Chapter 4
Time Fire had much to look forward to. In a few days he would be a free pony. He would finally be able to use his magic again. The barrier that kept him a prisoner also prevented any magic use. Occasionally a guard or two would tease and provoke him. He had been imprisoned for so long, they had forgotten who the most powerful unicorn in Equestria was. It was time he reminded them, he was ready to unleash his power. The human, he now knew as Garren, had seemed to be on his side. When he explained the plan to him, he seemed very interested in it. He only hoped Garren's things were where he thought they were, or else he could lose his trust. He wished he could see Celestia's face as they escaped into the woods. She would be enraged that somepony like him would be back into the world. Time Fire loved thinking about it.
He knew they would be followed and at some point meet some kind of resistance, but he wasn't too worried. The Celestia's guards weren't the strongest ponies he had ever met, they were just figures. Princess Celestia was more than capable of taking care of herself. She had little need for protection, but it would be beneath her to fight a pony, after all she is a Goddess. She frequently sent other ponies to fight battles for her.
Time Fire was almost certain she would send at least a couple of the elements of harmony after them. He was looking forward to meeting Twilight Sparkle. She held his old spot as Celestia's personal student and was capable of producing portals. News traveled very slowly in the dungeons below the Castle, but he eventually heard of what she alone had accomplished. Defeating an Ursa Major single handedly is no easy task. He wanted to test her strength, it would be interesting to see what talent now granted being Celstia's student. He cared little for the other elements, although he did want to see Rainbow Dash in flight. He had heard it was incredible. All the thoughts of what would happen outside made him extremely eager, but strangely tired. He know he would need his rest so he laid down and closed his eyes. For the first time in many, many years he easily went to sleep.
**************
Garren was awaken by the sound of water splashing. He wiped the sleep from his eyes and looked towards Time Fire's space. The pony was soaking wet and shivering, with a large bucket tossed in his area. Standing outside his barrier was a muscular unicorn pony laughing at him.
"Your visit with the Princess is in two days. I can't let you see her all dirty and flea-bitten, so you can count on a surprise bath everyday until then. " He sounded like a highschool picking on a little kid. "So thank me for giving going out of my way to make you look good for her."
"Why don't you fuck off." Garren drew the attention to him and both Time Fire and the other pony looked surprised.
The ponies surprised look went away and he turned back to Time Fire "Whoa, now you've this hideous creature sticking up for you?! This is too funny." He started laughing again. "It makes sense though, cause you'll never do it for yourself."
"Fuck you" Garren said. He wasn't trying to stick up for him, he just hated this pony's type.
The pony walked over to his barrier. "Maybe I should come in there and teach you some manners"
"Come on in" He brought a hand towards his lower leg.
The pony got angry. "Apologize to me or I'm coming in there."
Garren had a hand on his knife and looked at Time Fire. He saw what he was going to do if the pony entered and shook his head frantically for a moment. Garren understood why. If he knifed the pony more would come in and take it from him. Then he would loose a valuable tool for the escape. He nodded slightly at Time Fire and turned back to the pony. He really didn't want to submit to the pony, but in order to keep the escape plan intact he would have to.
"I'm sorry" He sighed
The pony smiled a devilish grin and moved back to Time Fire. "Now thank me."
"Thank you for cleaning me up, Iron Bolt." He used a fake cheerful voice.
Iron Bolt laughed triumphantly and left through the door.
After the the door closed there was a silence in the room. It was apparent that neither wanted to talk about what just happened. That was until Time Fire looked down, shaking his head.
"Same old Iron Bolt."
Then Garren's anger from the encounter spilled over. "What the hell was that?!" he demanded. The pony turned and looked at him with his head cocked to the side.
"Did you know he was going to drench you with you with water?!"
"Yeah, why?" He asked not seeing his submission as a problem.
"Why didn't you do anything?!"
"Ok first calm down Garren, its still early and you were woken up unexpectanly. Second, I wanted to let him get it out of his system. I'm not to worried about it because When we escape I have something special in mind for him.
"You better, I don't like getting treated like that."
"Oh well then you shouldn't have stepped in. I fear that you too will now get "baths." He said with a laugh. "Thanks for understanding about the knife. Its no use to risk losing it, especially just to stab Iron Bolt. Hes not worth it."
Garren nodded, not saying more and went to what he would be doing for the rest of the day. Nothing.
