B.D: Memoirs of a Rogue

Chapter VI

JAILBREAK

I heard a voice as I woke up on the sixth day after the meeting.

"Crow, I need you up and awake."

It was Cinders. She hadn't bothered me for the last few days—there wasn't much I needed to do. I straightened up in my bed, shifting to look at her. "What's the problem?"

"A messenger came. She gave me a letter, addressed to you. Your job was today, right?"

I anchored my legs off the mattress, onto the floor. "It is. It's been five days. You wouldn't mind reading me what it says while I get dressed, would you?"

"Of course not."

I fought myself out of bed and started to fit my jacket on. Cinders brought the letter to the table as I did so. She ripped it open, and read the contents aloud.

"Violet, twelve o'clock noon, Farmpony Memorial. Rendezvous with team, they will explain. Signed, S-E-S," she said, and stopped reading, returning a glance at me. "Talk about vague."

"He was the same at the meeting, barely told me a word about it," I explained, buttoning up my jacket.

"Some ponies are plain crooks when it comes to information. Won't tell you a bit 'till it's right for them."

I smirked. "We live in Pastur, Cinders. What else should d'you expect?"

She turned to check out the window. "How long will you be out?"

"The whole day, if my last contracts were anything to go on," I muttered, walking to the door.

"Well, make sure to get back for dinner so we can celebrate. I wouldn't want to leave you behind. Good luck, Crow."

"Thanks," I said, walking out of the room in silence. We had enough money to buy some of the best dinner in Pastur, and I hoped I'd get it. Seeing how many bits Silt laid on the table, I was certain we weren't going to run out anytime soon.

* * *

I reached the Farmpony memorial, a little earlier than requested. The Memorial was in the centre of the city, and as usual, bustling with activity. Ponies with honest work and honest jobs weren't the only ones there. Beggars littered the sides of the stone monument in the centre, while ramshackle stalls spruced up without consent from the mayor, selling unused farm produce to second-hoof timepieces.

The market, ironically, sold similar products, with their only advantage being the right to sell there. "Why spend time going far away to a market where prices were higher, when you could buy what you needed so much nearer to home?" was the argument. The problem was that it only took one un-bribed guard to arrive at the scene, and both the seller, and the buyer, were given a fine, jail if they couldn't pay.

The risk evens out when you take into consideration that we stole from the market. Cinders told us that if we did buy anything, we should buy it by the memorial. The cost was just icing to the cake.

I passed through the crowd and away from stalls, finding two members of my 'team'—Shady Skies, and Bastion.  I trotted up to them. The orange stallion noticed me, and waved a hoof ecstatically. "Morning, Violet! It's a pleasure to see you out of Hoofsplit."

"You could say that," Shady muttered.

I walked up to them. "Hey Bastion," I greeted enthusiastically, and turned to the mare beside him. "Shady."

"We're waiting for Vallé at the moment," Bastion said. "When she's here, we'll give you the brief, and we'll be off."

"What about Mister Silt?" I asked.

Shady looked to me, and sneered. "What about him? What... do you think he'd tag along?" She looked at the floor, shaking her mane. "Foals..."

I fell silent, and looked to Bastion for some kind of comfort. He gave a half-grin, and whispered to me. "Don't worry about her, Violet. She's always mean to newcomers. Think nothing of it."

"Thanks," I whispered back.

He spoke up. "Mister Silt is a busy stallion, and he's paid us to do his jobs. He doesn't attend them personally."

The unicorn sat down on a bench close by. I joined him, as Shady leaned on a wall nearby. We waited. And waited. Feeling a need to talk, I turned to the unicorn. "So," I started, "Do you know what we're doing here? I haven't been told a thing about it yet."

Bastion paused. "Sorry. Sore-Eyes told us to wait for when we're doing it to tell you."

"Please?"

"Hmm... Very well. You aren't running off anywhere soon, I guess," he said, lowering his voice back to a whisper. "We're rescuing a friend from jail."

"How?"

"The idea is we get in, unlock the cell, and bring him out."

I stared at him, convinced I was getting something wrong. "We're breaking into a jail? Isn't that really, really dangerous? As in a lot of armed guards dangerous?"

He smiled. "Oh yes, you're quite right. There's a barracks next door, too."

I felt like a horrible ailment had crept through my body.

Why did I agree to do this? This is stupid!

Oh right... money. Sometimes, I hate money.

Vallérose arrived soon after. She seemed quite upbeat.

"Friends, I did not expect you to be here so early! I was busy preparing," she spoke, and turned to me. "Violet, it's good that you're here.  I 'ave instructions for you." She walked up to us. Bastion got up from the bench, signalling me and Shady to join him. We did, and began to walk as a group on one of the roads leading out of the memorial. Bastion led with Shady, while Vallérose kept behind, with me. "So," she started, "Your first contract. You must be excited to begin."

"Certainly, but I’m scared more than anything else. Aren't we... breaking into a jail?"

"Oui," she replied. "There's not a thing to worry about, Violet. You'll find we're prepared for this. There's a reason we spent so much time on it, and why we're doing it today. It's the day before the execution."

I tilted my head sideways. "Execution?"

"Our locked-up friends are ready for hanging. I wouldn't call the sentence unfair... but they'd be a high cost to lose. You've never saved a pony's life, have you?"

"Well, no. I don't think I have."

Vallé chuckled, while the other two ponies in front walked off to the side, into a building. "This is your opening debut then, the new 'heroine' of Pastur."

