“Kzzchht....come in...... core.... kchhhhht.... code....... run”
What?
“Fzzchht.... unable...... radio..khhhcht...............................”
What the hell was that? I’ve never heard a pony with a voice like that before.
Wait.
Spitfire.
Blood. That’s not good.
My blood.
“Come on, be careful not to get her conscious... And clean her up a bit, we need to prepare her for transport anyway.”
Aw, hell. Please no. I need to do something... anything... I knew something would go wrong, but we had no choice. There was no telling when or where we would have appeared, and if we had gotten hurt! Who knows what could have happened to Spitfire!?
They mentioned a she. Spitfire. How long had I been there, frozen in this state, floating in and out of consciousness? I need to help her. Anything!
I suppose now is a good enough time to recall my thoughts as any.
Ok. So, a long time ago there was a land known as Equestria. It was a magical and peaceful place. Equestria is no more, after the last alicorn died the world began to end. History? Check.
My name is Spark Plug, male, I’m a unicorn, and along with my former-wonderbolt friend we are the last survivors of our world. Immediate background? Also check.
Me and Spitfire. Living straight through to the end of time itself. Just an engineer and a fighter, trying to stop all this madness. Living through those last days was NOT a feat I want to attempt again any time soon. Bit more of my personal background? Check.
Now how did I get here? Ah yes, the incomplete spell I had tried forming.. Have I arrived at my destination? Have I messed up? Reasoning is intact. I haven't lost my brain yet. Check.
What now?
A goal. A goal always helps. I need a goal for when I wake up.
One. Get out of here.
Two. Get Spitfire.
Three.
Save Equestria.
17 Hours earlier...
I was running through the lush fields, as happy as could be. The wind blew among my mane, feeling the grass run amongst my hooves. I could hear the birds singing in in the trees, and the frogs croak the local creek. How I longed to stay here longer...
Climbing on top of the hill, I got a good long look at the small town of Ponyville. It was so much more peaceful, before they built the electric fence. In the distance, I could hear my mother calling my name.
Spark Plug! Time for lunch!
If only....
Thump thump thump.
“mrnnn... 5 more minutes..”
“Dammit Spark, get up. It’s done brewing. You told me to wake you when it was.”
Spitfire. Right. C’mon, lazybones..
THUMP THUMP THUMP.
“Alright, alright! I’m coming.”
As I got out of the mess I call my bed, I put on my goggles, and my protective coat came on shortly after, as quick as I could go.
I opened the door out of the cramped room and stepped into the main floor of the observatory. This was probably the most cared for building in all of Ponyville, and after all, it's not like anyone’s left here anyway. The war had taken its toll on every single piece of land across this earth.
I passed the door that, when opened, would be a quick and shady sprint to the library. You could barely survive the heat outside. With Twilight Sparkle, being on the verge of death, the sun never rose. Never set. Just positioned in the last place for the past, what was it now? 3 months? Occasionally Twilight would muster up enough strength to move the sun to a different position, but until then, whatever was in the heat would bake. You needed a winter cloak to stop from freezing in the shadows, but it is far more bearable than the scorching heat roasting the hide of your back.
I shuddered, remembering the few times I had been forced to venture out, and continued on to the structure in the middle of the room. Spitfire was sitting next to the array of magical pumps and fluid ducts that lead towards the round cage like structure in the middle of the contraption which was my pride and joy. I had spent all my time working on this, from personal directive from Twilight herself.
“Hi, Spitfire.”
“Hey there. Bagel?”
“Sure.” Even the most basic food items were scarce these days, and even something as simple as bread or a bagel is a luxury to be savored. “What’s the occasion?”
“Well, I assume you could tell me. After all, it is your machine. Not really my area of expertise.”
“Yeah... Second last batch.. We should be ready some time during the next week.” I told her as I sat down beside her, and started to fiddle with the brewing machine to my left.
As she said, the latest batch of liquid magical essence was completed. One more, and we should have another few days of waiting ahead of us. As much as the magical resonance is overloading in this world, due to the dwindling number of unicorns and our ‘Alicorn predicament’, refining it into a usable state so that the spell caster doesn't overload their horn is still a lengthy task. I wouldn't even bore myself with it if I weren’t almost forced to.
Finishing off my delicious bagel, I began pouring the solution into the funnel, cleverly positioned so I didn’t need to strain my magic moving the solution.