***************
As the day drew to a close, Princess Celestia went to check on Captain Wall's progress of fortifying the interrogation room. There were many ponies working on it. The wood walls had been removed and were nearly all replaced with stone. She found Captain Wall and He explained what they were doing.
"All the wood has been removed and three of the four walls have already been replaced with stone. The fourth should be up later on tonight. I've already pulled as many people as I can to guard the room and to retrieve him."
"Good work Captain." she praised. "I have a new barrier made especially for him."
They both nodded to each other and Celestia went back to her chambers, leaving the Captain to his work.
When she got back to her room she slammed her hoofs on the ground and jumped to a cushion and screamed into it. She had been trying to keep her composure all day, but the thoughts of Time Fire overwhelmed her. She did not want to see him again, she preferred him to stay in his area forever, but he supposedly had important information on the human. She need to learn more about it and had to take any info, no matter where it came from.
She just hoped the measures she and the Captain were taking were enough to keep him from trying anything. She carried this thought until it was time for his audience.
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Two days later...
It was the night the two prisoners were to escape and they were both getting ready in their own ways. Garren was stretching his legs while he thought about the last two mornings. Both times he had his rest cut short by buckets of ice cold water being dumped on him. It chilled him to the bone and only strengthened his hatred for Iron Bolt. Whatever Time Fire had in mind for him, he hoped it was painful.
Time Fire had just finished what Garren thought was some kind of pony meditation. He was siting down with his eyes closed and breathed deep, slow breaths. He had been doing this for about an hour and stopped to go over some last minute details with him.
"Ok, so you're things should be in the top research lab. Its down a corridors and up a couple flights of stairs, I'll lead you there. Above the lab is a sort of observatory floor. It has a roof but no windows so there is a 360 degree point of view up there."
Garren grined when he heard that, it was music to a sniper's ears.
"Remember to only grab what you absolutely need."
Garren nodded.
"And run, remember that too. Follow me and don't fall beh-" He couldn't finsh, the door was opening. It was time.
Garren thought the plan was over before it had even got into motion. The guards poured into the room and just kept coming. First 10, then 20 and finally over 30. He saw Iron Bolt and a few other particularly muscular ponies come in last. There had to be at least 35 ponies in the room and they were all incredibly close. Iron Bolt walked up to Time Fire's barrier.
"No stunts, alright?"
"Of course not." He had a sly, knowing grin on his face despite the overwhelming odds. As he was being led out of his cell, Garren noticed something for the first time. It looked like a bright tattoo above Time Fire's left hind leg. It was a vertical hourglass with black sand all still at the top and it was completely engulfed in flames. He continued looking at it until the pony was surrounded by the guards. That's when the ropes came.
Bundles of rope came through the door and the door was closed while they were tied around almost every part of Time Fire's body. A couple on his neck, about ten around each of his legs, some on his abdomen and even a couple on his tail and mane. Whatever the pony planned on doing, he doubted it would be effective against the restraints he now had. Still he kept his grin, which now looked more like a confident smile. Iron bolt went in front leading with the other ponies on either side and behind him.
"Let's go!" He shouted.
The group of ponies moved in unison towards the door. They were a couple yards away from it when Time Fire stopped.
"What are you stopping for?! I said let's go!" Iron bolt shouted.
Time Fire manged to get a look at Garren, he winked quickly then was yanked back to facing Iron Bolt. That's when it happened.
Time Fire slowly breathed in and out then looked Iron Bolt right in his face. The he drew in another, larger breath, only this time when he breathed out it was something different. It was fire. It was a continuous stream of flames that lit up the entire room.The flames were wide and moved out of his mouth with such force that Iron bolt flew back and slammed against the door. The force of the fire kept Iron Bolt pressed against it. After a moment the flames died down and Iron bolts chard, flaming body fell of the door.
The other ponies had just stared in awe and were trying to come to terms with what they had just witnessed, but Time Fire didn't stop there. He lit up his horn and his entire body changed. His mane and tail turned to flame and the rest of his body turned bright white. The whites of his eyes turned red and his pupils changed to little flames. It was so hot the ropes burned off immediately and the fire from him spread to the ponies nearest to him. From there It became a massacre. Along with his body being flame he also breathed fire around wildly to everything that moved. The force sent flaming ponies flying around, crashing into walls and each other. Garren moved back when a burning pony slammed into his barrier.
