The Second Dimension

Hopelessness. That was honestly all I could feel. I couldn't move, being restrained by a straightjacket and locked up in a padded room. Many hours had ticked by; I was starving, my lips were cracking, and I was in desperate need of water. The lack of windows, or anything pleasant to look at to take my mind off things, just made this place all the more depressing. But worst of all, what was taking the biggest toll on me was the isolation. There was nothing, and nopony here but myself. I was alone. There wasn't a single pony in sight, and it was quite likely I was going to die alone. I sat there in the fetal position, crying into my forelegs. Tears were pouring down my snout, and onto the sleeves of my jacket.

My sobs came to a sudden stop when I heard what I believed to be the door being unbolted. I opened my eyes and looked up, sniffling. The door slowly opened, and behind the door was a guard. If I was right in the theory that I was to be terminated, then it was safe to assume this was my executioner. He eyeballed me, but said nothing. Judging by the way he was moving his head, it seemed as though he was motioning me to get up. I just looked down at the sleeves of the straightjacket, then back to him, thrusting my forelegs out as best I could. It seemed like he got the memo. He walked over to me, grabbed me by the jacket with his foreleg, and dragged me out into the middle of the room. He then walked behind me, and used his hoof to untie the knot at my back. The knot loosened, and I quickly tore the jacket off as fast as I could. The second I was out of them I stretched out my forelegs, feeling a false sense of freedom.

Before I knew it, the guard was pointing a gun at my head. Why was I not surprised? He escorted me through the maze of corridors. After taking countless turns, flights of stairs, and accidently encountering dead ends, I was getting the impression that he didn't know where he was going. I couldn't blame him. Anypony could get lost in this labyrinth of a dungeon. If I were trying to traverse this place by myself, finding the exit would be practically impossible.

Eventually, we made it out of the dungeons, and into a hallway on the first floor. The second we left the dungeons, the smell instantly improved. Instead of smelling like rotten corpses, these hallways had a somewhat sweet scent to it, almost like honey. This part of the castle was made of wood, at least the interior design was. Torches were spread across the entire hallway, adding both warmth and light to the environment. Due to the slight discolouration of the fire, I suspected these torches had been altered by magic to prevent setting the castle on fire. I listened to the clomping of our hooves as we walked on the wooden floorboards. Every so often, I heard hoofsteps coming from behind us, but every time I turned back to look, there was nopony there.

Despite the more pleasant setting, I had a growing sense of trepidation at the possibility of being followed. The guard to my side was darting his head everywhere. It seemed like he was multitasking, both watching me like a hawk, while also paying close attention to the room numbers marked at the top of each door.

What I really wanted to know was, why wasn't he saying anything to me? All of the other guards I had encountered previously seemed to have no problem talking to me, but the entire time I had been with him, this guy hadn't said a word. I hesitated for a moment, afraid to ask, then cleared my throat.

"So, you mind telling me where we're going?" He continued to walk, keeping a sharp eye on the numbers on the doors. He didn't even give me a glance. Either he didn't hear me, or he was just purposefully ignoring me. I tried again. "What's happening with me? Where are you taking me?" Once again, he didn't answer. I guess he isn't the talkative type.

He suddenly shoved a hoof in front of my chest, signaling me to stop. He was staring at a room to our right. The room was marked A113. He approached the door, pulled out a set of keys, and unlocked it. I obediently entered the room after him.

The room was what appeared to be some sort of office. There was a blackboard in the front of the room. In front of the board was a desk with a pile of textbooks and a laptop. Along the left side of the wall were large bookshelves, all full to the brim with textbooks. Alongside the right of the room were a bunch of what I believed to be filing cabinets. However, there were no signs of any guns, knives, or a tall wooden structure with a noose hanging underneath it. If I was about to be executed, why would he bring me here?

I turned back to see what he was doing. He had locked the door from the inside, and shut the blinds. That told me that he didn't want anypony else seeing whatever it was he was about to do to me. As soon as he made sure we were alone, he rushed over to the filing cabinets and started rushing through them. Draw after draw, he continued searching, until he suddenly stopped. Finally, he spoke.

"Ah ha! There they are!"

I probably should've been asking what exactly it was he was looking for, but what I really wanted to know was why his voice sounded so familiar? I decided to ask him the former.

"Wait, what's going on? What were you looking for?"

Ignoring me, he grabbed a foreleg full of items and carried them over across the room, dropping them right in front of my hooves.

"Hurry Jason. We don't have much time. Put these on. Quickly."

Okay, I had definitely met this guy before. I looked down at the items he had dropped in front of me. I couldn't believe it. It was my stuff. My gun, my dagger, my saddlebag—which still had all of its grenades, my jacket, and my Hooficator. The holsters for my gun and dagger slipped into place nice and firmly on my legs. I put on my jacket, before grabbing my Hooficator, which was met with a satisfying click as the guard locked it onto my left foreleg. I checked my saddlebag before putting it on, to make sure it still had everything. I still had my grenades, my water bottle and... wait... where was the...?

My body grew tense, and my heart raced, as I dug through the entire saddlebag panicking. My hoof came to contact with a small wooden frame with glass in the middle. My heart calmed down, and I sighed with relief. Thank god, I still had it. I still had... her. A great weight was lifted from my shoulders, upon the realisation that she was still with me. I continued to search the bag, and much to my dismay, the T.S.D. was missing. So was my one extra bit, and—possibly worst of all—Hannah's locket. Once I finished slipping everything back on, I looked towards the guard.

"I don't understand," I said, raising an eyebrow at him. "Why are you helping me?"

The guard just stared at me, leaving me to wonder if I had just made a terrible mistake. Eventually, he reached for his mask, and pulled it off. I felt an enormous burst of relief when I saw who it was.

"Because that's what friends do," he said, smiling at me.

