Fastlane was thrown into a cell by the Diamond Dog Guard. "Enjoy your stay, scumbag." He scoffed as he locked the door behind him and stormed off.

The Pegasus growled as he brushed the dirt from his mane and looked around, his cell was pretty standard, a simple sink, toilet, and a bunk bed… with someone already sleeping on the top.

"Just because I'm sharing a cell doesn't mean I have to like you." A female voice grumbled. "So just stay out of my way unless you want your hooves broken."

“Excuse me?" Fastlane said with a snort. "Do you even know who I am you arrogant no name-"

"I said CAN IT!" She snapped, throwing the covers off and glaring at him, revealing herself to be a light blue Pegasus with a lightning yellow mane, like Fastlane she too had an equality mark in the place of her cutie mark.

"Wait.... you're that mare.... uh.... Lightning Dust." Fastlane said as he stared at her. "You nearly killed Twilight and her friends before."

"Pfft, I wish I'd finished the job!" She scoffed, turning over and stretching. "Ever since she forced the us to abide by those damn reforms I couldn't even hold a decent job!"

"Tch. That's just like her. If you slighted her in the past then you're going to suffer until she sees otherwise. Arrogant bitch." Fastlane said with a growl.

“You said it, kid. Now I’m stuck in here for life, just like you.”

Fastlane took a moment to take in her words. “What do you mean, ‘just like me’?”

The mare sighed in exasperation. “Listen up and listen well, kid, ‘cause I'm not gonna repeat myself. You see that black collar around your neck?”

Fastlane’s right hoof immediately shot up to the collar. “Yeeh, why? Is it important or something?” He hesitantly.

It was then that Lightning Dust surprised him by… gripping her sides and laughing.

“Hey! You stop that! What the hell’s so funny hm!?”

Lightning Dust had to compose herself before she answered. “Ahahahaha! You really don’t know a thing, do you, newbie?!”

“Wha… what do you mean?”

“”Is it important” ? I can’t believe this guy! Of course it’s important!” Her demeanor changed back to serious in the span of a mere second. “That collar shows you just how badly you bucked up.”

“I… still don’t get it.”

“Oh my gosh! Were you even paying attention when they dragged your sorry flank in here?! If you didn’t notice, every prisoner has a collar and each one is a different color.” She explained and she hopped off her bed and gestured to her own. “Black collars, like you and me, are the worst of the worst. These are reserved only for those individuals who committed horrible crimes. And once they go in, they never come out.”

Fastlane gulped audibly. “I don’t like the sound of that.”

The mare gave him another serious look. “Well, get used to it, pretty boy. Because as long as these things are on, we’ll be in here for life, if we’re not put on the chopping block by morning.”

“Is… is shat so…?”

“Yep. Now, if all the distractions are out of the way, I’ll finish my explanation. So shut up and listen closely, cuz I hate repeating myself.” she stated firmly. “Y'see, Red collars are for the lesser criminals. Like thieves and the like. They only get around a year, maybe five.”

Fastlane nodded, taking this information in.

“Orange collars are for more serious crimes, like assault, and will usually net you around six to ten years tops.”

Fastlane hummed, needing to think that one over for a moment.

“Yellow collars are for criminals who need to have proof of their guilt before they can be sent to the place they all know they’re going anyway. Right. In. Here.”

“Wow. That’s pessimistic.” Fastlane said, before he could stop himself. He braced for the impact of whatever pain he was about to receive, but surprisingly, he didn’t feel anything hit him.

Instead, when he opened his eyes, he found the mare looking at him, her eyes shining with wetness.

“You don’t know the half of it, kid.”

At that moment, Fastlane decided not to pry into whatever it is this mare had dealt with while here.

The mare wiped her eyes and continued. “Anyway, Greens are for eleven to fifteen years, Blues are for sixteen to twenty years, Violets are for twenty years or longer and Indigos… indigos are for the very few of us who actually get to taste freedom a second time.”

Fastlane could only say one thing to the Lightning maned mare’s explanation.

