Finding peace

I woke up trying to get my bearings after I got knocked out from the sky. My vision was blurry but I can make out that I was in a small confined room and laying on concrete with a thin blanket only covering half of me. I tried to find comfort in my pillow but when I lift up my head to fluff it it felt soft and familiar to me. I tried to pick myself up but before I could I see a huge bandaged part in my chest. Guessing they were kind enough to patch me up. I looked to my left and saw a concrete wall and a shattered mirror dangerously beside me. I looked to the right and saw a blanket that looks identical like mine. Behind me I could make out a familiar pony. Peach skin, rose hair, brown eyes. This was definitely Tulip Blossom.

"Morning, sleepy head" Tulip smiled at me

"Sleepy head? They shot me from the sky"

"That was a joke silly" Tulip continued to smile at me but weaker

"Not a funny joke that is. Ugh, where are we?"

"I don't know but this looks like a prison"

"You think that we are in the same prison that president in the news has built?"

"I think so"

I tried to rise but instead I screamed in agony. What was stinging me on my back? I looked around and saw a few glass shards sticking out from my left shoulder and down to my foreleg. I tried to pull them out with both of my hooves.

"Aaaaaaaagh!" I screamed

"Stop it. I'll do it" She wrapped her hooves around my right fore leg

Her horn glows and magic wraps my hooves and puts it away. Then one glass shard was enveloped in magic and started to slowly move out my body. I bit my lip and tried to not scream. When the first shard was safely removed, Tulip moved onto the second one. This one's a bit shorter than the other one. Before she pulls it she looks to her bed and takes a rag from from her pillow and motions me to put this in my mouth. I shook my head but she opens my mouth with her magic and puts the rag in. I tried to fight it but I was way too weak to even move an inch. The rag is now in my mouth and Tulip started to pull the second glass shard. I screamed but becasue of the rag it sounded muffled. She finally took the shard out. Now for the final one. It was bigger than the other two and it promised me pain. Lots of it. It was half embedded into my skin. When Tulip started to pull it out, blood really started to bleed out of me and when the glass shard has finally been removed I feel pale.

It was a miracle that I didn't faint from so much blood loss but I was very weak. Tulip ripped a part of my bed sheet and started wrapping it around my wounded area. It wasn't as clean as it should be but it should do.

"Thank you"

Tulip looked to me then faced away to the cells across ours

"Wha- What happened? Did I say something wrong?"

She sat on her haunches. She raises her left fore leg to her eyes. From her posture, she's about to cry.

"Hey are you crying?" I tried to sit up but I couldn't. I lay flat on the bed

"I shouldn't have come back into the portal. You got worried about me. I'm so sorry" Tulip starts sobbing

"Hey hey now"

No use. For about the next five minutes she cries. I wanted to just pick myself up and wrap her around my wings. After those full five minutes we both hear a soft voice coming from all around us.

"Good afternoon. We will be giving you food shortly. Please be patient"

The voice repeated three more times before falling silent. It was a recorded message. A speaker maybe?

"What do you think the food's gonna be?" I asked changing the subject

"Probably grass... and such" She said in between sobs

We were wrong. A human with a blue uniform and black pants came into view and reached out for his backpack. They gave us mashed greens. It looked disgusting at first but it seems not so bad after I tasted it. However, Tulip did not agree.

"What is in this stuff?" She examined that green mush

"Vegetables and water all in a single paper plate. The food given to me is only enough for the rest of you so don't be begging to ask for more"

He turned around to treat the ponies across our cell.

"Its as if I'd be asking for more" Tulip glanced at the human before she started eating the mush

The hours went by and dinner was coming up it was the same green, disgusting looking clump of food I have ever seen. As night draws in I fell asleep on my bed. For my first few hours here, I need to get out of here. We need to get out of here and maybe when we escape we can come back and free every pony here.

*Ding ding ding ding*

A loud ringing of a bell woke me up. It's as if a bell was placed next to multiple megaphones and someone hits it like there was no tomorrow. Breaking the bell in the process.

"WAKEY WAKEY!! RISE AND SHINE" a happy cheerful voice voiced through the speaker

"GET UP AND GET OUT OF YOUR CELLS YOU WILL BE ESCORTED TO THE PARK FOR A ROLECALL"

"Oh, what time is it?" Tulip yawned

"I think it's very early in the morning" I looked if there were any windows in our cells but there were none. A guard rolls up to our cell and starts opening it. He gestures his hand to move to the door of to the right.

