The Second Dimension

My head felt like dead weight as I slowly regained consciousness. Feeling tired and groggy, my eyes squeezed shut briefly as I sighed, before allowing them to gradually open. The first thing I made out was the rope tightly wrapped around my barrel, pinning my back to the metal chair. My forehooves had been bound together behind my back by the same rope. They couldn’t move an inch. Both of my hind hooves hand been tied to either leg of the chair. That was when I took notice of my belongings, or lack thereof. Everything from my Hooficator, my weapons, my saddlebags and my jacket had all been confiscated. My environment was pitch black, and the only sounds that could be heard was my heavy breathing. The air was stuffy, as if the room had no ventilation.

Careful to avoid making too much noise, I struggled against the ropes. My entire body was jerking backwards and forwards, violently shaking my hooves in an attempt to break free. My struggling had no effect. If anything the ropes grew tighter the more I struggled. Despite my greatest efforts to stand, the ropes had me pinned down.

"Come on," I whispered to myself, before making one final attempt to slip my hooves through the knots. I sighed, dropping my head, admitting defeat. Now that was pathetic. I was so close! If only I hadn’t been so stupid. If only I had just been a little more careful, Ethan probably would have been safe by now. "I’m such an idiot," I said under my breath.

"Rise and shine, Jason," said a voice coming from the dark abyss in front of me. Despite my lack of vision, I had no doubt who that voice belonged to. As hoofsteps tapped on the concrete floor, a figure emerged from the darkness. A tall, black alicorn, with beady brown eyes. "Hi there. Long time no see."

He stopped just a few hooves in front of me. He towered over me, looking down at me with a giant grin. His height made me feel small, defenceless and vulnerable in comparison. His grin grew wider as struggled against the ropes to no avail.

"Comfortable?" he said gleefully. I paused for a moment before deciding on my response.

"What do you want?" I asked, fearing that I already knew the answer.

"I think you know exactly what I want," he said.

My only response was a soft grunt. I did. I knew all too well what he was after.

He finished off his coffee before brushing it off to the side. "Now then," he said. "I’m want to get straight to the point." Don’t say it, don’t say it, don’t say it. "The T.S.D. Where is it?"

"Fuck you!" I hissed.

Argo just smacked his lips and cocked his gun, pressing the nozzle to my forehead. "I’d watch that tongue of yours if I were you," he said. "If you’re unwilling to cooperate, you will receive a bullet to the head. Now, for your sake, I’d suggest you answer the question."

"I can’t tell you," I said.

"Bullshit," he said. I went silent. "Fine. If you’re refusing to talk, let’s see what happens if the life of another is one the line."

A light bulb hanging from the ceiling turned on, lighting up the room. Just as I suspected. I was in an interrogation room, with a metallic door and one way mirror to my right.

The light bulb lit up the room, revealing another hostage strapped into a leather armchair in the back corner of the room. Oh God, no. Not her! She was a terrified looking yellow pegasus, with pink butterflies tattooed on her flank. Her forelegs were tied to the arms of the chair, her barrel was tied to the back, and her hind legs were tied together. I listened helplessly, as she struggled against the straps, and whimpered underneath the duct tape that was placed across her mouth. Hiding behind her pink hair, I could see the terror in her eyes.

"Fluttershy!" I cried, struggling against the ropes again.

"I’m going to count to ten," said Argo. "And you’re gonna tell me where it is, or she dies." He pulled the gun away from my head and pointed it towards her. Then he started counting.

"One."

Given different circumstances, I would have kept my mouth shut about the T.S.D, but with Fluttershy's life in my hooves, things had changed. There was no way I could leave her like this. I had to do something.

"Two."

"It's alright, Fluttershy," I reassured her. "Everything's going to be fine. I'm going to get us out of here. Okay? Just hang in there." I didn't actually know this for a fact. I was just trying to calm her down. It seemed to have been working, as she nodded, with a tear pouring down her left cheek.

"Three."

"How do I know you won't just sabotage us?" I asked. "Where I tell you where the T.S.D. is, and then you just kill us both anyway? How can I trust you?"

"Four."

"Okay, okay!" I said. "Can we talk about this? We can talk, can't we? Negotiate? Figure something out? Come to an agreement we're both satisfied with?"

"Five."

"You don't want to do this. She's a completely innocent pony that hasn't done anything to you. Hell, she's even from a completely different dimension. I'm the one you want. I'm the one who's been tearing your shit up. Let her go, and you can do whatever you want with me."

"Six."

"GODDAMNIT!" I screamed, wrestling the ropes once more. As I predicted, my hooves didn't budge. "You want the device? Okay, fine, I'll talk. But you have to let her go. I'll tell you everything you want to hear, but if you kill her, you'll get noth-"

"Seven."

"Are you listening to me?" I yelled, as my heart rate was increasing. "The only way you're going to get what you want is for you to-"

*BANG!*

Fluttershy flinched and yelped, as the Alicorn pulled the trigger with his magic.

"YOU SON OF A BITCH!" I screamed, as I struggled against the rope again. At this point, all I wanted to do was strangle him. I watched Fluttershy wince, and her cries could be heard from underneath the tape. The bullet only just narrowly missed her, leaving a cracked hole in the concrete wall behind her.

"YOU THINK I'M BLUFFING?" He screamed back. "I'LL DO IT! I SWEAR I'LL DO IT. WHERE IS IT? WHERE THE HELL IS IT? TELL ME!"

I squinted at him, my teeth gritting, and my blood now boiling. "I swear to God I'm going to kill you!"

"EIGHT!"

"Okay! Fine! I don't have it!"

"Nine!"

"Listen! I don't have it. Twilight does. We recently found the T.S.D, and we held onto it for safekeeping. I gave it to her, and asked her to protect it with her life. She promised me she would, and she still had it when I returned home. I haven't seen her since. I have no way of contacting her, I don't know where she is, or how to find her. She could be anywhere by now."

He stared blankly at me, without showing the slightest hint of movement, or emotion. I fought my shedding tears, as I struggled to convince him that I was telling the truth. "I don't know where she is. I swear. I-don't-know." He just stood there, without saying a word. He didn't look convinced. "No." I pleaded, crying. "No. Please. Don't do it." There was a moment of silence before he said it, with no emotion in his voice.

"Ten."

*BANG!*

"NO!"

1 Week Earlier

Alright. Given all of my current circumstances, what had happened to me just hours ago, days ago, and even years ago, I just had to admit it. My life sucked. I guess that's how anyone would feel if they lived in a city that's gone down the shithole. I had been told that there once was a time when Manehattan was a great and peaceful place to live in. I had been told that it was once a city full of life, with millions of ponies travelling in and out of their local stores and offices, and had traffic jams on the road that lasted as far as the eye could see. That was a time where everypony was happy. Damn it would've been nice to at least once see Manehattan in a state where you didn't have to hide in the shadows just to survive.

I remained hidden in an alleyway, my charcoal coat camouflaging me within the darkness of the night. My eyes were glued to the sky, looking for any sign of a police hover-car. Keeping my eyes locked on the sky was particularly hard, since looking directly upwards made it difficult to keep the rain out of my eyes. I shivered as a dozen raindrops trickled down the back of my mane and neck. Chills shot up my spine as I was struck by a cold breeze. My leather jacket was the only thing that was preventing me from freezing to death, despite the fact it was almost completely soaked. The sooner I got back to my hideout, the sooner I'd be able to get warm and dry.

Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a police hover-car nearby. I slowly backed deeper and deeper into the alley, and hid behind a dumpster. The bright searchlight beneath the floating car slowly passed my alley. Not once did the searchlight come down my way. I waited about a minute until I was sure it was gone before peeking my head back out from the alley.

The city was rich with blues and greys, which had become even more gloomy than the norm due to the rain. The sky was littered with hover-cars a hundred and fifty hooves overhead, and the buildings were full of bright LED and neon lights and logos. Their colour saturation had been amplified to stand out from the rain.

A false sense of comfort washed over me. Despite the sky being filled with hover-cars, not a single one of them seemed to be a cop, or a guard as they were more commonly known as. The guards were known for their ruthless behaviour toward Equestrian civilisation, easily detected by their black skin-tight suits and their masks. They were feared by many, since they were loyal servants to Equestria's current ruler, Argo.

