircled by a black line. "The train that took us north is this little line." One of the stallion's hooves traced a dotted black line from the outskirts of Canterlot up past the Crystal Empire, and to a singular black blob at the top. "So I'm guessing that this is us." Riptide's hoof rested on a small mountain cave not too far from the Umbra prison.

"But then what's this?" the alabaster mare asked as she pointed to a purple star with a question mark to the south of Canterlot.

"I don't know, maybe a variable in this little plan of his."

"We can't worry about that now. What's the closest city?"

The navy stallion scanned the page intently for several minutes.

"It looks like there's a town to the south quite a ways, too far to tell without the key."

"That's good right? We can finally get out of here, and go home."

"That's a lot of ponies to march all across the tundra, and most of them have been starving in here for weeks. I don't know if all of them can make it to the closest town."

"We'll think of something, Right? These guys brought us in on carts. So logically there have to be more carts around here. We can use those to transport the ones too weak to make the journey on their own."

"Alright, we've got a plan. All that's left now is to-"

Riptide was cut off as the wall of monitors sparked to life, and an all too familiar voice crackled over the sound system. On the display stood a lavender stallion on top of a stage, dark sunglasses covered his eyes, a heavy cloak draped his body, and a slight limp followed him.

"Welcome friends," began Crystal Shard. "You all know why we are gathered here today correct?"

"... deal with that prick," the navy stallion finished.

The audience murmured a bit before the lavender stallion raised a hoof to silence them.

"We are here today to show that the hubris and avarice shown to us by the pegasi and unicorns can indeed be bested. I have taken it upon myself to discover a way to bring those selfish, arrogant ponies to their knees. A way to bring about an age of equality for all."

From behind the stallion the floor split, and a golden triangular plate rose from the ground on a pedestal.

"In these very caves, years ago, I discovered a power which rivaled that of the princesses themselves, a relic which dates back to the days before Discord was a foal in his mother's belly. This golden plate you see before you signifies a great discovery for the earth pony race, and a great humbling for those arrogant pegasi and greedy unicorns.

"With this artifact, our scientist have shown that the princesses have not always existed, they were created. They were born of this plate when the three tribes were balanced, and at peace. But those days have long since passed, and now the world has been thrust out of order once more.

"It is now, with a heavy heart, that I must inform you that I shall take on the burden of testing this relic. I shall spill my blood in order for you all to have a ruler worthy of leading you into battle against arrogant and selfish ponies that have belittled us for so long. No more shall we be subjugated for being just earth ponies. For when we have overthrown those oppressive masses, I promise you that we shall all be alacorns, and we shall all live eternally in greatness and prosperity. After these days have concluded, Equestria shall be reborn as the envy of all sapient creatures.

"NOW I ASK YOU ALL, WHO IS WITH ME?"

The crowd of earth ponies stomped and shouted in agreement loud enough for the echos to reach Exo and Riptide in the guard's room.

"Now you all shall have the privilege of witnessing the ascension of the earth pony race into godhood."

A pair of technicians stepped out from off-screen hauling a pair of covered carts. Removing the tarps revealed a pair of horns the length of one's foreleg, and a pair of navy wings.

"It is with these that we shall carve out a future of peace and equality for all."

Exo could hear Riptide growling beside her

Stepping up to the golden plate, Crystal Shard pulled a curved red horn from beneath the cloak.

"This, is the horn of the defeated tyrant Sombra. It still crackles with eldritch power, and with it, we shall power the plate which shall lead us all to greatness."

More cheers echoed through the hall.

Slowly the lavender stallion stepped up to the golden plate, positioned the harvested organs beside him, and touch the angry, red, broken horn to the plate. A great white flash erupted before a shadowy figure appeared from the ether.

Crystal Shard now towered over the two ponies beside him. Where his coat had been lavender before, it was now charred black. A pair of horns sprung from his forehead, one black one white, both twisting and compressing into one. From his back came a pair of massive wings starting black, but gradually fading to navy at the tips. From his eyes poured purple tendrils of smoke as the whites glowed an acid green.

The newly made alacorn looked about, green eyes slowly scanning the room. It's mouth opened. Crystal Shard gave a bestial roar as his horn flared, and a bolt of dark power shot from his horn. The vile energy struck one of the technicians off to the side, who fell to the floor with a thud, dead.

The audience screamed, scattering to the, as Crystal Shard thrashed about, firing more beams of eldritch energy.

"Come on, we've got to go," Riptide said as he threw open the door.

"You can't be serious. You just saw what he did to those ponies, he's a monster."

"That may be true, but then what am I?"