A couple ponies tried to make a run to the door, but Time Fire saw them. The fire seemed to wrap around them, pulling their nowjn flaming bodies away from it. Finally his whole body exploded, making sure nothing left in the room didn't meet his fire. Garren would've been burned too, but the barrier that kept him prisoner saved his life by keeping out the flames.
It took a moment for the smoke to clear, but when it did a normal Time Fire stood. There was a big smile on his face.
Garren just stood in awe watching him. He had no idea what he was capable of.
Time Fire went over to his barrier and lit his horn blue and a beam of light hit the barrier. Garren stepped through his previous space, still in awe.
"Come on, Garren, we're not out yet."
*************
Princess Celestia stood nervously in the interrogation room. She still had suspicions about why Time Fire chose to come forth with information about the human. She had a feeling that he would just waste everypony's time and efforts. She felt bad because she had the ponies work long hours to prepare the room for Time Fire.
The Captain had done an amazing job with security. All concrete walls, four times the number of guards, a magic barrier, reinforced chains and a steel door that was blast, sound, water,and gas and heat proof. The room had the ultimate protection and they had even finished early.
Celestia knew that even if Time Fire was lying about information, she would still need to know why he gave away his portal spell. She also had to know if he gave up his other spell. The thought of another pony knowing how to acquire a power known only to her and her sister was not a light matter.
Celestia looked around at the ponies in the room. Most of them stood proud and strong, others excited and antsy. If they only knew who was going to come through that door, she doubted any would act how they were now.
Suddenly something changed in the room. Some of the ponies started shifting from hoof to hoof. Some tried balancing on one for a while then moving to the next one. Celestia noticed that the floor had become a little hotter. She looked down as if she could see through the floor. Her heart started to pump and thoughts of what could have possibly gone wrong filled her head.
She didn't want to look appear scared in front of her guards. That could put them into a panic, especially the new ones. She tried to stand as proudly as she could. She silently reassured herself.
Captain Wall sent 38 ponies for him. Nothing happened. Nothing.
**************
Garren decided that now was not to discuss what had happened in there. He just followed Time Fire as best he could through the castle. It was kept surprisingly dark and most of the light came the moon, which seemed brighter than usual. Garren didn't have time to wonder about it though. They were only a couple ponies in the hallways they went through. Some moved out of their way and some stayed. Time Fire couldn't use his magic because it would be much to bright and draw attention. So Garren had to do some close work.
He would pulled his knife out and get behind the pony. Then grab the pony's mouth and keep it shut while he brought the knife into the area in between the two front legs. That's where Time Fire said the heart was. They struggling ponies would slowly stop moving and Garren would hold them and gently lay their bodies on the ground. Time Fire would levitate the bodies and toss them into closets or very dark areas.
"Just up here." He said.
Garren flew up the flight of stairs and found a large room. The lab looked like something from a movie, with bubbling test tubes and large machines that did god knows what. Not seeing any ponies inside, he kicked open the door and quickly moved around inside. He scanned around and found his rifle, the M110 SASS. It still had the silencer, but the night sight had been removed. He looked around and found it on the table with his bag. He grabbed the half empty water bottle and his night sight. He also grabbed a thermal optic. He clipped on the night sight on the rail in front of the day scope and grabbed two 10 round magazines. He almost had every thing he brought.
"Is that all you need?" Time Fire was watching the stairs and waiting for Garren.
"No, I can't find my M9."
"What is that?"
"Its just a sidearm." Garren said impatiently. They didn't have time for him to explain exactly what it was. But Time Fire seemed to know anyway.
"Ohh, that black gun? Yeaahh, that's not going to be here."
"Why not?"
"Because Celestia saw you kill ponies with that so by now she could have it anywhere."
"Damn." Garren wanted his gun back, but it wasn't worth getting caught for. "Ok, lets move."
Time Fire led up another flight of stairs to what he said was an observation level. There were all sorts of telescopes and binoculars all over the place. He took a pair, realizing he had forgotten his.
"We need to go through that way" Time Fire pointed down at a courtyard.
Garren adjusted the binoculars and looked down. There were five guards standing in a line, blocking where they would need to go. Garren pulled out his rifle and got to the edge of the window the barrel of it sticking out. In his scope he could see them easy. His targets were about 180 yards away, a close shot. He looked at flags on the tops of other towers on the same level as him and flags below. They were all down, a very still night. He lined up his cross hairs on the guard farthest to the right. He would take them out one by one,from right to left. He breathed in and out then breathed in again and held it. He was about to pull the trigger when he thought of something.