Argo was not a ruler that most would describe as well respected by civilians. I had heard many Pony Tales about how Equestria once had a grand Alicorn who shone like the sun, named Princess Celestia. A royal princess who made Equestria a bright, wonderful and peaceful place, full of life, colour, and friendship. Legend had it that they fought back when Argo rose to power, but they both died in battle at his hooves. Although, Celestia and her younger sister Luna had been dead for so long that many didn't even believe she was real. Most ponies I knew believed they were just a myth. A Pony's Tale, made up to give foals a sense of hope, and a ruler to look up to. Argo was nothing like the things I had heard about Princess Celestia.

Argo was a black, ruthless Alicorn who ruled Equestria not in love or friendship, but in tyranny and despair. Only those he considered to be superiors could live in 'high class' as he called it, which basically meant only those he considered superior actually had an apartment, or somewhere decent to live. Everypony else on the other hoof, those ponies were like me. Homeless fugitives, that were always hiding in the darkness of the streets at night, spending every night praying that we get to see the light of day. Unfortunately, his depiction of what makes a pony superior or inferior, entirely depended purely on what race you were, and nothing else. If you were a Unicorn, he would almost immediately hire you as a personal 'assistant,' or 'slave,' as I liked to call it. As a result, many Unicorns worked for him, regardless of whether or not they supported him. If you were a Pegasus, and you were able to live in your own house, that was considered lucky. So most of the apartments here in Manehattan were occupied by Pegasi.

As for us Earth Ponies, well, I believed he was actively trying to wipe our species off the planet to the point where Earth Ponies were extinct. Given the current circumstance, and how many Earth Ponies there were left, I was afraid to say that it didn't seem like he was too far off from succeeding. He was always talking and making public speeches about how "Earth Ponies can't fly, and they can't use magic, which makes them 'useless.'" Anypony he considered to be 'inferior,' which mostly consisted of Earth Ponies, and ponies with disabilities, he would execute upon catching them roaming the streets. My few friends called him an asshole, and I certainly agreed. His guards were his loyal servants, and they were everywhere.

Focusing on trying to get back to the hideout, my eyes darted back and forth down the street, both checking to see if the coast was clear and to pick the best spot to run to. My eyes were fixed at the massive Time Square jumbotron. It was just like looking into a mirror. The screen featured a charcoal coloured Earth Pony with brown eyes, and a black messy mane. He was wearing a leather jacket, and had a big ugly scar down his right eye and around the back of his neck. His tail was short and ratty. At the top of the screen in bold red text read 'WANTED: JASON COLBY', and underneath it in the same text read DEAD OR ALIVE: $1,000,000 REWARD. My eyes scanned across the entire town area. Every single visible screen had the exact same image. Great. Now that everyone in Manehattan knew what I looked like, and how I was apparently a rotten criminal, being spotted by anybody meant that I was fucked.

Granted, it didn't surprise me that Argo was so sudden to begin a frantic search for me, considering the shitload of things I had done to him. I'd be pretty pissed too if my worst enemy just stole a valuable weapon. I slipped off my saddlebag, undid the buckle, opened it up, and looked inside. Spotting the contents of the bag was followed by a sigh of relief. Thank God, it was still here. I redid the buckle and slipped my saddlebag back on. Continuing to search for my next hiding place, I spotted another alley amongst the jumbotron. Checking all around me for the final time to make sure it was safe, I sprinted across the street.

My heart pounded as I ran. Despite my almost completely black coat, the brightness of the screens and lights reflected off my fur and jacket, making me completely visible. Truth be told, the view was actually quite nice. Having so many bright and colourful LED lights made Manehattan appear to be more visually pleasing than it had any right to be. If it wasn't raining and my life wasn't in danger, I would've loved to stop to admire the scenery.

Eventually, I successfully made it across Time Square, and was fortunate enough to slip into the next alleyway unnoticed. I slowly navigated my way through the alleyway, until I found another opening at the other side that lead back onto the street. Before I had time to step out onto the street, a bright light caught my eye. It was another hover-car with a searchlight underneath it. In an instant state of panic, I jumped back into the darkness of the alley, this time pulling out my gun with my teeth from its strap wrapped around my leg. Some ponies may have thought it was weird to be this cautious when you're completely armed, but it was better to be safe than sorry. Besides, I had been told it was wiser to hide and save your energy, then pointlessly risking your life fighting in a fight you could've easily avoided.

The light passed through the street, completely missing the alley. As the noise of the car faded away, I slid my gun back into its strap. Before continuing, I double checked to make sure all of my weapons and gadgets were still with me. Obviously, I still had my gun, which was attached to my right foreleg. Strapped onto my left hind leg was my dagger, still in its holster. The dagger was a backup weapon in case my gun ever ran out of ammo, but I preferred not to use it.

Locked onto my left foreleg was my Hooficator, a multipurpose device that was extremely useful for ponies under circumstances like mine. They were most commonly used for communication. You could send other Hooficator owners' text messages, talk to them through a video call, and each Hooficator had a built-in tracking device. If one Hooficator owner got lost or abducted, another would be able to use their own Hooficator to track down their whereabouts. They also had a built in map to help the wearer navigate his surroundings. These things were also locked onto our legs, so once they were on, getting them off was impossible unless you had a key. I used my Hooficator every single day, so I just left mine on twenty four seven. It had been ages since I last took it off. The final feature Hooficators were most known for were their 'Self Destruct' mode, which was exactly what it sounded like. I never really got the point of this mode, but I had heard that the explosion was really powerful, so it was only to be used in dire emergencies. These things were designed and built by my friend Ricky, so there were only a few of these things in existence, and I was lucky to own one of them.

With the comfort of knowing I still had my weapons and Hooficator, I shifted my attention to my saddlebags. Judging by the weight of them, I didn't even have to check to know I still had my grenades. Excellent, all of my stuff was still here. Now all I had to worry about was getting back to the hideout without getting spotted by any guards. Easier said than done.

Right as I took a step out onto the street, I was stopped by some sort of noise. It sounded like yelling and crying. One particular voice sounded female, and high pitched. It sounded like it was coming from a filly. The voices sounded like it was coming back from Time Square. My instincts told me to ignore the noise and continue down my path, but that nagging feeling in my gut prevented me from walking any further. Reluctantly, I forced myself to turn around and wander back the way I came. I had to investigate.

As I approached the opening from which I came, I saw the cause of the commotion. A pink coated Unicorn filly was wrapped up in chains. The chain was being held by a Unicorn guard, who was using a levitation spell to hold the other side of the chain, and was slowly pulling the filly towards him. She was being dragged towards the guard, and away from her mother, who was being restrained by two other guards as she yelled in protest. I watched as the innocent filly helplessly kicked and struggled, unable to fight through the chains around her body and ankles. Despite her struggling, she was being pulled against her will, closer and closer towards the guard and his car.

My heart fell into the pits of my stomach. I knew what would happen to her if she got into that car. The thought was too much for me to handle. My conscience was telling me to remain hidden in the alleyway. My picture was still plastered all over the massive screens, so showing myself to a guard would be suicide, as my punishment would be severe if I were to be caught. The penalty could have been as extreme as death, and Argo already hated Earth Ponies enough as it was.

With the risk being too high, and having the knowledge that this was too hard for me to watch, I decided to turn around and walk away from the scene. Then they yelled again.

"No! Stop! You can't take her away from me!"

"Mommy!"

My heart sank. That poor filly. She sounded so young. By the sound of her voice, and her appearance, she seemed to be no older than the age of six. She sounded so innocent, and I could hear the terror in her voice.

"Hannah!"

"Mommy! Help!"

Hearing her cry for help brought me to tears, and now having the knowledge of her name made this that much harder to listen to. Tearing up, I tried to walk away. Each step I took was more agonising than the last. The more I tried to ignore it, the more my heart felt like it was being ripped apart. She was so young. It's horrible to be taken away from your mother, and you can't do anything about it, and I should know. No child should ever have to experience something like that. Trying to completely block the situation from my mind, I took another step forward. That was when I heard an ear splitting thwack, instantly followed by the sounds of Hannah's screaming. I froze. The scream was loud, high pitched, and was only the sound a filly could make when in tremendous pain. I didn't have to turn around to know what it was. That was a whip.

This whip was an everyday weapon for guards. Every guard had one, and they had been enhanced to add extra pain. Their whips had a long tail, but instead of being made of a standard rope, this whip, was made out of barbed wire. It was frequently used against ponies that resisted their or Argo's commands, and they were often used on kids. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted my reflection in a cracked mirror to my right. I was a mess. My mane was untidier than usual, my coat and jacket was completely soaked. My eyes were bloodshot, and filled with tears. I placed my hoof under my mane, and lifted it to expose the back of my neck to the mirror. As I did, I stared at that red scars that remained when the same thing happened to me at her age. Listening to her was becoming torturous; I couldn't in good conscience just hide in the dark while she suffered.