“Same ingredients as usual? Or do we just dump the rest in, I’m sure that would give it an extra kick.” she enquired.
“No no, that would probably cause some kind of problem, I’m sure. Same as always, although feel free to throw the rest of that broadleaf thyme in there, we can’t have this batch failing us.”
“*Sigh**. Whatever you say, Spark.” She half mumbled under her own breath as she turned to leave.
Meanwhile, I started cleaning out the receptacle that used to be holding the oddly raspberry smelling liquid energy, a task that I had performed many times before.
Shortly thereafter, Spitfire came back with various potions and herbs in her saddlebag, which she had acquired from the storage cupboard down the hall.
“Spark, did you move the remainder of the poison joke extract? I thought we still had some left..”
“Not that I can recall. Did you look in the spare hazards chest?”
“Who do you take me for, someone who comes up lacking?” she replied with a sharp tongue.
“Yes I checked. Sorry, being cooped up here with no one but you can take its toll on a mare like myself.”
“You say that like its a bad thing” I replied with a smirk on my face.
“Heh, I don’t think so, Spark. I can barely stretch my wings as is.”
“Point taken. I’ll go look in some of the older observatory storage centers.”
Turning around to leave to the dusty storage center used by the science team once stationed here, I had the strangest feeling I would come up lacking.
Heuchera. Cannabis. Sage from Stalliongrad. As rare as these ingredients where, they were not the crucial ingredient I needed. If I didn’t get the batch done, I ran a high risk of burning out long before the spells completion, sending me spiraling to
Celestia knows where. Darn it. why does something crucial always need to go wrong? At least it can’t get much worse, with the world ending as it is.
Trotting up the stairs, I called out to Spitfire. “We’re out of poison joke extract! Fancy going to go get some?” I finished, reaching the main dome.
“You’re insane, the sun hasn’t changed its position in the sky for months. I’d cook out there.”
I continued trotting past her, and came to a stop at the closet at the other side of the room. “And that’s why we have.... the exosuit!” I exclaimed in a half dramatic voice. The suit itself, looked like it was cobbled together from aluminum foil and wires. Not my best work.
“I’ve been working on if for a while now, and it should suit our needs. It can withstand the heat outside and the freezing cold in the shadows, for about 20 minutes. With luck, that’s all you’ll need to go grab some poison joke, which the suit also protects against, and bring it here so we can extract what we need from it.”
With a sly look on her face, she started to respond. “Yeah... but one small problem there, Spark...”
“And what would that be?”
“The suit seems to be made for a unicorn, not a Pegasus”
Crap.
A short while later, Spitfire had me all suited up. I looked ridiculous!
“Well, not the prettiest attire. But as long as it works, right? Which it does... Hopefully.... You sure about this Spark Plug?”
“Yeah. We can’t delay any longer. We need that poison joke. Which is odd, because it has almost no useful applications... And besides, what's the worst that could happen? Even if the suit fails, I should have about 23 seconds before my body boils.”
All of the sudden, I’m a lot less confident. Thanks, Spark. There’s no way something could go wrong, at all, ever.
Just keep telling yourself that....
“Well ok, Spark. You just better come back, you hear? It’s going to be awful hard saving the world with a pile of goo.” I could detect a hint of sarcasm in her voice.
“That’s funny, because the spectra in my gooey form would actually be a viable replacement for th-”
“You’ll do fine, Spark.”
I sure hope so.
Trudging over to the door, I prepared myself, both mentally and physically. Yep, keeping it together. Just open the door. Come on, magic. Open it. Now.
Holding a breath, I could slowly hear the metal handle creek from the lack of use over the years. I swung the door open, and one thought went through my head as I closed the door with my magic.
Run.
Avoid the shadows as much as possible. I don’t need the suit failing me because of the dramatic temperature changes. That... would hurt.
Dammit, stop thinking about that. You have Spitfire to go back too. She can’t do this without a unicorn and should never have to do this without a friend. She’d be stuck there for the rest of her life.
Also Equestria being doomed. Keep the big picture in mind, and off Spitfire’s.... Plot.
Shoot, missed the schoolhouse. Didn’t i just think about needing to pay attention?
As I ran up to the old, neglected, brown door, old memories flowed back to me. My first day. Boggling Cheerilee with my math skills. Playing on the playground. Now before me stands a building, neglected by time and abundant with fungus. As I pushed onwards through the schoolhouse door, I spotted my prize.