"Ethan!" I yelled in a sudden burst of excitement.

I launched towards him, hugging him. It's not something I would have normally done at the best of times, but considering I had just spent the last few hours thinking I was going to die, I was just finally happy to see my friend again. Judging by the way he returned the hug, it seemed like he understood. After we separated, I looked at his foreleg.

"Where's your Hooficator?" I asked.

"In my saddlebag," he said, removing it and pulling his Hooficator out. "I had to take it off. Disguising myself as a guard was the only way I was going to be able to get to you without getting caught by... well... actual guards. Not to mention it was the best way to gain access to the keys. Still had to bring it with me to find you."

"I know," I said, thinking about the tracking device feature. "That's another thing, how did you get here so fast? As far as I know, I've only been here for a few hours, and Manehattan is miles away from here."

Ethan looked into oblivion, rubbing the back of his mane in the process. "Yeah, about that. I may or may not have successfully stolen one of their hover-cars and used it to drive here."

"You didn't!"

Ethan nodded. "Look, Jason, we're running out of time. If we want to avoid capture, we need to get out of here. Now."

"Wait, where are we going?"

"Home."

Home? After everything that I had gone through? It just didn't feel right to me.

I hesitated. "I can't go back. Not yet."

Ethan's eyes widened, taken aback by my response. He probably had anticipated for me to be eager to get home. "What are you talking about? Why not?"

"Ethan, they have the T.S.D," I said sternly.

"Forget the T.S.D!" Ethan snapped. "Can't you see that thing is bringing us nothing but trouble? First off, have you forgotten how many friends we have lost trying to find out about it? Second, ever since you stole it in the first place, Argo and his guards have gone insane trying to track you down, and now he's actually succeeded. If it wasn't for me saving your ass last minute, Argo would have killed you for sure, and we're in this position in the first place because you stole that bloody device, may I remind? Third, we have no idea where it is. It could be anywhere in this castle. What's your plan? Are you suggesting we blindly wander around this castle until we find it? Yeah. Don't see that plan backfiring miserably. If we get caught, Argo will off us both on the spot. Is that really what you want?"

He was right. If I hadn't stolen the damn thing, we wouldn't have been in this situation to begin with. Then I stopped to think, remembering what it was capable of. Dark memories flashed before my eyes, reminding me of why I stole it in the first place. Then I remembered the locket. I couldn't just leave it here. I just, couldn't.

"Yes, Ethan," I said, looking back at him. "You're absolutely right. The fact I stole that device is the reason we're in this mess to begin with, but have you stopped to consider why I stole it in the first place? Have you forgotten how powerful that thing is?"

Ethan rubbed his mane with his hoof again. But I could see it on his face.

"With that device, Argo could potentially gain ultimate control of not just Equestria, but the entire universe. With the universe, and the spacetime continuum under his control, who knows what kind of damage he could do. I stole it to prevent him from doing any further damage, so you do do whatever you want, but I am not leaving without that device!"

Ethan hesitated and looked away, appearing to be conflicted on his choice. He looked back to me, as if finally coming to a decision.

"Alright," he said. "We'll do it. So, what's the plan? How are we going to find this thing?"

"I, don't know," I said, looking down to the ground. Ethan groaned and rolled his eyes. "Well that's just great."

Our conversation was cut short by banging at the door.

"Open up!" yelled a voice. "Listen here Jason, I know you're in there! Rainbow Dash is lookin for ya. And she-is-furious. Open the door, now!"

"What the hell are we going do?" I whispered in Ethan's ear. Appearing to have a plan, he motioned me to remain quiet, and approached the door.

"Don't worry," he said, pushing against it. "Everything's ahh, everything's under control, situation normal."

"What's Jason doing in there?" asked the guard behind the door. "He should have been up in Argo's office with him and Rainbow Dash by now."

"Yeah, sorry about that," said Ethan, as he slowly pulled out his gun. "You see, ahh, I, umm, he had escaped his cell, and I had cornered him in this room, but um, everything's perfectly alright now, we're fine, we're all fine here, now, thank you. How are you?"

"I'm calling reinforcements. Give the prisoner to us, and we'll be sure to return him to his cell until further notice."

Ethan's eyes widened. "Negative!" He said quickly, trying to think on the spot. "You see, ah, the hostage sir, he's, umm, he's hostile. You can't help, you'll ahh, you'll alienate him. This guy gets really aggressive when he's provoked. Just give me a few minutes to sedate him, he's largely, uh, very dangerous."

I rolled my eyes, wincing. Ethan was terrible at coming up with bullshit on the spot. It seemed like he was suddenly aware of that, because his gun was now cocked and loaded.

"Who is this?" asked the guard. "What's your serial number?"

Ethan froze. He obviously wasn't expecting this question.

"My serial number?" he said. "Oh, um, it's... err." Ethan swung the door open, shot the guard from the other side in the face, then slammed it shut again. "Boring conversation anyway. Jason, we're gonna have company!"

My mind was suddenly moving at a million miles an hour. If we were caught in here, we were done for, and if that guard hadn't already called for backup, other guards on duty most definitely would have heard the gunshot. If we were still in here when they got here, we were screwed. On the other hoof, we couldn't just blindly run out of the office with no plan or idea of where we're going. There were guards everywhere in this place, so making one tiny mistake would end both of our lives. We had to get out of here, but we also needed a plan.

"Jason!" Ethan yelled. "Did you hear what I said? Guards are coming for us. They know we're here. We must vacate this building immediately!"

I shoved a hoof in front of his face, signaling him to shut up. "Give me a sec!" I yelled. Ethan went silent, giving me time to think.