She followed the ponies in front, as did I, into an unpleasant tavern. Bastion went up to the bar, while Shady led the two of us to a round, thick, bruised table. The smell of tobacco smoke and rotten vegetables from the farmers nearby was disgusting. Bastion came back levitating mugs of cider, one for each of us.

He looked at me apologetically, bringing mine. "I ordered you the same. I hope that's alright."

"Better than the apple if you want actual flavour," Shady muttered, giving a foul look at the dirty barkeep. He was cleaning mugs, and winked right at her, a grin hidden behind his handlebar moustache.

"Are we ready to begin?" Vallérose asked. "Shady, is there anyone we don't want listening here?"

"Drunkards, pissed off their manes," she spat. "We can talk."

"Good," Vallérose said, grinning.  She took out a piece of rough paper from her bag, and spread it out onto the table.

"This, friends, is the map of what we know about the prison. Bastion, if you would like to take over."

He nodded, while Vallé started sipping at her cider. "Certainly. As we can see, this is a map of the prison, and," he said, placing a hoof over the numbered room seventeen, "Our target. Each room with a number is a cell, this one holding Twitch. He's the stallion we're rescuing." Bastion paused, looking to the rest of us sternly. "The right wing is of no importance. The left wing is where we're going, where the stairs are that go to room seventeen." The stallion paused, letting me take a further glance at the map.

"Well, go on then," Shady groaned.  "I suppose you'd love to explain your part to the filly."

"I would," he smiled. "I used to be a guard here, Violet. Worked there for five years. Kicked me out for 'misuse of magic'. More the fact I'm a unicorn than anything else, and the new head guard didn't like that one bit." He stood up, placing both hooves either side of the table and drawing his face closer to me. "Thing is, she didn't expect me to work for Sore-Eyes. I can tell a few tips that we wouldn't have a clue about, without me." He took his left hoof off the table and sat down on the edge of his stool. "There are six guards stationed in the prison. Two at the entrance, four inside. Two inside are patrolling cells, the other two stand guard at the hall."

Shady huffed. "Get on with it."

The stallion quickened his pace. "Every two hours, the guards go on break for ten minutes, but only one at a time. It has to be one of the guards on patrol, with the one in the hallway replacing them. This way, there are always two guards patrolling, and at least one guard in the hallway..."

I spoke up. "Sorry, but what's my part in all of this in the first place?"

"You, Violet, are going to enter the building, and rescue Twitch," Bastion said.

I gulped. "How the hay am I going to do that?"

"Easy," he said, pointing to the circled number on the map. "Two ponies distract the guards outside, while another one steals a prison key from one of their pockets." He moved his hoof to the next. "Enter the building through the back window into the locked meeting room. They haven't used it in months."

He grinned at me. "Wait until the guard on the right wing goes on break. Their partner in the hall will go inside the right wing, and you can sneak to the equipment room unnoticed. Next, wait and listen for the guard on the left wing go for break, so you can enter the left wing before they come back. Finally," he said, giving a wicked smile, "sneak up to the second floor, open cell seventeen, and make the grand escape."

"That's... a lot to remember," I said, examining the map.  "Are you sure you couldn't have told me this a bit earlier?" It was easy enough to read, but it was going to be a pain to carry out.

Bastion sighed. "When Sore-Eyes wants something confidential, he needs it confidential. We can't risk the plan being passed on."

"And since you're a foal, no doubt you'd go shouting it everywhere," Shady said. "Shame we have to rely on a child to do a mare's job."

I stabbed a glare at her. "Why don't you go do it yourself, then?"

She grit her teeth. "Because. I. Can't."

"Shady is simply too large to fit through the window, without some kind of advanced magic," Bastion said, "And that's completely out of question. The magi in Canterlot wouldn't dare assist us—even if we weren't breaking the law." He paused.

"Are we quite done now? No more questions?" Vallé asked. The others remained silent. I could think of a dozen or more questions about why we were doing it, who we were rescuing and so on, but it didn't seem relevant to the task. I didn't want to waste everypony’s time. Well, nearly everypony, as I glanced at Shady. Vallé rolled up the paper, replacing it in her bag. "Very good. We should go."

"Agreed," said Shady, downing her drink and standing up. The others joined her.

I hadn't touched my drink. I brought it over, and in an attempt to copy Shady, hoisted it over my mouth. Taking a flood of gutter-drink, I choked, and spluttered, quickly slamming the mug on the table.

They looked over, and Vallé called out to me. "Violet! Are you alright?"

"Yeah. Something... caught in my throat," I replied.

Shady stifled a groan, walking out with the others through the door to the tavern. I waited for them to exit before I bucked the mug over the table in revenge, spilling the disgusting contents. I heard a shout from the barkeep, and quickly followed out the door to re-join the others.

* * *

The group took an uncomfortable pace through the streets. I had to trot to keep up with them. I could easily tell when we were close by to the target. A building almost absent of windows lay in front of us. There was a wooden guard tower to the side, a pony awkwardly climbing up a ladder up to it. There were more in the tower, and from what I could see, they were armed. As were the two guards posted outside the entrance of the prison, similar to the map.

The others slowed down the pace. "Right," Bastion said, "Let's get to it."

"I will distract the guard on the right," Vallé said, searching through her bag. "Violet, you distract the one on the left while Shady steals the key. Bastion, you will sneak around the back. Here," she said, passing a vial from her bag. Bastion levitated it out of  her grasp. "You know what to do."

