The Great Escape

Two days have passed since Foal mountains disappeared in the explosion that was seen throughout Equestria. Naturally,everypony is wondering what happened; some say it was a freak accident, others are saying it's Discord's doing. Countries outside of Equestria are saying that the Equestrians are testing out a new weapon of mass destruction. These countries want a meeting with the Equestrian diarchy, including Zebrica, Griffonstone, Minoa, Hippogriffa, and Yakyakistan. Both princesses are preoccupied, Princess Celestia dealing with the fallout that was the explosion and keeping the citizens calm, and Luna is currently investigating the cause of this disaster.

If that wasn't enough, rumors are going around about Twilight sparkle being a changeling; multiple accounts from ponyville residents say there was a flash of light, and then Twilight appeared as some mixed hybrid of pony, dragon, zebra, and changeling. Princess Celestia and the element bearers are doing their best to squash these rumors, and there is currently no word from Twilight Sparkle herself.

There have been cases of ponies dropping and abandoning everything to go on a sudden 'vacation.' The most famous of these was Photo Finish herself! Her only response of leaving all of a sudden was, 'I must find him!'. On a side note, DJ Pon3 has canceled all of her gigs until further notice.

Naturally, this has everypony worried, and already rumors are going about how a new evil has risen. Some ponies have claimed to have already seen this new evil. A creature 16 hooves high, holding a weapon big as a pony. When asked for further details, they couldn't give anymore; they only saw the beast from the corner of their eyes before it disappeared. These citings have been coming from Horseshoe Bay.

On a final note, Six ponies have come to Baltimare, calling themselves the pillars of Equestria. Nearly everypony complimented them for staying in character and telling them their costumes look great. These six ponies were later hospitalized.

"How the hell did this happen?" Raven thought as he held Jade in his right arm while feeding her mashed carrots with a spoon. Even worse was the sleeping thestrals cuddling up next to him while he sat there feeding the filly. The man quickly found out that thestrals prefer sleeping during the day, considering the light from the sun hurts their eyes. "These kids know how I fight and have no problem with killing, and yet get comfortable around me like this?"He couldn't understand it. The only ones who seem cautious around him are Oleander and Cozy. "Oleander doesn't like it that I eat meat; guess her instincts are telling her to be warry? As for Cozy...That kid has issues."

Raven looked around the abandoned warehouse he and the Outcasts were staying in for now. They found the warehouse shortly after arriving in town. He was shocked when he saw these ponies walking around, naked! It wasn't comforting knowing that his charges only wore nothing else under their cloaks. When he asked Oleander about this, her only response was, 'It's natural.' "The only thing covering up their more private...Bits. Are their tails, even then it doesn't cover up the whole thing, and some of these ponies have their tails cut short, showing everything to the world!" These ponies were going to make him go insane at this Rate. A thought seemingly from nowhere popped up in the front of his mind.

"That one pony, with the light yellow coat, freckles, and blue curly mane; Had some massive teats! They looked like bo-" Raven quickly crushed this thought and pushed it in the deepest recess of his mind. The man was losing track of what was important, finding what type of boat the Outcasts would steal. He was disappointed to see that, most of the boats were too small or slow for his liking, and he and his companions didn't know how to stir or work a sailboat.

The group decided to find a place to rest up for a while and wait for a more suitable vessel to sail by. Sneaking into the port town wasn't hard for any of the foals, but for the human, it was interesting. Even at the dead of the night, he had to stick to the shadows, lest a pony spots him. He had a couple of close calls, but theirs was only gossip going throughout the town and not full-blown panic. The cyborg could have used one of his skills, ' creepy fog,' and snuck in without being noticed, but that would kill nearly everypony in town.

An abandoned warehouse was the perfect choice to stay in; Cheap, spacious, and anypony could hide their walking and talking apex predator. Typically, an abandoned warehouse is the first place to check to see if a supposed monster is in your town. Thankfully, Oleander used her 'notice-me-not' spell on the old building, and nopony is the wiser.

Another problem did come up; they had limited options of who could go into town. Raven and Xuez were already out of the question; the thestrals were too suspicious, even with the cloaks on. That only left, Oleander, Cozy, and Amber were the perfect choices. Although Oleander couldn't show her face, from what Raven understood, the unicorn was wanted due to the usage of dark arts and due to other unfavorable things, she's done in Canterlot.