First and foremost, we needed to find the T.S.D. So it was just a matter of figuring out where Argo would hide it. As much as Ethan wanted to just get our asses out of here, it was extremely important we got that device back. There was a reason I stole it in the first place. It was for the protection of innocent lives. Innocent ponies, like Hannah. The thought of Hannah instantly reminded me of the locket. I had to get it back, but I didn't want to let Ethan in on that. He didn't seem like he was approving of the concept of risking our lives for the T.S.D, let alone a locket.

Focusing on what was important at hoof, I had to figure out where we were going to find them. Guards were after us, so hiding wasn't an option.

"Ethan," I said, finally speaking up. "Guards should be already on their way as we speak. You may want to get your weapons ready."

"Already got that covered," said Ethan. "So where are we going?"

Since the register sat at the front of the building, I decided to worry about getting the locket back on our way out, assuming she still had it. Which just lead to the T.S.D. 'Think Jason' I told myself mentally. 'If I were Argo, where would I hide the T.S.D?' If I were him, I probably would have placed it in a safe, or a vault, placed in or next to my bedroom, making it impossible to leave my sight. If Argo had done this, there was only one place I could imagine it would be.

"It's most likely that the T.S.D. is at the top of the tower in the centre of the castle," I said confidently. "We've got to hurry."

"What are you, crazy?" Ethan naturally seemed alarmed at my extremely reckless plan. "That's where Argo himself is! I'm honestly starting to think you want to get yourself killed."

"If we don't get that device back, hundreds of innocent ponies could die!"

"I know, I know," said Ethan. "So how are we going to get there? And more importantly, how are we going to get the device without being caught and slaughtered by Argo?"

"You're asking me? You're the one who busted in here. You probably know this place better than I do."

Right as I said that, I remembered how he got lost in the dungeons. Ethan groaned and rolled his eyes. "We'll just have to trust our instincts."

"I guess," I said.

We made our way to the door. Ethan peeped between the blinds through the window in the door.

"They're coming," he said, preparing his gun. "You ready?"

"No."

"Me neither. Let's go."

Ethan inserted the key into the door knob, and slowly rotated it. We simultaneously took a deep breath, before Ethan swung the door open. One step into the hallway, and already we had been spotted by a group of guards.

"There they are!" one yelled, pointing at us.

"Get 'em!" yelled another.

"Run!" Ethan yelled, as we turned right, and bolted down the hallway. The guards took pursuit. As we ran, the environment became much less silent than it had been a minute ago. Our hooves stomped on the wooden floorboards, which occasionally squeaked under our weight. We looked dead ahead, not daring to turn back to see how far away they were. At the end of the hallway, from what we could make out, was an opening that only gave us the option to turn right or left. Ethan frantically turned his head towards me, with a look of panic in his eyes.

"Jason, which way?"

Why was he asking me? I had as much of an idea of the castle layout as he did. I knew our target destination was the tower in the centre of the castle, but how the hell we were going to get there was beyond me. Either direction could take us directly towards it, and either direction could lead us in the exact opposite direction. So how was I supposed to know which one was the correct path? I had no idea, but what I did know was that I had only seconds to decide.

"WHICH WAY?" Ethan reiterated, his eyes so wide they were practically bulging. With no time to react, I said the first direction that came to my head.

"Left!" I yelled.

In response, we both skidded around the corner turning left, and continued down the hallway. The group behind us followed. Our next opening was a four way intersection, leaving us three directions to run.

"Go straight ahead!"

We ran across the intersection, ignoring both turnways. Coming up next was another opening that only lead left or right.

"Right!"

In front of us now was an opening that was identical to the last.

"Go left, go left... wait, right, no left," I said, struggling to decide.

"For Christ sake!" Ethan yelled. "Just pick one!"

"LEFT!"

We turned left, as Ethan glanced behind.

"They're gaining on us!"

"You do realise yelling every direction we take isn't helping if we're trying to lose these bastards?"

"Then how are we supposed to avoid accidentally separating?"

"Just-follow my lead!" I yelled, ever so slightly overtaking Ethan. Coming up was another intersection that only went two ways; right, or straight. I veered right and skidden around the corner. Ethan briefly slowed down, slightly thrown off by me turning so suddenly. At our next three way intersection, I veered right again.

"You have no idea where you're going, do you?" Ethan sounded sceptical of the directions I was making.

"Not a fucking clue!" I yelled. We made three right turns, then made a left turn at a two way intersection, only to realise that I had just made a terrible mistake.

"Wow, great choice, Jason," Ethan deadpanned as we came to a stop. We were at a dead end, with nothing in front of us except for another office. The group of guards that were chasing us we at the other end, blocking the path we came. There was nowhere for us to go.

"I'm starting to think we should've gone right," I said, glancing towards Ethan. He rolled his eyes at me.

"No shit Sherlock."

"Okay then, so what do we do?"

The guards were coming closer. One thing for sure, we didn't make it this far just to get caught again. Without saying anything, Ethan opened the door behind us, pulled us into the room, and slammed the door shut. Ethan locked the door, as I searched around the room.

"You think the locked door is going to hold them?" I asked.

"Nope," said Ethan, pushing a wooden table in front of the door to barricade it. Since they know we're in here, I expect they're going to get in pretty quickly. That door was the only one in the room. Aside from that, the only other method of escape I could immediately spot was the window. I ran over to it and peeped out. The window wasn't going to work. We were at least three stories high, and a fall from this height would lead to serious injury, or worse, death. Jumping wasn't worth the risk. As I looked down to the ground, I saw the shadow of the castle cast onto the grass by the moon. To my right, was the shadow of the tower. I leaned further out. My entire upper body was sticking out the window, and I had to cling onto the windowsill with my hooves to stop me from falling out of the building entirely. I rotated myself so I could look as far up as I could without falling, and sure enough-the tower was in sight.

"I see it!" I yelled.

"What?" Ethan asked.

"I see the tower!"