"Mommy! Help me!"

"SHUT UP!"

I cringed, as the air was flooded with another ear splitting thwack, followed by more screaming. A tear ran down my snout. That was it. That was the final straw. I turned around, and bolted towards the guard holding the chain.

"Stop it!!!" I yelled. "Leave that filly alone!!!"

The instant I opened my mouth, the guards, Hannah, and her mother all looked up and stared directly at me. I continued running, until I was a hoof away from the guard holding Hannah captive. Glancing down at her, I immediately spotted the fresh blood seeping out of her back where she had been flogged. The guard looked at me, then glanced at the screens that surrounded us, then back to me. It didn't take a genius to put two and two together.

"You!" He hissed, fixing me with a glare. Despite the mask, I could still tell he was giving a glare that read 'I'm going to kill you, you fucking idiot.' Way to go, Jason. From his perspective, showing my face to not one, but three guards must have been a move that made me look like a moron. To be fair, I kinda was. I might as well had jumped in front of their car and screamed 'Arrest me dipshit!' Instead, I ignored his threatening glare. I stomped my hooves into the ground, and gritted my teeth.

"Let... her... go!" I demanded. The guard just stared at me and said nothing. He was most likely thrown off at my questionable decision to show myself so willingly, despite apparently being the most wanted criminal in Manehattan currently. "I'm not going to ask twice."

There was a moment of silence before he reacted. Still holding onto the chain with his levitation, he dropped his whip and approached the closest streetlight, and used the chain to tie the filly up. Making sure the chain was secure, he turned his attention away from her and stormed back towards me.

"Mommy, I'm scared!" said Hannah, as she struggled against the chain that was tightly wrapped around her and the pole.

"Hannah!" The mother yelled, trying to break free from the guards that were still restraining her.

"Don't let her go," the guard in front of me said. "When I'm finished with Jason, it will be their turn."

"Yes sir," one of the other two guards replied. My guard looked back to me.

"Jason," he said. "You are under arrest." I didn't need to ask why, but if he knew me at all, he would know that I wasn't going to give up that easily.

"Yeah," I said confidently. "I don't think that's gonna happen."

He pointed to the hover-car with his hoof. "Get in the car," he said. "Now!"

"Wow," I said, smirking, trying hard not to laugh at him. "You actually think that just because you pointed at the car, I'm going to get in it. Well, are you in for a surprise. You want me, come and get me."

He didn't hesitate. He launched towards me, attempting to tackle me to the floor. He dived head first into the ground as I jumped to the left. I was about to jump on top of him when he grabbed my ankle with his magic, and in one swift motion I had been flung upside down and landed back first onto the pavement. Before I had the chance to get up, he pressed his forehoof on my chest, pinning me down. He leaned down until he was right in my face.

"You're coming with me," he said. When the opportunity provided, I kicked him in the face with my hind leg. Hard. His head yanked backwards in response to the pain, without removing his hoof from my chest. I kicked him again with my other hind leg. He jumped back, holding his face to his hoof.

"Oh God!" he grunted and mumbled. "Ow!" While he was distracted, I took my chance to get back up. As I regained my balance, the guard slammed his hoof into my face. I staggered backwards before falling over. Within seconds he was on top of me, ready to either drag me into the car, or just kill me on the spot. However, I had one last trick up my sleeve. While I felt bad for doing this in front of the kid, it was the only way I was going to save her.

"Hannah," I said glancing at her. She looked back at me. "Please, close your eyes. I really don't want you to see this, okay?"

She did exactly as I requested. While she was looking away, I made my move. I pulled my knife out of its holster, and before the guard had time to react, I slid the blade across his neck. He instantly jumped off me, grasping his neck with his hoof. The gash in his neck was bleeding profusely, and it was leaking. He gagged and coughed, before collapsing dead onto the floor. After pulling myself back onto my hooves, I slid the dagger into its holster. The remaining two guards stared at the fresh corpse on the pavement, and eyeballed me. It was at that moment that I realised, I'd just pissed them off. They threw the mother into the middle of the road before sprinting towards me. I watched as the one on the right was talking into his walkie talkie as he ran.

"Code red, we have spotted Jason, I repeat, we have spotted Jason! Requesting emergency backup immediately."

Great. Just what I needed.

With little time to react, I grabbed my gun with my hoof, aimed at the right one's face, and pulled the trigger. He dropped dead in his tracks, toppling into a heap on the ground. Without hesitating, I did the same to the one on the left. He went down just as easily. Neither of them were breathing, and it was a safe bet that they were both dead. I turned back towards the filly, who had just opened her eyes. Putting away my gun, I ran towards her.

She was still crying, most likely from the pain on her back, and the shock of seeing that I just killed three ponies in cold blood. She saw me, and immediately struggled, as if she was afraid of me. I reached out and brushed my hoof through her mane reassuringly.

"It's alright," I said quietly, and calmly. "I'm not going to hurt you. I'm going to get you out of here. Okay?" She nodded, still frowning, but she remained still as I went around to the other side of the pole. The guard had tied a very simple but tight knot around it, but using my teeth, I was able to untie the knot within a few seconds. I walked back to the filly, who was still tangled in the chains despite being separated from the pole. Once again, using my mouth, I removed the chains over her head until she was completely free. Seeing that she was still shivering with fear, I knelt down to her level so I could see her eye to eye.

"Are you alright?" I spoke in a very calm, and quiet voice. One that sounded like it was full of compassion, and genuine concern.

She nodded, before bolting for her mother, who had recovered from being shoved onto the street.

"Mom!"

"Hannah!"

Before I knew it, the filly had reunited with her mother. My heart melted as I watched the two of them together. They were huddled together, clutching to each other as hard as possible, and crying into each other's shoulders. There was no doubt in my mind they were tears of both shock, and relief. The mother was slowly swaying from side to side, gently combing her hoof through Hannah's mane.

"It's okay, Hannah. Mommy's got you," she whispered, as she embraced her tears. After a few heavy breaths from her crying, she looked up towards me. "Thank you. Thank you, so much, for saving my daughter."

"You're welcome," I said, choking up myself. Seeing these two together like this, a family reunited and clutching into each other, reminded me of the last time I saw my parents. Recollecting upon my own parents brought back many painful memories. Sniffling, I tried to snap them out of my mind before I could get too emotional. My focus was supposed to be on them. "Listen, it's not safe here. There will be more guards coming, and as you can tell by the screens, they're especially after me. I strongly suggest that all three of us get out of here immediately."

The mother nodded and ran off, with Hannah riding on her back. As they turned around a corner and disappeared behind a building, I observed the three corpses around me. It was about time I got out of here myself. I didn't want to meet these guy's friends when they inevitably got here, considering I'd just added to the list of reasons why these bastards would want me dead.

Turning my head back towards the alley I came through, I was about to run back down when something caught my eye. A golden reflection was flickering in my eye. I looked down to see what it was. On the ground, in the middle of a puddle, was a small, golden locket in the shape of a heart. It had a thin chain in a matching colour to go around somepony's neck, and the locket itself was decorated by a smaller heart made out of tiny diamonds. While I was no expert on rocks or jewellery, I was convinced they were real. The locket was beautiful, certainly something that didn't belong abandoned in a wet puddle in the middle of the city streets. Although, it did leave me wondering. Was this here before? I could have sworn that it wasn't there a minute ago.

I bent down and picked it up with my hoof, lifting it out of the puddle. The golden heart dangled before my eyes as I held it in mid air. It was dripping with water, making tiny splashes in the puddle below with each drop. Despite being wet, the gold still shone through. I brushed the locket into my fur, attempting to dry it, but my fur was completely saturated from the rain, so I didn't think I did a very good job. Getting it as dry as possible, I opened the locket up and looked inside. Inside was a coloured photo of what seemed to be a family of four. A mare, a stallion, a colt that looked like he was only born a few months ago, and a filly. The stallion and the colt looked unfamiliar, but I immediately recognised the filly and the mare. This was Hannah's. She must have dropped it when the guards attacked her.

I looked down the street where they had just disappeared. There was no point in trying to find them. I had to get back to the hideout, and they had gone in a completely different direction. Besides, being a wanted criminal in Argo's eyes meant there was going to be danger wherever I went. It just wasn't worth the risk. But I couldn't just leave it there. Deciding to hold onto it, I gave the locket one last look before placing it into my saddlebag, promising myself that I would return it to her if I ever saw her again.