"Of course," Bastion said.

"Magnifique. Let's go."

The group dispersed in an almost militaristic fashion, and I was left, walking slowly towards the guard, passing by a group of chatting pegasi as I did so. The stallion-in-question was, as I expected, armoured. Leather straps held curved metal body plates disguised in a cloak, and with a well decorated skullcap to boot, the pony was no pushover. I approached him, and heard Vallé speaking a small distance away.

"'Allo, could you 'elp me? I as dropped here by air-chariot and, well, the pegasi driving didn't give me a clue where to go. I'd love a strong, able stallion to 'elp me."

"Of course, ma'am... please, ask away."

The other stallion was easily enticed. Vallérose was a pretty pony, from her name to her hooves, and everything in-between. I sure as hay couldn't match it. I turned, trying to think of something to say, when I found myself face to face with the other guard. He glared tiredly.

"Excuse me?" the stallion muttered.

"Uh, well," I blurted, my brain switching off. "I, um."

"Yes?"

"I, um, the..."

I had no idea what to say, and from the looks of him, he wasn't happy about it. I gave a look behind him, the staircase leading to the entrance at least double the height of me.

"Uh... (The building!) What are you guarding?" I said, hoping to save myself through pointless questions.

"What are you, a tourist?" the stallion asked. I saw Shady emerge from the crowd, slowly tip-hoofing beside the guard.

"Yeah, yes, I'm a tourist. What is it?"

"The building," he stated blankly, "is a prison. Where bad ponies go."

Shady was beside him, searching through her coat. I needed to keep stalling. "What, er, what sort of bad pony? "

He sighed. "Don't you have somewhere else to be? How about your parents, where are they?"

"They passed away. I, I came here by myself."

"Don't lie to me."

"Find them, and prove me wrong."

"You have a carer, then."

"My offer stands," I retorted.

The guard grumbled to himself. I saw Shady, hidden from the guard, pull out a lock-pick from her cloak.

"Huh," the stallion grunted,  "What's your question?"

"What sort of bad ponies do they keep there?"

The stallion brought his pig-like eyes straight into mine. "Bad ponies in the prison?" he grinned. "There's all sorts. Murderers, rapists... some of foals, such as yourself. Take your pick," he said, and brought his grim, snarling face closer. I backed away. "And you know who else? Ponies who waste the guards' time. They don't last long, mind. Maybe a week, two at most. They don't work well with the others."

I could barely speak. The stallion's presence made me feel faint. I saw Shady burst away from his side and drew a quick sigh.

"Uh," I squeaked, "Huh. Well, thanks, but I need to go. Now," I said scuttling away, leaving the guard to his post. He chuckled to himself as I left.

I searched the crowd on the streets, finding the grey pegasus only a short distance away. Shady approached me with the pick in her mouth, and hooked on it, the key. She opened my jacket pocket with a hoof, letting the key drop into it. She spat out the lock-pick to the floor.

"Bastard. He lied as much as you."

I faced her with curiosity. "He, he did?"

"Of course. Takes less than three days to break a foal in prison," she said."

"...Oh." Shady trotted away, leaving me by myself on the semi-busy road.

I brought myself unwillingly to task, thinking back to what Bastion said. "Enter the building through the back window into the locked meeting room." It wouldn't have killed him to be a bit more specific, seeing as I was given about five minutes to look at the map.

I looked towards the prison. I didn't realise it before, but the front had a distinct lack of windows. There were two, both being in the middle building. The other two on the sides were stone all-around. I could guess to where the prisoners were. Locked up, and with no escape through some sort of magic, the prison was made to not be broken into. And I had to break into it.

I climbed over the wall of the courtyard. Before doing so, I made sure that the guards weren't looking. It hadn't occurred to me how far the ponies in the lookout tower had line of sight, but behind the fence I seemed to be just out of view. Nopony was alerted, anyway. I walked around the left wing of the prison, and noticed the tall, concrete wall at an incline on the base of the prison as I moved around it.

I found Bastion at the back, standing next a couple of the only other windows that appeared to be on the prison. Bastion walked up to me cautiously.

"You have the key?" he whispered.

"In my pocket."

"Good. Bring it out."

I fumbled in my pocket for the key, bringing it out, held in my mouth. The unicorn used his magic to levitate the key carefully from my grasp.

"You see," he whispered, "We have to be sure that you don't get caught. Even the sound a key turned in lock makes a sound that could doom you. I'll make sure that doesn't happen," he said, bringing out the vial of clear liquid that he took from Vallérose before. "This," he said, "is muffling solution. It's somewhat similar to an invisibility potion, though, instead of taking away what you see, it takes away what you hear."

I looked at him doubtfully. "Couldn't I just have an invisibility potion?"

He snorted. "It's not that easy, Violet. You can't just drink it. This entire vial is for the key. Besides, an invisibility potion is a near impossible feat for most brewers. It takes years to craft." He open the top of the vial, and placed the key inside, bathing it. The key absorbed the liquid, turning a shade lighter. "We would give your hooves the same treatment, but we'd need a pool of the stuff. These, on the other hoof, should do just as well," he said, pulling out several stringy, furry pieces of fabric after placing the key back in my pocket.

"What are those?" I asked.

He smiled. "Socks! Don't worry, they're quite comfortable, and they'll hide your hoofsteps well." He gave them to, and fit them on, one over each hoof.

