The Secrets of Caduceus

"How gullible." A voice echoes back and forth from inside my head, "Or perhaps I simply outwitted you. It doesn't take that much effort for somepony like me."

My eyes slowly open, and I find myself staring at the bottom of a metal higher bunk bed. On my back I turn on my left side, and notice where I am. A prison cell with a single bunk bed and a single toilet in the corner. Grey steel walls surround me, and I roll off the bed onto the steel prison floor. It's cold, damp, and just feels miserable in this tiny cell.

Then, the voice from before appears again from behind me, "Oh, you're awake? It's more satisfying to sass you when you're awake."

I spin one hundred and eighty degrees and face the iron bars behind me. Behind the set of bars stands a white unicorn with a strangely beautiful black mane.

"Who are you?" I ask.

The unicorn turns away, smirks, and then trots off to the right of the cell, disappearing from my sight.

"Hey! Come back here!" I shout, as I jump forward and grasp the bars with my hooves.

The unicorn is gone, and I'm left alone in this pathetic closed steel space.

I retreat to the bed, and look around the cell. There has to be something around here that can help me get out of here. I'd rather try and struggle out of this cell than wait patiently for whatever sad end awaits me. First, I trot towards the small porcelain toilet in the corner of the cell. It's cleaner than I expected. The bowl is completely empty, perhaps I had hoped to find a shiv or a key sitting at the bottom for me to use, sadly it wasn't as convenient as that. The sink was just as empty, there was only a hole at the bottom, and that was as empty as the toilet bowl.

Disappointed, I switch on the tap. Water begins to slowly trickle out of the faucet head with low pressure. I let the drops of water fall onto my tongue, as my thirst is partially quenched.

"Just where in the world am I? Those mares who brought me here don't seem like the type who would risk their lives to come back and save somepony they've known for such a short time." I think to myself in the empty cell.

"Psst."

"I mean, I like them and all. But I don't expect them to come immediately, I might be stuck in here for at least another two or three days."

"Psst!"

"Hopefully they'll get here before I die of either starvation or execution by that unicorn--"

"HEY! Idiot! Over here!", a voice loudly whispers from outside the cell.

"What the…" I spin around to face the iron bars keeping me in the cell.

There, outside my cell, stands the grey filly who got me in this mess; Misaki.

"You!" I loudly whisper back, lunging towards her and gripping the iron bars.

"I know, I know. I'm really sorry okay? Just… Just be quiet for five minutes okay?" She whispers back, gesturing to be quiet with her hoof on her mouth.

With no other options available, I nod and ask, "We'll deal with this later. Just tell me how you're getting me out of here."

"The keys are right over there, in the warden's office, and behind his desk." She says, pointing off to the right of my own cell.

"How do you know so much about this place?"

"I've been here ever since I ran away."

"I see. Well, be careful getting the keys okay?"

She nods, and then disappears from sight. Patiently I wait for her return. After a few minutes I soon hear the sound of jingling keys coming towards me.

"Hey, I got them." Misaki whispers, as she slowly slides a keycard down the scanner outside my cell.

*BOOO-WEEP* *BOOO-WEEP* *BOOO-WEEP*

A sharp and loud noise begins to sound and bounces off the walls of the cells!

"What did you do?!" I shout over the alarm.

"I-I, I don't know! Maybe it's the wrong one?!" She shouts back, frantically trying to slide different keycards into the scanner.

Finally, after about four or five attempts, she finally finds the correct keycard, which then lowers the iron bars into the ground. If I wasn't panicking from alarm, I would question and admire the engineering of the cell bars. But sadly, I don't have that luxury right now.

"This way! Come on!" Misaki shouts, as she waves her hoof frantically from down the hall.

I gallop after her, and take every turn she takes. The pulsing red glow radiates down every white metal hall, with the annoying and blaring alarm still echoing along with it. Passing the other cells, I notice that they are all empty.

"Where is everypony?!" I shout, galloping after Misaki.

She ignores me, still running ahead. I suppose the alarm is drowning me out in her ears. I follow her until she stops at a metal door.

"Come on… Come on…" She repeats over and over again, as she swipes down keycard after keycard.

"Hurry up! Just how many cards are on that chain?!"

"Stop yelling at me! Just, keep an eye out! Geez!" She shouts.

After about three or four tries, I finally hear the faint sound of a beep behind me. Before I follow her, I look back at the corridor behind us. The dark red lights pulsate in the dark metal hallway. For a moment, I thought I saw the silhouette of a tall pony at the far end of it. But I don't have the time to go and investigate, my best bet is to close the iron door behind us.

Passing through the metal doorway, I push the red button on the other side, closing metal door behind us.

Following Misaki, we continue our run through the labyrinth of metal.

"Do you know where you're going?!" I ask.

"It's just down this hall way! We turn right and the elevator is just at the end!"

I let out a sigh of relief, as we make the final turn towards freedom. Sure enough, there is an elevator-like door at the end of the corridor. We make a dash for it, fearing that guards may be hot on our tail already. Using the momentum she's already picked up while running, she slams her hoof into the button with an arrow pointing down. The ring around the button lights up with a dark blue, which sticks out from the pulsating red glow of the alarm.

Then, at that moment when the button began to glow, I suddenly begin to speculate a possible theory. Why were there no ponies, anywhere?! Through our entire escape, we haven't encountered a single soul, not even in the cells. Then the only other place they could be is… In the elevator.

I turn around, facing the lift. Hearing the elevator come to a stop on our floor, the two metal doors begin to open slowly.