At that moment, my ears twitched in response to an unwelcome sound. Sirens. There were more guards coming, and I didn't want to be here when they arrived. Upon the sight of red and blue lights illuminating buildings nearby, I turned back towards the same alley of which I came, and booked.

By the time I made it back into the alley, the guards were already parking their cars and investigating the corpses of their fellow teammates. I remained hidden, hoping my dark fur would be enough to camouflage me in the darkness. While they were distracted with the bodies, I slowly made my way through the alley, trying my hardest not to make any noise. Even the tiniest noise with my hoof would have been enough to trigger them into searching this alley.

Eventually, I safely made it to the other side undetected. I scanned the sky for any hover-cars driven by guards. Unable to spot one with a search light or set of sirens, I took it as my chance to run as fast as I could.

After running for what seemed to be three blocks, I rested against the wall of another alley, completely exhausted. Panting hard, I removed the saddlebag from my back, and pulled out my water bottle. Good grief. The bottle was just about empty, and only a few millimeters of water remained. Opening the lid, I tilted my head back with my mouth open wide, and tipped the bottle completely upside down. A tiny bit of water fell into my mouth and down my throat, and then nothing. I tapped the side of the bottle with my hoof, but nothing happened. Giving up, I placed the lid back on and slipped it back into my saddlebag. I would have left the bottle standing up and attempted to use the rain to fill it up, but that would have taken way too long, and the wind most likely would have blown the bottle away anyway.

At that moment, my Hooficator beeped, with a tiny red LED light in the corner flashing in sync with the beeps. I lifted my fore leg up and opened the flap at the top to reveal the touchscreen, and see what it was reacting to. As I did, the touchscreen had a message in yellow pixelated text placed at the top of the screen.

Video Call Request: Ethan

I used my other hoof to tap Accept. The screen went static for a few seconds, before a brown coated Earth Pony came into view. He had a black mane that was so messy it made my mane look tidy in comparison. I recognised that face anywhere. I smiled, happy to finally see him, and he seemed just as glad to see me. His cyan eyes lit up as he smiled at the sight of me.

"Jason!" Ethan's voice was energetic, and sounded both optimistic and relieved to see me. "How's it going buddy?"

"I've had better days," I said, cautiously looking down either side of the alley to make sure I hadn't been followed. "How about you?"

"Well, nopony was shot today, so that's a bonus," he said with a smirk on his face. I chuckled in response. His statement was followed with a sigh, as if to say there was a 'but' . "Unfortunately, none of us had any access to food today, so we all had to go without."

"That sucks," I said, as my stomach growled.

"Some of us also got into a brawl with some guards."

"Tell me about it," I said, remembering what had just happened to me fifteen minutes ago.

"We're all okay, but Ricky got injured during the fight." My ears perked up and my eyes widened in response.

"Is he alright?"

"He's going to be fine," he said calmly. "It's just a flesh wound. His injury isn't lethal, and has already been attended to. He's currently resting on the couch. He should be fully recovered in a few days."

"That's good to hear," I said. "How about the others?"

"Kyle is just sitting on the couch with Ricky, and Sarah is putting Charlotte to bed. Boy, Sarah's worried sick about you."

"Can't say I'm too surprised," I said. "You tell her I'm on my way home. What about water?"

Ethan's ears dropped. "Well, water levels aren't critical. Yet. But we're on our last tank, and we're definitely running out. I'd say it will be empty within the next week, which means somepony's going to have to get more before that happens." He sighed before he continued. "But the real reason I called you is to, well, honestly see if you're still alive. Seriously, where the hell are you? You were due to return here hours ago."

"I know, I know," I said. "I've been... caught up. Getting back has been a lot more difficult that it normally would be. There are guards that are now actively looking for me."

"No shit they're looking for you," said Ethan, as he gave me a dead serious expression on his face. "All day I've been hearing stories about random ponies being interrogated by guards, being asked if they've seen or know you. There are wanted signs and posters all over the streets. You're on front page news, and the guards are fucking everywhere! What the hell have you done to them? Because you've only been gone for about three days, and already the guards have gone nuts trying to find you."

"Well," I said, preparing to reveal to him what I had just been doing for the past few days. "Maybe it's got something to do with the fact that I successfully stole the T.S.D. from them, and now they're kinda pissed."

Ethan's eyes widened. He didn't expect that answer. "No way!"

"Yeah," I said. "It's right here in my saddlebag." I grabbed my saddlebag and took out a hard, black briefcase, lifting it in front of the camera in my Hooficator to show him.

"Are you sure this is the real thing? Have you looked inside it?"

"Yes, I have," I confirmed. "I'm telling you, this is it. I've got it right here. Besides, do you really think the guards would be going so out of their way to capture me if it wasn't real?"

"YES!" Ethan screamed, punching his hoof into the air. In the background I could vaguely hear Ricky talking from the couch.

"What? What happened?"

"He's got it guys!" Ethan yelled to the rest of the group in the hideout, with a fresh burst of excitement in his voice. "Jason's got the T.S.D!" In a split second, what was a minute ago a dead silent hideout, erupted with cheering and applause. After the excitement died down Ethan turned back towards me.

"Maybe now we finally have a chance at winning this war."

"Maybe," I said biting my lip, and brushing the back of my mane with my free hoof. His use of the word 'war' reminded me of my incident with Hannah and the guards.

Ethan raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"

"What is what?" I asked, trying to brush it off.

"Something's clearly on your mind. Is there something you want to tell me?"

"Umm... no," I said.

"You hesitated."

"Okay, fine! I saved a filly from being abducted by a guard today!"

Ethan's face instantly went from a look of concern to shock. "Wait, you did what?"

"I spotted a filly being kidnapped by one of the guards on my way home," I said. "I saved her life."

Ethan facehoofed himself. "Dude, you've got to be smarter than that. You can't risk your life for insignificant shit like that. Do you understand? Goddammit Jason, you could've gotten yourself killed! What were you thinking?"

"I had to do something!" I said. "She was just a filly!"

"It doesn't matter."

"She was just, a filly!" I restated. "A child, who appeared to be no older than the age of six!"

"Jason, this happens to hundreds of kids, every single day! Hell, it happened to you, remember?"

"Don't you get it? That's why I did it! So other innocent foals don't have to experience what I went through at their age. Kids deserve better. Yes, this shit happens every day, but that doesn't make it right!"

"I'm not saying it does, but having the T.S.D. in our possession means we finally have a chance at winning this war, making it just as valuable as the life of a filly. By sacrificing one filly today, we could be saving a hundred more tomorrow. What if you were caught and killed? That would've been it! Our one chance to put an end to Argo's tyranny, gone, just like that! By saving one small filly, you put our chances of winning this war in jeopardy. One filly was not worth risking an entire war over. I'm sorry, Jason, I know your intentions were good, but what you did, was unacceptable.

"Ethan," I said, taking a deep breath. "I was hiding in the darkness of an alleyway as I watched an innocent six-year-old filly being flogged in the back by a whip made of barbed wire, as she cried out for her mother screaming in pain, with blood seeping out of her back. I watched as all of this was happening right before my eyes, while she was being tangled in chains, and dragged away from her mother, knowing full well that she was never going to see her again. I couldn't just stand there and let her lose her family the way I lost mine." I could see the impact of what I just said in Ethan's face, as he let it sink in. "Tell me, you would do the same thing if you were in that situation."

"I-"

"Would you?"

Ethan hesitated for a minute, and sighed. "I don't know. Maybe, possibly not, I'm not sure. Look, the point is, you shouldn't have taken that risk. Listen, we don't have time to argue right this moment. We'll talk about this when you get back."

"Fine." We both took another deep breath. There was a minute of silence before Ethan decided what to say next.

"So, where are you now?"

"I'm currently in Midtown. I just passed Time Square about fifteen minutes ago. I'll be back as soon as I can."

"I sure hope so. Please hurry."

"I will. See you when I get back."

"See you."

Ethan disabled the video call, causing my screen to go blank. I closed the flap and leaned against the wall, letting out a sigh. It was probably best for me to head back like I promised I would. Besides, it would be great for me to finally get out of the rain. I opened the flap of my Hooficator again, and selected the 'Map' feature in the menu. The screen showed me a map of Manehattan, the blue dot in the centre representing me, and the green dot representing the hideout. Excellent! According to the map, I was only about two blocks away from the hideout.