We were out of that cell and outside. But there was something off about outside. The sun seems to be dim, The clouds are not moving and the grass doesn't smell or look like grass. A sign next to a flowing 'river' says: "Do not piss in the fresh water" Whatever this place is, it's definitely not outside.

"What is this place?" I looked around trying to understand where we are.

The 'outside' is just a large room with a dim light to be the sun. The only source of light is surrounded with bright yellow paint. The clouds are just white paint pasted onto the walls and ceilings. The grass is fake and the 'fresh water' that's running through a small river between the fake grass is murky. Probably a few rats have taken a dump in there. All of us were told to sit in the middle of the 'field'. Three prison guards stood next to each other facing us all. One guard took a step forward.

"Alright, shit heads. As you all may know I am Nicholas Steen. Call me Nick" A prison guard yelled out
"We're going to inspect your cells this morning, so every single contraband item will be confiscated and you will be sent to Hell's door for your punishment. If you attempt to fight us we will shoot you down until the last drop of your own blood falls from your body into the grass. Or whatever the fuck the green fake shit is."

"Prisoner #23, #38 and #17. Your belongings have been confiscated. Please directly head to the Job listings. Do not try to resist you already know what happens"

In the middle of the crowd a young mare stood up and started yelling. She then rushed up to Nick but was soon stopped by the bullets that went right into her, piercing and hitting a few more ponies sitting behind her. The mare tried to crawl up to Nick with eyes filled with anger. Nick just smirked and put a bullet through her eye.

"Sweet Celestia!" I shivered

Most ponies have shouted in fear too. Some cried. One even pleaded to join her dead sister. She got what she wanted.

"Anymore? All right, #38 and #17 follow me. The rest of you, go back to your cells and when that's over, expect even less rations. Remember, field day's tomorrow. Better get those legs working if you don't want to get shot" Nick leaves with the other prison guards followed by two other ponies.

I stood in shock and horror. My body was clearly not responding to me. I've dealt with Tulip's Job in being a medical pony but this amount of blood was too much. I shook my head furiously trying to snap out of it. I looked to my side, Tulip has fainted during the execution. I took Tulip by my wing and started walking her towards our cell. I lay her on her bed giving her my blanket giving her the warmth she needs and looked out to the other cell. The other cell was not as similar to ours. It was longer, it had two ponies inside but it had five blankets. One was looking up to the ceiling while one was not moving. It looked like it's flesh was decaying and a flew flies have been buzzing around it.

'That pony is dead' I thought.

The dead pony was a pegasus. I could tell by it's tiny bones sticking out from it's sides. Few bits of flesh have been hanging from the bones. The pony looking up finally noticed me looking at his cellmate.

"Oh, hi there. You're new here ain't ya?" The stallion asked. He was an orange colored earth pony with a leather jacket. His cutie mark is a revolver with a jail cell.

Before answering he said

"Ah know ah way out of here. Ya interested?"

"Yeah, Does it have a catch though?"

"A catch? No, ah just want to make sure every pony safely escape this wretched place. Food rations are going to be extremely strict when ponies refuse to do their daily tasks. Then when the prison cells become fed up of us ponies then they will stop giving us food. We will starve until the population slightly lessens then the food will come back. Poor Cotton had sacrificed herself to feed all four of us. I don't want that to happen to anypony else" He looks to the skeleton with a frown in his face "Ah'm sorry Cotton. Anyways, there are no catches but it's risky getting outta of here"

"How did you get here? Were you a volunteer too? I didn't see you in Ponyville"

"Ya didn't know? Not one portal was released but three. One in ponyville, another in appleloosa and the last one in cloudsdale. Ah was in the Everfree forest that time when ah heard Princess Luna ride up with Flutters beside her. Ah volunteered along with the rest of my friends and we stepped through the portal. We couldn't bring any weapons so getting captured was inevitable. We tried kicking them but their armor was tough. We couldn't fight back" The earth pony stops and puts his fore hooves on his face

"Cotton broke her leg and couldn't walk anymore. We were surrounded and we had no choice but to comply or die. When ah first tried to escape with Haze Glow ah couldn't reach the nearby vent somewhere 'outside'. Ah tried to make everyone escape at the same time. We did the same plan again and tried to enter the same vent but it has been boarded shut with metal bars and nails. Ah tried to kick the metal bars down but it was too strong. The only escape plan was to make it to the entrance of the prison. When the entrance was in sight we were ambushed and were sentenced to maximum security. Luckily there were no max security cells in this prison yet. But if any of us were caught in escaping we were to be punished by pulling a large shipment of whatever the hell was in there. Hell, I don't even know if I'll survive the next punishment. The load gets heavier each time it feels like Ah'm carrying the souls of the damned. Are ya in or not?"