“Sounds rough.”

“That’s the understatement of the year, kid. Just wait till you hear about the levels.” The mare said before turning back around to face the wall and rest. “What’s your name anyway?”

Faslane gulped again. First these infernal collars, now there were levels! This was ridiculous! But he would have to get used to it if he wanted to survive. He was here for life now after all.“My name’s...Fastlane.”

“Well then, Fastlane, get some rest. You’ll need it to survive the new hell you’ve been left to rot in.” Lightning stated bluntly before crawling back into her top bunk. “Goodnight, greenhorn.”

“Goodnight, Lightning Dust.” Fastlane said. Unfortunately, the snoring he heard told him that she had already fallen asleep. He sighed and got into the bottom bunk, going to sleep in a matter of minutes.

As Fastlane made his way into the exercise yard he glanced around nervously. From what he was able to find out from his cellmate, the prison was broken into five levels, each of them made for specific collars.

Level One was mainly for Reds and Oranges, minor misdemeanors who served shorter sentences.

Level Two was for the more serious misdemeanors, for Oranges and some Greens.

Level Three was for Yellows and Indigos.

Level Four was solely for Violets.

And lastly, Level Five was strictly for Black collars like him.

Trying to escape was practically a death sentence as well, for black collars like him anyway. Those creatures that patrolled the moat were only allowed to eat the black collars if they ever try to escape (they were already on the death penalty anyway). Any other color prisoners were immediately hypnotized by their songs and sent back to the prison with a stupid smile on their faces.

And even if you managed to get past them, it was an entire forest full plundervines that would capture and ensnare you the moment you got too close, draining you of your magic and leaving you easy to capture when the guards made their rounds…. even being a pegasus didn't make things easy for you since the spiked clouds were also enchanted to gravitate towards anyone not wearing royal guard armor, ensnaring you and shocking you into unconsciousness.

Needless to say, escape from the prison seemed almost impossible.

“Well, well, well…” A voice called out from behind him, bringing him out of his thoughts. “It looks like we got ourselves one of The Equestrian’s First!”

Fastlane turned to the source of the voice and saw a dark grey stallion with a white mane styled in a curly fashion. Before he could react, he was shoved to the ground. Upon looking up from his new position, he saw that the stallion wore a black collar.

‘I wonder what he did to get thrown in here?’

“What are you looking at?! Ya damn fossil!” Fastlane was quickly ripped from the ground and forced to stare into the stallion’s face. upon getting the closer look at him, he could see long scar ran from his forehead, all the way down to his left cheek. His left eye was blue, in contrast to his right red one. “Are ya lookin’ at my collar? Is that it? You curious? Wanna know how I got it?”

Before he could respond. Fastlane found himself dangerously close to his face. “I slit a lot of throats, mainly pathetic weaklings like you!” He shouted before throwing Fastlane to the ground. Hard. “Let’s get one thing straight here, newbie. I’m top dog here, alright? That means you don’t cross me, or any o’ my boys. Because if ya do...” The Stallion then bent down to get in Fastlane’s face. “Then I’ll have ta show ya how we deal with fresh meat around here. Ya got that, traitor?”

Not trusting his voice, Fastlane nodded rapidly.

The stallion smirked as he walked away, stopping only to look over his shoulder. “By the way, the name’s Silver Streak. Don’t wear it out.” He smirked as he walked away.

Fastlane dusted himself off, and stood, continuing to walk forward. “How dare he touch me. Scum.”

“Yeah, he is pretty bad. And full of himself.” Fastlane jumped and looked around, only to find Lightning Dust approaching from behind. “Howdy, Greenhorn. How’s your first day in lock-up?”

Fastlane scowled. “It’s horrible! How dare he threaten my life like that. How dare he-”

“-take out his anger on the stallion who’s organization turned Princess Twilight into a dictatorial tyrant?” Lightning finished for him.

