Chapter 9: Escape

Chapter 9

“Alright, if we ever want to get out, we’re going to need a plan, we need the tools to execute it, and we need a contingency plan in case it all goes downhill….Steel are you listening?” Caius looked at BrokenSteel with an almost annoyed expression, the pony sit in front of him, did seem to be paying attention at all, Caius waved a hoof in front of his face.

“Look unless you want to attract the guards attention, you will put your hoof down, eat, and act like you’re not talking to me, better yet act as though you don’t know me, can’t attract any unnecessary attention.”

Caius quickly dropped his hoof, stared down at his food, and slowly began to eat it. He dared to sneak a peek at the guard who stood at the other end of the cafeteria, the guard pony simply stood there smoking a cigarette as he watched the inmates eating. Caius looked down again, and began to speak again.

“What about the plan?”

“I’ve already got it figured out, listen I need to know that you are absolutely one hundred percent ready to do whatever is necessary to get out of here, no matter how wrong it may seem, you need to trust me on this, do you trust me, WILL you trust me?” Steel had a sudden seriousness in his voice, the tone became darker, and cold enough freeze over Tartarus, Caius felt a shudder, as he heard his tone. Caius didn’t even need to think, he knew he could trust Steel, and he knew that with his help, he would make it out for sure, and he also knew he was ready to do whatever it took to get out, no matter the cost. Caius looked up.

“I trust you, I’m ready for this, just tell me what to do.” Caius gave a grin that had a touch of wickedness. BrokenSteel grinned as well, this was it, time to finish preparing for the breakout, BrokenSteel knew what needed to be done, and he now knew Caius was ready to do the same, he held the grin for the rest of the day, in two days, this prison camp would no longer hold him, or his friends, the day would soon come when he and his brothers in arms would take back their freedom.

Morning, sighed as Starlight quickly bolted out the door to visit her friends Bubblegum, and Angel. She looked around the house; she mumbled something to herself, as she slowly trotted over to the closet to get the vacuum. After an hour Morning had finally finished cleaning, she let out a sigh of relaxation, as she sunk into the couch; she sat there for a few moments until she noticed a piece of paper sticking out from under the coffee table. Morning picked up the sheet of paper and looked at it, on it was a drawing Star had made, and on it she had drawn what appeared to be herself, and another pony, the pony had a maroon coat, and a bright orange mane, thee Morning noticed the pink heart drawn between the two ponies, at the sight of this Morning chuckled softly, and carefully placed the picture in her daughters bags. Morning looked around, the house was spotless, and now all she had to do was keep it that way until tomorrow.

Morning took a seat on the couch, and grabbed a small book from the bookshelf. Morning smiled to herself as she looked at the cover, on the cover was a picture of Morning holding Starlight when she was still a newborn, the words photo album, were written over the picture, Morning flipped through the book a little, she stopped at one page, and admired some of the pictures, one of the pictures was taken when Morning was still a composer for operas and other orchestral works, she smiled at the picture of her sitting next her friend violet light, she remembered that on that particular night, the two were trying to piece together what would eventually become La Vien Rouge. She remembered how they went through several bottles of scotch trying to think what would make the perfect melody. Violet could never hold her liquor, Morning giggled as she turned the page, the next picture was taken when she was still a filly; on the day she got her cutie mark. The school that Morning was going to, was putting on a play and Morning was one of the ponies who would sing during the play, the play was magnificent, but what the ponies remembered most, was the beautiful, soft, melodious voice of Morning singing, the voice that seemed to overpower all others, Morning sung with an elegance no pony could match, it was as though you could have her sing anything, and no matter what it was it would come out just right,, her talent was singing. Morning looked back at her flank; her cutie mark was a white dove with its beautiful white wings spread, and a musical note placed squarely on its chest.
Morning sighed as she continued to flip through the album, reminiscing all the beautiful memories she had.

Caius followed Steel to the entrance to the mines, Steel had told Caius that he needed to tell him something important, so naturally Caius followed him, as they reached the end of the tunnels, Caius looked around and noticed how many other inmates were at the entrance as well, Caius felt suspicion rise in his mind, as Broken Steel turned around, and looked Caius directly in the eyes.