"You're a good pony who is getting in over his head."

The dark blue stallion smirked as he strode down the corridor. Snorting, Exo took the keys and the map before following after the stallion.

An eerie calm had settled over the halls, now and again they had heard the hushed whispers and muted hoof steps of other ponies. Before long, the pair reached a pair of massive oaken doors, from within came screams of terror, bolts of magic, and finally cries of anguish.

"This is where we part ways, Exo," Riptide said as he pulled out a blue packaged needle, tore the wrapping off, and injected himself with the morphine. The navy stallion shook with pleasure as the plunger bottomed out. "A guy could get addicted to this stuff."

"What do you mean 'part ways'?" the mare asked warily.

"I mean that while I'm distracting Crystal Shard, you go and free the prisoners."

"You'll die if you go in there!" Exo stomped.

"Like I don't deserve it?" The stallion chuckled to himself. "Look what I've gotten you into, I've robbed countless ponies, and even killed one with my bare hooves. If my life is all it takes to make sure that everypony else survives, then so be it." Riptide took out a red trimmed package, tore it open, and injected himself with the syringe inside.

"Are you insane?" Exo asked as she looked the navy stallion in the face. "You just injected yourself with morphine, pumping adrenaline into your system will make your heart explode."

"Only if I'm lucky."

"You've got five minutes tops, before your heart gives out. And don't you dare die on me, you're my bitch, and you won't die without my say so." Exo poked the stallion in the chest.

"I got it boss, now if you'll excuse me, my clock is ticking," Riptide replied as he pulled the massive door open, and walked into the room with the mad alacorn.

Shaking her head, Exo galloped down the halls and to the cells.

The alabaster mare's hooves pounded the linoleum, nearly cracking the tile as she searched hall after hall for the prisoners. Yet every place she looked seemed to be empty, not a soul was to be seen, most likely they had already fled when Crystal Shard went mad.

Exo had begun to lose hope until she saw a lone guard, draped in golden chains and jewelry, making his way towards the exit.

"Hey you, stop!" the mare shouted as she charged the crystalline stallion.

The alabaster unicorn tackled the guard, pinning him to the wall, her foreleg pressed against his throat as rare stones and precious metals clattered on the ground.

"Where are the prisoners?" the mare demanded.

"Like I'd ever talk to a filthy unicorn," the guard snarled, even with Exo's foreleg pressed against his windpipe.

The alabaster unicorn flared her horn before the guard gave a yelp, and began to struggle.

"I don't have time for this, talk or I'll rip it off," Exo growled menacingly. The two tone mare had telekinetically grabbed hold of the guard's stallionhood.

"N-no," he stuttered as sweat began to bead at his brow.

"Uh-oh, my grip is slipping," the alabaster pony taunted as the tugged a bit harder.

"Please, don't do this, I've got a wife."

"Do you wants kids too?" Exo asked as she pulled a little more.

"Yessss," the stallion cried as tears fell down his cheek.

"Then where are the prisoners being kept."

"Down the hall, to the left, and it's the second corridor on the right," the guard cried before Exo released her hold on him.

"Anything you want to add before I go?" the two tone unicorn asked as she dropped the guard, and turned down the hall.

"No," the stallion whimpered.

"Are you sure?" The mare's horn flared once more.

"That's all I know, please," he begged defensively.

Exo huffed as she raced down the hallway.

Sure enough, the cells were exactly where the guard had described them. Rows upon rows of filthy, malnourished ponies sat in cramped, dark cells. The smell of rot and decay filled the air as several of the captives gave weak cries for help, mercy, or death.

"Don't worry everypony, I'm here to free you all. We're going to escape."

The captives sat quiet and listless as Exo pulled out the keys, and began to unlock the cells. One by one tumblers clicked into place as heavy iron doors swung open.

"Well?" the mare asked when none of the exited their cells.

"Well what?" responded one of the captives.

"Aren't you all going to escape with me?"

"Too late," another replied, "we heard a few guards talking. They said that Crystal-whatever went insane, and that they were going to leave us here as a distraction."

"That's insane, Crystal Shard's being dealt with-"

"How do you know?

"I saw somepony go in there to take care of the problem."

"That idiot was probably killed the second he met Shard."

The alabaster unicorn scowled in the direction of the pony speaking.

"Even if he is, we have to leave now before Shard gets here."

"Most of us can barely move, how do you suggest they leave?"

Exo took a deep breath before continuing.

"There are carts around here somewhere,those of you who can still move can pull them, and-"

"And what, we're all going to just die out there rather than-"

A vein pulsed in the mare's temple.