"I sure am. But, a few questions, I know that there were three portals that have been released just not four. I'm also worried about Tulip here. Will you keep us safe?"

"First, maybe ya didn't get the message properly and second, ah can assure you that both of you will escape. Ah will provide a distraction for the both of you. When you hear the sirens run. Get away from this place as far as you can. Ah will only provide a few minutes before finally getting caught"

"You've got a deal. What's the plan?"

"We'll talk tomorrow when field day is out. Ah know ah place where we can safely talk out there"

Meanwhile...

"You think anymore will pop up?" A heavily armored guard stood next to the portal pointing his gun at the portal "It's night time and I want to have my well deserved sleep for fuck's sakes"

"If I read the general's orders again and leave the portal unattended without extra firepower then we can end up having a gaggle of them right here, right now" Another heavily armored guard points his finger at the first guard

"What did the orders say again?"

The second guard sighed

"It said-"

*Fwoosh* The portal lights up and a white alicorn stepped into the human world.

"Oh shit another one" the second guard shouts

Before the guards can fire at the alicorn. The white alicorn built up a shield protecting her from the incoming bullets. The bullets come into contact with the shield but they bounce off it. Some bullets even reflecting towards the guards.

"Enough!" Boomed the alicorn "You have been given a chance and yet you still think violence is the answer?"

Her horn glows into this large orb of yellow and aims her horn to the guards. Magical sparks spread around the guards making them fall flat of their faces and backs.

One guard looks up to the white princess...

"What are you?"

...before going unconcious.

"My princess, is everything alright out there?"
A voice came through the portal

Celestia moved the unconcious bodies away from the portal into one of the green tents. She then closed the tent and threw their guns in a unknown direction.

"Yes, everything is alright out here. I just told the landowners here that we'll be borrowing this place for a while"

"Okay, we'll be coming out right now. Tell them that there are a lot of us here"

"Oh don't worry, I got that covered" Celestia smirks.

By day time, the ponies have completely taken the base and started making temporarily homes in the base.

Meanwhile back at the prison...

"Where is he?" I looked around the field full of trotting ponies yet I couldn't see the orange colored pony.

"Psst, Ah'm over here!" he whispers

I looked over my shoulder to see a very familiar pony under a wooden cart.

"Hey! Over here" he starts to louden his voice to get my attention

"How did they not even know your here? Your voice sounds shady and you're not even whispering" I whispered

"That's because they don't care what we're talkin' about. They think we're just talking about our families and friends back in equestria"

I look to the field where ponies should have been trotting. Instead, they've stopped in there tracks and started talking to each other. I see one, two, six crying. One is stomping on the ground angrily and four others started talking to the prison guards standing next to the door back into the prison. That didn't end up well when one of the guards shoved a mare with the end of his gun. The four trotted back to the field stopping nearby to talk to each other.

"I see"

"Anyways, the plan is this. The way out is to the front door but ah did manage to see a vent somewhere 'round here" He looks around and I follow suit "Down there, that's where the vent is"

He points his hoof to the vent beside the river. The vent looks half open and it could probably fit one and a half ponies inside. The vent seems to be ignored by everyone in the field.

"When night comes you'll need to cut the steel bars with this file" He picks up a file with his mouth and drops it to my hooves. I've usually seen in movies when the good guy or gal gets in jail he or she uses a file to get out.

"Ah'm coming with you tonight"

*Ding ding ding*

The bell rings and the cheerful voice echoes throughout the entire prison. I looked away to the speaker just above the entrance door. Heads turn towards the speaker.

"LUNCH TIME. IT'S LUNCH TIME!! GO BACK TO YOUR CELLS TO GET YOUR FOOD. IF YOU DON'T MANAGE TO GET TO YOUR RESPECTIVE CELLS YOU WILL NOT GET YOUR SHARE OF FOOD!! AHAHAHAHAHA! HEEHEEHEEHEEHEEEeeee!"

I look back at him

"We better get moving then" I said