On the roof, positioned at just at the right angle in relation to the sun, hangs a prism. From this prism, light is reflected towards Cheerilee’s desk, where an abandoned science project lay. In the middle of this piece of terraformed land grew the end to my quest, a few lone flowers of poison joke. Carefully picking half of them with my magic, I placed them into a jar on my belt. There, mission accomplished. Now to get back to the observatory.
I started into a full gallop, running straight out of the school building and start heading in the direction of the town square.
Thunk!
“Ouch! Stupid ledge!” I cursed at it, rolling onto my back and checking for lacerations in the suit.
Instead, I spotted high above me, Metal Dragons. Seriously? So much for not getting worse!
As they approached, I could see what they really were. Military projects put forward from the griffon empire, powered by souless dragons, that could devour whole cities to take the materials back to their homeland. Rumor was that they were building shelters of some kind.
Oh no.
The entire observatory is made out of metal.
RUN LEGS, RUN!
It took me a third of the normal time to reach the observatory. Opening the door as I got closer, I started shouting.
“Spitfire! Start up the teleport! We don’t have any time! Now!”
I bolted into the door, forced it closed, and ripped the helmet of the suit off.
“Spark! What's happening out there?”
“Dragons! We need to leave NOW!” I exclaimed as I threw the poison joke raw into the brewing pot Spitfire had set up. I stated stirring furiously, throwing in potions and herbs in an attempt to speed the fermenting process up. As Spitfire finished up activating all the valves, I poured the mixed up potion into the funnel, using my magic to force it down the tube.
“Everything ready? Valves set to full?”
“Yeah, Spark. Ready when you are.” I could hear the anxiety in her voice.
We both hastily scrambled into the machine, and I attached the device to my horn. Feeling the power flow into me, I started channeling it into the time spell.
Now all I need to do is concentrate. Come on..
It whirred to life, and I could feel the magic start to envelop us both.
Post reditum duodecim lu-
CRASH
Jerking my eyes open for a split second, I saw a metal beast head straight for us. I threw my arms around spitfire and tried to teleport us out, only to have my horn blown out.
Just like a candle.
ZRACKK
Saving Alicorn: Chapter 1
“Kzzchht....come in...... Core.... kchhhhht.... code....... run”
What?
“Fzzchht.... unable...... radio...khhhcht...............................”
What the hell was that? I’ve never heard a pony with a voice like that before.
Wait. Blood? That’s not good.
My blood.
“Come on, be careful not to wake her up... And clean her up a bit will you, we need to prepare her for transport anyway.”
Aw, hell. Please no. I need to do something... anything... I knew something would go wrong, but we had no choice. There was no telling when or where we would have
appeared, and if we had gotten hurt! Who knows what could have happened to
Spitfire!?
They mentioned a she. Spitfire. How long had I been there, frozen in this state, floating in and out of consciousness? I need to help her. Anything!
Those were my last thoughts before I slipped once again into unconsciousness.
My ears were ringing and my head was pounding.
The cold floor forced me to regain my bearings. Opening my eyes, I could see little in the room. No, not a room. A cell, populated only a water bucket, and a bed with no sheets. They, whoever they were, hadn’t even bothered to put me on the bed.
My headache shuddered violently as I tried to sit up. Touching my head with my hoof, I discovered a multitude of bandages covering it. At least my captures had the decency to patch up whatever had happened to my head.
Standing up, I wobbled on my hooves. Slowly and carefully I hobbled over to the door peering through the slot. I spotted a guard and was about to get their attention, but they had noticed me first.
As the guard trotted over, I could barely see his fur under his heavy armor. I opened my mouth to speak, only to be interrupted by his rumbling voice.
“Miss, yer coming with me. The Director wishes to see you.”
“What do you-”
My voice was a LOT more feminine all of the sudden. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that somethings wrong with me.
“Ok.” I replied in a more quiet tone.
He pressed something just out of view on the wall beside my cell, and with a loud buzz, the cell slid open.
After he put cuffs on me, he gestured for me to follow behind him, and cautiously I obliged. Causing trouble would not be too advisable at this time.
The word struck me like an anvil to the head. Miss, he had called me, but I wasn’t a mare. Looking back at myself I noticed for the first time that my body had changed. I was less muscular, and my coat was a slightly lighter shade than before. I noticed my mane had started growing a fair bit out of the bandages, which worried me to no end. How long had I been out, if my mane was already a few inches longer?