I closed the flap again, as my stomach growled. It was then when I remembered that I hadn't eaten in twenty four hours, and I remembered that Ethan just said they didn't have any food. My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a low humming. To my left, was a vending machine, and to my surprise, was still working. I walked in front of the machine and considered my options. Was it really worth spending the money? My stomach growled again. Yes, yes it was.

The machine was filled with bags of chips, chocolates, and soft drinks. I was tempted on purchasing a chocolate bar since it was the cheapest item in the machine, but I knew it wasn't going to be anywhere near filling enough, and I felt guilty for buying food and not sharing any with my friends back at the hideout. After spending a few minutes staring at the machine, I decided on a large bag of cheese flavoured Doritos. I looked at the price tag. Three bits. I rummaged through my saddlebags and pulled out all the money I could find. I was two bits short.

Underneath the machine, I spotted three bits. I leaned down and grabbed them with my hoof, and I added them to the pile. Leaving the extra one in my saddlebag, I inserted the three bits into the slot, and selected the Doritos on the number pad. I watched as the rings slowly rotated, pushing the Doritos closer, and closer, and closer to the edge... until it got stuck. Jesus Christ!

I tapped on the glass, hoping it would vibrate enough to the shake the bag off the shelf. The bag didn't budge. I pushed at it, and hit it harder. Nothing happened. Furious, I rocked the vending machine back and forth. Big mistake. The machine was leaning too far forward, and with a split second to react, I leaped to the side as the machine crashed right where I had been standing. With the glass sitting on the ground face down, that meant I had no way of getting to the Doritos. If I had been a Unicorn, this wouldn't have been much of a problem. I easily could have used levitation to lift it back up, but unfortunately I didn't have a horn. That meant I had to lift it by hoof.

I got down to the ground, grabbed onto the machine and used all of my muscles in an attempt to lift the machine off the ground. I tried to dig my front hooves under the machine and lift it, I tried to push it back up with my hind legs, but the machine remained on the ground. There was no use. It was too heavy. Good grief. There went my Doritos, and now I just wasted three bits. I gave up and proceeded down the alley, heading for the hideout. As I reached the end of the alley, I spotted a random Unicorn casually dropping a bag of chips into a trash can, and walking past it without giving it a glance.

As she passed, I made sure my coast was clear and ran for the garbage bin, and rummaged through it. I found the bag of chips that the Unicorn just dropped, and to my disappointment, the bag was empty. My stomach growled again as I chucked it to the sidewalk, and continued my rummaging. I found random pieces of junk like an empty can of Pepsi, a mouldy banana, and a half eaten hot dog with a little mustard on it. The hot dog was tempting, but I decided against it out of fear that it was contaminated from being in the trash.

I continued down the route I had planned out. If my calculations were correct, I was now only about a block away from the hideout. I turned around a corner and wandered down what I was sure was my hundredth alleyway by this point, only to stop dead in my tracks. I gulped at what stood in front of me. My path was being blocked by a guard. I tried to step back and hide behind the building, but it was too late. He'd seen me.

"Hey you!" The voice was slightly high pitched, and incredibly raspy. I was second guessing whether this guard in particular was male. "You there, the pony in black." I was the only pony around, so it was obvious he, or she, was talking to me.

"What do you want?" I asked.

"It's okay," said the guard. "I just want to ask you some questions. Can you come over here for a sec?"

I looked around the street. Since I was out of Time Square, the screens that showed my face were nowhere to be seen. If I was lucky, this guard didn't know I was the pony they were looking for.

"Don't worry, this won't take long," said the guard. It was best to do what he or she wanted. Running off would've just made me look suspicious. Plus, looking at the guard to the side, I could tell that this guard was a Pegasus. If this guard took pursuit, I wouldn't stand a chance. Reluctantly, I nodded and cautiously approached. I stopped when I was about a hoof away from him, or her. Probably a her.

"Recently, Argo has reported that a very valuable possession of his had been stolen by a pony named Jason Colby."

"First I've heard of it," I lied, shrugging.

"Have seen this guy around?"

"I'm sorry to say, but no," I said. "I don't even know who Jason is."

"That is, unfortunate," she said. "Well, if you hear of anything, than please notify us immediately."

"I will," I said, starting to think she was letting me off the hook.

"One last thing." Oh-oh. "May I ask where you're heading?"

"Home," I said quickly. "I'm going home."

"You seem to be carrying quite the load there," she said, looking at my saddlebags. Not a good sign. "What you got in there, anyway?"

"It's none of your business," I said, trembling.

"Why so secretive?"

"Why do you want to know so badly?"

"Just curious," she said. "I just figured that there was a chance you were carrying the T.S.D. with you." I tried to remain calm, despite my increasing heart rate. "Especially considering you look exactly like Jason. Seriously, between the description and images I've seen of him, the resemblance is uncanny."

I slowly began to back away, having trouble breathing controllably. "Okay, look, I really should be going."

"I trust in the fact you're aware of the consequences of lying to a guard," she said.

"Yes," I said, really starting to panic. "Why would I lie to you?"

"I know it's you, Jason! You have stolen the T.S.D, you have interfered with another guard's plan for a filly, and you have murdered three of Argo's servants! You're under arrest!"

Okay, that term was getting really old. Despite her threat, I was already outside the alley, and little did she know, I was a very fast runner. She may have been a Pegasus, but I was grasping onto to the small chance that I could potentially outrun her. After all, I had successfully outran guards in the past, why would she be any different?

"If you want to arrest me, you have to catch me first," I said confidently, smirking. The guard just walked towards me, before her wings burst open. I gulped.

"And, you think that's going to be difficult for me?"

"Umm, yes?"

The guard just stared at me. "Do you not know who you're speaking to?"

"No," I said. "It's hard to know who I'm talking to when they hide behind a mask."

In response to my comment, she grabbed the mask with her hoof and tore it off, allowing me to see her face. Shit! In front of me was a cyan Pegasus with rose coloured eyes, and a rainbow coloured mane. I quivered, as I continued to back away. While I had never met this pony in person, I had heard many stories about her. Despite only being around for a few months, she was already one of the highest ranking members of Argo's servants. She was known for being the most loyal follower of Argo, and worst of all, I had been told by my friend Ethan that she was the second fastest pony in Equestria behind Argo. From what I heard, attempting to outrun the one and only Rainbow Dash would be impossible. I hoped to God those rumours were false.

I placed a hoof in one of my saddlebags and shifted it around until it touched something rough and round. This was it! As Rainbow Dash slowly approached, I pulled out the grenade, pulled out the metal ring with my teeth, and threw it at her. Turning around, I ran as the grenade exploded behind me. The buildings around me were suddenly illuminated in a red, orange and golden glow, and my body temperature immediately increased. As I ran, I kept telling myself that I killed her. But from what I had heard about her, there was a really good chance that all I just did was piss her off.

I turned around a street corner, away from my pre-set route. I no longer cared which way I was going. There wasn't a chance in hell I was going to lead her to my friends. As I took a right turn, I instantly found myself caught in the centre of a searchlight being cast by a hover-car. The air was flooded with the sound of a pony talking into a microphone, coming from the car above me.

"Attention all guards, we have found Jason. I repeat, we have found Jason! Arrest him at any cost!"

That was when I realised that I was basically fucked. I picked a random direction and bolted. Running as fast as my hooves were willing to carry me. The hover-car above me followed, and was able to keep me in the centre of the searchlight with ease.

"Stop that pony!"

Ignoring the car above me, I continued running, holding onto hopes of my incredibly slim chance of outrunning them. Being an Earth Pony certainly had disadvantages. If I were a Unicorn, I'd easily be able to teleport to a different street and nopony would be the wiser. If I were a Pegasus, I'd be able to use flight to try to lose Rainbow Dash. However, even with the power of flight, it was quite likely she would still be a faster flyer, so flying would have backfired regardless. Being an Earth Pony also had its advantages. I had been in chases on hoof many times before when I was being chased by non-Pegasus guards, so I've had a ton of practise. Earth Ponies were also typically stronger than Unicorns or Pegasi, so the extra strength in my legs allowed me to be a faster runner than others normally would be.

I looked behind me, only to see Rainbow Dash flying straight for me. She was gaining on me. There was no point in trying to hide, since these guards would see me wherever I went. But judging by the speed of the car and Rainbow Dash's flying, it became clear to me that there was no way I was ever going to outrun these guys. I continued to run, turning at every corner, rapidly breathing, and constantly turning my head to see how far Rainbow was behind me. She was right at my tail!

