//------------------------------// // The great escape // Story: Forsaken // by Iron_Hooved //------------------------------// Private Aim High had always considered himself to be a very intellectually gifted pony. After all, he was always ahead of the rest and willing to soak up as much knowledge as possible. He was a very kind and gentle pony and all too eager to learn from his mistakes. Had he been sent to Celestia's school for talented unicorns he would have most definitely been top of the class due to his amazing talents and adaptability. His brain was like a sponge that just soaked up all kinds of information, allowing him to learn faster than most ponies did. If he'd been given Twilight's opportunity then he would have most definitely learned all the things she did in a third of the time she did: Princess Celestia wouldn't have been able to keep up with all the incoming mail! Why, it was barely 2 pm and he'd already learned so many things about friendship in that day alone! In fact he'd even made a list about them and was thinking of sharing it with the Princess once she got better: 1- You should always make time during work hours to have fun with your friends, however having a picnic in the middle of a forest filled with dangerous creatures should never be considered fun at all. 2- Burnt trees and grass are most likely indicators of a nearby fire hazard and you should always warn ponies to keep away from it, instead of dragging them toward it. 3- Though it is always good to make new friends, dragons can be extremely temperamental and do not appreciate being disturbed while napping. 4- You should never dismiss a friend's idea just because you think it's bad, and especially if that friend also happens to be your commander. 5- In relation to #4, if another friend thinks that your idea is better, you should thank him and be modest about it instead of rubbing it in your other friend's face: especially if the first happens to be the D.A. and the second happens to be your commander. 6- In relation to #5, though mean comments from your friends can be hurtful, roundhouse kicks are even more hurtful The private lips curved into a smile, displaying a row of missing teeth, as he looked down at the letter he'd written. Goosebumps traveled down his spine as he imagined the Princess' pleased expression when he gave her his letter. His chest filled with excitement as his brain was swarmed by images of the tearful reunion with his parents, the slick crimson filly with the long silky mane, and huge eyelashes that lived next door, the red carpet and white gown at their future wedding, the big house with the white fence and the huge backyard where he'd play with his foals.... He folded the letter and stored it in his satchel and picked up another one he'd written earlier and stored it in an envelope with the following words written on its back: ***************************************************************************************************************** Résumé From: ex-private Aim High To: Pony Unemployment Office #774 Starswirl avenue, Canterlot ****************************************************************************************************************** His flank protested with pain with every step he took, slowly limping his way to the dark blue mailbox that sat alone, under the burning summer sun. The envelope on his mouth, Aim High placed his right hoof on the hot metal container as he gently lifted himself into his hind legs. His eyes twinged as a current shot from his abdomen, all the way to his chest: he probably shouldn't overdo it for a while. Just as he recovered and prepared to slip the envelope inside the dark horizontal slit on the mailbox he saw (or at least thought he saw) a plum-colored filly, with a neatly arranged dark slate blue mane and fuchsia highlights dart past him. He rubbed his eyes vigorously and looked again into the distance where he'd seen what seemed to be the most wanted criminal in Equestria run through. His head still spinning from the beating he'd taken earlier, he turned around and headed towards the train station. 'A mirage no doubt. After all it IS kinda hot today' he thought to himself as he lifted his left foreleg and slowly started massaging his temple. In the meantime, that very same plum-colored figure the unfortunate soldier had seen was making her way through a long dirt road, wooden fences on either side, as she left a trail of dust behind her. "I think that pony glimpsed at us Twi," said Spike bouncing up and down on Twilight's back, squinting his eyes as he turned around and surveyed the quiet scenario behind him. He couldn't make anything in the distance other than the landscape and a few trees, it appeared that nopony had followed them so far. "I hope not, or we're going to have a hard time gathering all the stuff we need," replied Twilight, her lips numb as she bit hard on them. If the soldier had spotted them, then gathering supplies would be the least of their worries. However, there was just no way they'd ever get a second shot at escaping if they waited any longer. The soldiers that had set up a camp between the Everfree Forest and Sweet Apple Acres had just been recalled to Ponyville and there was no telling when they'd be back. The light suddenly became thinner as the shadows bathed them with a cool and gentle caress, the old apple trees surrounding them stood like a sea of green that stretched endlessly into the horizon. For the first time in days the light shone on the young filly's eyes as she contemplated the shiny red apples that hung from the twisted branches. The dragon's reaction bore no difference as he rubbed his sweaty little palms together, licking his lips as he eyed greedily the juicy fruit in front of him. Finally, after 3 days of surviving on mushrooms and dry roots, the pair had a proper meal in front of them. The two of them