He was rushing too much. Taking out five ponies on a courtyard would be very obvious. He needed something to lead them away from the area without causing to much damage. He looked around for a new target.
He finally saw something that would much better suit their needs. It was a tower maybe 15 yards high and 50 yards away from the ponies that blocked their way. He saw only one pony inside. Because the tower was high off the ground, Garren could move away from the window and still see the target. He could now fire from near the center of the observation floor. This along with the silencer would mask the sound of the shots and the muzzle flash.
Garren took aim at the pony in the tower. He needed the other ponies away from their path so he aimed for the bottom of the pony's front right leg. He breathed in and held it then pulled the trigger.
The force of the bullet at the close distance made the pony flip and land on his back. He cried out in pain. Garren slightly moved the cross hairs to the pony's head and waited for a moment. He let the pony scream for about four seconds then pulled the trigger again. The screaming stopped.
Garren moved to the edge of the window again and used the binoculars. The five ponies did what he wanted. The left to see what had happened.
"They're gone, lets get the hell out of here." Garren slung the rifle on his back and followed Time Fire again.
Moving through the castle was quicker now. There seemed to be less ponies in the hallways. They turned a corner and the door to the outside came in to view. Time Fire picked up speed.
"Come on. By now they'll have realized somethings wrong."
Garren matched his speed and ran to the door. He opened it and found a pony looking at him. It shocked him to see the pony there as he thought they all went to check on the one he shot. The pony yelled and pushed past them. It knocked them both over and Garren tried to swing his knife. He barely missed his back leg. The pony took off through the castle still yelling. He got up and started to move to the door again, but Time Fire stopped him.
"No, Leave him! Now its time to run!" Time Fire started running across the court yard. Garren followed closely behind. He now held his gun in his hands because it kept knocking against his back. He looked back towards the castle, already lights were on and ponies were coming out of the doors.
"There they are!" One shouted.
"Just keep going! We're almost to the tree line!" Time Fire was still ahead of him.
He could hear more yelling from behind him. The moon caused shadows of the pegasi on the stone ground. Garren turned to the side and saw a pony flying very close to him. The pegasus had its eyes fixed on him with a hoof stretched out maybe two feet from Garren's right shoulder.
"Almost there" He said.
"Oh shit!" Garren yelled and kept running. The pony was just faster. He got his left hoof on Garren's right shoulder. He was still looking at him and was now right next to him.
"Gotch-" The pony couldn't finish. Garren had reached the trees and purposefully ran next to one. The pony crashed into and Oak and Garren kept running. He looked back to see many ponies in pursuit, both in the air and on the ground. He could make one white one that was bigger than the others, with light blue, green and pink hair.
Shit, that princess has to be really pissed off now. He thought as he turned and kept running through the forest.
************
Princess Celestia watched as the two dangerous prisoners disappeared through the trees. Dozens of unicorns, earth ponies and pegasi went after them. Mostly likely they wouldn't find them. She turned back and went into the castle to the interrogation room. Captain Wall was there yelling orders at various ponies who nodded at ran out the door. He saw her and moved to say something, but she held up a hoof, there wasn't much left to be said.
Time Fire had lied about everything. He only wanted guards moved away from their posts. The past three days of preparation had all been a waste. She shook her head and went down to the dungeons. Lots of medical ponies with masks were there. They tried to carry some of the less chard ponies. Celestia looked around the room. 38 ponies had came for Time Fire, none left alive. She found the body of Captain Wall's lieutenant, Iron Bolt. The smell of it was revolting and she couldn't take any more. She went to Captain Wall, whispered in his ear, he nodded and left another pony in charge. Celestia went up to her chamber and looked out the window.
Moments later there was a knock on her door. Still looking out the window, she opened it with magic and three ponies came inside the room and waited for her to speak.
"The human that injured your friend escaped tonight with another dangerous prisoner. I would like to have them back and you three possess skills that could bring them back. I know you would like to see justice exacted upon him for causing harm to Rarity." Princess Celestia now turned to face Twilight Sparkle, Applejack and Rainbow Dash. "Do you think you can find them for me?"
The three ponies all smiled and looked at each other, then back to the princess. Twilight Sparkle spoke for all of them.
"Yes."
End Chapter 4
Ok so another one down. I was kinda exicted to writed this one and looked over it kinda quickly so if theres any grammer mistakes, just tell me and i'll correct them. like and fav and all that sh*t