Starlight could hear the sounds of fighting coming from down the hall. Shouts, the clashing of metal, and explosions echoed through the stone caverns. It went on for a long time. When the noise died down Starlight was happy to see a familiar face before the door of her cell. Spike had found her, and he wasn't alone, with him was a pair of twin Ponies with dark brown coats and tan manes and tails.

"Spike!" exclaimed Starlight gleefully.

"Starlight!" exclaimed Spike in response.

Spike unlocked the cell door and entered the room quickly. He rushed to the levers linked to the chains holding Starlight in place and released them. Starlight collapsed to the floor as the chains loosened and allowed her to wiggle free.

"Hurry up in there!" shouted the female Pony guarding the door.

"I'm trying," replied Spike anxiously.

While Spike unlocked the shackles on Starlights hind legs Starlight tried to remove the metal cap on her horn. The metal cap would not come off despite the effort she put forth. Spike watched her for a second before stressing the urgency of their situation.

"Starlight we need to go before Twilight gets free," said Spike nervously.

"Free?" asked Starlight as she lifted Spike onto her back and ran to the door.

"It's a long story, let's just focus on getting out of here," replied Spike.

When Starlight entered the hallway with the twins she saw a third Pony laying injured on the floor. This one was a Unicorn with a mixture of grey shades making up his coat, mane, and tail. Without a word, the male Earth-Pony helped the Unicorn to his feet and they started down the hall. Starlight looked back to Spike with a frown before following them with the female Earth-Pony taking the rear of the line.

For quite awhile they wandered through the stone halls. Starlight was amazed at the size of the dungeon. Many cells they passed contained Ponies and other creatures of Equestria but they did not have time to stop for any of them. The severity of the Unicorns injuries proved to be too much for him as they wondered.

"S-stop, stop," said the Unicron, Vivid Shine. "I can't keep going."

The group stopped. Each of them glanced to the other with worry. They had few options left. They were moving much too slowly, and the sounds of pursuers were growing louder by the second.

"Brick let him down," said the Earth-Pony, Sandy to her twin brother.

Brick reluctantly set Vivid Shine down into a seated position. Vivid Shine looked at his friends and nodded at them with a grin before resting his head against the wall.

"Go! I will hold them off," said Vivid Shine.

"Vivid..." Sandy started to say.

"No Sandy, you have to get these two to Shining Armor. This is more important," Vivid Shine interrupted Sandy.

"I'll make sure they escape," Brick told Vivid Shine.

"Thank you Vivid Shine," said Spike with a sorrowful tone.

Starlight and Spike frowned at one another. There was nothing they could do and it frustrated them greatly. Spike fought hard to keep tears from streaming down his face. Starlight wasn't sure who these Ponies were but she could tell there was a strong bond of friendship between them. Starlight could tell Spike had gotten to know them well too.

"We can't just leave..." Starlight started to argue.

"Starlight we can't do anything else," explained Spike. His frustration was obvious to everypony. "This world is a lot worse off than our's, we can't afford to get caught again. We have to fix things."

Starlight looked Spike in the eyes. She had never seen the little Dragon so serious before. She knew he was right though. Every sense she had was telling her the world around them was dangerous. The negativity felt almost like a tangible sheet covering them all.

'What happened here?' Starlight thought to herself again.

"Let's go!" barked Sandy.

Forcing back her natural instincts Starlight trudged on with Spike and the Earth-Ponies. It seemed like they walked forever but eventually, the dungeon walls became the walls of a cave, smooth and natural instead of carved stones. Their journey lasted a long time after that too. Starlights legs were killing her by the time they came to an exit.

The group emerged from the cave by means of a hole in the ground. Outside it was night and it was pitch black. A faint glow from a full moon behind layers of clouds was the only source of natural light. Starlight strained to see the Earth-Ponies as they led her and Spike into the swamp.

After what seemed to Starlight like hours of walking they finally stopped.

"My hooves are killing me," complained Starlight as she laid down on the driest patch of grass she could find.

"Ha, ha! You definitely not our worlds Starlight," Brick laughed at her.

"Brick, I am going to run ahead and report to Lieutenant Scootaloo, she is going to need to know what's going on before we just show up with Spike and Starlight Glimmer," said Sandy.

Brick looked at his sister in the eye for a long time before speaking. "Be careful," he said finally.

Sandy nodded and then quickly slipped off into the darkness alone. Spike frowned and looked at Starlight who looked from him to Brick.

"Thank you for your help... umm, Brick?" said Starlight.

Brick turned to her and grinned. "I believe Spike, and I believe you are both from a different place... one where things are better," replied Brick. "It's my duty to do whatever I can to bring peace to Equestria, I will help you with this goal."

Starlight turned to Spike and sighed. "So what happened to you back there? How did you meet these Ponies Spike?" she asked.

Spike sat down and looked up in the sky. He stared at the glowing clouds imagining the moon behind them. Finally, he spoke.

"It all started when Trixie came to question me..." Spike began.

TO BE CONTINUED IN CHAPTER 5

Author's Note

Chapter five is almost done as well but it got late here, I will post it in the morning.