I looked down at them with dismay. "These look ridiculous."

He laughed, annoyingly. "I think they look great on you."

"So are you going to keep laughing, or am I going to rescue this prisoner?" I grumbled.

"Of course, of course. As long as you know what to do when you're in there, we're absolutely ready for step two."

"Wait for the guards to go, get to the cell, release him."

"Wonderful," he said, his horn lighting up. It occurred to me that while he told me the plan before, he never told me how I was meant to get in through the window in the first place. I was about to ask him the question when, out of nowhere, I stopped feeling the ground beneath my hooves.

Looking down, I realised that I wasn't on the ground anymore, and was instead hovering slightly above it. Bastion's horn glowed a stronger orange as I floated close to the wall, towards the window. I grabbed for it, as the magic around me started to fade. "You... got it?" I heard Bastion say, struggling slightly.

"Yeah, I'm up."

The aura around me glimpsed out. Seconds later, the window opened, and the stallion who was now at least ten feet below me whispered what I was only just able to hear as "Good luck," before moving me through the other side of the wall, and closing the window.

* * *

I was left in the dark, an interior source of light being absent. Seeing how lit-up a room with a window was, I wasn't expecting much better from the rest. The room was long, dominated by thin benches that were each stretched almost from wall to wall. At the end where the window was I saw a podium, while the opposite had a door, the only 'proper' exit. It was made of metal, with glass and bars adorning the upper half, and a keyhole at my eye-height. Cupboards and shelves were placed oddly at the sides, so as to let ponies walk through without having to jump over the benches. It seemed strangely tame for a prison.

I walked up to the door carefully, making sure not to make a sound. I couldn't look out the window, and frankly didn't want to—it seemed like a bad idea. I pressed my ear to the door, trying to hear anything outside. There was a mumble, nothing I could understand clearly, coming from somewhere further down closer to where the entrance of the prison would be.

A noise from behind startled me. I turned around, only to hear it again, and again. As I focused on it, it sounded more like the continuous hitting of metal, like iron, or steel. It wasn't coming from the room I was in, and was coming instead through the walls. Where the left wing of the prison was, and somewhere, my target.

I waited for a while, leaning into the door and listening. I scoured my mind. I was supposed to wait for a guard to move, or something? The map would have been a great thing to actually bring in with me, so I could understand where everything was much easier.

Suddenly I heard a door, and a voice with it.

"I'm afraid there's nothing we can do. The disappearances happened without a trace of the culprit."

It came from the same direction as the mumble I heard before, and I made it out to be a mare. She stopped, and another pony started talking from further away. I couldn't make them out, and soon, the mare started up again.

"Well, no. Besides. We have a large array of criminals already locked up. One might even be the one you're looking for. But we don't do revenge here. Now, if you'll excuse me." Soon after I heard a high, piercing whistle, and the mare say "Tell the colt it's his break."

Another voice from the other side of the door answered. "Aye, ma'am." There was a loud creak, as the door on the other side opened. Hoofsteps followed, along with the chink of keys. A moment later, and the creak returned, presumably as the door closed. I waited a few moments before getting the courage to jump up, and peek through the window. There was a metal door without a window, and no guard.

I quickly turned to my pocket, and took hold of the key, placing it swiftly into the lock mechanism. I turned my head with the key in firm grip. As Bastion told me, the key was silent, and I could barely notice it opening until a quick 'clink' from inside the door. I slowly opened the door, hoping nopony had heard it. I found myself in a hallway. It stretched on from where I was to a large door at the end, with smaller ones populating the sides. I thought back to Bastion's plan. Sneak to the equipment room unnoticed.

Walking out of the meeting room, I slowly crept to one of the doors, marked 'Evidence', only stepping on the tops and bottoms of the planks of wood below me. It was a trick I'd learnt in the orphanage, and it stopped the planks from creaking. I approached the door silently, and took a brief look around before entering. There were two parts I hadn't explored; the end of the hallway, where I expected the entrance to be, and a diversion off the main hallway, where I thought the entrance to the other wing was. It was stationed by a guard, but I couldn't see them, and neither could they see me from where I was standing. Satisfied, I stuck the key into the lock, turned it, and entered the other room, closing the door behind me.

I my ears lowered instinctively as I entered. The room was a killer's paradise.

Bloodied knives, canes, sabres, even a few guns and many more different items were stored on shelves, each tagged by a small piece of paper roped by the side. I examined one of the papers next to a leather flask, the deficiency of light causing me to go much closer than I would've liked. The paper had text, seemingly written by hoof.  "05/05, 40, poison." It confused me initially, but after seeing a few more similar numbers on other pieces of paper around the room, the connection dawned on me.

This was the 'Evidence' room, where the weapons of the prisoners were stored. The number on the left was the day and month, clearly, while the word, or phrase on the right was the method used. The number in the middle confused me a little at first. It was the room number, and took me a while to realise it.

I searched the room, eventually finding the piece of paper marked "17". It was placed next to a short, sleek dagger with a thin blade. There was a marking I'd seen before—three diamonds, etched into the hilt. Alongside it were two pieces of silvery metal with numerous bite marks on them.

My search through the evidence room was cut short, as I heard a door and a different voice from outside.

"Yer break's over, Crest. Get to yer station, now."

"Already?"

I heard some more movement behind. Aiming to peek out to see what was happening, I readied myself to jump at the door...