As we walked, I scanned the cells for Spitfire. The prison was a great deal larger than I had thought, and we ended up walking now for a lot longer than I had expected.
At the end of another corridor, we finally entered a room. It was fairly large compared to my cell, but just as bleak. A table stood in the middle, with a single light illuminating the room above it. A pitch black window was on the left. A clock displayed the time, 11 PM.
“Sit.”
I did as I was told, and sat down on one side of the table. Trying to distract myself, I checked the functions of my horn. I could still feel it on my head, but as expected, it was still worn out from the spell. In fact, I couldn't feel my horn At all. Concentrating a bit harder, I tried again.
“Miss, yer horn there has got a dampener on it. Try any harder and yer head might blow off.”
That would explain it. Nothing to do but wait and see, then.
Damn headache.
I didn’t need to wait long, as soon the Director came to see me. The well-built colt entered with two more guards, who took their respective places at the corners behind where the Director was sitting.
“So. Let’s begin, shall we?”
All I could do is nod.
“Let’s start with the basics. Our database came up with nothing at all, so let’s start with your name.”
As I opened my mouth to speak, he interrupted me.
“And do tell the truth, I don’t take insolence from mares.” He said that last word with hate in his voice.
“S--Spark Plug” I tried to answer as calmly as possible.
“Good. Was that so hard? Next question. That spell you popped out of? What was it?”
“Broken.”
I heard a snort from the guard to my right as I tried to hide a slight grin, and we both got a glare from the Director.
“Now Miss.” I was never going to get used to that. “Do you know what we do to ponies who don’t cooperate around here?” He asked, as he pulled out some kind of contraption and put in on the table.
“We don’t like to deal with bullcrap around here. Now, I’m going to ask again, what was that spell?” I thought I could see the surprise in his eyes, when I didn’t seem fazed by what he put on the table.
“Well... It was supposed to be a time spell... But as I told you, it ended up... Broken. I was hoping you could fill me in on where and when I am.”
“That’s got to be the sorriest attempt to gather intelligence I've ever heard.”
“I guess you could say it was un-intel-igent” Once again, I tried my best to stifle my laugh as the Director glared at the guard to my right again. At least someone's enjoying my amazing jokes.
“Miss Spark- are you going to be like this the entire time? We can arrange something... a lot more fun for the rest of us.”
“Y'know, if you were just a tad better looking, I might actually agree to that.” The look on his face? Priceless. Even the guards thought it was funny.
“Look. I’ve had enough of this. Are you aware of what happened to your companion yesterday?”
Spitfire. They have Spitfire. Oh please no. Stay calm spark. Keep her safe.
“No.” I replied, trying my hardest not to show my anxiety for the news. “Which one?”
“Oh, so there where were more of you? Do tell.” He fell for the bluff quite easily then I had expected.
“Yeah, all five of us. I bet they're out looking for me now.” How I longed for that to actually be true.
“Well, they won’t be looking for you any longer now that you’re with us. This is the Empires biggest prison, if they had any sanity they would be long gone.”
But not the most secure. I bet I could break out of here easy.
“We did, however, manage to catch one other one.”
Crap. So much for stalling. All I got is from that is that I’m in some kind of empire.
As hard as I tried to dodge it, there was no avoiding what was coming next. I think my discomfort showed.
“The yellow one with the orange mane. Quite the fighter, that one. We were forced to resort to more... harsh methods.”
Oh no. “I’m afraid I don’t know the mare.” Thank god I was good at keeping a straight face.
“Then how did you know she was a mare?”
Crap.
“Your body language gave it away anyway.. the sweating, the becoming tense, I can smell it.”
“Pervert. What did you do to her?”
“Nothing much, just broke her wings, and a leg. That and a few ‘minor’ burns and lacerations. Personally, I think red looks good on her.”
Dammit. All because I messed up. I’m so sorry, Spitfire…
“That, and a few of my boys might have had their way with her.” He stated nonchalantly
That crossed the line. I care not of my own life, but for this they will pay. I will go to the ends of the earth to kill every last one of these bastards.
“So, Miss Spark. Are you willing to cooperate now?” He even had the classic ‘Evil villain’ smirk. What a bastard.
“I would have talked without you hurting her. Not like I have anything to say.”
“That wasn’t an option at the time. Besides, your cooperation is now assured
A thump could be heard from the other room. I hoped that wasn’t Spitfire with all my heart.