“Okay, this is it; I need you to work with me here alright?”

“What do you me-“ Caius was cut short by a hoof across his muzzle, Caius felt confused, why would he do that, he thought to himself.

“Get up you piece of shit, come on you worthless foal, you weakling!” Steel shouted, and spat at Caius. Caius quickly rose up to return the favor, by rearing up, and sending his hooves right into Steel’s face, Caius almost thought he heard a crack as his hooves impacted on Steel’s face.

“WHAT IS GOING ON HERE!?!” A guard ran up, coming to see what all the noise was about.

“You hit like a foal!” Steel spat.

Caius backed away slightly, as the guard went directly for him preparing to beat Caius with a baton.

“Hey asshole!” Steel suddenly shouted out, he tried to make it obvious he had said it, when the guard turned around to attack Steel instead. Caius quickly got up, and picked up a pick axe, he slowly trotted over to the guard pony, and just as the guard turned around to face him, the guards face was impaled by the pick, as Caius drove it as deep into the pony skull as would go, as gore, blood, and bits of brain flew from the guards head, Caius then quickly pulled the pick out, and saw the large gaping hole, he left in the guards head. Caius slowly trotted up to Steel, and helped him back up.

“Perfect acting, I would've fallen for that myself, now let’s get this riot started huh?” Steel grinned devilishly as he took a a ring holding several keys from the guard.
"BROTHERS, HEAR ME, YOU ALL HAVE BEEN PUT IN HERE, TREATED LIKE DIRT, AND TORTURED LIKE NOPONY SHOULD. WELL TODAY THAT ENDS, TODAY WE SHOW THOSE DISGUSTING MONSTERS THAT WE WILL NOT BOW TO THEIR DEMANDS, WE WILL NOT BE THEIR SLAVES, I SAY WE ALL RISE UP, AND SHOW THE SCUM THAT WE ARE PONIES WHO CANNOT BE BROKEN, PONIES WHO CANNOT BE ENSLAVED, TODAY BROTHERS WE BREAK FREE FROM THEIR WRETCHED HOLD, TODAY WE FIGHT FOR FREEDOM, WHO IS WITH ME?" With that all the inmates around them began shouting, cheering, and howling in agreement.

“BROTHERS, TODAY WE BREAK FREE, RISE BROTHERS, RISE!” Steel shouted with his powerful deep voice, as he shouted out to the inmates, the whole mine seemed to fall to complete and utter chaos, Inmates were attacking guards left , and right. Caius quickly grabbed the guard’s baton, as he quickly galloped after Steel, who began to lead the other inmates out of the mines. As they reached the end of the mine, Caius joined Steel and the others on the lift, which led to the mines exit. Broken Steel turned to Caius with a grin.

“You see brother, we are already well on our way.”

“Yeah, don’t forget though were just getting started.” Caius said

“Caius there’s somepony I’d like you to meet.” Broken steel turned Caius around to face a rather large stallion with a jet black coat, and a cut brown mane,

“My friend, this Titan the monster of the mines, slayer of the guards, he is one of the most dangerous prisoners here,, and you know what the best part is?” Caius shook his head slowly, “He’s on our side!”

“Pleasure to meet you Caius” The large stallion extended a hoof to Caius. Caius was surprised, he didn’t like to judge, but at first sight the large stallion didn’t look like a very sociable pony, then again who here did?

“Alright my brothers, we must arm ourselves if we want to be free, everyone push for armory, do not stop no matter what happens, no retreat from here on out.”

