//------------------------------//
// 28 - The Escape 
// Story: Re:Harmony 
// by starcross7 
//------------------------------//

Chapter 28 - The Escape
 
"Daddy, how long do we have to ride this stupid train?"
 
This was the third time Diamond Tiara asked him this question, but it still did not grate him to the point where Filthy Rich wished he had the kind and gentle Winter Tulip for a daughter instead the one he sired. 
 
He thought that taking his daughter to the factories of Dodge Junction would take her mind off of her falling out with the Chancellor's daughter.  Bad idea.  Diamond Tiara made it well known that she didn't like the dirty streets, the dirty air, and the dirty workers.  She did not like the fact that there were no fancy restaurants, no fancy dress shops, and no fancy spas.  She and her father stayed in the mayor's mansion, the only place that was considered luxury in the dreary city of Dodge Junction, and she did not like the way they prepared her ice cream sundae, which she promptly threw down to the floor after seeing a minor blemish on her cherry.  It was getting harder and harder to please her, and a lot of reasons for this behavior rationalized within Rich’s mind.  She might be acting out because of the loss of her mother, or perhaps he spoiled her too much.  Maybe she was born that way.
 
Fortunately, the inspection was short, and there were no upstart workers complaining about the adequate work conditions Rich worked hard to provide to Dodge Junction's citizens.  He would stay for the night, but his daughter, in a not so subtle way of saying that she left her other tiara at home in Gaeaopolis, pressured him to leave early. 
 
He truly did not want to leave Dodge Junction during an ungodly hour.  It was bad enough that pegasii spies had been reported patrolling the ruins of Appleloosa, but passing through the Everfree Forest via rail was like asking for a death wish.  The might of Gaea's military-industrial complex struggled to control the wilderness that had been aggressively encroaching on land that had been cleared off centuries ago, and the forest showed no signs of slowing down.  Ponies told stories about the Forest's mythical reputation, like how the trees were alive and grew like weeds in a lightning fashion.  To defend themselves, the trees gave birth to timberwolves, and the blood of interlopers and loggers served as the Forest's sustenance.  There were also tales of ponies who stayed too long in the forest became trees themselves. 
 
Yet at the same time, Filthy Rich felt supremely confident that he, as a wealthy arms manufacturing owner and a member of the Earth Party elite, had the best security ponies appointed to him, many of whom were trained personally by Lancer of the House of Sol.  There were even a few guards who claimed to have served with and even sparred against Chancellor Posey during her tour of duty. 
 
As if fate had something against his hubris, the train made a rough and sudden stop that nearly threw everypony off their hooves.  Filthy Rich and his daughter were in their own personal luxury car when all this had happened. 
 
"What is going on?" his daughter demanded.        
 
"I'll go check, sweetie." 
 
Rather, he would instead step out into the next car and ask the on board security supervisor on what just happened.  About a minute later, the supervisor reported back to Rich that a tree had fallen and blocked the tracks, and that his stallions were hard at work at trying to get it cleared off. 
 
This was taking too long.  Being stranded in the middle of the forest invited trouble, whether it was bandits, rebels, sky pirates, or pegasii.  Yet all those who traveled through and around the Everfree Forest knew that, unlike the rest of the world, it had its own brutal laws of nature. 
 
He went back to his car where his daughter tried to read a romance novel on her bed.  After telling her that everything was going to be okay, Rich went over to the corner where he had installed his minibar.  As he poured his hard liquor into his glass, he quietly hoped and prayed--something he didn't do too often--that the fallen tree would be cleared off quickly and that the train would resume its merry way.  He did not want the worst to happen, but it did, and he heard a horrible neigh echo deep from within the forest.        
 
"It's here!" cried a stallion guard.  "The Feral Pony is here!" 
 
The cars rocked violently as screams of both pony and animal mixed together in chaos.  Multiple shots had been fired, and the engine and the munitions car exploded. 
 
Like all little fillies, Diamond Tiara shook in her hooves, and then leapt off her bed when a nearby window shattered.  Somersaulting inside the fresh opening was a white rabbit donned in a bandanna and a green vest, making him appear more adorable than he should be. 
 
"Hey, a cute bunny," said Diamond. 
 
"Diamond, no!" 
 