picked up as many as they could and stored them into an empty traveling satchel they'd burrowed earlier from the abandoned camp, but not before sinking their teeth into a few of the delicious treats. "Man, I really need that," said Spike as he rubbed his stomach, his eyes still glazed with satisfaction. "Me too Spike, but we can't afford to lose any more time, we have to make our way to Whitetail Wood," she reminded him as she strapped the sagging satchel to her back. "Oh, right...." said Spike lowering his head, his eyelids heavy with disappointment. "I'd like to stay too Spike but we have to get moving before the soldiers come back," she said in a longing voice as she lowered her head and lifted her partner from the ground. "Now hold on tight, if we act according to plan then we should be at Fillydelphia before midnight," said Twilight as she suddenly reared and began galloping at top speed again. "Hi-ho Twilight! Away!" shouted the dragon as he waved his left hand in the air, a big smile adorning his face. ".... Don't do that again," said the pony with a frown, her eyes narrowed with annoyance as she vanished into the horizon. ****** The darkness of the night enveloped the landscape as the moon shone brightly upon the denizens of Ponyville, the crickets intoning a harmonious melody as everypony fell into deep slumber. The lights had gone out and calm ruled the air with a silk glove. Nopony moved through the streets except a couple of guards quietly making their rounds around the library. Out of the shadows a small figure stealthily made it's through the alley behind Sugar Cube Corner. "Psst! Twilight! Coast is clear except for a couple of soldier guarding our place," whispered Spike to a second figure hiding behind a garbage dump. "Odd.... I thought security would be tighter. Just where do you think everypony went?" asked Twilight as she scratched her chin while wearing a frown. "Who cares? They're probably back at the camp waiting for us to show up. Boy are they gonna be disappointed," joked Spike as he waved her worries away with confidence. "Spike, I'm being serious here! Something stinks here and it's not this garbage dump either," she reprimanded him as she covered her snout. the nauseous smell of rotten eggs filling her nostrils. "Relax Twilight. They're all probably still looking for us inside the Everfree Forest. They would never have expected us to take the long way around Ponyville and come out of Whitetail Wood," Spike reassured her. "I know it sounds crazy but I'm still getting a bad feeling about this whole thing. The whole thing smells fishy: why would they recall their troops and lea-" insisted Twilight but quickly fell silent: a light had just gone up right above their heads. The pair trotted down the alleyway and quickly jumped behind the corner as the wooden windows in the house next door creaked open. Out of the second floor window had emerged a pale goldenrod-colored pony with a puffy orange mane, her eyes narrowed as she held her firefly lamp in front of her, lighting the alleyway. "Whozzer?" mumbled Golden Harvest, vigorously rubbing her eyes as she squinted through the darkness. "Anything wrong miss?" asked the two guards as they trotted toward her, having heard the commotion. "I think I heard somepony down here," indicated the filly as she pointed toward the garbage dump sitting next to the Cakes' house. Quickly looking at each other, both ponies nodded as their eyes met, frowning with determination. They held their breaths as they slowly started their way towards the container, dark green slime oozing through the metal lid. They separated as they began creeping down the alleyway, the overgrown grass slightly caressing their hooves. Standing on both ends of the garbage dump, they signaled each other slowly mouthing to 3. *BANG! RRRRRRNEOW! CRASH* they both stumbled backwards as a filthy black cat jumped out from within the container, its back arched and spitting in fury. Their hearts beating rapidly, they sighed in relief as they traded smiles. "It's okay miss, it was just a cat," called the nearest one, holding his hoof on the side of his mouth. They slowly made their way back chuckling as she waved them both goodbye and shut the window behind her. "Hahhhh," said Twilight emptying her lungs as they throbbed with pain: she hadn't noticed she'd been holding her breath the entire time. She took a quick look around the corner and surveyed the alleyway yet again: both guards had resumed their patrol around the library and the light had gone out from Golden Harvest's house. "That was close," said Spike, sweat drops tracing their way down his face, his scales scratching up the brick wall as he slumped down on the floor. "Too close," agreed Twilight, pushing down hard on her chest to prevent her heart from leaping through her throat. "We can't dawdle any longer, we're gonna have to hurry before somepony else notices us," she added as she sneaked her way around the houses, slowly approaching a tent-like structure. The round cornflower-blue house stood alone in the darkness, two oval windows on either side of the split door at the entrance, the second story had been decorated to resemble a merry-go-round, a triangular flag on its top waving in the cold night air. This was Carrousel Boutique, a designer clothes' store and Rarity's house. Spike silently approached the window and peeked through, his chest swelling rapidly and his hands balling into fists, he took in the scene in front of him: the purple silk drapes that had originally hung in the display room had been torn down, the mannequins wearing fine French satin were on the floor collecting dust, the white drawing table had been overturned, dozens of crayons and pencils spilling all over the carpet. "It's been searched," whispered Twilight as she approached him from behind. "They'll pay for this," said Spike, displaying his