The lift soon reached the surface, just outside its door, was a small guard trying to hold off a group of prisoners, shouting at them to get back, his voice was soon silenced, when Titan drove the ponies skull into a wall. Caius, and the others grabbed whatever weapons they could find, as they prepared to cross the courtyard to get to the armory, Caius levitated a small side arm in front of himself, he never really liked guns, but if he had to choose which weapon he disliked the most, he’d have to say the PP23, it was horribly complex, and difficult to maintain, and most of all, it was drop safe if he dropped the pistol it would go off, no doubt. Caius reluctantly loaded though, and took what he could get. He quickly thought over the plan again, secure keys to lift, capture armory, unleash the remaining prison inmates to create overwhelming chaos, and finally use magic to teleport away from the prison, and get some distance. Caius took cover behind a mine cart, as the inmates slowly pushed open the large metal doors, that sealed them inside the mine, just as the door began to open, ponies started falling, their bodies being torn apart by the gunfire of guards outside, then following Steel’s lead, he ran out and took cover behind a stone barricade outside.

“Caius, those guards have us pinned, we need to find a way to passed them.” Steel shouted as he dug deeper into cover behind the barrier.

Caius looked around, he spotted a small canister, the text on it read “CAUTION HIGHLY FLAMMABLE” Caius grinned as he used his magic to lift it and launch it at the guards, the canister went flying, and just before it hit the ground directly in front of the firing squad, Caius shot the canister, and the guards went up in flames, screaming in agony as they burnt to death. Caius immediately recovered, and along with the other inmates, made a run for the armory, Caius, looked to Steel, who laughed as he stomp on one of the burning guard ponies, he looked up at Caius, an almost crazed expression on his face, Caius almost felt worried, but shook it off, and continued towards the armory. As they reached the door to the armory, Caius looked at Steel again, now he was worried, Steel looked as though he had gone insane, he was covered with blood from the guards he had gutted. Caius tried to bring him back into reality.

“Steel, HEY Steel, wake the fuck up brother!” Steel paused, his face going blank; he blinked a few times before looking up to Caius who gave him a quick wake up slap. “Steel, snap out of it, we’re at the armory.”

“R-right, yes, MEN ARM YOUR SELVES, WE WILL NOT FALL, WE WILL NOT BREAK, WE WILL BE FREE!”
With that, Caius kicked in the door, and shot the guard inside, Steel quickly ran upstairs to get on the radio, as he broadcast his speech all across the prison camp, or more of a fortress, Caius never spent much time outside, now on the roof of the armory, he saw just how big his prison was.

“There must be thousands of ponies here.” He told himself, as Titan began to break down the door to the arms locker. Soon the arms locker was open, and inmates began to arm themselves, combat harnesses, rifles, SMG’s, and plenty ammunition to go around, Caius quickly grabbed an automatic rifle,, and joined Broken Steel outside.

“Caius, this is it, victory is at hand, now I know you assured me this earlier, but now it’s more important than ever, do not hold back, if I tell you to do something, you cannot hesitate, you must do exactly as I say, do you understand?” Caius nodded “Yes, of course”

“Good I’m glad you understand, our brothers in arms have arrived.” Caius looked around, as a few ponies approached them, Caius could almost instantly tell that they were Equestrian soldiers.

“Steel, we’re ready.” One of the ponies said.

“Excellent, is everything ready, you have its location correct?”

“Yes, it’s in sector 3, building A, sublevel 6.”

“Perfect, how does security look?” Steel asked.
The large white stallion chuckled lightly “well with the prisoners running this place to the ground, security has been seriously reduced, so getting in should be easy”

“Great, let’s go”

“We’re all clear on what must be done right?” Steel asked again, they all nodded.

“Then you all will understand why I’m doing this.” Caius didn’t understand what he meant, until Steel quickly turned to the other inmates who weren’t soldiers, then shot, and killed them. Caius froze in horror”

“WHY DID YOU DO THAT?!” Caius burst out at Steel.

“They would’ve only slowed us down, they aren’t experienced in combat like us, we can’t afford any delay, I thought you said you were ready to do whatever it takes”

“I didn’t think you, betraying and executing innocent ponies!

“Don’t you dare back out now soldier, we need you, we need you because your living proof of what they Innies are doing here, we need the brass to take this conflict serious, and you’re the key, you’re getting out of here whether you like the methods or not, dead or alive, you’re getting out of here, and if you don’t want to play along” Steel pointed his pistol at Caius “I can also just make this easier for us”

Caius froze stiff as he stared down the barrel of the sidearm being pointed between his eyes, he knew he had no choice, if wanted out; this is how it was going to happen.