Currently, Raven is stuck foal sitting the thestrals, Xuez, Jade, and Amber. The bat ponies are asleep, the winged zebra is sitting near them, and his reading a book. Amber is sitting at the far back of the warehouse, and she's attempting to stuff 20 fireworks rockets into a wooden cylinder as big as her. The worse part was that she had a large crate of fireworks next to her as well. "Need to make sure she doesn't blow herself up later."

Oleander and Cozy are out and about in the town at the moment; they're either gathering supplies, gaining intel, or just stealing things; In Cozy's case, she is stealing. It wasn't his business that they did unless it was heinous enough to warrant his attention.

Raven heard the foal let out a content burp in his arm, signaling that she was full. He wiped Jade's mouth with a napkin and checked her diaper to see if it wasn't soiled; Thankfully, the goddess was merciful this day. The foal gave the mercenary a few happy babbles along the lines of "aaauuuuaahh.". Raven smiled and poked her snout with a finger, causing her to giggle. He placed her down and let her crawl off to explore her surroundings for a bit. "Now to deal with another baby." He mumbled. "Amber, come over here."

Amber had a smile on her face as she worked on her new explosive creation. The earth pony had trimmed the fuses on some rockets and tied them together with other rockets, going from shortest to most prolonged. In total, she tied 20 rockets together and started stuffing them into a small wooden barrel. "These fireworks are going to be awesome!" she squeed out in glee. The filly's ears perked up when she heard the calm and collecting voice of her human friend. "Coming!" she dropped everything and galloped over to him.

She slid to a stop a few hoof steps away from him. Raven was the one to get the first word out. "What are you doing with all those fireworks? If you haven't guessed already, we want to be subtle when stealing a boat. Also, when and where did you get them."

The earth pony couldn't help but smile when he asked those questions. "They're celebratory fireworks! Once we sail out of Equestria, I'm going to launch all of them in celebration of our victory!" The filly jumped up and down at the thought of making such an explosion, but she stopped herself when she remembered the other reason why she's doing this." Plus, they're emergency weapons." The human raised an eyebrow and gave the filly a questioning look. This caused Amber to shuffle nervously and look away a bit. "Think about it, what happens when you or Oleander aren't there to protect us! What if a giant sea monster comes out of the water, and we need to scare it away! Or if one of the princesses come an-"

Raven poked placed a finger on the filly's muzzle, causing it to scrunch up on reflex. "It's okay, just let me inspect one of them; I want to make sure you don't blow yourself up, or possibly the rest of us. also, you didn't answer my other question." He removed his finger, watched the filly run off, and come back a few seconds later with a mini barrel filled with twenty fireworks.

"Here you go! I know lots about fireworks!" The human took the improvised weapon in his claw and inspected it. "As for your other question...Well, Cozy and I borrowed it from that noble near the top of the town while you were asleep, which you've been doing a lot." The filly said with a sheepish smile, knowing that 'borrowed' meant stolen.

The cyborg couldn't deny that he's been sleeping a lot since he got to the warehouse, a combination of his body adjusting to being awake and active poison in his system. Raven couldn't help but smile when he heard the word 'noble' and 'borrowed'; stealing from a filthy noble was exemplary in his books, especially when it was going to a good cause. "Good job, both on your craftmanship and how you acquired it." He gave back the barrel of fun to the confused filly.

"Be careful how you hold it; I don't want you burning yourself." Amber gave him an enthusiastic nod, and before she could leave, Raven asked her another question. "You're quite good with fireworks; why do you want to learn magic? If you want explosions, why not stick with fireworks?"

Amber shook her head vigorously at the question. "No! I have to do this, I promised somepony important, and I'm going to keep it." Amber's eyes started to moisten, and she looked away in shame. "I want to prove to everypony who laughed at me that they're wrong! Especially stupid aunty harshwhinny!" Amber openly sobbed, causing the thestrals nearby to stir in their sleep.