...Until I realised that it wasn't fully closed. A slit of light emanated from the opening, and I backed down at the last second, slamming a hoof on my face for not closing it properly. Nopony outside noticed, thankfully. There was the sound of movement outside, doors opening, closing. I waited a while longer until the hallway was again silent. Taking my chance, I took a look outside.

The hallway was empty, though I heard a sniff from far to my right near the entrance to the right wing. The guard had returned to his post, and everything was seemingly according to plan. I turned off the hallway carefully, finding another metal door without a window. It was unguarded, though I could hear voices inside. I took my chances, and placed the key in the door, turning it without a clink. The final stage, I thought.

The door opened, and the voice of a loud, angry mare shouted out. "You lot," she said, making me shudder, "sicken me. I have to spend hours guarding a bloody door, day by day, and you can hardly shut up. This baton is a weapon, you know! A weapon I can lawfully beat you with. Yet you continue. Idiots."

I opened the door carefully to slip in, making sure to stay silent.

The room was a cold mass of prison cells, each barred like the vault back at the manor, with four domed light sources cornering the room. Inside each cell were two to three prisoners, ponies of each kingdom, as well as other species. I saw a few zebra in one cell. Most of the inmates were bashing their hooves against the bars repeatedly, infuriating the dark green mare wearing uniform near some of the cells directly in front of me, past a table and chairs in the middle of the room.

She was facing the opposite direction to me, towards a couple of dirty-clothed unicorns. I saw her hit one of them with her baton, striking vertically to fit through the bars. A howl of pain cried from the cell, while one the unicorns cried out.

"We're dead anyway, wench. If we can piss you off, it's all the better."

"Then I shall beat you 'til your hooves are limb. I have all the 'morrow for it, don't you worry," she replied, wailing on the prisoners. She was preoccupied, however brutal she was. In the safety of discretion, away from the public, the guards were hardly any better than the criminals. It gave me a chance to find the right cell. There were two staircases leading up to the second floor on either side of the wing. I knew for a fact that seventeen was up there, and I snuck towards the staircase.

A couple of the prisoners saw me, turning their heads, and raising their eyebrows in shock. I looked back and raised a hoof to my mouth, signalling for them to be quiet. They didn't seem to get the message. "Oi," The one prisoner, and earth pony stallion shouted out. "Oi, prison wench. Yer end is closer than yer think."

The mare sheathed her baton, and approached the other cell, as I rushed hurriedly up the staircase. "Blank threats aren't your way out of a cell, rat," the mare growled, unsheathing her baton.

"Maybe so," the stallion replied, recoiling. "But 'ow about the real ones?"

I raced up the rest of the stairs, the sounds of my hooves muffled by my socks. I looked above each cell, finding their numbers. My eyes soon dawned on number seventeen. It was a large cell, maybe even a bit dirtier than the rest, with stains I'd rather not ask about splayed on the cell floor. I walked closer, and noticed three prisoners.

One was another earth pony with dark blue fur, sat with her eyes closed. I had no idea what the others were, both curled up in balls on the other side of the cell. Some kind of strange creature, resembling the size of a pony, but not much else. I approached the cell, and tapped the bars with a hoof, trying to get some attention. "Hello?"

The creatures stayed asleep, while the pony woke up. She looked at me for a moment, straining her green eyes.

"Oh, hello there," she said, casually. "They don't usually let the guard's foals in the prison."

"I'm not a guard. I was sent here by Mister Silt, of Hoofsplit Manor, to rescue you, uh... Twitch?"

"Huh," she said. "Huh, huh, huh." She proceeded to turn around. "That's quite good news. Worms!" she shouted, waking up the two creatures, "Look what we have here. Beautiful, isn't she?" The dog-like creatures looked at me, and grunted.

I moved forward to the cell lock, and after a quick turn, unlocked the cell. I stepped back as the door moved towards me. The blue earth pony stood up, scuffing her hooves on the floor. "You have an escape plan, then?" she asked.

"An escape plan?" I repeated. "Um, the escape plan, right." I scoured my brain for what Bastion had said about it, but it didn't come up.

It was never there in the first place.

The escape wasn't explained to me... at all.

* * *

The crowd below and around us continued to fill the room with noise, while the guardsmare added to it by shouting at them. Twitch didn't seem to be angry with me, barely expressing emotion on her rugged face. "Not a clue?" she asked. "Nada?"

"I, I was never about told it," I said apologetically. The eyes of the two dog-like creatures were on me, filled with malice.

One stepped towards me. "The child is useless! Without a plan, how are we—"

"Shut it, worm," Twitch said calmly, hitting the canine with a hoof to the snout. "You don't seem to realise that we can make one." She turned to me. "Be a dear, and bring the key out, would you?"

I did as she asked, pulling the key silently from the lock. Twitch stepped out of cell seventeen. She cleared her throat noisily.

The other prisoners on the second floor, previously joining in to annoy the guard, turned their attention to Twitch. Half of them showed faces besmirched with shock, while the others came closer to the bars of the cells, aching for a better look.

"Wretches!" Twitch cried. "The filly has the key."

Before I had a chance to think, I felt a horrible pain in my teeth. The key I was holding was glowing multiple colours, and shoved itself forcefully out my mouth. The key flew across the room, first to a cell door on the other side of the wing. It landed in the lock, opening it. The key flew again afterwards, going from cell to cell. By the time the mare in uniform climbed the staircase, the prisoners outside grossly outnumbered her, stretching their hooves and necks at the terrified pony.