“What do you want to know?”
Half an hour later, he stopped asking questions.
“And here I thought we were done with the bullcrap. Quite a thorough cover story, but it's way too farfetched.”
“There’s just no pleasing you is there?”
“Not yet, there isn’t. That will come, I promise you.”
“I was right about you, you are a pervert.” I tried to hold a half smirk on my face.
“Enough. Take her back to the cell.” Famous last words, jackass.
I needed to escape.
The guard that let me in earlier ushered me out. Back to walking, back to thinking.
Spitfire.
If I wanted to get out, now would be a good time. Only one guard in front of me, and I could try and take him out. I just needed to find a weakness in that damned armor. Preferably one near a vital.
“Fer what its worth, I think yer jokes where funny.”
Is he... talking to me?
“Although I’m suppressed th’ director didn’t just have ya beat right then and there fer insultin’ him. “
“Thanks... I guess?”
“We normally don’t get many mares like yerself in the jail, with them being confined to their houses n’ all, on order of th’ Emporer.”
Not a guy I wanted to meet. Ever. Personally, I think the title might be compensating for something.
“Then we get two in one night! I think th’ director’s getting a bit soft. He even let yer friend live fer spitting in his face.”
Oh yeah, definitely glad for his generous brutality.
“Do you know where she is? My friend, I mean.”
“Probably solitary, after they patched up her wounds. The gal’s got a lot of fight in her.”
Not much, but its something. Now I just need a way to get out of these chains... What's something mares are even good at?
Seduction. Colts all fall to their holy power of being hot.
“Just a bit further, Miss.”
I can’t believe I’m actually going to try this.
Here goes nothing!
“Hey. Why don’t you join me in my cell?”
“W-What? Fer... us to rut or something?” he asked in a hushed tone.
“A woman has needs too, you know” I said winking seductively as he turned his head to look at me.
“Looks like yer the real pervert here.”
I was right. It was nothing!
Blushing hard, I scrambled for a response. “Y-you’re the one who brought up rutting me.”
“You implied it!”
Second attempt, go! “Come on, I’m sure a big strong colt like you would enjoy it.”
Ugh. This is going against how my brain’s built, trying to seduce men. I’m not homosexual after all. Although, in my current predicament, I guess I would be, seeing as I’m a mare now. I’m going to need to run some extensive tests on myself later.
Coming to a stop next to my cell and flicking the buttons to open it, he tried to avoid the situation again.
“Miss, I am a guard of this here prison and ain’t discussing this with you!”
“Fiiine, just undo my cuffs.” I told him, pushing the lock to my rear as I entered the cell.
Trying to make my new flank look presentable, he bent down to undo the lock with his snout. I made sure to spread my legs as far as the lock would allow.
Looking back, I saw him take a glimpse, right before I bucked him in the head.
Never, EVER, doing that again! So not worth it! And that’s besides the metal helmet I just kicked!
At least it worked. Keys? Check. Saddlebag filled with random crap? Check. Too bad the armor doesn't fit me. It wouldn't do me any good except slow me down, seeing as I can’t hide my face with the helmet due to my horn.
I quickly undid the dampener surrounding my horn, and felt my magic come back to me. Still worn out from the burnout, I doubt I would be casting anything harder than levitation any time soon.
Now all I need to do is get to solitary. Avoid all the guards, and bypass all the security. Piece of cake!
“Hey you there! Stop!”
Just kidding. Run!
And so I ran. Dodging projectiles I slid around corners. It felt amazing to move with such speed in this female body. I realized in this moment that this was exactly what Spitfire felt while flying. It was amazingly relieving and made me feel as free as the wind.
This was a massive boost to my confidence. Knowing I could… no, would succeed, I Moved with a speed I never thought possible. The halls were barren, minus the few guards I could easily outrun. There was no sign of how I could get to solitary, this prison was immensely huge. Hearing my pursuers behind me, I ran a corner and ducked into the closest looking thing to an office I could see. It took all of my might to hold back my laugh as the guards sped by me.
Huh. Are all females this overconfident?
Turning around, I searched the small office for anything useful. I soon realised that the office was filled with mostly gibberish files that I couldn't care less about, and the room only contained one truly useful thing. Some fire escape diagrams.
Analyzing the useful ones then stuffing them all into my saddlebag, I peered out of the hallway. The coast was clear. I took my first few steps into it.
Then the alarm rang. Oh, come on! I’m never going to catch a break...