The Pegasus shot of glare at his cellmate. “She’s always been-”

“Listen, Fastlane” She stated, cutting him off. “I hate the bitch as much as you do… a good amount of prisoners here do. But you…” She began, pleasing her hoof against his chest. “….you stand out the most for being part of Equestria's First. The ones connected to the ponies who killed her son and made her show her true colors. As far as everyone here is concerned, you’re a literal living, breathing, prime example of the phrase, ‘guilty by association’.”

As she explained this to him as the two of them walked over to one of more secluded areas, where she flew up to one of the lower bars sticking out of the wall and starting doing pull-ups. “And sadly the eyes of this screwed-up law, you are no better than he is. And going around acting like you are is going to get you nothing more than insulted, beat up, and spit at.”

Fastlane growled under his breath, as much as he hated to kowtow to the whims of these criminals, he knew for a fact that he had no choice if he wanted to stay in one piece. “So… what do I do?”

“Simple.” She grunted as she continued her workout. “You lay low. You keep your mouth shut, your head down, and your muzzle out of trouble. It’s the only way to survive in here.” She said she let go of the bar and landed in front of him. “Well, for now anyway.”

Fastlane blinked upon hearing that last part. “What do you mean?”

“I mean I’ve got a plan to escape this place, been working on it for a while now….” Lightning Dust whispered as she draped her right wing over his shoulder and lead him back towards the entrance to the yard. “I’ll tell you when we get back to our cell. For now, just follow my lead. I’ll keep you safe. Us black collars gotta stick together right?”

Fastlane nodded. “Right.”

Three Weeks Later...

Fastlane was surprised at how simple it was to just go about his day… barring the occasional scuffle with other prisoners. There was more than one incident where he bumped into a rather muscular prisoner and almost got his muzzle rearranged, but with some help from Lightning Dust, who’d become a sort of mentor to him in this hellish place, he was able to avoid a beating altogether… or at the very least come out of the more unavoidable fights with only a few bruises.

At the moment, the two were currently discussing Lightning Dust’s plan in a secluded part of the exercise yard, making sure to remain as quiet as possible to not attract any unwanted attention.

When Fastlane inquired as to why this had to be the case, Lightning Dust answered: “If others knew about our plan, then there would be problems, starting with annoying flankholes asking us to bust them out. Combine that with the uproar it would cause in the prison, and our hides are as good as tanned. Now listen here, Greenhorn, here’s what we’ll do...”

And so she went into detail… after detail… after detail. She was so thorough that Fastlane had to wonder if she was just waiting for the right time to put it all out there. He stopped her after a certain point.

“So, you want us to start a riot, without telling any of the other inmates?”

“Oh, we’ll tell one of them. Only one. Just...not yet.”

Fastlane nodded. “I understand. And...the armor is for?”

“There are magically enchanted vines and spiked clouds that will attack anypony not wearing it.” She explained.

Fastlane nodded again. “I see. And you’re sure those sea monsters in the mote will be asleep?”

“Apparently, at least one of them will be in the area we have to traverse.” She said, stretching her wings. “If there's more of them we'll have to improvise... now are you ready to do this or not?”

Fastlane closed his mouth and nodded, not wanting to get on her bad side so soon after they started to get along.

“Good. Now follow me, I know just who to ask...”

“Really?!” Fastlane whisper-yelled back at the mare. “This guy?!”

“He’s our only shot, so you’ll just have to deal with it!” She hissed back. “If you keep your mouth shut, and let me do the talking, we’ll be out of there before he can even look at you wrong! Now, just go, ya coward!”

Lightning pushed him by his flank, causing him to drag his hooves as he tried vainly to stop her whispering “Wait, no! Stop!” along the way.

“Look, we don't have time for second guesses! Now get. In. There!” She pushed him toward the door to Silver Streak’s cell, coming up next to him and gesturing for him to knock on the door. When he finally did so, he waited, stepping back to let Lightning do the talking, like she said.