Raven let out a tired sigh and brought the crying filly closer, so she could cry into his padded armor, which she did. This wasn't the first time he had to comfort one of the foals and certainly wouldn't be the last. "I pray to the goddess that these children don't see me as a father figure." A silly notion, really, but one of his greatest fears at the moment. He just sat there comforting her as best he could until he heard the back door of the warehouse squeak open. Raven listened to the familiar posh voice.

"We're back."

Oleander and Cozy Glow walked into their temporary hideout and found an amusing sight; The bat ponies and Amber cuddling up to a tired-looking Raven. "Look at that; the big bad predator is just a cuddle monkey." Oleander would be dead ten times over from Raven's death glare if looks could kill. "Now, Now, Mister Maxwell, none of that, and I brought you something." The unicorn's horn flared to life, and a long dark blue cloth materialized from thin air and floated over to the human. Raven quickly caught it and gave the unicorn a questioning look. "Something for your sword, so instead of having it all the time in your paw or whatever you call that thing, you can cover it and place it around your belt." Oleander explained.

"Also, we got great news!" Cozy spoke up in her usual cheery self, if not a little fake in Raven's point of view.

"Bad news as well." Oleander said with a frown.

"Stick in the mud!" The little pegasus stuck her tongue out at the unicorn.

The teenager ignored this, sat on her haunches, and started clapping her hooves together. " Gather around everypony, I have some bad news," Moon charm groaned and opened her tired eyes to indicate she's awake and paying attention somewhat, the twins doing the same. Xuez trotted over and sat nearby; even Jade crawled over to listen to the conversation. Amber pulled herself from Raven to pay attention, still sniffling, though.

Oleander cleared her throat and spoke. "This will be our last night here; I've heard word that the Royal Guards will be arriving in town tomorrow; Pickle Highborne has reported that his large supply of fireworks has been stolen." The unicorn glared at both Cozy and Amber. Cozy shrugged, not looking or feeling guilty at all; Amber had her ears drooped in shame. This got a few worried murmurs from the rest of the Outcasts, except for Raven, if things went south, he would go with plan B, and it would be a blood bath.

Cozy butted in and took over the conversation. "But the Good news is that a certain boat just came by." The filly paused to get everyone excited. "It's a ferry boat from Manehatten! Perfect size to fit our friend." She pointed a hoof at the human, "and it's not a sailboat, win-win."

Raven's strategic side took over quickly after hearing such news. "How well are Equestrian waters guarded?"

Cozy giggled at the question. "Just like the rest of Equestria, poorly." She deadpanned.

The mercenary continued with his questions. "How many ponies will be guarding this vessel?"

"Most likely, no pony will be guarding it." Even Raven couldn't believe this; these ponies couldn't be so lax with security, could they? Raven deadpanned, causing Cozy to frown and shrug. "Well, it's true. If you're so worried, Olly over here will take care of the pony, okay?"

Oleander scowled at that nickname. "Don't call me that!" she hissed out.

Raven had one final question on his mind. "Alright, the only problem would be speed. If my memory is accurate, ferries don't go very fast. "

"Leave it to us!" Night and Dew Twister spoke at the same time. Raven couldn't help but wonder what these two were going to do to speed up the boat. Dew spoke up first. "I'll work on the engine and make sure it's running at full capacity!" Night was next to speak his mind. "And I'll work on the control panels; I'll pull a few wires here and there and make sure the boat goes beyond its limits!"

Okay, now Raven had another question. "How do you both know so much?" the human asked out of curiosity.

"The Flim Flam brothers!" they both yelled out. The human was going to have a talk with them about their yelling.

Oleander clicked her tongue in disgust at the mention of those two unicorns. "Ah yes, the two con artists."

The twins nodded, not even denying the claim. "Yeah, they took us in for a while and taught us lots about machines and other cool stuff." Night answered this time. "But we had to leave because they wanted to turn us into a circus attraction," Dew said sadly.

"I'll find those two and beat the shit out of them. Raven noted to himself and then grinned. "Alright, everyone, get ready and rest up because, at midnight, we're taking that boat." Amber went wide eye and galloped over to her fireworks and wanted to get it all done by tonight. Oleander noted and summoned her book; she opened it, and a stream of dark glowing energy came out and started flowing into her horn. Her pupils dilated, and she had a manic look on her face. The others went about their business.