“Alright, let’s get this over with.” He sighed as he reluctantly decided to go along with the plan.

“Good, let’s move out” Steel holstered the pistol, and the group moved on.
They made their way to the east side of the fortress, with little to no resistance, as almost all the guards were fighting in the south and west, Caius still didn’t know what it was they we’re looking for, but if it would help them escape, he wanted it. The group soon reached a large building, with almost no windows, it had 3A painted in red over the door, and Steel quickly galloped over and kicked down the door, and motioned the others inside, as they all moved towards their objective. Once inside they took an elevator down, Caius watched at the small screen, counted down the floors, SU1, SU2, SU3, until they reached SU6, the doors opened, and they entered a hallway. One of the ponies in the group walked over to a small closet, opened it and pulled out a duffel bag, inside were guard uniforms.

“Put these on, and grab a security pass, we’ll need this to get in, and remember the cover story, sent by the commander as a precaution” The grey stallion said.

Caius hurriedly put a uniform on, once they all had on, the grey stallion put the duffel bag back into the supply closet, and started down the corridor, they walked to the end of the corridor and turned left, at the end was a large steel door, with two guards, protecting it.

Caius felt nervous as they approached the two guards, as they got closer, one of the guards trotted over to them.

“Stop, what are you doing here, you’re supposed to be securing the prisoners” the guard said, his voice showed no sign of fear, or question.

“Orders from the top, we’re supposed to help guard this place just in case, you got a problem talks to our superiors.”

“All guards we’re ordered to aid in putting down the uprising, until I hear otherwise I can’t let you in”

Just then Steel pulled out his pistol, and quickly killed both the guards, he searched the guards, and found the keys to unlock the doors, and tossed one of them to Caius, and walked up to one of the two panels.

“Locking mechanism requires two operators, on three, one, two, three, turn!” Caius quickly turned the key in its slot, and the door let out a sharp hiss before opening. Caius couldn’t believe his eyes as he entered the large dome shaped room, in the center was a gargantuan purple gem, suddenly he felt strangely rejuvenated as he entered the room, the light from the gems glow, shining on him.

“This is Orion, the gem is used to boost magical abilities, if a unicorn uses magic within range of this thing, the spells power will be increased tenfold, and we also believe that that’s what they put in your brain”

Steel turned to Caius “My friend, you’re the only unicorn here, and you know how to use magic to teleport, so we’re gonna need you to teleport us out of here”

“Alright, I just, I need to concentrate for minute, I always had difficulty with this one”

“Aw for pony’s sake, Steel you said the guy was good at magic.”
Steel shot a stern look at the pony behind him “I said he knows the spell we need, he knws the spell to teleport so unless you have any better ideas on getting out of here I suggest you keep your mouth shut, listen Caius try to get us out of here as soon as you can alright.”

Caius nodded he began to concentrate when a voice spoke out.

“I wouldn’t even think about leaving if I were you”
The others began to look around as they tried to identify where the voice was coming from, suddenly shot began to ring out, and all the ponies fell dead, Caius turned around, and watched as a tan colored pony slowing walked out from the shadows.

Steel pulled his pistol, but before he could fire, the strange pony shot him twice in the chest, Caius stood stiff, and watched in horror, and sadness as Steel hit the ground with a heavy thud, the pony stepped over him, and began to approach Caius. Caius lifted his rifle, only to have it shot out of his hooves, and then be shot in the leg. Caius fell to knees, wincing from wound.

“You shouldn’t try to leave, all that work I put into you, oh well I guess you can’t have everything you want” the pony rested the pistol on Caius’s head, but before he could fire, two bullets tore through the pony’s neck and shoulder, then in a flash, Steel, not finished just yet, quickly tackled the pony, and began punching him.