If my calculations were correct, we were in the front left corner of the castle, so we'd have to head northeast in order to get to it. I slipped back into the room. Suddenly fueld with excitement and optimism, I had a much stronger urge and motivation to keep going.

"I know where we are," I said, with a look of excitement on my face. "We were going the wrong way." I pointed down the corner of the room in the same direction as the tower. "We need to be heading that way." Ethan didn't seem as enthusiastic.

"Are you seriously still thinking about that device?" he said. "Isn't your mind on anything else? Like trying to... oh... I don't know, not die?"

Did he seriously forget about the conversation we just had a few minutes ago?

"If we get that device back, we could potentially put an end to Argo's tyranny," I reminded him. "Don't you still want that?"

"Of course I do," said Ethan. "But if we're caught, our friends will be organising our funeral."

"Well Argo and his army are trying to kill us regardless," I said, pointing towards the door. The guards were rattling the knob, and banging on it. "We're Earth Ponies, just solely existing is a big enough reason for Argo to want us dead. I don't remember a single day where my life wasn't on the line. So we might as well try. Now that I know we have a chance, I'm not leaving without it."

Ethan sighed. "I hope you know what you're doing."

"So do I," I said, staring at the ceiling.

"But we're still trapped in this office," said Ethan. "There's nowhere to go, unless you have a way for us to get out of here."

"Say no more," I said, still looking at the ceiling. "I have a plan."

Ethan looked up at the ceiling himself. "What are you looking at?" I didn't have to answer his question. Slowly, I saw a smirk grow onto his face. "Great idea Jason. I like your thinking."

The group of guards barged into the room, pushing the table out of the way with the door. They pointed their guns into the room, only to realise there was no sign of us. They frantically searched the room, tearing down bookshelves, tables and filing cabinets.

One of the guards-presumably their leader-looked furious.

"WHERE ARE THEY!?" he exploded.

"They're gone, sir," said another guard, as he looked out the window. "They're nowhere to be seen outside, so my guess is that they're still here."

"Still here?" said the first guard in disbelief. "How are they still here? Look at this place, there's nowhere for them to hide!"

"Well they're not Unicorns, they couldn't have just teleported."

"Well, let's stop and think. If we were Earth Ponies, and we were trapped in here, where would we hide?"

The guards looked around the room, till they noticed something peculiar—a brown mahogany chair that had been knocked over and left to lie in the center of the room. One by one their heads rose up to stare at the section of the ceiling directly above said chair, where a vent flap had been suspiciously unbolted.

"Shit!" yelled the leader. "Inform Argo! If they're in the vents, they could be anywhere in the castle by now. Block all potential exists. Now!

"Yes sir," the rest of the group said in unison, and ran out of the room. The leader stayed behind, as he continued to stare directly at the ceiling. The only thing between him and us was the flap Ethan had managed to close just before the guards stormed in.

I looked up to Ethan, and mouthed my lips to ask him a question.

"Can he see us?"

He must have understood me, because he moved his mouth in response. Reading his lips, I could work out his reply.

"I don't know."

At last, the leader looked down, only to pull out a gun from his side. Not good. Definitely not good. Besides the flap that behaved as an access port, the rest of the vent was hidden above the wooden ceiling. This made us practically invisible, but there was still a very serious danger of us getting shot. The guard cocked his gun, and everything went dead silent. Ethan and I looked at each other, holding our breaths in the eerie silence. We waited. Waited for the first strike, our bodies becoming more and more tense with each split second. We knew what was coming.

There was an ear bursting sound of miniature explosions coming from below, as bullets were rapidly spitting through the ceiling, and through the metal in the vents. The noise of the gun was accompanied by the sound of metal popping, as the amount of bullet holes suddenly appearing in the metal below us was increasing, and increasing. Bullets were wildly darting across the entire room, and bullet holes were continuing to appear across the entire vent that was exposed in the room. If he could see us, we both would have been killed by now.

As bullets continued to fire around us like an upside down meteor shower, one bullet shot across my waist, penetrating my jacket and removing some of my skin in the process. In an instant, I was under a tremendous stinging pain, as I felt blood slowly trickling out of my wound. My mouth was agape, my eyes were bulging, and I was breathing heavily. I fought my hardest with every ounce of the strength I had to not scream. I rolled onto my side, and applied pressure onto the wound with a forehoof. Pressing onto wound hurt, and I could feel the blood spreading onto my hoof.

The gunshots finally stopped. The guard yelled in frustration, and stormed out of the room. Ethan and I sighed, only for Ethan to gasp when he saw me on my side, with my bloody hoof pressing onto my waist.

"Are you okay?"

"No, I'm not," I said. "I've been shot."

"Shit," Ethan said in a sudden state of panic. "Just keep applying pressure to it. It will slow down the bleeding."

I looked down the vent in the direction we needed to go. The vent was small, tight, and claustrophobic. The height and width only just barely large enough for us to squeeze through. I started dragging myself across the vent, with Ethan crawling behind.

It took forever, but we finally managed to get to the centre of the castle. By the time we got there, the bleeding had stopped, but my hoof and waist were now stained red, and I needed somepony to attend to my injury as soon as possible. In front of us was an opening that led to an elevator, possibly one of the only vent exits not to be guarded. We waited until the elevator was just one floor below us, before we crawled out of the vent and gently stepped onto the roof of the elevator. As we did, I listened to the hoofsteps of presumably a guard entering the elevator, and the door shutting behind him. Since we couldn't see him, we had no way of knowing which species he or she was. The elevator rose, taking us with it.

We stopped at the very top of the building. It was a tight squeeze. We had to lie down as low to the roof as possible, and even then the ceiling was still low enough to touch our backs. Despite the tight squeeze, there was still one vent available. We climbed into it, and crawled until we came to a dead end, with a flap underneath. We looked down, and peered through it. Down below was a large room with a king sized bed in the corner, and a table across its side. In the corner on the other side of the room was what appeared to be a safe, with a fitted closet to its left. Argo was at the door, talking to the guard that was just in the elevator moments ago. Ethan and I remained completely silent, as we eavesdropped on their conversation.