tiny fangs. "Maybe later but first we gotta get inside. Hold on to me," said Twilight, holding out her foreleg in front of the dragon. *POOF* her eyes spinning, Twilight held a hoof against her temple and shook her head violently to the sides. Spike wasn't feeling any different as he bent over and covered his mouth to prevent himself from hurling. One of the inconveniences of teleportation magic was that, if not properly focused when attempting it, it could cause a slightly nauseated feeling. "Let's split up and search, remember to bring only what is useful," ordered Twilight as she began rummaging through a nearby wardrobe in the designing room. "Define useful," replied Spike as he pulled out a measuring tape from a drawer. "We're going to need clothes, make up, wigs, hats, those sorts of things. Whatever we can use to disguise ourselves and avoid detection," explained Twilight as she piled up some dresses on the back of a mannequin. "You mean like this?" asked Spike holding an all too familiar purple costume, with a long navy cape. "Nice find Spike, but that's kind of conspicuous," said Twilight as she reared to pull down a hat that hung on the wardrobe's door. "I'm hoping she doesn't mind us borrowing all these," said Spike, his legs shaking under the weight of all the clothes he'd picked up. "We need something to put all these in. Hold on I'll be right back," said Twilight as she darted upstairs. As Spike began neatly folding the clothes they'd picked up, Twilight reappeared wearing a pink set of traveling backpacks, the old military satchel filled with apples dangling from her mouth. "You hold on to the apples and I'll take care of the clothes," said Twilight as she flung the satchel at Spike's feet, spilling some of its contents over the floor. "Right," said Spike as he stuffed the clothes in Twilight's backpacks and flung the satchel over his shoulder. "We're ready Twi, lets get outta here!" called the dragon as he turned the handle on the door and pulled it open. "SPIKE, NO!" yelled Twilight, a little too late. *WOOOoooohh, WOOOoooohh* hell broke lose as the siren's call pierced the quiet of the night, Twilight and Spike we're blinded as a couple of floodlights switched on and turned their way, the ground trembled as a hundred hooves began marching upon it as if they were one: they'd been found out. A bulky figure clad in golden armor approached them, his chest thrown out, his smile revealing two rows of yellowish teeth."Well, well, well.... What do we have here? Why, if it isn't everypony's favorite fugitive: Twilight Sparkle!" spat Commander Storm Chaser stopping his face inches away from Twilight's and breathing hard on her. She cringed with disgust as his hot, humid, foul breath invaded her nostrils, but quickly regained her composure and began staring daggers at him. "Oh, and who could forget her little pet! You wanna try and breathe fire on me again, punk?" taunted the commander as he wiped his foreleg and smacked Spike hard across the face, sending him flying against the wall. "NO! You monster, why don't you pick on someone your own size?!" demanded Twilight as she knelt down beside Spike and shot a dirty look at Storm Chaser. "You know? I have to hand it to that slob: for a good-for-nothing bureaucrat, he sure does know what he's doing. He somehow figured that if we withdrew our soldiers and hid a smaller force in town, you'd show up eventually looking for your friends. I on the other hoof never thought you'd have the guts to show your face around here, not after the way you ran and hid like rats for the past three days!" continued the commander as he paced his way back and forth in front of them. "We'll accompany you to Canterlot, as long as you guarantee our safety," said Twilight defiantly as she helped Spike stand up. "Oh, there's no need to go that far Sparkle. After all, everypony knows you're guilty and I figured I'd save us some time," said the commander as his lips suddenly curved into a malicious smile. "What do you mean?" asked Twilight as she backed away, her front leg flexed in front of her. "Well, I figured we should let the D.A. take care of the paperwork and in the meantime we'd take care of you. After all, the capital punishment is not something a poster-boy should handle," explained the commander his eyes filled with excitement, his mouth watering with blood lust. "You can't do that! You'll get in trouble if kill us in cold blood!" protested Spike as he stepped in front of Twilight, his arms spread wide open to protect her. "I can if I say you two resisted capture and I had no choice," replied that commander as he lowered his head so that it was on level with Spike's. "You're absolutely sick!" said Spike, his voice filled with contempt. "Any last words?" asked the commander as he drew a sword from his belt, the white blade shinning in the moonlight as he lifted it over his head. "How about, cowabunga?" retorted Spike, his eyes narrowing as he smiled from ear to ear. *CREEEEAK* the steel tubes holding up a nearby water tank contracted and gave away, covered by a fuchsia aura. The tank that rested on top came crashing down along with the structure as its lid popped out on contact with the ground. The commander and the soldiers were washed away before they could react, as the contents of the tank gushed out with the force of truck. "NOW!" yelled Twilight as she lowered her neck and swept Spike of the ground. Before the soldiers could even make sense of what just happened she began dashing through the empty streets. "AFTER THEM!" screamed the commander as he recovered and began chasing them at top speed, his soldiers following close in pursuit of the fugitives. Having heard the ruckus, some ponies began emerging from their homes as they watched the Imperial Guard run off in direction of Foggy Bottom Bog, their faces riddled with confusion as to what had just happened.