Lightning Dust walked in and stood in the center of the cell, looking up at Silver Streak, who lay in the top bunk of his bed, sleeping comfortably on two mattresses instead of just one. Strangely enough he was the only one on this level without a roommate…. however upon noticing the dried-up blood on the wall Fastlane decided it was best that he didn't ask why.

“Yo, bonehead!” She yelled, causing him to turn over and sit up, rubbing his eyes.

“What’d’ya want!? Can’t ya see I’m-!” He cut himself off and glared when he saw who it was. “What are you doin’ here?”

“I’m your wake up call, now get outta bed, flankhole, and listen up.”

He flew down from his bunk and landed right in front of Lightning, standing at his full height and glaring down at her. Fastlane was surprised that she wasn’t the least bit scared.

“And just who are you to give me order-GAAK!” He was cut off when Lightning grabbed him by his fur and yanked him toward her, making sure they were eye to eye.

“I’m your worst nightmare. Now shut the buck up and listen before I put out your eye.” She let go and he seemed to back off at this. That is, until he saw Flastlane.

“What’s he doin’ here?”

“None o’ your damn business!” Lightning snapped back. “Or do you want a repeat of what happened last time you harassed him?”

He glared at her, but backed off. “Fine. What do ya want?”

“I came to make a deal.” She said, a smile forming on her face as she explained her plan….

“So you want me to start a prison riot…. what’s in it for me?” Silver Streak asked with an untrusting scowl on his face.

“Simple, freedom.” Lightning stated bluntly, much to Fastlane's surprise. “You help us, we all escape the hellhole and go our separate ways.”

“And how do I know I can trust you?” Silver Streak asked.

“You want out of here, right?” Lightning asked in a coy tone. “I'm giving you a way out on a silver platter, a chance like this doesn't come out very often. Do you really want to pass it up?

Silver Streak seemed to laugh at this. “Fine, I’ll help.” He said with a smile. “Anything to get me out of this place.”

Fastlane let out a sigh of relief that he didn't know he'd been holding while Lightning Dust smirked at him. “Good. Now let’s get started.”

Having to run a prison full of some of the worst criminals in the country took a toll on one even such as Starlight. It was much harder than having to run one single town. At least there, she had a way to brainwash her citizens into following her command (not that she was completely proud of that chapter of her life…). When all that was said and done, all Starlight wanted to do was just get a few more winks of shuteye before having to continue her job.

Of course, she couldn’t even get that when her door was busted open with a Griffin Guard screaming his head off. Growling, she threw her pillow at him and yelled. “Ugh, what is it?”

“It’s a riot, sir. The Black Collar prisoners started fighting and then all of a sudden the entire level became a war zone!” frantically explained. “It’s even started to spread to the other levels. The guards are doing what they can without lethal force, but-”

“Tell them they can use it, but not too much,” Starlight replied, covering her head with her pillow. “In fact, find out who caused this and threaten to throw them into the moat for the Sirens to feast on if they do it again. Now get out of my room before I throw you out!”

“Y-yes, Ma’am!” The Guard stuttered before running out of the office.

“Gah! Watch it you klutz! That’s my wing you’re holding!” Lightning Dust shouted as the two Guards accompanied her to the hospital wing. The riot had worked well, almost too well. Besides the cuts and bruises all over her body, she also had a dislocated wing.

Of course, Fastlane didn’t end up untouched himself. He had a black eye, cut lip, and a nasty bruise under his left wing. Whatever it was that Silver Streak had done to piss off that gang of earth ponies it seemed to have worked. Punches were flying, kicks were thrown, shivs were unleashed, and bodies dropping like flies into blissful unconsciousness or agonizing pain.

That’s when the guards came in and started putting things back to order. They used weapons, magic, and even threw cans of tear gas into the crowd. Fastlane was sure that at least a few were dead from the injuries or the lethal force that was applied in some cases. Those who were injured were sent to the various medical stations and hospital wings to get treatment. It took over an hour for Fastlane and Lightning Dust to get theirs since they were black collars and all. Three guards were accompanying them, while also keeping their swords to their backs, in order to make sure they didn’t try anything funny. After walking for twenty minutes, the group managed to finally make it to one of the hospital wings were a blue coated doctor was handing a cup of medicine to a moaning guard, holding his stomach on a bed.