She stood at the top with eyes glassed over, staring at Twitch. "You! You... Help! GUARDS!" The mare turned, and raced down the staircase. I heard her bashing at the doors shortly after.

"Somepony, open the door!"

The ponies upstairs followed her, while the ones below began floating the key to each lock. Twitch turned to me. "See? Easy. Now, you."

She turned away from me, and faced a cell next to her own. There was a stallion inside, shaking in the corner. "You, are coming with me."

"You... you're one of his, aren't you? Sore-Eyes Silt... you aren't going to kill me, are you?"

"No," Twitch answered, "Not yet. It depends, really."

"On what?" the dark furred stallion asked.

"Whether you do your job right." Twitch gestured a hoof to the stallion. He stood up uneasily, and moved reluctantly out of his cell. She turned back to me. "Well, Violet? What are you waiting for?"

I looked quizzically towards her, seeing her head low to the floor. "Huh?"

"Run."

Without a word of warning she thrust her head into my stomach, taking my hooves clean off the floor.

Unbalanced, I fell over backwards onto the hard metal staircase behind me. The prison wing spun around me every step, finally stopping as I hit the cold floor.

I tried to shout back at her, ask why in Equestria she did it, but it was no use. I couldn't even hear myself. Shaking my head, I opened my eyes to see the prison ceiling.

A leg shot out from above me. I rolled, barely missing the hoof crashing into my face. My roll getting me back on my hooves, I scurried out of the direct route out of the wing, close by a door to the laundry room.

Chaos erupted throughout the prison. The metal door that restrained everypony was open, the guardsmare nowhere to be seen. The table and chairs that once stood in the middle were flipped over, the glass domes around the room smashed. I looked up to the second floor, or what I could see of it, to locate Twitch and her company. I couldn't. I was a young mare alone in a prison break. I needed to get out. I turned to heavily populated door, took a deep breath, and galloped.

I was pushed, and shoved, but eventually squeezed out. The hallway was full with ponies. Some went the wrong way, to the other wing of the prison. Others ran for the two rooms in front, one being the evidence room, while the other seemed to be the prison's armoury. The others charged through the doors of the entrance, oblivious to each other as they recklessly ran for freedom. I dared not even attempt the front door.

I needed somewhere to think, or perhaps wait out the stream of prisoners. Finding the perfect moment, I ran for one of the few rooms the rest weren't charging at, a bit right of where I got out of the wing. The door was open, and through good timing I wasn't hurt by the others.

The room itself was nothing special, a small restroom, though it had something the others lacked. I placed my hooves in the basin of the sink, climbing up steadily. Once I was up, I could look out the window.

The street was ravaged by a fight. The prisoners were charging out to meet the soldiers outside, using blunt weapons and even... muskets, shooting out into the crowd. The prisoners weren't any better, some using the weapons they'd taken from inside.

I looked down. below the window was a long jump. It looked possible, but it'd hurt.

I had no choice. The front would outright kill me, and coming out here, the courtyard wall would keep me safe from the sight of anyone dangerous.

My choice was final. I opened the window, pulled my way through, pressed my head against my barrel and let go, my back facing the hopefully soft ground beneath.

.

.

.

Thud.

I log-rolled further than I wanted. My body tumbled down the incline of the prison, straight into the courtyard wall. It took me a moment to get back to my senses.

I brushed grass and dirt off me as I stood. My head ached, and I owned a few bruises, but suffered no major injuries.

The prison was at a constant volume, and pitch, while the outside was much different. My ears seemed to numb from the lack of horribly loud noise, and I could hear much more. The shouts and roars were still there, merged, but there were different voices in the distance. They sounded like orders, shouted by an officer. Then there were the guns. The sounds of muskets pierced through the air. The sound of many hooves on a path followed it. Time to get going.

I cantered beside the wall, finding an alternative way out the back. I found the windows outside where I'd come in from. The wall was climbable, as I'd done so before, though it took some effort. I hoisted myself over the top, onto the stone-crafted street. I galloped over the other side, dodging out the way of passing ponies. On my way I found another street stretching out away from the prison. I followed it. The sounds of fighting grew distant, and sure enough, I escaped the conflict.

* * *

It was a fair time before I returned to Hoofsplit House. More and more members of the law shot past me as I travelled, heading to the scene. The shouting and commotion slowly died as I found my way to the richer houses, and was all but gone by the time I reached the gardens of the manor.

I knocked on the door. The butler answered, hesitating before opening the door for me.

"Could you... get Mister Silt for me, please?"

He nodded, ringing the chime seconds after. I walked into the foyer, waiting patiently.

Soon after I saw Mr Silt as he appeared from the top of the stairs. He was closely followed by the butler, as well as the mare at the prison, Twitch. She grinned as she saw me.

"Well done," Mr Silt laughed, "Very well done, Miss Violet. You did exactly as I asked. My colleague here is safe, and so is her captive." He paused as he touched the foyer floor. "I'll go to the vault to get your pay. You've earned it."

I bowed my head, trying not to look at the mare. "Thank you."

The stallion left at a pace to the hallway, leaving Twitch behind. I turned to see her pulling fiendish grin.

"What was that for? Why in Tartarus did you hit me?"

"I was saving you the trip."

"You almost killed me!"

