//------------------------------//
// The Escape 
// Story: A New Begining 
// by Emeris Moonglade 
//------------------------------//

Chapter 5: The Escape

The caverns shook with ferocity. Loose rocks and dirt fell from the ceiling, landing in wave after wave across the ground. Diamond dogs ran around like pigs in a pen, fleeing for their lives. Screams of agony and horror echoed throughout the torch lit halls, pleading for their lives. Another explosion rung out, more destructive than the last one. Some tunnels caved in on themselves, some on the diamond dogs escaping through them.
Rarity and Twilight shook at the unknown horror taking place beyond their cell. At times they would see a diamond dog running by, fear clung to their face as a burial shroud to it owner. None of them gave them a second glance, all caught up in their own fear. At least they had somewhere to go, Twilight and Rarity were trapped. Vulnerable to whatever that was out there. Still out there, killing, causing cold blood killers and thieves to shake in their boots.
“Oh Twilight dear. Whatever shall we do?” Rarity asked, her voice quaking, though she tried to hide it. “It’s worse than when Nightmare Moon came. It’s...I don’t know how else to explain it.” They stared at each other for a long moment until yet another explosion reverberated throughout the cavern. Only, this time, it sent so much force as to break the bars that held them captive. A large chunk of iron bars snapped and fell with a loud clank to the ground. The two ponies stared at each other in growing relief, their luck was finally taking a turn.
“Hurry, let’s get out of here.” Twilight shouted over the rumbling chaos. She trotted toward the opening and peered out. “It’s clear.” Rarity followed. They looked both directions and spotted a stair well off to their right. “Over here.” Taking a second look to make sure no diamond dogs approached, they started under way.
The halls were covered with patches of blood here and there. Around every corner there lay a deceased diamond dog, clutching his wounds in contorted throes of death, eyes still wide open from fear. It was strange, they had never heard of anything that could do something like this. Killing was something ponies rarely knew about here in Equestria. Murder, suicide, it was more story than an actuality.
They rounded another corner and came face to face with John. Their eyes bulged with surprise as they confronted their friend. John stood there, staring back at them, sword drawn and ready to lunge.
“John! You came for us!” Rarity squealed with excitement. She ran to him and hugged his legs. John sheathed his sword seeing there was no threat and gave Twilight a confused look.
“Rarity, are ya alright?” he asked, not sure how to act in this sort of situation.
Twilight walked over to him. “Let’s just say Rarity has problems being around dirt and anything filthy.”
“Well she’s gonna love bein’ ‘round me.” Rarity looked up at him. Peering into his eyes, and there she saw a hint of amusement in them.
“Ah ran here fer nearly two days straight. Don’t think ah didn’t sweat any.” She backed away from him, wiping her white coat with her hooves.
“Yuck. We may have a proper hug after you’ve had a bath. Until then I suggest we find a way out of here.”
“John,” Twilight was worried, she almost sounded afraid of him. “How did you get in here? The diamond dogs said they had the old spells protecting them. Nothing can break them. Princess Celestia even tried once.”
“Ah guess they were lyin’.” He pointed down one of the dimly lit halls. “That’s the way outta here.” He strode on ahead of them. Twilight soon followed once he was not in hearing distance.
“I don’t think the diamond dogs were lying. And besides, how would he be able to get through all of those diamond dogs by himself?” Rarity just shrugged her shoulders and kept walking. John looked to see if they were following, content that they were he picked up the pace. Further down the hallway he came to a stop. “John? What’s wrong?” He began groaning and clutched his head, he doubled over, as if to vomit, then fell to the ground. Rarity and Twilight didn’t know what was going on, and didn’t know how to help.
“John!” Rarity yelled and rushed over to him. Twilight just stood there and watched as he writhed in agony. “Common, get up.” He was grabbing his head more so until his knuckles turned white. She turned toward Twilight. “What’s happening to him?” Twilight just stood there, dazed and confused, though her ears were twitching wildly. Rarity saw this action, then began to listen carefully. Someone was coming this way, and it wasn’t a diamond dog. The heat in the narrow hall rose tremendously, sweat formed on both ponies brows. 