“Now drink this so you can deal with that stomach bug. Honestly, I know your dedicated Mr. Fields, but that’s no reason to come to work sick.” The doctor said as he helped the sick stallion drink his medicine. “More injured prisoners?” He asked, noticing the others.

The Guard nodded. “Yeah, you got room?”

“Put them in the other two beds. I’ll be with them shortly.” He replied before taking the cup away from the Guard.

“Don’t do anything stupid, Black Collars.” one of the guards warned as he pushed to the two. Fastlane growled, but didn’t say anything as he sat down waiting to be treated.

“Now, could you please remove their collars? I need to check every part of their body and this includes the neck.” The Doctor said as he levitated some wrappings and needles. The guards grumbled as they proceed to do so, but gave them a look that warned them not to try anything.

Once this was done, the Doctor proceed to look at Lightning Dust’s wing while using his magic to wrap some medical tape around her bruises. “Hmm, looks to be just dislocated. I can pop it back in, but it'll be anything but pleasant.

“Please, just do it...” replied Lightning Dust, taking a deep breath to brace herself.

Spreading his magic more, the Unicorn doctor snapped it back in place with one powerful push.

Fastlane have to give her credit, despite the sound of bones being reconnected, Lightning didn’t flinch once.

“Feel better?” Asked the Doctor.

“Yup... good enough to do this!” she shouted as she swiftly struck his throat and then slammed his face into the wall, knocking him out.

“HEY-!”

Fastlane took this chance to punch the Guard next to him well he was distracted, rendering him unconscious and sending him to the ground as well. The other two had already drawn their swords and charged at them with roars of anger. Lightning easily dodged one blow before headbutting the guard, kicking his hoof out, and then wrapping her forelegs around his neck. Jumping, she then slammed his head down on the ground, the force of the blow banged his head against his helmet and knocked him out.

The last one tried to get Fastlane, but he grabbed a nearby chair and threw it the guard who swiped it away with his sword. This proved to be a big mistake as he flew forward and tackled the guard into the wall, knocking him out.

The sick Guard tried to scream for help, but Lightning quickly grabbed a nearby pillow and pressing it against his face, the Guard struggled to breath and escape his soft yet deadly embrace. His limbs shook and kicked in desperation before slowly losing energy and finally going silent. After making sure he was dead, Lightning put his head back on the pillow to make it look like he was sleeping peacefully.

“Next time warn me when we’re going to do that!” Fastlane growled as he started stripping one of the guards of their armor just as planned.

Snorting, Lightning proceed to do the same, although the armor was a bit bigger than her frame since the ones they'd subdued were male. “Well, it worked didn’t it? We got our collars off, and we got their uniforms.” The two proceeded to drag the unconscious bodies to a nearby closet and left them there before locking it. “Now all we need is to get our cutie marks and get out of here.”

“What about Silver Streak?” Fastlane asked, but the mare just smirked.

“The idiot managed to seriously wound a guard so they resorted to ganging up on him. Without his cutie mark he's not gonna to last long.” Lightning shrugged. “Easier for us anyway, the meathead served his purpose, and now we get to leave him in the dust.”

Fastlane smirked in return. “You were always planning on double-crossing him, weren't you?.”

Lightning simply looked over her shoulder and give him and knowing grin.

“Right, so where do we go? The vault still has our cutie marks.” Fastlane pointed out. “We don’t have the means to open it, and we can’t just go to the Warden to ask for it….”

“Already ahead of you.” Lightning Dust walked over to the nearby desk of the unconscious doctor and went looking through some paper files until she pulled out two sheets. “You got family on the other side? Close friends?”

“My mom and my sister... they...” He stated as he closed his eyes. “They… they all but disowned me after my arrest.”

“Well, good enough. Here you go. Fill that in,” Lightning Dust replied as she handed him a piece of paper before working on her own.