Midnight

Full hooves yawned as he stood on top of the bow of the ferry ship. He was looking over the edge, staring back at his reflection. All he saw was a middle-aged earth stallion with a light brown coat and short silver mane. He wore a dark blue shirt, along with a dark blue cap. The stallion's cutie mark was a silver badge, indicating that upholding the law was his destiny. "Another boring night." Full grumbled to himself, and he always stuck with the most mundane jobs: guard this, stand here, don't say anything. Even when he was still on the royal guard, it was the same thing!

"Nothing ever-interesting happens around here!" He nearly yelled as he talked to himself about what he would give to see some or any action. He heard the familiar sound of sompony blinking into existence as if on cue after teleporting. He whipped around to see who it was, but it was too late. Some kind of spell hit him, and his whole body went limp; he couldn't scream for help. His mind was still going, but it wouldn't be long before he lost consciousness.

The pony that him with the spell wore a cloak and had a book floating beside her. What was odd was how slender she was compared to other ponies. Then he saw it; something very tall just got on the boat, along with more miniature figures getting on. The Creature held a crate filled with small barrels packed with fireworks; once the Creature placed the container on the deck, it made it's way over to him.

Full hooves was panicking but couldn't do anything about it. The stallion felt one of its claws pick him up, and its single yellow eye stared right through him as if it was gazing into Full's soul. ""Oh buck, it's going to eat my soul! This must be the monster everypony was talking about! - " Then darkness, Full hooves fell unconscious.

Raven tossed the unconscious earth pony in his grasp onto a smaller boat, and that same pony made a small thud sound as his body hit the smaller vessel. The human turned to the Outcasts and gave them all a once over before speaking. "Alright, everyone, let's get to work. Dew, to the engine room and come out as soon you finish. Night to the cockpit, you're in charge of stirring the vessel. " He brought his attention to Xuez and Moon. "Xuez,Moon,take Jade to the passenger cabin and stay hidden." Raven's attention was brought to the rest. " Amber, set up your fireworks; Cozy, make sure she doesn't light any of the fuses. Oleander, you're with me; any signs of trouble, we'll take care of it. You have your orders." They nodded and did as they were told.

Five minutes later

The engine came to life and hummed lightly and felt throughout the boat. The anchor was raised, and the weather was perfect; it was now or never. The ferry slowly made its way out of the harbor, and it was picking up speed. Amber and Cozy had set up the fireworks or what the red filly likes to call them "barrel of fun." around the ship's deck. There were at least twenty-three of them.

Raven looked to the side and saw Oleander looking out to the sky. The unicorn had her hood down, it was clear that her curved horn was glowing with power, and she wasn't actively using it yet. Whatever the book did to her, she was ready for a fight. The mercenary wouldn't lie; this all felt too easy; he had a gut feeling something was about to go down. Maybe Amber wasn't too far off about a sea monster attacking them?

It took three minutes before the wind started picking up, the water became unstable and wild. Dark clouds began to gather and clump together. Then they heard the rumbling of thunder, then lightning arching across the sky. This was unnatural, to say the least, even by pony standards. Then Oleander recognized this, and a chill ran down her spine. "We need to turn this boat around now!" She screamed. The unicorn knew only two ponies capable of this, and one of them was close by.

"HALT FIENDS!"

Everyone looked to the sky and saw a mare in the sky—a mare with a dark blue coat with an ethereal sapphire blue mane and tail. She had large majestic wings, a longhorn coming out of her mane. Her cutie mark was the crescent moon, and she had dark fur surrounding it. The only thing she wore was an obsidian-colored crown, along with regalia with her cutie mark framed on it. This mare seemed to radiate power as she flew in the air, her cyan eyes bore down on the boat and its inhabitants. This was an Alicorn. This was Princess Luna.

"YOU WILL SURRENDER AND FACE JUDGEMENT FOR YOUR CRIMES!" Princess Luna boomed in her Royal Canterlot Voice.

Raven didn't even flinch; he slowly walked forward, took out his sword, removed the wrappings, and pointed the sword in Luna's Direction. "You're in our way, Trash."

Author's Note

It's about to go down! Sorry about taking so long with this one, had to take care of a few things in irl. Also, the next chapter might take a while!