"But I... didn't. I don't see the problem here," she said, slanting her head. "You did me a favour, and I did you one by not killing you. You said it yourself." She whipped her navy-blue tail in my face, and walked towards the living room. "Enjoy your gold, Violet."

I could feel the anger boiling up inside me. I committed myself to forgetting her, turning towards the hallway to follow Mr Silt. Walking on, I was blocked by Bastion coming out of another room. He spotted me instantly.

"Violet, there you are! You did a great job, by the way. I heard about the jail-break. Was the way back alright?"

"You could have told me," I muttered.

"Told you what?"

"The escape plan?"

The unicorn's face went a shade paler. "You, you weren't told? I didn't say? How'd you get out?"

"Through a window, after almost getting trampled to death."

"Oh! I didn't mean to... no, please, come inside," he said, motioning into the room he was half-way out of exiting. He rushed in himself as I walked behind him. It appeared to be his office. I waited reluctantly by the door, while he began to ravage through a drawer, throwing out papers and old scrolls.

He brought out another map accompanied by a few scribblings and hovered it in front of me. "See?" he said, keeping it still so I could read it. "I had your escape planned as skilfully as your entrance. The kitchen in the left wing has a pantry which goes to a secret entrance, a drop to the sewers through a broken wall. You'd knock out the patrolling guard, or sneak past, and from there on you and you accomplices could find a way down, up and out." He dropped the map, and made a quick trot towards me. "I thought you could use the prisoners escaping as a distraction," Bastion whined.

"I did."

"But you needed to! The five of you could hardly stand up against a regiment. I let you down... on your first contract, no less." He sat down on a chair, pulling a hoof to his face.

A short while after he brought down the hoof, and looked me straight in the eye. "Violet, this shall be the last time I fail you. I promise."

"So... what were those questions?"

He shook his head. "It doesn't matter. I'd be wasting your time. Go to Sore-Eyes, get your pay."

"I could spare a minute."

He looked to me. "It'd take longer than that. Please, go ahead. If you still want to afterwards, you'll find me here."

I turned around. I walked out, closing the door behind me, and journeyed down the route to the vault.

Before long I found the metal door in the hallway, wide open. Clip-clopping inside, I found Mr Silt, holding a small sack in his mouth. Once he noticed me, he placed it on the table. "Your reward," he said. "I sincerely hope you like it."

I ambled towards the table. Once there, I opened the sack. I thought it'd a quarter, or half full of bits. To my surprise, the whole thing was full to the brim of the golden currency. I couldn't believe it. It was probably more than we'd made for the last half a year or so. I'd just made it in a day. "...Thank you."

"No, thank you. Your work impresses me Miss Violet. You can be sure that I'll need it again."

* * *

I turned in the hallway, entering Bastion's office. "Please," he said, "Sit." I dropped my sack of bits down on the drawer, and resting on a nearby chair.

"I began looking around. The furniture was, as with the rest of the room, elegantly decorated. There was a painting on the wall of a couple of ponies, one about the same age as me. To the opposite lay a bed.

"You live here, I take it?"

"I do. Old Mister Silt pays well, well enough for me to rent this," he took a glimpse at my money on the drawer, "as you know."

"What did you want to ask?"

"Well, I wanted to know more about you," he stated. "You're new here, and you're certainly something else. I can say for a fact that I couldn't do what you did at your age. You didn't hesitate, you didn't stumble..." I huffed at 'stumble', "...You did your job, something nopony could've done without you. Sorry, were you going to say something?"

"Nothing. It's nothing, carry on," I muttered.

"You know what I used to be. A guard, an upstander of the law, turned, well, criminal I suppose, and a mediocre cartographer."

"Cartpgraher?"

"Map-maker. But what about you? How did you start out?"

I... I've been stuck in an orphanage most of my life. I guess I sort of learned how to be sneaky, and how to be quick on my feet. Once we escaped, I just sort of honed my skills on the streets with my friends. I don't have a clue why he took me in."

"Heh, I was surprised when he called me, too," Bastion chuckled. "He has his reasons for doing things. This orphanage, is it the one in Pastur?"

"Yes."

"Huh... quaint." He paused, looking at nothing in particular.

"There's... one other thing I wanted to ask you about, Violet. It's about the day you first came here. I was in my room when I saw the butler, Felltree, taking a pillow past across in the direction of the parlour. It hardly crossed my mind, but as I sat back to work, I saw him again a few minutes later. He was holding a healing potion and going at quite a pace. ere for you, weren't they?"

"Yes, those were for me," I replied anxiously.

"From my experience here, health potions are for only the most wounded of ponies—they are difficult to brew, and we only have, well, had one potion-master. What happened to you?"

"I'd rather not say."

Bastion looked at my earnestly, his grin gone. "I understand. It's alright."

"It's... not that," I said, seeing his expression. "I don't want Mister Silt to know. He was so kind to me, and I'd hate for that to end."

It was a mad assumption that he'd hate me for it, and I knew it. But what if he would? What if, in a group of seemingly thief-like ponies, killing was a deed to get kicked out for? I had some scepticism on it, especially with Twitch. She was clearly a loose cannon. The others of the group seemed to be nothing more but than a more mature version of myself, and my friends. They'd hate to hear that I killed somepony.

"I'm sorry, but I can't tell you."

"If that's how you feel," Bastion said. "...That's it. Sorry for wasting your time."

"No... I didn't mind. Really." I rose from my chair and walked to the door. I turned to the stallion. "Goodbye Bastion."

