"Wha-" Grayscale barely had time to gasp before Prism forcibly yanked him out the door.
There were heavy hoofsteps behind them. "Over here! They're going this way!" A rough voice bellowed.
"They weren't supposed to come so soon," Prism Hue gulped. "This isn't good."
Grayscale quickly glanced back over his shoulder. Two burly stallions were barreling their way towards himself and Prism, shoving aside unwary bystanders. "You don't say?"
Prism veered sharply around a corner, and he tried desperately to follow. In all fairness, he wasn't used to this. No, he wasn't in bad shape, but running from big stallions who could probably beat you into a pastry filling was not something he did often. But then again, that was going to change soon.
"Where- to- now?" Grayscale wheezed, more because his heart rate was higher than what was healthy for a hummingbird than because he was out of shape. Being chased does tend to do that you.
"Let's head up to Eagle Point. There's a secret way out of there we can take," She responded.
Eagle Point was a huge stone outcropping on the west side of Stonehoof. It was something of an overlook to the Ghastly Gorge, which ran all the way to Ponyville. Grayscale had heard many tales of foolhardy pegasi trying to fly the length of the gorge, never to be seen again. So it came as no surprise that Prism wanted to go there.
"But what abou-" He began.
"The so-called dangerous creatures that live in there?" She cut him off. "Here, turn at the fruit stalls. Well, it's only a defense mechanism."
The world blurred by as Prism Hue picked up even more speed. Her hooves seemed on automatic as she leaped onto a low awning, bouncing on three in quick succession. She was on the rooftops in less than a moment, leaving Grayscale to scramble up awkwardly.
"How do you do this?!" He asked in shock.
She frowned. This wasn't something she usually thought about too terribly much. "I dunno. I guess I just do it a lot."
She mush have stopped to consider this, because the next moment, Grayscale shrieked, "Go! Run! They're gaining on us!"
This was more than enough to galvanized the rainbow unicorn into motion. "Mmm, persistent lot, aren't they?"
"You can say that," Grayscale retorted. "I think they have crossbows!"
Sure enough, a thin bolt thudded into the roof between his hooves.
"Yup!" Prism leaped to a rooftop on the other side of the cobblestone-paved street.
With a sickening feeling, Grayscale realized that there were more of their mysterious pursuers. Whatever Prism Hue had, they wanted really badly. Badly enough to kill to get it, he reflected as two more crossbow bolts came to a quivering halt on a weather vane.
Suddenly there was a huge gap in front of them, far too big to jump. It was also too high up, as Grayscale didn't fancy breaking every bone in his legs to get down.
"We've got you now!" The lead stallion roared, stamping his brown hooves. "Give us the Prism-thingy and we won't toss you over the edge. Heh heh heh..."
Prism Hue appeared to consider this idea for a moment. "Hmmm... Nah." She leaped off the edge, pulling Grayscale off with her. (He would later describe his screaming as the roar of a stallion, but Prism thought it was much closer to the shriek of a banshee.)
"Are you insane?!" He screamed as they fell.
"Possibly," she retorted. Her horn flared top life with deep emerald-green magic. A thin tendril of rainbow snaked around her waist, and then wrapped around his own. They came to a halt merely inches from the dusty ground.
Prism looked up quickly at the astounded chasers. "They'll be down in a minute; come on, we need to go."
Stones rattled as they galloped down the steep incline to Eagle Point. Twice Grayscale tripped over his hooves in his haste to escape the deadly bolts that whistled through the air.
"This way!" The vibrant mare shouted, motioning him to a crack in the base of the gargantuan rock.
The moment he stepped hoof in the tiny crevice, Prism slammed a big boulder into place, causing him to emit a mewl of pain as more than a few of his tail strands were caught in it. Darkness prevailed.
"Hey Prism," Grayscale asked after a few moments of silence. "Are you sure that was a good idea?"
"Why wouldn't it be?" She asked with obvious confusion in her voice. "It's foolproof."
"Well, I hate to break it to you, but we're trapped in a tiny niche of rock with half a dozen ponies who want whatever-it-is you have waiting outside."
Prism Hue was silent. "I didn't really think of that."
Grayscale rolled his eyes and said nothing.
"Hey! Don't you roll your eyes at me!" She snapped.
"Okay, okay- wait, how did you even know I was rolling my eyes?!"
"I dunno. It just seems the kind of thing you do."
"You've known me for barely two hours!" Grayscale shrieked.
"So? It seemed like the kind of thing you'd do," She retorted.
There was a solid thump, thump, thump from where Grayscale stood.
"Grayscale?" She asked.
"Yeah?" Thump, thump, thump.
"What are you doing?"
"Banging my head against the wall. What does it sound like?" Thump, thump, thump
"Sorta like the bad guys are trying to break in."
Thump, thump- "Wait, what!?"
"Well, it does."
There was the a clanking sound from outside, the sound of a pickaxe on stone.
"Oh, great." Grayscale muttered. "This is all your fault."
"How is it my fault?"
"Well, for starters, you got us chased by nutcases! And then, you just had to jump off of the building! And what in Equestria possessed you to hide in a tiny cave while said nutcases slowly dug you out!?" Poor Grayscale was almost berserk at this point.
"There is another way out you know..."
"WHAT?!" Grayscale shrieked, deafening everypony outside the rock hideout. Prism Hue, fortunately, had the good sense to plug her ears.
"Right this way!" She said cheerfully.
Prism flicked a previously hidden switch, and florescent lights flickered on, illuminating a smooth pathway. They trotted down it casually, Grayscale wincing from the sudden change in light level. Prism Hue calmly walked up to a reinforced iron door much like the ones on submarines, with a porthole and a wheel set in the center of the door.
Prism flipped open a concealed keypad and rapidly punched in a series of numbers. Then she turned the wheel on the door. With a hiss, it swung open, spilling yellow light out into the hallway. She turned to him.
"Welcome, Grayscale, to the headquarters of the Ever-Afters."