My heartrate was still increasing, my panting uncontrollable, and I was sweating profusely. With Rainbow so hot on my trail, if I made one tiny mistake, or slipped up even remotely, I was done for. Having that knowledge caused shivers to shoot down my spine. I pushed myself to increase my speed, which caused me to stumble, slowing my down. Before I had a chance to recover, a pair of hooves wrapped around my waist, and before I knew it, my entire body was being hoisted off the ground and up into the air against my will. I was rising higher, and higher. My body shivered, as adrenaline rushed through my veins, my heart pounded at the rate of a machine gun, and I felt like I was going pale. She got me! She actually got me!

"Gotcha!" Rainbow Dash yelled. "You're coming with us!"

"Not if I have anything to say about it you bitch!" I said.

I grabbed my knife and swung it at her head. She dodged the blade, accidentally dropping me in the process. There was an instant burst of high pressured wind, as I plummeted towards the rapidly approaching ground. This, was going, to hurt. I closed my eyes, and embraced myself. A sharp burst of pain consumed my entire body, as I slammed side first into the pavement below. I let out a loud scream in response to the pain. Seeing that Rainbow Dash was diving towards me, I shoved my knife back into its holster, scrambled to my hooves and kept running.

Right before she had another chance to grab me, I took a sharp turn around a left corner, and was now running down a steep hill. The extra speed, amongst the increase of gravity caused me to lose control of my hooves. I shortly found myself stumbling, and the next thing I knew, I was rolling and toppling down the hill, crashing onto my side on at the bottom. By then I just wanted to lie there and give up, but Rainbow Dash was still after me. She was flying down the hill, and in a few seconds she would catch me again, and I was in no shape to survive another fall like that. My only way out of here was if I found some way to slow her down.

I quickly grabbed my gun, cocked it, and attempted to shoot her. Very little to my surprise, she dodged my bullets with ease, and was still rapidly approaching. There was only one trick I had left. I reached into my saddlebag, grabbed another grenade, removed the silver ring, and threw it at her. My aim was a direct bullseye, as the grenade hit Rainbow Dash right before bursting into flames. I quickly got back up to my hooves and continued to run. As I ran, I glanced behind me. Rainbow Dash was no longer following me. She had crashed onto the ground, and she had caught on fire. She was thrashing around on the ground, desperately trying to put the flames out. That ought to have kept her busy for a while.

While I had temporarily taken care of Rainbow Dash, I was still being followed by the searchlight, which had spotlighted my every movement up until now. It was way too high for me to be able to hit it with a grenade, so I had to use the next best thing. I slowed down to remove my gun from its holster, and shot the light underneath the car. The loud bang coming from the gun was followed by the light shattering and going out. With the light out, I doubted the driver of the car was going to have as easy of a time keeping up with my movements.

I slid the gun back into its holster and ran down the street, then turned into an alley. As I ran in, I looked behind me to see if I was alone. It seemed that I had lost them, but I trusted that neither of them were far behind. I searched desperately for somewhere to hide, and there was only one place in sight. A dumpster. The idea wasn't appealing, but I figured I'd be able to hide in there until I was positive the guards were gone. I opened the lid with my hoof, only to be immediately met with the stench. The smell was so bad, I had to pinch my nose with my hoof, but I didn't want to take any chances. So I climbed to the top before jumping in, and shutting the lid over the top of me.

Everything went pitch black, causing the smell to be all that I noticed. Not only was the stench terrible, but I was now covered in mouldy food, plastic bags and bottles, and a part of me speculated that there was literal shit in here. Despite being extremely uncomfortable, I remained perfectly still, not making a single sound, and listened intently to what was going on outside. I could hear hoofsteps, coming closer. Then I heard a muffled voice.

"I'm still here, Jason!"

Shit! It was Rainbow Dash. Jesus Christ, this pony never gave up! The hoofsteps drew closer, and closer, until it sounded like she was right next to the dumpster. I shut my eyes, held my breath, and prayed that she wouldn't look in here. That was when my Hooficator went off. The tiny light was flashing red, and it was beeping loudly. It was times like this when I wished these things came with a silent mode. Add that to the list of things to tell Ricky to upgrade if I ever saw him again. I opened the flap to hit Deny on the touchscreen, only to realise that it wasn't a video call request. It was a text message from Ethan. In the same yellow pixelated font, the message read Where are you? I closed the flap, hoping that would trigger the noise to stop, since that's what it was supposed to do. Nope! The Hooficator kept beeping.

"Shut, up!" I hissed, frantically trying to turn it off. As I successfully switched the Hooficator off, a loud creak was sounded as the lid above me opened. Guess who it was that opened it.

"There you are." Rainbow Dash was staring down at me, fixated with a sinister grin. It was a grin that only a serial killer would make. Thinking on the spot, I kicked her in the face with my hind leg, propelling her backwards. Taking it as my chance to escape, I jumped out of the dumpster, and ran out of the alley. As I expected, Rainbow Dash once again took flight in pursuit.

This pony just never knew when to quit, did she? A part of me considered just giving up and surrendering. There was just no way I was going to outrun her. But then I remembered Ethan, Ricky, Kyle, and Sarah. They were more than just my friends. They were family. Surrendering would be suicidal, and they still needed me. They depended on me. No. I wasn't going down without a fight. I was going to escape from Rainbow Dash that night, or die trying. My mind snapped back into focus, and I sped down the streets, fuelled with determination. I wasn't going to die. Not tonight.

I skidded around a left corner, only to meet face to face with a roadblock. I had to give it to them, the absurd length these ponies were going through just to capture me was admirable. I was just one Earth Pony running down the streets, and the fact they had to take things this far just to catch me made me feel very proud of myself at that moment. Despite the roadblock that was dead ahead, with no other streets to turn into, I didn't slow down. In fact, if anything, I sped up, until I was almost directly in front of it.

In a failed attempt at parkour, I came to a dead stop when I crashed, leaving me slumped on the roof of one of the many hover-cars parked on the ground to form the roadblock. As I recovered and stood up to get off the roof, I felt car vibrating under my hooves. The engine had been initiated, and it was rising! I instantly positioned myself, trying to remain balanced, as the car rose higher, and higher, and higher. Within seconds, the hover-car was at the same height as the rest of the traffic, which was about two thirds of the height of a typical skyscraper. I didn't dare attempt to jump off. A fall from this height would have undoubtedly lead to one fate. Death.

Just as I thought things couldn't get any worse, the car I was standing on was now moving along with the traffic, making it much harder to keep my balance. As I gathered my balance, it wasn't long until I was able to remain steady. Luckily, Earth Ponies had a better sense of balance than Unicorns and Pegasi, which made remaining sturdy easier than the alternative. Just as I got the hang of it, that was when I noticed the car tilting to the left as it was turning. As the car turned, my hooves slid off the roof of the car, which had been made extra slippery because of the rain. As I slipped, I grabbed onto the side of the car with my forelegs, leaving the rest of my body suspended in thin air.

As I attempted to pull myself up, the rain loosened my grip, causing me to slip. For a moment, I was free falling, before I was able to grab onto the door handle on the other side of the car. Grabbing onto the handle was instantly followed by a click.

"SHIT!" I screamed, as the door swung open. I was now hanging onto the door handle of a hover-car that was flying almost completely vertically, leaving myself suspended in mid-air. My legs were dangling, as my front hooves were locked onto the handle, holding on for dear life. "SOMEPONY HELP!"

With each passing second, holding onto the handle was becoming harder, and harder. My hooves were growing incredibly sore. My tiring legs, combined with the rain was causing my grip to loosen. Any second now, I would lose my grip entirely. The handle would slip out of hoof's reach, sending me to plummet down to the concrete over a hundred hooves below. I hated to admit it, but there was no point in denying it. I was going to die.

"Enjoying the view?" asked a high pitched, raspy voice.

"Oh God, not you!" I groaned. Rainbow Dash had been following me, and she was now gleefully watching me dangling from the door of the car. My hooves were still slipping, and it would be mere moments before I'd slip and fall. Judging by her enormous smirk, it was clear to me she was enjoying what she was seeing.

"Need any help?"

Help? From her? Is she for real? I was about tell her to forget it, but before I could say anything, my hooves slipped. In an instant, I was free falling, and was now plummeting directly towards the pavement below. I don't know what possessed me to say it, but in my sudden state of panic, it just came out of my mouth.

"HELP!!!" I cried, which was followed by straight up screaming. There was no way she was going to save me after what I had done to her, her workmates, and her boss. With each passing moment, my speed increased. The wind was roaring loudly, and the G forces were sucking on every ounce of my body. With every blink, the pavement was coming closer, and closer. This was it. I closed my eyes and braced myself, knowing that I only had seconds to live.