"Alright, listen," shouted the now furious mare. "You can either die in here, or live out there. I have a map, we know that there are carts out there, the only thing keeping you all in here is yourselves. I didn't escape prison, and get chased across a frozen wasteland by some psychotic asshole just to watch a bunch of prisoners die on me. Now get out of those cells before I drag you all out of there myself."

Slowly voices grumbled as pale, bony ponies stepped out from their cells. Exo was appalled at what she saw, but she couldn't worry about that now.

"Come on everypony, we've got to move now."

Grumbling, the prisoners shuffled forward, hooves scraping against the floor as the mob made its way down the halls.

For several minutes, they encountered nothing but the same gray walls that lined the rest of the facility. However, in the distance, Exo could hear angry grumbles and the rustling of coins.

The alabaster mare gestured for the crowd to stop as she continued toward the source of the noise.

The jingling grew louder as the unicorn came upon a nondescript door on the side of the hall.

"Don't worry kid," came a familiar voice, "you're cute, you'll fetch a nice price."

Throwing the door open, Exo saw the guard from earlier. A sack of coins had been slung around his neck, and below him, quivered a peach-colored curled-up pony, far too small to be either a stallion or a mare.

"Back away from the kid you creep!" the alabaster mare shouted.

"You again?" The guard stumbled back as the sack of coins threw off his balance, and he fell to the floor.

"Are you all right, he didn't hurt you, did he?" Exo asked the child, a peach colored pegasus filly with a bare flank.

"No," she replied slowly, "he pulled me out of the cell when everypony else had already gone."

"And you," the mare hissed as she turned to the guard, "give me one good reason to not toss you in with Crystal Shard right now?"

"I saved her," the stallion pleaded from the ground.

"You were planning on selling her into slavery."

"... it's better than dying at least," the guard replied pathetically.

"Not by much. If you don't want me to stab you full of adrenaline right now, and watch as your heart tears itself apart, then tell me where I can find some carts to move all of the ponies."

"They're down the hall, on the right, past a big yellow door. You can't miss it."

"Get up then, you're leading the way."

The guard yelped as Exo flared her horn, only to lift the filly onto her back.

"It's safe now, don't worry," she cooed to the filly. "Walk, unless of course you want me to make good on my promise from earlier," the mare commanded of the purple pony.

With his tail stuck firmly between his legs, the crystal stallion whimpered as he led the way to the staging area.

The trio exited the room and rounded the corner, meeting the rest of the crowd before continuing to the exit.

Past the bright yellow doors, sat a single large carriage scarcely large enough for half of the ponies in the group.

"Alright, everypony, the sick and any kids first, then the mares and stallions, " Exo called to the crowd.

With annoyed grunts, the stallions stepped backwards as several of the boniest ponies piled into the carriage, gently, the alabaster unicorn passed the pegasus filly from her back into the carriage, before turning back to face the remainder of the crowd.

"Can anypony here read a map?" Exo asked as she pulled the map out from the ether.

"I-I can," said a sea foam mare with a compass rose on her flank.

"Good, take this, take point, and make sure that you all stay on course."

Reluctantly the mare took the roll of parchment from the unicorn's magic, unfurled it, and stared at it intently for a few moments before deciding on a direction.

"I know, which way to go, but who here is going to pull the cart?"

"I'll take care of that in a minute, just make sure you don't get lost."

The two tone mare turned her attention to the sulking guard in the corner.

"If I find out that you did anything to that filly," Exo snarled, "then you're going to be praying for death by the time in through with you. You got that?"

The guard mumbled weakly in response. The alabaster mare slapped her hoof across the stallion's face before asking again.

"I said," she began slowly, "you got that?"

"Yes," the guard whimpered.

"Good, then get hooked up, you're doing the pulling."

The mare's attention was drawn back to the cave as a great cracking sound filled the air.

"I'm going to go back to look for somepony," the two-tone mare said to the group as she trotted back into the caves.

"Be careful," a pony shouted.

The single, crystal guard dug his hooves into the snow, and the axle of the cart began to creak as the former prisoners made their way to Vanhoover.