"I brought this for you," said the guard, passing Argo a small, black, briefcase. What exactly were the contents of that case? As I glanced over to Ethan, I could tell by his face that he was most likely asking the same question. "We all figured you'd want to keep it safe, so why not give it to you, so it can't leave your sight?" If these guards didn't want this thing out of Argo's sight, it was obviously something important.

"Thank you," Argo replied, accepting the briefcase, and holding it with his telekinesis. "Is that everything?"

"Affirmative," said the guard. "That is all."

"Consider yourself dismissed."

The guard turned around and left. Argo used his magic to shut the door behind him, and walked to the centre of the room, directly below us. He opened the briefcase, and pulled out a strange, black device. It kind of resembled a projector, with a load of tiny black buttons at the top, a larger blue button in the centre, and a large circular hole to the right side at the front. I couldn't believe my eyes. It was the T.S.D!

Ethan and I looked at each other, our faces matching in expression. An expression of both relief to know that we've located it, and fear of what Argo was intending to do with it now that it was in his possession. We watched as he inspected it carefully, placed it back in the briefcase, and buckled it up. He then proceeded to walk to the back corner of the room. He unlocked the safe, placed the briefcase inside, and closed it again, locking it behind him. I glanced back at Ethan.

"We've gotta get that thing out of that safe," I mouthed to Ethan.

Ethan just raised an eyebrow and shrugged, moving his mouth as if to say "How?"

My thoughts came to a stop when there was knocking at Argo's bedroom door. Argo walked over to answer it, behind the door being—big shock—a guard.

"What do you want?" Argo growled, sounding disgruntled and annoyed.

"Argo, it's me."

The instant I heard that voice, I wanted to slam my head against the metal wall. Even with her mask on, I still recognised that stupid voice.

"Ahh, Rainbow Dash," said Argo, sounding pleased to see her. "I take that you've brought Jason for his execution?"

I knew it! I knew they were planning on killing me.

"Wait a minute," Argo was peering behind her, trying to find me. "Where is he?"

"Yeah, about that," said Rainbow Dash, rubbing the back of her mane. She had a rather frightened tone in her voice. "Jason is... kind of... ah... on the... um... loose."

Congratulations Rainbow Dash, you just pissed him off.

"WHAT?" he exploded. "How is that possible? I thought you placed him in a maximum security cell!"

"We did," Rainbow Dash confirmed. "That door was completely bolted, and he was in a straightjacket. The cell is still in prime condition, and we found the jacket undone on the floor in the cell. I'm telling you, there's no way he got outta there alone. He had help." Argo stepped towards her, and she took a step back. "But I can assure you, they're both still in the castle. Guards have all of the exits blocked off. I guarantee you, there's no way they're getting out, and we will find them."

"You'd better," said Argo.

"I think I might know where they are," said Rainbow. "Follow me." She turned around and left the room, with Argo following her. He shut the door behind him, and Ethan and I were finally able to speak to each other.

"I'm going to have to go down there and figure out how to open that safe," I said.

"No Jason," said Ethan, pointing at my wound. "You're hurt. You're in no condition to do anything right now."

"But..."

"No buts. You're staying here. I'll get the device."

I nodded, as Ethan opened the flap and jumped out of the vent, landing on the carpet below. I kept an eye on the door at the other side of the room while Ethan worked at the safe. I wanted to help in at least one way, like being a lookout, so I'd be able to warn him if I saw Argo coming back. The problem was, the door was shut, so I was just as blind as he was. Realising there was no point in staring at the door, I turned back to look at Ethan so I could see what he was doing. He was just standing there, blankly staring at the safe.

"Is everything alright?" I asked.

"I don't know how I'm going to get this open," he said. "This safe requires a seven digit activation code in order to access it."

"Does it require letters, or numbers?" I asked.

"Both."

I had a strong feeling it wasn't just something incredibly easy like 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 or A B C D E F G. Seven digits. Why seven? That seemed to be such an oddly specific number. Was it a serial number, a date, or... wait a minute... a date? The possibility occured to me that the code was a date, provided the third and fourth digit was TH, for the something-th of something. The first two digits could have been the day, the fifth and sixth digit could have been the month, and the last two could have been the year. If that was the case, than Argo most likely would have picked a date of significance. Perhaps his birthday, or the day he rose to power, which was the twenty ninth of December, 2003. Put all of that together, then it was possible that the code was 2 9 T H 1 2 0 3. Wait... no... that couldn't have been right. That was eight digits, not seven. Maybe the month was told by the first letter instead of number. It was pretty far fetched, but it was worth a shot.

"Ethan!" I whispered. Ethan turned around looked up at me. "Try 29THD03."

"What?" Just by his face alone, I could tell he was really thrown off by my very specific suggestion. He probably thought I was just pulling this out of my ass.

"Trust me," I said. "I think I've worked it out."

"Okay," said Ethan, sounding quite sceptical. He turned back to face the safe. "What was it again?"

"Two, nine," I said.

"Two, nine," he repeated to himself as he typed it into the safe.

"T, H."

"T,H."

"D, zero, three."

I was hoping like hell that I was correct.

"D, zero, three." he said, selecting enter. Ethan took a step back, appearing to be surprised.

"What happened?" I asked.

"It says, 'access granted' ," he said.

Wow, that actually worked. Ethan removed the briefcase from the safe, unbuckled it to remove the T.S.D. and slipped it into his saddlebag. He threw the briefcase back into the safe before shutting it. He then turned around and looked up at me, then looked around the room. Oh shit! He had no way of getting back up. The ceiling was way too high for him to jump, and there wasn't much furniture he could climb on, unless...