My fall came to a dead stop, yet, I was somehow still alive. But how? I opened my eyes. I was still about a storey above the ground, but I was no longer falling. A pair of hooves had wrapped around my chest, which had broken my fall. Somepony had caught me. I looked up to see who it was. Oh, God. It was Rainbow Dash. Never before had I ever had such mixed feelings on a pony saving my life. On one hoof, I was grateful to know that I wasn't dead, but being caught by Rainbow Dash meant that she had won. I put up a good fight, but no matter how fast I ran, there was no denying it. She got me in the end.

She flew towards a nearby hover-car, that had been parked on the ground. She dropped to the ground with me still in her hooves, and shoved me into the backseat of the car before I had a chance to get away. So that was it. I had come all this way, and I fought so hard tonight, only just to get caught. Way to go, Jason.

Things became really quiet once the car got moving. Rainbow Dash was the one driving, and had ordered me to remain completely silent during the trip. Not that I had anything to say to her anyway. I just sat in the backseat, staring out of the window as I speculated my fate. There was no way I could escape. I was tightly strapped to my seat by an automatic seat belt, which was only controlled by the driver. In addition to that, we were still driving along the highway, so we were still a hundred hooves above the ground. It was also more than likely we weren't going to land until we had reached our destination. Speaking of which, where was she taking me anyway?

I leaned over to the side as far as I could, and peered between the front seats. The G.P.S. in the middle of the dashboard read Destination: Ponyville. Approximate Arrival Time: 3 Hours, 38 Minutes. I sighed. It was just as I feared. Ponyville was the territory of Argo himself. Rainbow Dash was most likely taking me to him so he could punish me directly. It was extremely likely he would be merciless. He was already racist against Earth Ponies as it was, so the fact I merely existed was enough of a reason for him to want to kill me, but the addition of what I had done to him was just the icing on the cake.

The strap in my seat belt tightened, forcing me to sit up straight again. Now that I knew how long it would take until we got there, the timer on the G.P.S. now felt like a counter of how long I had to live. There was only one thing I could do.

I waited until Rainbow Dash had committed all of her attention to her driving, and by that point we had already passed Fillydelphia. While she was concentrating, I slowly opened the flap on my Hooficator, careful trying not to make any noise. I turned it on, while checking to see if Rainbow Dash had noticed. She didn't even flinch, but I shifted my Hooficator into a position behind her seat, so she couldn't see what I was doing through her rear view mirror.

Once the main menu showed up on the touch screen, I selected the messages feature, and hit Send Message. What came up next was a list of names of ponies I had contact with. Without thinking twice, I chose Ethan. That's when I saw his Where are you? message that he sent earlier. Double checking to make sure Rainbow Dash wasn't looking, I typed my reply.

I've been kidnapped. Please help.

After hitting send, I carefully closed the touchscreen, and looked up. As far as I could tell, Rainbow Dash had no idea what I had just done. Now all I had to do was wait.

By this point, we were approaching Canterlot, which meant we were due to arrive in Ponyville very shortly. The rain had stopped, but according to the clock on my Hooficator, dawn wasn't for another hour yet. My Hooficator went off, triggering the flashing red light and the loud beeping. I frantically tried to turn it off, but it was too late. Rainbow Dash had heard it.

"What do you think you're doing?" she snapped, peering into her rear view mirror to see me.

"Nothing!" I said quickly. Maybe a little too quickly.

"Then what's that noise?"

"It's my Hooficator," I said.

"Your what?" she asked. Since Hooficators were invented by Ricky, they were made exclusively for us, so it made sense to me that she didn't know what my Hooficator was or how it worked.

"This device on my hoof," I said, holding it up for her to see. "It goes off whenever somepony sends me a message with it. It's not me, it's whoever's sending me the message."

"Turn it off and ignore it," she said. I was already in enough trouble as it was, so it was probably best just to do as she asked. I opened the screen to turn off the alarm, but before closing it, I saw that Ethan had replied to my call for help.

On my way. Hang on.

As I closed the lid, a sensation of relief came over me, though I tried to hide it from Rainbow Dash. We were almost at Ponyville, and Ethan was way back at Manehattan. How long would it take for him to get to me? The ability to find me wasn't a concern to me, since he'd be able to use the tracking device feature in his Hooficator to get the exact coordinates for mine. If he found my Hooficator, then that would also mean he'd find me. However, considering the major distance between Manehattan and Ponyville, there was a strong chance that by the time he got here, he would already be too late. I just hoped that wouldn't be the case. Then an even worse thought occured to me. What if Argo found out that he was coming? He could have potentially kept me alive, just to use me as bait for a trap. That very concept immediately made me feel terrible for calling for his help. He could be caught and killed, and it would be my fault.

Ponyville. Considered to be the worst place in Equestria in every sense of the word. It was by far the most unpleasant, the ugliest, and most certainly the most dangerous. The Pegasi guards had covered the entire town sky with clouds. Not just normal clouds either. These clouds had been magically altered, creating a raw red and brownish colour during the day, and pitch black during the night. Nopony really knew the purpose of doing this to the sky, but most of my friends suspected he did it to scare off unwelcome guests. It was a theory I shared, and if it wasn't for me being held captive, the effect would definitely have been working on me.

Rainbow Dash parked the hover-car not far from Argo's fortress. The place was huge. It was a massive cobblestone castle that was five storeys high. There were stone arched windows wrapped around the entire castle on each floor. In the centre of the castle was a particularly tall tower, which is where I assumed Argo lived. The front door was a large arched metal door that was lit up by torches on both top corners of the door frame.

As Rainbow Dash turned off the engine, she turned around to look at me with a very serious expression.

"Now, Jason, listen to me very carefully." She looked directly into my eyes. "I'm going to come out and open the door for you, and I'm going to escort you to the castle. You are to comply with myself, and any other guard that gives you orders. You are to follow your instructions with no questions asked, and don't even think about trying anything funny. Remember, we're all armed, so if you try to run, we'll shoot you in the head. Do I make myself clear?"

I nodded. She made herself very clear. I knew how skilled these guards were. I may have gotten away from them once when I saved Hannah, but that was just luck. The memory of Hannah triggered a flashback of the moment I saved her, and the moment when I found the locket. I wished I had it with me, but Rainbow had both of my saddlebags, so I had no way of getting to it. Rainbow Dash pressed a button on the dashboard that released my seat belt. I just sat there, as she got out of the car, only to come around and open my door.

I stepped outside, while Rainbow grabbed my saddlebags from the front seat. Ponyville looked much worse in person than it did through the window. The sky was pitch black and the state of the town itself looked like Ponyville had suffered the apocalypse. Bridges that spanned over dried up rivers had been broken and destroyed. Everything from the grass, the pathways, and the buildings had been completely desaturated, almost completely lacking in any colour. The houses themselves were abandoned, and most of them had been smashed or were falling apart due to age or termites. Some of the buildings had been demolished completely, and only consisted of giant piles of broken wooden planks and rubble. It looked just as bad as I remembered. If anything, it was worse.

As Rainbow Dash escorted me to the castle, I took notice of children being terrorised by guards one way or another. One guard to my left was forcing a Unicorn filly to build a large statue of Argo with her magic, whipping her every time he felt like she was going too slow. To my right was a guard teaching a group of young colts how to shoot a gun, and individual targets had been set up for each of them. These were kids, being taught how to shoot guns. Now that was really messed up. Granted, Ethan had taught me how to use a gun myself at a young age, but that was purely for self defence against Argo's guards. Ethan and I lived by one code, that being that we'd never shoot a gun unless we absolutely had to.

Further down the road, just outside the castle, was a guard harassing a child. He was repeatedly flogging her with a whip, as she laid there crying.

"For the last time! Get-back-to work!" the guard yelled, flogging her again. A fully grown stallion jumped in front of her.

"That's enough!" he barked. "She's just a kid, give her a break!"

"And what gives you the authority to tell me what to do?"

"Nothing," the stallion hissed, gritting his teeth, and standing in front of the filly like a protective mother.

"Then step aside."

The stallion remained where he was standing, and gave the guard a stern look. "No! If you want the child, you'll have to go through me."

"As you wish," said the guard, pulling out a gun.

I immediately stepped towards the group to help them, but Rainbow Dash placed her hoof in front of me.

"Don't even think about it," she said. "Just ignore it, and keep going."