“GO; GET OUT OF HERE WHILE YOU STILL CAN! Steel shouted ‘Forget about me just go now!”
The pony quickly knocked Steel off of him, and grabbed the pistol, at the same time Caius tried as hard as he could to focus on casting a teleportation spell, in an instant Caius began to fade away, the pony fired one last shot, and just before the warped form of Caius disappeared the bullet hit entered the teleportation spell. The pony chuckled as the smoke from the spell began to spread.

Caius felt a sharp pain run through his head, as he opened his eyes, he shot up, looking around.

“Had the spell worked? Am I free? Where is Steel? Where am I?” question roared through Caius’s mind as he tried to figure out where he was, suddenly a voice spoke out.

“Calm down, sir I need you to calm down please” Caius stopped and looked to his left, his eyes widened when he saw who was sitting next to him. She sat there with her pink mane in a bun, just like the night they met, she had a medical coat on, and a surgical mask around her neck. Redheart.

“Good to see you too big guy.” She giggled softly smiling at him. “You know, I figured we’d run into each other again, but honestly this isn’t the way I was hoping to see you again”
Caius smiled back at her, and then began to worry again as he tried to remember what happened “H-how did you find me……..and more importantly what are you doing here?”

“Army needed doctors, and nurses on the front. Civilian or military most medical professionals were sent here, I didn’t like the idea of being sent here, so I volunteered”

“Alright, I guess that makes sense” Caius winced as another shot of pain, rushed down his spine.

“Where’d you guys find me?”

“We found you out in the snow yesterday, your probably one of the luckiest ponies I know”

“How so”

“Are you serious, how many ponies do you know, have taken a bullet to the brain, and lived”
Caius’s eyes shot wide open as memories flooded his mind, the escape, and what happened, but for some reason the memories seemed incomplete, as though something were missing. He slowly reached a hoof towards his head, he felt the rough surface of cast, and bandages wrapped around his head.

“You’re the talk of the base you know that, pony mysteriously materializes out of nowhere, no gear, nothing, just scar, and bullet wound to the head, and a pulse, wakes up a day later, but wheter your OK, that’s what I’m gonna have to determine now”
Redheart reached for the table behind her, and grabbed a clipboard from it.

“Let’s see if dogs are still barking, tell me your name?”

“C..Caius Cirrus”

“Alright, how many princesses are there?”

“Ugh…uh….two”

“Great, now who am I, and what’s your M.O.S?”

“Redheart and I’m an 11C”

“My name and eleven Charlie correct.”

“Alright without looking, what’s your cutie mark?”

“A sketch pad with a pencil going through it”
Redheart smiled as she added another check to the list, and looked up at him with a reassuring smile that everything was good so far.

“Alright, think you can stand up, and walk around?”

Caius quickly rose up, and surprisingly fast, got up and trotted to the other side of the room. Redheart’s jaw dropped at the sight of this, she had expected that he’d need help, but this was just too much.

“Ok now this is odd, first you get shot in the head, and remember everything, you exhibit no signs of brain, or nerve damage, and now you just get right back up as if nothing happened, you are damn lucky!”

Caius smiled at her, as she stood up, and walked over to him, she brushed he tail softly across his muzzle as she trotted past him to the door, she opened it and called out.

“Hey, shy, get over here”

Caius watched as a small yellow mare galloped over to Redheart, she seemed almost afraid of Redheart despite her disarming smile.

“Y-yes, did you need something?”

“Yeah can you get this to the Doc, tell him sleeping beauty’s up and kicking again.”

“oh um yes, yes I..I’ll get right on it.”

“Thanks, and try to relax a little.”

Redheart turned around smiling as she trotted back over to Caius.

“Poor thing, that filly is so timid she practically scared of her own shadow, honestly makes me wonder what she’s doing here”

“Probably just wants to help” Caius said softly.

“She a real sweetheart, always kind to the others” Redheart now turned and stared directly into Caius’s eyes, her gaze fixed on him.
“Now big guy, you're gonna tell me what all has happened, and I want to hear everything"

Caius sighed as he got ready to tell a long story he didn’t really feel like telling.