I frantically searched the room, trying to find anything that he could use. The best I could find was the office table against the wall.

"Ethan," I called. "Try standing on that table."

Ethan shook his head. "It's not worth it. Even if I was standing on it on my hind legs, I still wouldn't be able to reach the vent."

He was right. Getting back up to the vent was going to be impossible. Although, there was one extra thing to try. I dragged myself closer and closer to the hole in the vent, and leaned down. I kept going until my entire upper half was hanging in mid air, my waist and hind legs anchoring myself in the vent, preventing me from falling out completely. Ethan had a fresh burst of panic in his eyes.

"What are you doing?" he asked hysterically.

"Climb onto that table," I said. "Then grab my hooves, and I'll pull you up."

"Do you really think that's going to work? May I remind you that you've just been shot?"

"You really think you have to remind me of that?" I asked. "You're not the one in agony here, but it's gotta be worth a try."

Ethan walked over to the table, and dragged out to the middle of the floor, right underneath where I was hanging. He climbed onto the table, and reached up. I wrapped my hooves around his forelegs, making sure we both had a firm grip. I attempted to hoist him upwards, but he was too heavy, and his weight was straining my gunshot wound.

"What are you waiting for?" Ethan asked. "Pull me up!"

"I'm trying," I said, heaving at his hooves. He seemed to have lifted off the table momentarily, before dropping back down.

"Hurry up!" Ethan yelled. I gave him one last pull, and he was hoisted a couple inches above the table. I quickly wriggled backwards, leaving Ethan suspended above the table. My body strained upon his weight. I felt my body slightly stretching upon the force, causing my wound to open, and was now bleeding again. I cried out in response to the pain, as I felt the full force of Ethan's weight pulling at my forehooves. It came apparent to me that I wasn't pulling him up—he was pulling me down. I tried to use my hind legs to stop myself, but it was too late. Ethan's weight pulled me completely out of the hole, and I crashed on top of him on the table. The sudden amount of extra weight on the table caused it to fall over, with everything on it toppling onto the floor, creating an extremely loud crash in the process.

"You think Argo heard that?" I asked.

"Definitely," said Ethan, getting back onto his feet. "We've got hide, now!"

"Where?" I asked, frantically looking around the room. "Under the bed? In the closet?" Ethan quickly turned to the closet next to the safe.

"That's actually not a bad idea," he said, approaching it.

"Not a bad idea?" I repeated, flabbergasted. "I was being sarcastic! It's the most clichéd hiding place imaginable."

Ethan ignored me and opened the closet. He walked in, and shifted some random pieces of junk to the side. Eventually Ethan managed to get to the back of the closet, and revealed an entrance to another vent. All of a sudden, Ethan's plan made much more sense. I still believed it was a pretty conspicuous spot, but at least we'd have somewhere to go if we were spotted. Besides, the vents were only just small enough for the two of us to fit, so there was no way an Alicorn that was three times our size would fit.

"Alright," I said, looking back at Ethan. "Let's do it." Upon saying this, hoofsteps were sounding from outside the door. He was coming!

I ran to join him in the closet. I was about to shut the door when Ethan quickly ran out.

"What are you doing?" I asked, but he didn't have to answer for me to pick up on it. He pushed the table back onto its feet, and pushed it back against the wall. He then proceeded to pick up all of the items that had fallen off the table, and placed them back on the table. He was lucky nothing on the table shattered or broke. The last thing he did was taking the door from the vent that had fallen off when we fell, and placed it on the floor directly underneath vent.

By the time he was done, the room was exactly as we found it, minus the broken vent. He ran back into the closet, shutting the door behind him. The space was very confined. Having the two of us in here at the same time took up a great chunk of the space, and the closet in itself was already filled with piles of weapons and treasure. The weapons mostly consisted of guns and knives, but all of my attention was on the treasure. It consisted of things like rings, gold bars, coins, diamonds, rubies, emeralds, lapis lazulis and other valuables of that nature. I speculated that these belonged to the victims of those Argo had imprisoned and slaughtered. Then a thought occurred to me. Was it possible that...

Ethan was just about to try removing the entrance of the vent, until we heard the sound of the bedroom door swing open. Ethan and I froze, and we took very slow, silent and deep breaths. I slowly turned my head, and peered through the lock in the door. Despite my limited vision, I instantly recognised that it was indeed Argo that had entered the room. I remained dead silent, and refrained from any movements. Ethan and I stood frozen stiff, trying our absolute hardest not to make a single noise. We were so quiet that I could physically hear my soft breathing, and my own heart beating against my rib cage.

Argo studied the room, most likely trying to spot the cause of the noise, and appeared to be thrown off when everything seemed in order. He looked at the broken vent flap, then up at the ceiling, no doubt looking at the open vent. I was unsure if he could figure out that we were still here, but I was praying that he didn't.

"Please don't open the door," I prayed to myself in my head. "Please don't open the door, please don't open the door, please don't open the door!" At that moment, he turned his head towards the closet door, as if he knew exactly where we were. My body tightened, as I held my breath. I was sweating profusely, and my heart was now pounding, as he slowly approached the closet. He was coming closer… and closer. My body became more and more tense with each proceeding step he took. It was only a matter of seconds before he would open the door and see us both. I bowed my head and closed my eyes, bracing myself for what was to come next, praying for a miracle to happen.

"Argo!" cried a voice, coming from just outside the room. For the very first time, I was actually relieved to hear Rainbow Dash's voice. Argo stopped dead in his tracks. He turned away from the closet, and approached his visitor.

"Now what?" said Argo, sounding aggravated. As I peered through the lock, I noticed Rainbow Dash wasn't wearing her mask anymore.