With that, Exo left the fleeing ponies, ran back towards the mad alacorn, and hopefully, Riptide.

~~~~~

The heavy wooden door creaked open as Riptide stepped inside, and the sounds of Exo running in the opposite direction filled the air. Inside, the ceiling of the room sat high, wooden beams crossed, supported by four wooden pillars.

Around the chamber sat corpses, stiff and cold. Some had looks of absolute terror and others still had frozen with sneers of anger or jealousy on their faces.

So much death disgusted the stallion, but he pressed on.

"Well, well, well," hissed a voice from across the room. "If it isn't my favorite punching bag?"

"Crystal Shard!" the navy pony snarled.

The mad alacorn leapt across the room, easily standing two heads above Riptide.

"You got some work done I see," the dark blue stallion remarked.

"Like the wings?" Shard asked. "They were quite a steal."

"Looked better on me, at least they looked natural," the navy stallion said as he began to circle the ebony alacorn.

"Good to see you haven't lost any of your cockiness, even after being grounded." Crystal Shard's head followed the dark blue pony around the room.

"Although, I must say that despite the transformation, you're still ugly as ever."

The mad alacorn dropped his head, and fired a blast of magic where the stallion was standing. Instead of a navy corpse, a splintered column sat in his place.

"Missed me, missed me... I'd finish that, but I'm afraid that you'd follow through on it."

Crystal Shard roared as he twisted his head in search of Riptide. Turning around, the ebony stallion saw the dark blue pony reclining against the wall, a familiar smirk plastered across his face.

"That all you got, Bright Eyes?"

The mad alacorn charged the stallion. Riptide ducked away as Crystal Shard crashed against the wall before rearing his head once more.

"Stand still you little shit," Shard commanded.

"What's the fun in that?" The navy stallion wheezed as he clutched his chest.

Crystal Shard's horn glowed with eldritch power and a shadowy beam flew towards the dark blue pony.

Giving a yelp, Riptide rolled out of the way, but not before the bolt of power disintegrated pieces of his tail, and the pillar it had hit. The navy stallion cried in pain as he landed roughly on his back.

"On your back already, I suppose that Red taught you well," the alacorn grinned as he sauntered over to the dark blue pony.

"Didn't teach me a thing actually," Riptide said as he scrambled to his hooves.

Emerald fire seemed to pour from the alacorn's eyes. Giving a roar, Crystal Shard charged the navy pony. The dark blue stallion galloped away as fast as he could, but the ebony alacorn was faster.

The mad god ran past Riptide, only to see the stallion rushing at him. Smirking, Crystal Shard braced himself for impact. Below him, a navy blur passed, weaving in between his legs before coming to a stop against a massive wooden column. The alacorn bucked, shattering the pillar behind him.

"Not dead ye-" Riptide was cut off as Crystal Shard's head whipped around, catching the stallion in the side, sending him hurdling at the final column.

The navy stallion coughed, a coppery taste filling his mouth, as he struggled to sit up against the wooden pillar behind him.

"You're still just an earth pony," Riptide chuckled as he rested against the final column.

"Fool," Shard shouted, "I have all of the powers of a god, you are no better than dirt pony yourself now, and you dare criticize."

"You're not a god, you're just an asshole with an ego, same as me. Only difference is that I know my limits. Hell, if you are a god, then you must be a pretty shitty one, can't fly, can barely do magic. Why, I bet that you couldn't get me with a simple fire spell."

"You shall see, you will burn before my might in everlasting hellfire."

The tip of the black stallion's horn began to glow a sickly green as a miniscule emerald ember formed at the tip. Slowly the ball grew into a blaze, and began to radiate powerful waves of heat.

Just as the ball of emerald fire exploded from the tip of Crystal Shard's horn, Riptide dashed away from the pillar. The bolt of magic splintered the wood, and with it, sections of the roof began to crack and break as heavy wooden beams on the ceiling collapsed under the weight of the roof.

The navy stallion jumped and side-stepped the falling debris while the ebony alacorn could only watch as great oaken bars fell on top of him, knocking him to the ground before rocks crushed his ribcage and broke his wings.

For a moment, the stones stopped falling, and when all was quiet, Riptide looked over at the pinned "god". With a snort, the navy stallion lifted a large rock high over the head of Crystal Shard.

CRACK!

Riptide broke the ebony alacorn's horn, black and white fragments littered the floor as the dark blue pony heaved, clutching his chest.

The ebony alacorn gave a wet cough as he reared his head what he could, and pointed the remainder of his horn at the navy stallion. With a sadistic grin, Crystal Shard poured what little strength he had into the broken appendage, only to be met with a flash of sparks.

"Just finish it!" Crystal Shard shouted from beneath the fallen debris, as his head fell to the floor once more.

"No," Riptide growled with all of the anger, hatred, and vitriol he could muster.

"Why not?" the alacorn snarled.

"I'm not a monster." The navy stallion spat to the side before turning away and exiting the door. "I'm much worse."

~~~~~

"What the hell happened in there?" Exo asked as she saw Riptide step out from the behind the massive oaken doors.