I immediately made a beeline towards the nearest staircase leading towards solitary. Peering down it before I went, I saw two guards turn the corner and run up the stairs.
“She was last spotted over here! I hear there’s a nice bonus in it for catching the bitch!
I scrambled for a place to hide. Not enough time to run. Too open to hide.
Aww, no.
Two more guards rounded the corner, and saw me immediately.
“There she is! Fire!” At that exact moment, the other guards reached the top of the staircase. I jumped to position myself between the two groups.
Whoa. The group furthest away had shot directly at the other two. Using their slumping body from the tranquilizers as temporary cover, I shot down the stairs.
By now, the entire prison was awake. Somewhere cheering as I past, while others where just watching.
After I had managed to shake my pursuers, Briefly checking my maps, I snuck as quietly as I could down to the gate that led to solitary. It wasn't hard sneaking past the lumbering guards with their tunnel vision visors and clanking armour, as I could easily hear them coming.
Solitary was blocked by an impending grate. A security station was next to it, and the guard inside seemed to be distracted by his blaring music, which would explain why he couldn't hear the alarm.
As I trotted over to his glass window, I pondered how I would get through. Checking my surroundings for anything useful, I spotted a row of equipment lockers probably used by the office.
I tried them periodically, and to my luck, one of them opened. Inside was standard guard gear, and a note attached with a magnet hung on the locker door.
‘Until you memorize your new password, I suggest you keep the door unlocked, you dunce. 5-45-43’
Smirking at the note, I grabbed a helmet off the top shelf. I knew it didn’t fit, being made for earth ponies, but I might be able to trick the guard with it.
I knew it was risky, but I needed to get into solitary. Putting the helmet over my horn, so that it barely covered it, I ducked under the glass window, making it so just the helmet was visible to the guard.
Banging on the window, I hoped for the best. I then realized how stupid that was. He was never going to fall for it! I must have banged my head harder than I thought.
Then the extremely improbable happened. I am officially the luckiest pony alive.
He turned his head just slightly to glance at the empty helmet, and with a practiced hoof, hit the ‘open’ button. A buzzer buzzed, and a light turned green as I ran through.
She needs to be in one of these cells, I thought to myself, dropping the helmet as I ran.
“Well, look who we have here, Ain’t you a slippery one to catch.”
I recognized the accent immediately, the colt that I had bucked in the face quite gloriously earlier.
“I knew you’d come down here. Yer not escaping this time, and then I can really have some fun.”
He started advancing, and I in return started backing up. I knew I was going to run out of space soon.
“Nothing to say, cunt? You were so chatty earlier.”
“You wouldn’t actually..” How I hoped I was right,
“I’m probably gonna get fired because of yer fanatics. I couldn't care less.” Good to know my only option is to fight. Always could use a bit more adrenaline.
“Well then, come and get me.” I could feel myself being pressed into a corner with each step he took.
“With pleasure.” As I felt my rump press against the wall, I knew I had to do something.
The shame caused by what i would do next would haunt me forever. Seeing no other way out… I grabbed his crotch with my telekinesis and… and… squeezed. Despite him being a complete ass, I still felt some remorse for him. I knew how much that could hurt...
His body crumpled as he fell to the floor. Thinking quickly, I delivered another swift kick to his head to knock him out fully, putting not enough power behind the kick to kill him, but enough to do the job.
Now for Spitfire.
I rushed past cell after cell peering into the tiny holes in the doors to the tiny rooms, until finally I found the one pony I was looking for. There in the corner of a tiny cell was Spitfire.
She lay in a small pool of blood, her wings clasped tightly against her side in fear. Her fur was no longer the painstakingly groomed coat it once was, but now a matted damaged, stained, and destroyed lump of fur. Cuts lined her body from the horrible abuse bestowed upon her by the guards and the director.
The bastard lied to me. She had barely received any treatment.
Fiddling with the latch I threw the door open, gallantly marching into the dark room. I bent down near Spitfire and uttered three words into her ear.
“Can you walk?”
Her eyes shot open and her head spun fast towards me, the faintest of smiles appearing on her face as she saw me.
She looked down as she solemnly shook her head.
I knew there was only one thing I could do. Reaching down I carefully lifted Spitfire, setting her on my back. Running out of the cell I turned a sharp left seeing guards chasing coming around the corner. I turn and ran the other way.