"I'm afraid I have some bad news," said Rainbow Dash. "The two fugitives, they're gone."

"Are you sure about that?" asked Argo.

"We're positive," answered Rainbow, nodding.

"Then how do you explain that?" Argo gestured towards the vent. "Do you believe I did that?"

"No, of course not," said Rainbow. "But this is the most secure part of the castle, and the rest of the room seems untouched."

"Then how do you explain the noise?"

"Isn't it possible that it just… fell off?"

Argo looked up and down, alternating between the opening in the vent in the ceiling, and the missing door directly underneath it. The way Ethan placed it made the concept of it just falling sound very plausible.

"I suppose so," he said. "So, where are they then?"

"Like I said," said Rainbow Dash. "We don't know. We've searched the entire castle, but they've successfully outrun us."

"YOU MEAN YOU LET THEM ESCAPE?" Argo exploded in anger.

"Well, not exactly," said Rainbow. "There's a very good chance they're still in the castle, but where, we have no idea. They've completely vanished. We can't find them anywhere. We have reason to believe they're hiding in the vents. With your permission, we could-"

Rainbow Dash didn't get to finish her sentence, as the air suddenly filled with the unpleasant sounds of gargling, and small ragged gasps. Argo's horn was glowing red, and a force of magic matching in colour was wrapped around Rainbow's neck. Her face was bulging, and she had a look of genuine terror on her face. It was hard for me to believe, but I was actually feeling sorry for her. Argo pressed his face against hers, staring right into her eyes as he choked her. He scrunched up his snout, and gritted his teeth.

"Find them!" he hissed with simmering fury. "I want them dead! They are both to be terminated within the next few days." Argo then squeezed even tighter, and levitated her, leaving Rainbow Dash suspended in mid air, her legs dangling inches above the ground. She looked like she was ready to pass out. "I believe you are aware of the consequences for failure."

Argo released his magic, and Rainbow crashed onto the floor, coughing and gasping for air. She was bent over double, clutching onto her throat with her hoof, retching her guts.

"I promise you, I will not fail you," she said. The sound of her voice was horrible. Gone was the commanding tone and confidence, replaced instead by a voice that was wheezy and incredibly whispery.

"For your sake, I hope that is the case," Argo said coldly.

Rainbow Dash coughed a few more times, still gasping.

"You should consider yourself lucky," said Argo. "Next time, I won't be so polite."

"Sir-" Rainbow croaked weakly.

"Dismissed!"

Rainbow Dash got back up to her hooves, and rushed out of the room with her head hanging low. A part of me was honestly tempted to walk over to her and hug her, reassuring her and telling her that everything was going to be okay. In reality, I knew that would end with my head being served on a silver platter, especially since this time, her life was on the line. Argo slammed the door behind her, and used his magic to fix the door of the vent. Now the room looked exactly as we found it. Argo then climbed into his bed, and went to sleep.

We waited for what felt like an hour, until we were both sure that Argo had completely passed out. While we were waiting, Ethan had provided me with a blanket from his saddlebag, to help bandage the gunshot wound. By the time the hour was up, my wound had mostly dried up and just felt sore. The lack of bullets being lodged into my waist was definitely helping.

Once we were ready to move, Ethan placed the blanket back in his saddlebag, and had started trying to remove the door in the vent. While he was busy, I took another good look at the jewelry. I started digging through it, being careful not to make too much of a racket. I shifted through bars, coins, necklaces, rings, gems, and everything of the sort, until I found it. A small golden chain, and a tiny golden heart, with an even smaller heart made of diamonds in the centre. I had zero doubts, but I opened it to see the photo inside just to confirm. I instantly recognised the photo, and there was no denying it. This was definitely Hannah's locket. The guard at the registration desk must have given it to Argo while I was in captivity, and he'd decided to keep it for himself. I clutched it close to my chest, before slipping it over my head, allowing it to hang from my neck. I wasn't letting it out of my sight. Not this time. Ethan turned to me and gave me a disapproving look.

"Seriously?" he whispered. "A bloody locket?"

"It's a long story," I whispered back. "But I can't leave without it."

Ethan rolled his eyes and went back to work. The door was drilled into the wall, so he had to manually remove each individual screw to get it off without making any noise. Using a knife he found in the pile of weapons to rotate the screws until they fell out of their sockets, he eventually removed the cover from its' socket. He quietly placed it against the wall and crawled in, with me quickly following suit.

After some trial and error, and aimlessly wandering around the vents with little to no idea where we were, or where we were going, we found the elevator that we had taken before. We quietly and carefully climbed onto the top, and rode the elevator as it descended to what we believed to be level one. We climbed into yet another claustrophobic vent, and proceeded to crawl forward.

"Okay," sighed Ethan. "So we've got you out of your cell, we have the T.S.D. and we've escaped from Argo himself. Is there anything else you need to do that could potentially get us killed?"

"Not that I know of," I replied, still trying to keep my voice down. "As far as I know, our next focus should be finding the exit."

Ethan came to a stop. "Well," he said quietly. "We could try the front door, but I bet that the main entrance would be heavily guarded, so we'd have to find another way out."

"Wait," I said. "How did you get in here in the first place?"

"The main entrance," he said. "I entered this place disguised as a guard, and they bought it… well... until the whole busting you out thing happened."

"Do you know if this place has a back door?" I asked.

Ethan shook his head. "Unfortunately, I think the main entrance is the only way in, and out of this place. Unless..."

"Unless what?"

"Unless..." Ethan repeated, thinking. "Unless, we sneak through one of the windows."

"One of the windows?" Why didn't we think of it sooner? "If we're going to try one of the windows, then we're going to have to head for the ground floor," I said. "We're still on the first floor, and there's not a chance in hell I'm going to try climbing out of a window that high. Not with these injuries." Ethan nodded, then proceeded down the vent, with me following him close behind.