“A... death certificate?” Fastlane asked in confusion.

“I heard that deceased prisoners get their cutie marks added back to their flanks before their bodies are shipped to their families. We’re going to just make the vault Guards think we’re dead before taking ours back.” Lightning relied, smirking. “By the time they realize something ain't right we’ll be long gone.”

After filling out their sheets, the two calmly walked through the halls side by side, doing their best to keep their faces hidden from others, while these particular helmets had armored masks the difference in size was a little hard to deal with. Thankfully, nopony gave them a second glance but everytime one higher rank came along they were forced to salute. Fastlane was sure they were going to get caught but it seemed Fausticorn was watching over them.

Soon enough, they arrived at the vault. Fastlane had to admit it looked quite impenetrable from the outside. It would take a massive amount of magic to open it, or even break it open. One of the six guards outside of it saw the two approaching and halted them. “Can I help you two?”

“We need two cutie marks from the vault,” Lighting replied, professionally as she handed the two death sheets. “Prisoners Lightning Dust and Fastlane. Got shanked during the riots. Poor bastards. Families wanted them with their cutie marks before returned to them for burial service.”

“I’ve been getting a few of these all day,” the guard sighed as he nodded to the others. Five of them lit their horns, taking out a set of glowing keys before levitating them to five different locks. In unison, they turned them, unlocking the large vault that slowly inched enough for one of them to enter.

A few minutes later, he arrived with two cutie marks that made Fastlane’s heart nearly sore. He didn’t realize it until now, but he really missed his cutie mark. He got a look at Lightning Dust’s and wasn’t surprised to find that it was a bolt of lighting striking three golden stars. The guard handed it over to the two ponies. “Here you go. Give them a good spit in the face for me after you give them over.”

“Sure thing, sir.” Fastlane answered as the two saluted and walked away.

Once they were as far as they could go, the two noticed a set of bathrooms nearby and nodded before entering one. Finding an empty stall, Fastlane took of his chest and flank armor before opening the jar holding his cutie mark. In an instant, it returned to his flank and he felt a warmth he had felt since he broke his school’s field record. It was nostalgic in its way as he sighed in relief. He felt... whole.

Putting his armor back on, he exited the bathroom where Lighting Dust was waiting for him. She looked more alive herself and there was a fire in her eyes that was waiting to burn. Before she could say anything, a voice cried out. “HEY!”

The two snapped to attention as a Lieutenant ranked guard walked over, glaring at the two. “What are you two doing here. Aren’t you supposed to be on patrol?!”

“Y-yes, sir! We just need a bathroom break, sir!” Fastlane quickly answered, gulping.

“You can piss in your armor for all I care. We are to work as one in this prison or else we’ll have chaos just like that riot not to long ago. Now follow me!” He shouted as the two of them glanced at each other. Lightning nodded to follow seeing as they had no choice now and proceeded to walk behind the Lieutenant.

As Lightning and Fastlane walked behind the Lieutenant, they shared a knowing look as they slowly me their way to his side, with Lightning on the right and Fastlane on the left. The moment the two were close enough, Fastlane quickly slammed his hoof into the Lieutenant's side, temporarily stunning him, Lightning then quickly tackled him to the ground and and one quick motion put him in a sleeper hold.

"Stop fighting it. Stop fighting it you flank kisser." Lightning sneered as she kept the hold on. The Lieutenant kept trying to struggle but she already had the advantage of knocking him over and having the breath knocked out.

Fastlane quickly turned his attention to the sounds echoing from down the hall, he knew for a fact that that riot wasn't going to keep the rest of the guards distracted for long, and with their Lieutenant now missing, that would raise even more alarms. He was brought out of thoughts when he heard the Lieutenant's body slump to the floor. Looking back to his comrade he saw her struggling to hoist him over her back. "We need to hide the body, and quickly!"

"Oh that's a brilliant idea genius." Lightning sneered as the body's weight was difficult to maneuver. "You gonna to help me move the body or are you just going to stand there and spout the obvious?!" She snapped back.