“He’s coming.” John spoke through clenched teeth. He struggled to his feet. “Hurry.” He staggered down on of the hallways. Both ponies looked at each other, neither of them knew what just happened or what was going on, but they followed. The further down the hall they got the cooler the air was. Johns features were contorted with pain and fear. They were both alien expressions on him.
“John, what’s going on, what was in the hallway with us?” Twilight demanded. 
“Ah’ll tell you if we live through this.” His voice was still coated with pain, though the headache looked as if it had lessened. He turned down a few more hallways and up a couple flight of stairs. The air wasn’t as musky as before, and that was all Rarity and Twilight had to go on as to how close to the surface they were. “Almost there.” John’s voice was back to normal, but the fear was still evident. 
They turned the next corner and they came to a halting stop. In front of them was a pile of rubble, and a hole on top leading to the surface. The serene glow of the moon washed over them, and each of the two ponies soaked it in. John began climbing the rubble, and  turned to look at the equine figures just standing there.
“Can ya climb?” The two ponies looked at each other, then nodded their heads. “So climb then!” He snapped, the ponies whimpered but did as they were told. Their hooves slipped often but they made progress. They were nearly halfway up when the air began to boil. “Hurry!” No matter how hard they tried they couldn’t climb up the loose rubble any faster. They looked up at him, worry masked their faces. He slide down to them, wrapping his an arm around each of their torso’s he picked them up. They felt weird being lifted up like that, but they weren’t complaining. He trudged up the loose rocks and stones. He was climbing faster than the ponies thanks to his longer legs. Whatever that was after them was getting closer. Sweat coated the ponies bodies, making it harder to keep hold of them. A few more steps and they were out, just a few more steps.
They made it. The moon shown like a beacon, filling them with relief. They were finally out. With shaking limbs, not from fatigue, but from fear, he set the ponies down. Two corpses lay by the entrance, Rarity yelped at the sight. John walked over to her. “We’re not out yet.” The air was getting warmer still. “AJ’s is that way.” He pointed east, across the a large expanse of the Everfree briar. The wind seemed to whip through as he pointed. She studied his hand more than the direction he had indicated. “Ya ok?” He looked at her, her face was masked in confusion.
“W-what? Oh yes fine deary. Well, we better get moving then.” She trotted over to Twilight. She kept her voice low so John wasn’t able to hear. 
“Ah guess we leave.” He began walking in the direction he had pointed, the ponies followed suite, but they kept well enough behind them. Their conversation was hard to make out, but that didn’t matter, just as long as the air was getting cooler, they were safe. The branches rustled, but not from the wind. It was bouncing from tree to tree. Twilight and Rarity didn’t seem to notice, but he did, he kept his eye on the trees, hoping to catch a glimpse of what was following them, or him.
Something shot from the trees, in a rainbow blur it crashed into Twilight. It spoke. “Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh. You guys are alright.” She embraced both of them. It was Rainbow, John’s stomach churned, she was the one who was following him. That means, she saw what he did to get in to the den. After the family reunion, Rainbow turned to him. “And you.” He gulped, she must have seen him, she was right behind him when it happened. “What did you don back there?” Rarity and Twilight looked at each other, than back to John. “That black stuff that was all over you arms, and that explosion. What are you?” He turned away, but ignored her question. 
“Do ya know how ta get back?” He asked in a low voice.
“Ya, but you didn’t answer my question. Wait, what are you doing!?” He ran away, lost in the thickets of the Everfree. Breaking branches could be heard in the direction he ran. The ponies were left there, their mouths wide open. “Where is he going?”
“Rainbow,” it was Twilight, “what did you see?”
“Of John? Well first off...”

~*~*~*~*~

Ah should have been more careful, ah should have made sure no one was there. God! He ran, he didn’t know where he was going. Just as long as he was away from them. From what he could tell he was headed south east. The night sky was covered with the Everfree leaves and branches. Where was he going to go. He was stuck in a messed up world with talking horses, well, not like it was worse than where he had come from, but still.