"Would you believe that I ripped the tag off of a mattress?" the navy pony said from behind his grin.

"No, I wouldn't. What happened to Crystal Shard?"

"He's been dealt with," the stallion said simply.

"Did you..."

"I didn't kill him. Look, we don't have time for this, a few of the support beams went down, this place doesn't have too long."

"WHAT!?"

"Just run!" Riptide yelled as chunks of the ceiling began to crumble and fall to the floor.

Sections of wall and pieces of ceiling fell to the floor. The pair raced down the corridors, avoiding the falling detritus.

Exo and Riptide ran, meeting dead-end after dead-end, each path covered by either walls or fallen debris.

"Where the hell's the exit?!" The navy stallion shouted as the pair backed away from another walled hallway.

"Hey," Exo called, "I think that I may have found the way out, help me move this beam that's in the way."

"Great," the stallion replied as he rounded the corner to meet the mare.

At the end of the hallway sat a door, and beyond it stars could be seen sitting on the night sky.

"Help me lift this," the mare said as she gestured at a large wooden beam blocking the path.

Side by side, Exo and Riptide strained against gravity as the beam inched slowly upward.

"Go quick," the stallion said as sweat poured down his muzzle.

Exo knelt down, and began to crawl beneath the debris. Before she reached the other side, several more stones fell on top of the wooden beam, eliciting a cry of anguish from the stallion.

"Hurry," Riptide groaned.

"Alright, I'm through," the alabaster unicorn shouted as her back hooves cleared the wreckage.

With a sigh of relief, the beam dropped before several more rocks fell from the ceiling. On the opposite side, the navy stallion panted heavily.

"Get up, quick. We can still get this out of the way."

"Can't... lift, hurt... too much."

"I can't leave you there."

"Go!" Riptide shouted.

"But I-"

"Just fucking go! Get the fuck out of here, and let me die in peace already you stupid fucking cunt."

"What..."

"I didn't fucking stutter you dumb-ass," the irate stallion yelled. "You've been a god-damned pain in my ass since I met you. Now just fucking go away."

From the opposite side of the debris, Exo could hear the heavy hoof falls of Riptide galloping into the distance. With tears in her eyes, the alabaster mare burst through the door, and ran from the entrance of the cave.

Exo's heart raced, and sweat poured down her face, the moon her only stoic companion as she raced across the frozen wasteland. The pearl unicorn closed her eyes for an eternity, the soft crunch of snow beneath her hooves sounding in her ears as she contemplated the stallion's words. Eventually she heard difference in the sound beneath her hooves, the steady compression of ice gave way to the hard cracks of gravel.

Looking up, she saw an old barren road, with a forest of coniferous trees ahead of her. Through the snow-capped pines sat a sign.

Vanhoover 5kms

(A few months later)

The cold gray skies wept as Exo sat in front of a pair of graves on top of a lonely hill with a dead leafless tree on the side. One unremarkable slab of slate held no name, only a small whirlpool in its center. The other a crudely carved fruit bowl, more than a few chips marred its rough surface.

"Idiot," the mare whispered as a frigid rain pelted her coat, and soaked her to the marrow.

A small wet repetitive *clop* brought her back to her senses. Looking behind her, the alabaster unicorn saw a grizzled stallion in a trench coat.

"Did you know this pony?" he asked.

"He was a," jerk, asshole, idiot, "he was a friend," Exo said with a small smile before turning back to the graves.

"Good to hear," the old buck replied, "friends are hard to come by."

"I know... I know."

The two sat there in silence for a few moments as the rain subsided a bit.

"How did you know them?" the mare asked.

Receiving no answer, the unicorn turned to face the stallion. When she looked behind her, she no trace of him, only a small pink parcel with a red bow.

Sorry, read a small card attached to the box.

A hoof shaking with trepidation, the mare picked up the package, carefully undid the bow, and peeled away the wrapping paper. Lifting one cardboard flap and then the other, Exo saw a small silver necklace with a black opal centerpiece.

Author's Note

I actually had this whole idea for an alternate ending. It would've dramatically changed the story.

Anyways, the change would happen right around the time they're tossed in the torture chamber cave thing after escaping from prison. Instead of Riptide being taken, it would have been Exo. They toss he back in later sans her horn. They escape, somehow, and make their way to the fusion plate thing. Riptide being a not jerk, transfers his wings over to Exo, making her a pegasus (technically an alicorn.) They escape together, and sappy endings all around, maybe Riptide would walk off as he drops Exo off at her parent's house, never to be seen again. Shoulda, coulda, woulda, right?