He looked up at me, sat in his chair. "Goodbye, Violet. Make sure to visit while you're waiting for the next contract. I'm sure it'll be a while."

"Sure," I said, leaving the stallion to himself as I trotted out through the hallway.

* * *

I didn't know what to think of myself as I left the house. Was I really a 'heroine' releasing prisoners who'd been taken in by law? It was a weird world of morality down in the depths of the city. The folk legends of ponies doing brave, and 'honourable' deeds for the queen and her court were laughable. Who'd kill a dragon without a cut of the loot?

Mrs Goldheart answered the door as I returned to the boarding house. She looked terrified.

"Come in, Miss Violet, quickly. You don't know how lucky you are to be home."

She pushed me in, and walked me towards my room. I couldn't speak, as I held Silt's money between my teeth. "Horrible things have happened. Did you hear the guns? It's not safe outside Miss Violet, not tonight."

My friends in the other room were ecstatic when I came back with a sack full of gold. Even Ying was wide-eyed as he stared at me through my entrance to the room, him and all the others. I threw it on the table, bits spreading across a small distance.

"But," I said, as my friends gawked at table, the foals joining in to see what all the commotion was about, "I can't take this all for myself. I may have made it, but I just don't think it'd be useful to all be spent on one mare. So I'm sharing it with all of you. We need meals more than I need a fancy hairdo."

We had dinner with Mrs Goldheart that night, and soon went to sleep. I was surprised that there wasn't a pony who asked where I'd got the money from, only knowing what Cinders told them about it. Not even a glance towards a connection between my appearance and Mrs Goldheart's fear. The money must've drowned it out.

* * *

The next day was a like a long-standing burden gone. I'd done the task. It was over, at least for a while. I had time to relax. I thought over accomplishment as I laid on my bed, one leg stretched out while the other was bent. My fore-hooves were at the back of my head, boosting it up so I could see easily around the room.

I heard tapping on the floor, as Parable walked over to me. "Violet," she said, "I'm going out for a walk with the foals and, well, would you like to come along?"

I hadn't talked with Parable for a while. She was much more open after she changed jobs, and I was pleasantly surprised to get to take advantage of it. "Sure, I'd love to," I said, smiling back. I brought my hooves out from under my head, and rolled off the bed. She was waiting beside me, her jacket already on. It wasn't long before I was up, and ready. We went off and out of the boarding house quietly, hoping not to alert Mrs Goldheart. She wasn't around, but with all the foals we had to be extra careful not to wake her up. Once we tiptoed out, Parable led me out and towards the market, the foals ambling in front of us.

Parable turned to me with a smirk. "She was like that for a while before you got back. Nopony knows why. Do you know what happened?"

"There was an escape down at the prison."

She stopped, placing a hoof on her mouth.  "A.. an escape? That's horrible," she gasped.

"Well—yeah, yeah it was," I said, not wanting to dig myself into it.

"Why didn't you say? We were locked up all evening, we didn't have a clue! Mis'ess Goldheart didn't say a word about it. Oh, but she was right keeping us safe. What if they're still out?" She hurriedly stepped a few paces in front of me. "Colts! Fillies! Come back!"

"Parable," I laughed, "Calm down. Any pony with half a brain would've galloped away as far from Pastur as possible by now. The others would've been caught ages ago. Besides, why would they care about a few of us? We're as safe as we'll ever be."

"Really? Well, if you say so..."

"I do,"

Parable started walking again, and soon after she began to talk. "So what were you doing yesterday, Violet? If you don't mind me asking. Nopony, not even Cinders has a clue."

"Uh... I'm afraid I can't say. It's a secret."

"Were you near the prison when they escaped?"

"Near enough to hear it," I said, looking away.

"You're lucky to be alive."

"Huh. yeah... what about you? How was your day?"

"Oh!" Parable cried, "It was great. Me and the foals did all sorts of lovely things together. We went out the city!"

"Out the city?" I exclaimed. "Where'd you go?"

"We snuck out next to a travelling troupe. We couldn't be seen alone by the watch or they'd question us, and we," she broke off mid sentence, darting her head to the side of the street. "Did you see that?"

"What?" I asked.

"T-that box! It was moving." She pointed a hoof over to a back entrance of some house.

In the back there was, as she said, a box, the height and width of a tree trunk. It didn't appear to be moving to me.

"It's just your imagination, Parable. Don't worry about it."

"It's not my imagination. I saw it move, twice! Come on, look at it a bit longer."

I decided to humour her. We both headed off to the side, the foals still playing in back in front, while I trod in closer to the box, examining it. I retained my doubts, seeing the box as still as any other inanimate object. But a little while in I was proven wrong. There was a rumble, as the container jumped up in the air by an inch, placing it at an odd angle. The box went on to reposition itself, shuffling across the floor. I didn't know what to say.

"What do you think it is? What if it's a unicorn's spell gone wrong?" Parable said.

"I, I don't know," I said, taking another look. The box had stopped. "Maybe there's something under it?"

"Could you check? Try knocking it over."

I sighed. "If this thing bites me..." I said, cautiously bringing myself closer. I hovered a hoof close to the edge. Bracing myself, I threw a swift kick onto the box, toppling it over the now visible contents.

I and Parable gasped at seeing a small, brown and white colt, his head resting on the pavement, as skinny as half a foal his size. He opened his frightened eyes, and stared right back at me.