He feet pounded heavily on the ground, and with his sword he cut a new path, far away from Rainbow and the others. There were many sound all around him. There were the chirps of birds, the skittering of smaller animals and the roars of monsters. Though he ignored it all, he had to get away. Nothing was going to stop him. He had ruined the life he had hoped to start over. He couldn’t explain who he was, what reaction was he suppose to expect from peace loving ponies.
He tripped and came to an abrupt stop on his face. That was unusual, he never tripped. Standing up he groaned, he spit out a mouthful of dirt and grass and wiped his face off. His nose was bleeding, but he had been through worse. Sword in his grip he looked around, but what he saw was something not to be expected in the most feared place in Equestria.
Standing before him were the ruins of a castle. Sections of the roof and walls were missing, probably collapsed over the years, and there were many shattered windows. Vines grew up the side of the black structure, appearing to try to ensnare it. A single bridge led to the castle, held over a gorge with ancient ropes, tied to rotten stakes on either side. Many of the boards running along it were missing, but it looked easy enough to cross.
All of his past problems faded away the longer he stared at the grand monument. Sheathing his sword he made his way to the bridge. Looking down he saw nothing but an endless fog covering the unknown. It seemed to go on forever. The bridge creaked as he took his first step, causing him to hurriedly take his foot off. He tried again, this time applying all his weight. Surprisingly the board didn’t snap. He exhaled heavily. 
“So far so good ah guess.” He took his next step, still it did not break. Feeling a bit more confident, he quickened his pace. Not by much, but he was making faster progress than before. Step by step, creak by creak, he made it across. He fell to his knees on the other side. Sweat dripped form his forehead. He let go of his breath, not realizing he was holding it in the first place. “Well, that was fun.”
He looked all around, taking in the everything there was to see right there. Before him stood the castle entrance, two old cracked double doors stood on rusty hinges. The one on the right hung at an awkward angle while the other one, in no better condition, stood slightly agar. Just enough room for him to squeeze through.
On the other side was darkness but enough light filtered through the stained glass windows lining each side of the room. The air was thick with dust, so much in fact that John breaths turned into wheezes. He walked forward, leaving footprints in the blanket of dust on the ground. Hand on hilt he crept further into the castle.
He glanced at the stained window, each one seemed to depict a story. The first one he saw was of two alicorns circling each there. One was the colors of night, the other, the colors of day. Residing between them were the sun and moon.
The one beside it showed the two unicorns in combat. Though, the moon alicorn looked different. She was wearing some sort of helmet, and was much larger than before. The sun alicorn appeared to be sticking the dark one in the moon. Johns brows furrowed. That didn’t make sense. Ah thought ponies were suppose ta be all peace lovin’ and stuff. These one’s are fightin’. He couldn’t make out any of the others. The rest were either too faded away, or broken. 
A cold feeling washed over him, it was more and actuality than a feeling. He exhaled, breathing out vapor. The temperature had dropped tremendously. What could have caused that? He rubbed his hands together and pressed on. The room was quit large. It could have been an audience hall, though placing it at the entrance didn’t make sense. Frost covered the windows that were still intact. He unsheathed his sword. The blade was still stained with blood. He turned around slowly, searching every corner of the room, but nothing was there, it was an empty room and he was the only one there. He kept his sword out but continued down to the doorway on the opposite side of the room. There may not have been anyone there, but it felt like something was there.
He traversed down the dark hallway. Unlit torches lined both sides. Looking up at them, he sighed. “Ah guess there’s no reason ta hide it no more.” He raised his hand and the torches lit, giving the hall warmth, though it was still extremely cold. “Ah know yer there.” He muttered to himself. “Come out and play.”
The wind whipped around him, it knocked his sword from his hand, sending it clattering across the floor. Smoke oozed up out of the cracks in the floor, white frost spread across the ground like a wildfire. It swirled around and around, forming the shape of something, someone, better yet, somepony. Before him stood the princess of the night, Princess Luna.