Outcasts of Equestria

by Old Ben Kenobi

Chapter 7-Escape

The dishevelled band tread towards the light. Although it wasn't particularly bright, the grouo had been in the caves long enough for it to dazzle them, as they approached the exit to the outside world. However, as they approached the cave exit, they noticed something was wrong. There was a huge black gate barring their exit, and a group of guards, with members of all three races, were in front of the gate, all asleep except one unicorn.

"Twilight," said Spike, "That gate is made out of that same black crystal you were trapped by in the Crystal Empire."
"I noticed that too, Spike," said Twilight, "There's no way I'll be able to teleport through."
"Halt!" said the unicorn guard, "None may pass through!"
Rarity walked up to Twilight and whispered in her ear; "I'll deal with this,"
Rarity trotted up to the gate, her eyes wide.
"Excuse me, Noble Sir," she said, "But would it be possible for a handsome stallion such as yourself to let my friends and I out of these dreadful caves ?"
The guard snorted.
"I'm not that stupid, lady," he said, "I know you're the prisoners that we were told to stop from escaping."
But Rarity would not be dissuaded.
"But what harm could a small band such as ours do against ones so mighty as yourselves? Surely it couldn't hurt to let us out of this ghastly place?" She fluttered her eyelashes, and a small tear formed in her eyes.
The guard looked uncomfortable. However, he suddenly seemed to make up his mind.
"Good soldiers follow orders," he said. Then he turned around and started walking towards his sleeping companions.
"Wait!" said Rarity, as loudly as she dared, but it was no use.
"Oh, I wouldn't do that if I were you," came a voice from the shadows behind Rarity.
The guard stopped and turned around.
"Who are you?"
"That is of no importance. The question is, my friend, who are you?"
"I'm a soldier," he said, "And I follow my orders."
"Ah," said the voice, "But what if you were ordered to be someone you're not? Could you follow that order then?" Discord materialised out of the shadows, his eyes swirling.
The unicorn turned grey immediately.
"Orders?" He hissed, "I don't follow orders!" He then placed his horn in the lock of the gate, opening it and freeing the prisoners.

The group crept out of the gate, being completely ignored by the grey unicorn, who was wandering off in a random direction, abandoning his post.
In front of the group, the wide expansnes of the Unicorn range were spread out. They did not stop walking until they were well away from the guards, the mountain and Canterlot rearing up threataningly as they trotted away.
"Twilight," said Pinkie Pie, "When the Princesses were captured before, day and night happened at the same time. Why isn't that happening now?"
"When those vines ensnared Celestia and Luna," said Twilight, "They were kept in a state of unconciousness. As long as they are kept conciouss, they should still be able to raise the sun and moon for Equestria."
Suddenly, a question occured to Twilight.
"Discord," she said, "I was thinking about what you were saying before, when you told me about when you were working against the Princesses."
"Hmmm?" said Discord, intregued.
"I remember when you came to Ponyville-you had managed to take over the entire village in a matter of seconds. When the Princesses stopped you, you had taken over Equestria! Why can't you stop Blueblood like that now?"
"Ah, if only it were that simple, Twilight Sparkle," replied Discord, "You see, back then," Discord snapped his talons, and a black and white projecter and screen appeaers out of nowhere, showing ponies lying in the ground in misery, as clouds floated across the sky, producing dark rain, "I had used my chaos magic to its full extent. Since it was so chaotic, even I was unable to control it, so it went around, making life miserable for everypony. Not that I minded in those days, of course," he added," But now, since you have 'reformed' me, I do not think it would be wise to unleash these powers again."
"But surely you can teleport yourself to Blueblood and stop him, or at least to Ponyville to warn everypony?" Said Twilight desperatly,
"I'm afraid not," said Discord, "Because for my long range teleportation powers, I would require the world around me to be under my chaotic magic, which I have already explained won't work. Besides, aren't you a Princess? Surely you must have some kind of spell to teleport to Ponyville, or something of that kind?"
"I can't teleport that far!" Replied Twilight,
"You managed to teleport Rarity, me and Spike when we were chased by those dragons," said Rainbow Dash, who was flying nearby them.
"That was different!" Said Twilight, "I had no control over it then;sometimes my magic just happens without me thinking about it, and I can teleport myself to places I wasn't intending to. There's no way I could travel that far without at least a week of solid concentration!"
"Then it looks like we're all stuck here," said Discord.
"Come here, everypony," said Twilight, and everyone gathered around her. "We need to come up with some kind of plan to stop Blueblood and free the Princesses."
"But we don't even know where they are!" Said Spike, "Blueblood will soon take control of everywhere! There's nothing we can do!"
"Now Spike," said Twilight, "What use is that kind of attiutude? I know we've never been in this kind of situation before, and I know you're scared; I am too. Butbwe can't just give up. Anypony have any ideas?"
"There's no way we can just hide out here!" Said Rainbow Dash, "If Equestria is in danger, we have to stop Blueblood, no matter what it takes!"
"Ah agree," said Applejack, "We need to find someway ta restore the Princesses, or Equestria is doomed!"
"But how?"Asked Twilight, "Blueblood is already the most powerful unicorn in Equestria, and he has an army of guards at his side. We would need some kind of army of our own to stand any sort of hope against him!"
"An army?" Said Applejack, "Hmmm, ah may know where we could find one of them."
The group stared at her, wide eyed.
"You...you know where to find an entire army?!" Said Rainbow Dash, flabbergasted.
"Well, not me specifically," said Applejack, "But Granny Smith was always telling me stories of a place where some of my kin live:the Hollow Shades."
Twilight was the only one in the group to show any flicker of recognition in her eyes.
"The Hollow-what now?" Said Rainbow Dash,
"Granny Smith told me stories of a group of ponies that live in a part of Equestria called the Hollow Shades. These ponies have devoted their lives to the study of magic and such, and some say they have secrets not even the Princesses know about. Their base is hidden in some forest in the east, but ah'm afraid that's all ah know. Granny Smith could probably tell ya more, but she's in Ponyville, and if Twilight's right, Ponyville won't be easy to enter." Suddenly, something occured to Applejack.
"Twilight," she said, "Our families in Ponyville will be alright, won't they?"
"Blueblood will be trying to win them over," said Twilight, "He wouldn't try and hurt them, but I have a feeling he will try and stop anypony from getting in or out of Ponyville, so that other towns cannot be alerted."
"It looks like Applejack's idea is the only one we have," said Rarity, "What should we do, Twilight?"
"I think we should try and get into Ponyville," said Twilight, "First, we need to find out if everypony is safe and well, but we also need information about these mysterious Hollow Shades from Granny Smith. If we move now, we should be able to reach Ponyville by nightfall. Does anypony have any objections?"
"Ummm...Twilight?" Said Spike, "Won't we need some kind of plan before we ho rushing into a place that is probably heavily guarded by soldier right about now?"
"We don't know how well guarded it is yet," she replied, "We will need to survey Ponyville before we come up with any sort of plan to get in."
No one else had any questions to ask, so Twilight moved south, in the direction of Ponyville, and the others followed.