I reluctantly obeyed. I continued to follow Rainbow Dash. The doors opened as we approached, and we entered the building. That was when I heard the gun going off.

My eyes widened, I froze on the spot, as shivers shot down my spine. I tried to shake it off and continue, but I didn't dare to turn my head back and look. I just couldn't bring myself to do that. I was better off not looking, and drawing the conclusion in my mind that the guard just missed him, and there was only one bullet. Or better yet, maybe it was just a blank to give the stallion a scare.

As we entered the castle, what laid in front of us was a long stone hallway. The hallway was decorated with statues of Argo along the walls, with ribbons and flags hanging from the ceiling overhead. Dear God, Argo must have had a huge ego. I followed Rainbow Dash down the hall, until we reached a register at the very end. A Unicorn guard was sitting behind a registration desk, writing something down on a piece of paper with a quill. Judging by the shape of the jaw, I speculated this guard was a mare. She glanced over to Rainbow Dash, and seemed surprised by the sight.

"Rainbow Dash?" Yep, definitely a mare. "Is that you?"

"Long time, no see," said Rainbow Dash. Apparently she didn't come to Ponyville often. It seemed Manehattan was her home, and she had just brought me here for punishment.

"What are you doing here?" asked the mare at the registration desk.

"I'm just dropping off a prisoner," said Rainbow Dash, glancing over to me.

"I see," said the guard, taking notes on a fresh piece of paper. "Now, who is this guy?"

"This is Jason Colby, madam," said Rainbow Dash, sounding proud of herself.

"Jason Colby?" said the Unicorn, sounding flabbergasted. "As in, the Jason Colby? You actually caught him?" Rainbow Dash just nodded, smiling. "Impressive. Now then, what kind of room do you want to place him in?"

Rainbow Dash looked back towards me. I had a bad feeling I knew what she was thinking. She turned back to focus on the register.

"I'd like to place him in a maximum security vault, and afterwards, I wish to speak with Argo directly to negotiate his fate."

The register nodded. "Very well. I'll organise a cell for him immediately." She moved towards a laptop placed at her desk, and started typing. She then walked into a room behind the desk, and came back out carrying a key and a folded white sheet using a levitation spell. She walked around the desk to meet us face to face, and gave Rainbow Dash the key.

"Here's your key," she said as Rainbow Dash grabbed it. "The room is 1408."

"Perfect," said Rainbow Dash, turning to me. "Jason, before we lock you up, all of your belongings are to be confiscated."

I wanted to tell her to fuck off and run, but I knew how arguing would turn out. Arguing, or performing any type of escape attempt would result in a bullet in the back of my head. So instead, I did exactly as she requested. She already had my saddlebags, so I just had to give her my weapons. I undid the straps around my legs, dropping the holsters that contained my gun, and my dagger. Once they were on the floor, I kicked them towards her with my hoof.

"There," I said, indicating that I was done. Rainbow Dash gave me a disapproving look.

"All of your belongings!" she demanded.

"What are you talking about?" I asked. "That's all I've got."

"Really?" asked the register. "Then, what's that on your leg?" She pointed to my Hooficator. Before I could say anything, Rainbow Dash answered.

"He calls it his Hooficator," she said. "I'm not entirely too sure what it is or what it does, but it must come off."

"I can't," I said, holding it up. "It's stuck to my leg."

"Bullshit," said Rainbow Dash. "Listen, either you remove that device from your leg, or we'll remove it for you."

"I'm telling you," I said. "It won't come off!"

"Okay then, have it your way," said Rainbow Dash, glancing over to the register. "A little help?"

The register nodded and her magic formed around her horn and my Hooficator. A sharp pain ran through my leg as she gave a violent tug in an attempt to remove it. Nothing happened. She pulled even harder, this time causing me to pull a muscle.

"Ow!" I yelled, as a sharp pain shot through my foreleg. The Hooficator remained on my leg. She gave one last tug, this time much harder than the previous two. Another sharp pain shot through my leg, and her pull was so strong, I partially skidded across the floor. However, my Hooficator was still on my leg, closed, locked, and just as secure as ever before.

"Hmm," said the register, studying my Hooficator, seeming quite perplexed. "It seems that one cannot remove this thing just by slipping it off."

"I tried to tell you," I said. "But you didn't listen."

"But," she said. "I think I know how to get it off."

"How?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"See at the end of the device?"

"Yeah?"

"It's a keyhole. That means it needs to be unlocked if it's to be removed."

Rainbow's face lightened up, and gave me another sinister smirk. I wasn't giving up that easily.

"So, Jason," said Rainbow Dash. "Where is it?"

"Where is what?" I asked, playing dumb.

"Where is the key to your Hooficator?"

"What if I told you I left it back at Manehattan? Or that I got rid of it? Would you seriously go all the way back just to get it?"

"Check his saddlebags," Rainbow Dash ordered, ignoring me.

The register selected one of the two bags and rummaged through it.

"I see you've got a lot of grenades here," said the register, without looking away from the bag. "What were you intending on using them for?"

I didn't answer. She continued to rummage through the bag, and pulled something out.

"Hey," she said, sounding confused. "What are you carrying this for?"

She pulled out something small and golden. My eyes widened. It was Hannah's locket.

"PUT THAT BACK!" I exploded. The register jumped and turned to me, startled by my sudden raising of voice.

"Why exactly would I want to do that? Let me guess, it belongs to someone close to you?"

It felt weird saying that about Hannah considering I had only known her for a few minutes, but I made a promise that I would return it. Even if I never saw her again, there was something about that locket. Something I found... comforting.

"I've got to admit, whoever gave it to you does have nice taste. I think I'll keep it."

"You can't take it!!!" I yelled. "It's not yours!"

The register just placed it into her pocket. "It is now."

I wanted to protest, but there was nothing I could do. She went back to rummaging through my saddlebags, until she seemed to have reached the bottom.

"Ah-ha!" she said in triumph, pulling out a small, black, metal key. "I found it." She walked over to me, bringing the key right up to my face. "Now, take it off."

I just stood there for a second, before grunting at her, and snatching the key.

"Fine!" I snapped. With my free foreleg, I inserted my key into the hole in my Hooficator, and rotated it counter-clockwise. The rotation was followed by a click. My Hooficator loosened, and slipped off my leg with ease. "There, it's off."

"And your jacket," said the register. I grunted, before tearing my jacket off and throwing it onto the ground.

"Excellent," said the register, nodding approvingly. She used her levitation to gather all of my belongings that I had dumped to the floor, and placed them into a box in the corner of the room. She then turned back towards me. "Rainbow Dash and I will escort you to your room now."

I had no idea how long it took to get to the room. We traversed through a seemingly endless maze of corridors, turns and stairs. We were well and truly underground, and the hallways were only lit by fire torches on the walls. The walls were grim, and dark. The empty halls and corridors amplified our hoofsteps, but what bothered me about these dungeons the most was the smell. This place smelled like ponies had died in here. Knowing the kind of ruler Argo was, that concept didn't sound too far fetched.

After what seemed like forever, we eventually reached the room marked 1408 on the door. The register unlocked the big, heavy, metallic door, and pushed me inside. The room was an empty cell, that consisted of nothing but white, soft padding.

"One other thing," said the register. I turned around. She was still holding onto the white sheet from earlier. At the back of my head, I had been wondering what the point of that sheet was, but something told me that I really didn't want to find out. "Before we lock the door, you need to put this on. It's a necessary precaution, that is required so we can avoid any... problems." She unfolded the sheet, only to reveal that it wasn't a sheet at all. It was a straightjacket. I shivered, backing away from her and the jacket.

"No way," I said, backing myself up into corner of the room, as far away from it as possible. "I'm not wearing that." In an instant, my entire body became paralysed, as it was covered in glowing magic, coming from the register's horn. I couldn't move. She walked closer, and closer, before slipping the jacket over my head and body against my will. My forelegs naturally slipped into the sleeves, and she used her magic to tightly wrap my arms around the jacket. After tying the knot, she backed away, and left the room. Rainbow Dash grabbed onto the door, and looked back at me.

"You will be staying here until Argo and I come to an agreement on your fate," she said, before slamming the door. I listened to the door bolts sealing it shut, and then there was nothing. Not a single sound could be heard. I was alone. I sat there in the corner of the room in the fetal position, sniffing. I knew full well what was going to happen to me. I was going to receive one of two punishments. Either I was going to be given a life sentence of imprisonment in this room, or worse, I was to be terminated. Feeling completely and utterly hopeless, I buried my face into my restrained forelegs, and cried.