I couldn't keep running forever. Not with Spitfire on my back. The first chance I got, I dove into an office of some sort. After I carefully put spitfire on the desk, I shoved a file cabinet in front of the door.
Trapped. I always suspected my luck, after all, this definitely was the most incompetent prison ever. I took the few short moments I had to do my best to help Spitfire. I gave her some analgesic with a weird brand plastered over the bottle, in hope to ease her pain.
THUMP THUMP THUMP
“Come on out, mare, I know you’re in there!”
They already found me. That was rather quick. Perhaps I was overestimating this prisons incompetence.
That, or I’m the luckiest colt- no, mare alive. I’m never going to get used to that.
CRACK.
He had begun hammering down the door with the butt of his rifle/
“Kchht... oi! You there!”
What? Where the hell is that coming from?
“Over here! In the radio!” The voice came from a box sitting on the desk, right next to Spitfire, which I assumed was the radio,
“Hello?”
“Back of the room, there’s a vent. Get in it if you value your life!”
“I can’t leave Spitfire. There’s no way. And why should I trust you?”
“Because I’m currently the only one here who doesn't want to torture and rape you. Just give her some more painkiller and place her in the vent, I’ll turn on the pneumatics.”
CRACK.
I briefly turned around, seeing the guard stick his hoof through his newly created whole. He began fumbling with the lock, but soon realized I had barricaded the door. Popping another pill into her mouth, I began using my drained magic to turn the screws on the vent cover.
“I’m holding you responsible if anything happens to her!”
“Yeah yeah. Just go already!”
As if just to remind me I was there, the guard started shoving the cabinet out of the doors way bit by bit.
Using as little magic I could, I hoisted Spitfire up into the vent. As I gathered the little amount of medical supplies I had left, I heard a whoosh in the vent. Spitfire had gone. I hoisted myself up into the vent, closing the grate behind me, just as I saw the guard break through the door.
Bastard.
Suddenly, the pneumatic system shop up again. I heard a fwoosh, and suddenly I was being catapulted through the maze of vents.
Hitting every bump along the way, I grimaced as I slowly regret the decision. No wonder he made me give more painkiller to Spitfire. Those bumps hurt.
After about a minute of being blasted through vents sporadically, I saw a light in the distance as I shot towards. I slowed down just as I was nearing the end, and saw Spitfire just before me.
“ATTENTION ALL GUARDS, THE ESCAPEE HAS BEEN SEEN LEAVING THE PRISON ON THE EAST SIDE. ALL AVAILABLE PERSONNEL ARE TO LOOK FOR HER.”
That sounded remarkably like the guy on the radio.
I could hear a pair of guards talking just outside of the grate, which appeared to be some kind of shipping area.
“Come on, they are all clear. She was just sighted near the east side.”
“I just wanted to make sure. Sorry for wasting your time. Sheesh.” his friend replied
As they both left through the door, I started unscrewing the grate. I squeezed by Spitfire, getting out myself before assisting her down. Taking a better look at the room, I saw that it mostly was filled with new fabric in assorted containers, most likely a product of the prisons regular inhabitants’ labor.
I gently put spitfire into one labeled ‘Exports’, buried her under the sheets and climbed in myself.
After a while, I could hear spitfire rouse beside me.
“Why’d you save me?” I could hear her whisper ever so slightly.
“Uhh… it was the right thing to do?”
I doubt she would buy it.
“We both know that’s not the reason you came. I heard your conversation with the guard outside.”
At least it was pitch black, or she would have seen me blushing.
All I could manage to fumble out was my name. “Spark Plug.”
“He’s alive? But... the wound in his head...” Her hushed voice brightened exponentially. “We need to do something!”
“No you don’t understand-”
“He is alive, right?”
“Yes but-”
“Then we need to get him out of that horrible place, as soon as possible!”
“Firstly, you’re in no condition to do anything-”
“We can’t just leave him with those-”
“Spitfire, please. Let me speak.” Finally. “I’m..... I’m Spark Plug. Always have been. Always will be.”
“You’re a mare.”
*Sigh*. “I botched the spell tremendously, and something changed my gender. It could have been some kind of discharge when I hugged you, it probably molded my DNA to yours when I wrapped my arm around you...”
“Then tell me something only Spark Plug would know.”
“You’re ticklish just under your wing.”
In the dark, even I could see the smile spreading across her face. “Good to see you, Sparks.”
“Likewise. Welcome back.”