Flinching at her tone, Fastlane quickly ran over to help her, draping his right hoof over his shoulders and carrying him towards the bathroom.

The two shoved the Lieutenant into one of the stalls, locking it from the inside as to not arise too much suspicion before quickly making a break for the lower levels, carefully making their way towards one of the balconies overlooking the moat.

"Alright then. I say we-"

"Hang on chief.... look at the rock over there." Lightning said as she pointed to the nearby rock. There laying perfectly still was a purple scaly looking beast that had some pony traits but felt... wrong. "It's their guard shark... or merpony... whatever it's called..." She whispered as gestured for him to follow her. The two slowly hovered over the edge before descending down towards the surface, which was blanketed in a thick mist. "Now we need to sneak by quietly and-"

"Aria~! Time to wake uuuup~!" A new voice called out, startling the two. The Pegasi duo quickly turned their attention to another one of the creatures, her scales cyan in color, swimming towards the rock.

“Mmf, goway...” The purple one, Aria, groaned but refused to budge from her spot. Her back to the blue one that was swimming up to her. “Leemee lone….”

"Come on Ari! It's my turn to be the super cool guard! Please?!"

Fastlane internally panicked at this, they were switching guard duty, which meant the purple one would be stationed close to their escape route!

Lightning, noticing his discomfort, quickly whisper into his ear. "We've got to keep those two distracted long enough for us to get the cross, got any ideas?"

".....we could summon up a small scale storm and use hail to distract them." Fastlane said with a smirk on his face.... however Lightning looked annoyed.

"We can't use weather like that...." Lightning whispered. “Not in this scenario anyway…” She then looked nearby and saw a average sized rock. "And since this is mist, as thick as it is we'd need an abundance of it to even make one functioning cloud... which would take away our cover and just draw more attention to us." She added she picked up the rock got into a throwing position. "On my signal, get ready to fly...."

"Got it...." Fastlane mumbled. Lightning then prepped the rock and give it a good chuck at Aria's head.

*CONK*

“OW!”

"Go now." She whispered and quickly took off with Fastlane following close behind.

Aria growled as she nursed the bump on her head and turned towards her innocent looking sister, who had the biggest smile on her face.

“....wasn't me this time!” Sonata shouted before frantically swimming away.

"....I'M GONNA KILL YOU SONATA!" Aria snarled as she kneeling dived into the water and started chasing after her.

The two quickly rushed through the forest of plundervines, the armor they had stolen glowed as some of the vines immediately retreated into the ground or vacated the area around them, actively avoiding them as they landed.

Fastlane breathed a sigh of relief as he glanced back at the two bickering sisters. “Almost free…” He whispered.

"Not yet." Lightning said as she pointed to the guards nearby. "If those two spot us, we get sent back to deal with that riot..."

“....the last stretch is always the longest...." He mumbled, though Lightning didn't seem to notice. "So what is the plan?”

"Wait for it...." Lightning smirked, as she watched the guards talking amongst themselves... only for them both to be interrupted as a Unicorn guard rushed towards them.

"Both of you! We need assistance in the black collar sector, there's a riot in progress!"

"I swear they don't have enough guards down there. ON OUR WAY!" One of the guards said as he and his partner began following the others.

Lightning then motioned for Fastlane to follow her, not wasting a second the two flew over the wall, taking care to avoid the spiked clouds.

'Freedom at long last!’ He thought to himself as they quickly flew away from the prison.

"Alright Greenhorn, you're up." Lightning smirked as they quickly took to the air. Not having to worry about the guards now that they were out of range, they soared above the clouds. "I got us out of there, now it's your turn to get us someplace we can lay low."

Flastlane breathed a sigh of relief as he hovered in place for a few seconds. "...I know a place where we can stay under the radar before we make our way to the closest hideout." He stated. "We'll have to head to the Smoky Mountains first, we'll traverse the caves and then make our way North from there." He explained as they continued to fly. "It'll take us some of the week, possibly three days if we travel through the night."