As we crawled over a door that lead to a room below us, it gave way underneath our weight. We crashed on top of each other on the floor of a familiar looking office. Based on the bookshelves, the layout of the room, and the mask on the floor, I quickly picked up that we were back in the office we started in. That however, was the last thing on my mind. As Ethan and I looked up, there was a Unicorn guard standing at point blank range, pointing a rifle directly at us.

*Gulp*.

"You two have been a real pain in the ass tonight," he said. He turned his head, addressing me specifically. "First you steal a valuable device from Argo, and then you had the audacity to kill his henchmen."

I closed my eyes, bowing my head in defeat. There wasn't a chance in hell Argo was going to forgive me for what I had done.

"And you," he said, addressing Ethan. "You helped him escape by using our uniforms. As punishment, both of you are to be executed on the spot. Any last words?"

Shit, he was going to do it. He was really going to do it. Ethan and I remained silent, neither one of us knowing what to do.

"Well? Somepony's gotta go first. Who's it going to be?"

There was no question about it. Me. It had to be me. It was my fault Ethan was here. I was the one who brought us into this situation. It was my idea to steal the T.S.D. If I hadn't stolen that device, if I hadn't called for his help, he wouldn't have been in the situation in the first place. He was about to die… and it was all my fault. I got up and stood in front of the guard. Bracing myself, I bowed my head and closed my eyes again, accepting defeat.

"JASON, NO!" Ethan screamed.

In an instant, everything felt like it was going in slow motion. An ear splitting noise filled the room, as the guard pulled the trigger. Next thing I knew, I was howling, as the the bullet penetrated my chest. I fell, crashing to the ground, now hearing nothing but an intense ringing in my head. The ringing was at such a high frequency I felt like my head was going to explode. My heart was pounding heavily in the background. My vision became extremely blurry, and I was only just able to work out the basic outline of the room.

Two large blurs of brown and black were darting across the room. I couldn't hear what was happening, outside of a few yells and grunts. The brown blob jumped onto the black one, before being flung across the room and into the wall, crashing into a bookshelf. The bookshelf rattled and rocked back and forth upon impact, before falling over completely, toppling onto the ground. The fall was followed by a loud crash, muffled from the intense ringing in my ears.

The brown blob emerged from behind the bookshelf, before leaping onto the black blob. The harder I tried to look, the more my eyes strained, burning as I tried to force them open. My eyes were stinging so much I had to close them to ease the pain. As I closed my eyes, the ringing slowly started to die down, and I was able to detect the unmistakable sound of fighting. The air was filled with the sounds of yelling, grunting, kicking, hitting and the occasional sound of somepony being smashed into something. My eyes still hurting, I refrained from opening them again, making it difficult to decipher who was winning.

Then I heard it. A sound that resembled a high tech ray gun being shot. The sound was followed with a thud, and then a loud gust of wind, along with the sound of loud sizzling electricity. Next thing I knew, I was being dragged across the floor by a strong gravitational pull, the roaring wind getting louder and louder. I opened my eyes to see what was going on. In front of me, at the back of the room was something circular, blue, and large. It resembled some sort of portal.

The gravitational pull was getting stronger, pulling me closer and closer towards the portal. Just as I was what felt like inches away from it, a hoof wrapped around mine, and started pulling at it. I looked up. My vision was still blurry, but I was able to figure out that the brown blob holding onto me was Ethan. He seemed like he was he was trying to hold onto me with one forehoof, while holding onto something secure with the other. It seemed as though he was looking at me, but my vision was too blurry to work out his expression.

"Jason!" he yelled, sounding terrified. "Your eyes! They're fading!"

He was right. I closed my eyes again. I couldn't keep them open any longer. It was hurting too much. The roar of the wind was getting louder, the gravitational pull was getting stronger, while my grip was getting weaker. My eyes weren't the only things fading, and Ethan knew that. Any second now, my hooves would slip, and I'd be sucked into the portal.

"HANG ON!" he screamed. I couldn't. He was slipping. Our grip continued to loosen, until it felt like all of my strength had disappeared. Our hooves slipped, and I was now being pulled by a powerful gravitational force into oblivion. "JAAASSOON!!!"

His voice faded, as it became washed out by the roaring wind, the electricity still sizzling, and the occasional bolt of lightning. I opened my eyes again, straining to see what was going on. I was flying through a long, blue vortex, blazing through it at high speeds. Occasionally I narrowly missed a lightning bolt, as they were striking from all directions. My eyes burned and stung. It felt I was in space, with a powerful vacuum sucking on every ounce of my body.

Then it stopped. The electricity, the lightning, the sounds of the vortex, all died down in an instant. Now all I was feeling was just the sensation of falling. I most likely had come out the other end, and I was now in another dimension. Not that I'd have any time to see it. I kept my eyes shut, not wanting to see the ground that I was rapidly approaching. I didn't know how high I was, but I didn't want to find out. All I knew was that I was more than unlikely to survive the landing judging by the speed I was falling at.

My entire life flashed before my eyes. My childhood. My limited but happy times with my parents. My fondest moments with Ethan. The countless times he had saved my life, and all of those times he had been there for me. The incident with Hannah. I clutched the locket with my hooves, which was still hanging around my neck.

Then last, but not least, I thought of... her. Her face. She had a charcoal coloured coat that matched mine, with deep blue eyes, and streams of blue and white flowing through her long, silky hair. She was holding a sleeping filly in her hooves, looking back at me with that sweet, innocent looking smile. It must have hurt knowing that she would most likely never going to see me again. How would the baby cope? I tried to avoid thinking of the last time I saw her, and just tried to focus on her face. The very concept of how she would react if she found out I was gone was too much to bear. Especially after everything she had been through.

"I love you… Sarah," I whispered to myself, as I embraced what was to come next.