"Well.... ten bits says I get there before you." Lightning said with a coy smile. "Think you're up for a little race then Fastlane? Or are ya too slow to keep up?"

And with that, the two pegasi immediately flew off towards the mountains, leaving the prison and eventually Twilight's Empire far behind...

Back at the Prison, Starlight stared at the Cutie Mark Vault.... or more specifically the two empty slots that once held the marks of two specific prisoners. Behind her was the Lieutenant, accompanied by three Royal Guards.

After a few more minutes of silence, she inhaled deeply, exhaled, and turned her attention to them. "Have all the prisoners been detained?"

"Yes ma'am.... well all but two." One of the guards said with a nervous tone. "If you want we can send out a search party and track them down-”

"No." She stated firmly as she turned around, a neutral expression on her face. "I want you to three start inspecting the prison for any possible escape routes. I wish to speak with Lieutenant alone."

"Understood ma'am." The other two guards head off while the Lieutenant stands at attention.

"So then. What is it you wish to talk about ma'am? Is it the little experiment you and Twilight are planning?"

"From what we've been able to find out, Equestria's First have been getting more... verbose and bold with their actions as of lately..." Starlight explained as her turned her attention back to the empty slots. "We need to find out what they're up to..."

"And that's why you had that little spy planted. correct?" He asked with a raised eyebrow. "You know... did you ever consider that maybe she might consider Equestria's First more of a fit for them instead of us? Maybe turn on us in some way?"

“That's the problem my dear friend, you fail to see the bigger picture.” Starlight explained has she trotted past him and out of the room with him following behind. “What you see as uncertainty, I see as opportunity…. she pretty much has her reputation in shambles and is desperately trying to rebuild it, if she does this for us, she gets a clean slate, her record wiped clean. Something that a group of terrorists could never truly offer her."

"And you would know that why?" He asked her, his concern was barely hidden but Starlight didn't seem to notice. "I mean just out of general curiosity of course."

"At the moment her reputation is that of a Wonderbolt who got so careless and reckless that she almost got six civilians killed..." Starlight explained as the made their way down the hallway. "...said civilians being the Elements of Harmony themselves. She really can't afford to sink and lower. I should know... I interviewed her myself."

"....very well madame." The Lieutenant said with a salute, he then marched on out as Starlight glanced back at the vault.

Starlight then sighed as she teleported to her office, one of the few rooms located at the top of the purple tower. She glanced at the the balcony, there was always something about the view that allowed her to calm her nerves...

"Any reason you felt the need to barge into my office?" As asked without turning around.

"Oh just so I could see if I was the one that finally managed to scare you a bit." A voice said with a deep chuckle. "You always think you see everything coming, don't ya hm?"

"I simply try to stay five steps ahead..." The unicorn said as she stepped out onto the balcony. "Surely someone like you can appreciate that method of thinking, hmm?"

"Oh sure. I mean that's how SHE acted after all but of course it's fair to use a similar tactic." Silver Streak said as he stepped out of the shadows.

Starlight narrowed her eyes at that statement as she glanced over her shoulder. "Well, it all depends on the method and intent now, doesn't it?"

"So they all claim." The stallion said as he licked his lips. "Now then. Is there anything else? Anyone I can have some fun with or anything?"

"Now that you mention it...." Starlight began as she trotted towards her desk, levitating what appeared to be an envelope with a crescent moon symbol on it out of her drawer. "Princess Luna seems to need you for a certain assignment…. is that satisfactory?”

Silver Streak arched a brow as he took the envelope and opened it... only for his smile to get even wider as he read the letter. His entire body was then bathed in emerald flames, revealing his insectoid appearance.

“Oh yes… this will do nicely….” Stag smirked.

Author's Note

Sorry for the long wait... don't worry, we'll be seeing our two escapees later down the line...

As usual, please contribute to the Tropes Page.

Next Chapter: Stag takes the stage... with an unexpected ally...