Rich pulled his daughter just as the white rabbit fired a derringer pistol he pulled out from behind his back.  The shot grazed Rich's shoulder, and in that instant a horde of rabbits flooded in through the broken windows to indiscriminately loot of everything they could wrap their tiny paws around, be it clothes, jewelry, and romance novels.  They even took Filthy Rich's hard liquor, upon which they briefly and greedily drank more than a half a bottle or so before leaving the car in torn shambles. 
 
The white rabbit remained.  He procured a grenade and held it high above his head.  He made sure that the father and daughter saw him pull the pin with a devilish chuckle.  Filthy Rich and Diamond Tiara ran for their lives off the train in the middle of battlefield of pony versus nature.  Nature, armed to the teeth with the very weapons ponies used to subdue them, was winning. 
 
Thus the grenade exploded, and flames immediately engulfed the caboose and the car it was immediately attached to.  Filthy Rich held his daughter tightly as he saw emerging from the smoke and falling embers the silhouette of a pony surrounded by demonic-looking crows, beavers, ferrets, rabbits, and a pair of bears.  The beastmaster beamed its vengeful eyes upon Filthy Rich and his daughter to remind them that for this night and perhaps this night only that they would be spared from being mauled to death.  The father and daughter were lucky to survive with just scrapes and bruises.  Their security detail lay on the ground writhing and groaning in pathetic agony from the deep wounds they incurred from the violent raid. 
 
Fluttering insects swarmed and flooded the space around the cars.  Filthy Rich assumed that these were demonic moths, but upon a focused inspection, these were shimmering dark blue Midnight Butterflies.  These creatures provided the perfect cover for the beastmaster and the animals to vanish into the forest of the night.  Filthy Rich allowed his daughter to cry her frightened heart in his chest as he began to mentally plan a way to call for help. 
 
He sure hoped nothing bad was happening back at Rock Prison. 



 
 Twilight and the others did not hear it, but they could feel the cries of hundreds, if not a thousand prisoners rallying for hope and freedom.  "Riot!  Riot!" the ponies roared.  Everything about the Rock Prison system was all going to hell, and nearly everypony loved it. 
 
For the riot to be truly effective, the group had to override all sealed gates and doors so that every prisoner would move freely.  Getting to the security control room was not a difficult task, no matter how many loyal guards and Clone Soldiers the prison threw at them.  Pinkie's Element-enchanted inline skates, which she dubbed the Pinkie Gear, allowed her to dodge every bullet and baton and bowl over any breathing obstacle in her path.  Applejack's Sword of Truth obliterated Clone Soldiers with just one strike and felled non-clones without irreversible harm. 
 
The natural abilities of Sunny and Twilight were nothing to sneeze at as well.  Sunny's martial arts allowed her to defeat waves of guards and Soldiers with her bare hooves, and Twilight's creative use of magic protected everypony that accompanied her.  Big Mac, Quirky, Lucy, and their allied and former guards also took credit as they bucked, punched, and shot their way through the prison hallways. 
 
They soon secured the security control room after knocking out and tying up any guard who stood in their way.  On Applejack's cue, Pinkie happily flipped all manner of levers and switches in a full circle to set the rest of the prisoners free from their cells, and Twilight and Lucy attended to the computer systems to make sure no hidden program would undo the complete and utter shutdown of Rock Prison. 
 
Yet the Government had planned for a riot of this magnitude.  Bon Bon's silent alarm, while it served a useful purpose for her alibi, gave the Clone Soldiers enough time to coordinate a counterattack from bases not far from the prison.  To their dismay, Twilight and Lucy witnessed on the security monitors reinforcements arriving en masse to bomb out the main entrance, the tracks leading into the mines, and the airship landing strip on the roof.  Three large explosions rocked the prison, and more and more soldiers were rappelling down from hovering airships to quell the riot and prevent any chance for anypony to escape through other means. 
 
"You're right," said Lucy.  "They aren't going to make this easy.  They closed off all the escape routes."
 
"No they haven't," said Applejack.  "There's still the yard."
 
"The walls are high, and the guard towers are heavily armed.  They'll mow us down before we could do anything."
 
“It’s our only chance.  We’ll think of somethin’, won't we Twi?”
 
“I suppose I can blow a hole with my magic.”
 
“And Pinkie and I snagged a lot of grenades!” said Quirky as she showed off duffle bags of explosive ordinances. 
 
“And you have my axe!” added Pinkie.  “I mean, my skates!”
 
“Heaven forbid we give Pinkie an axe," said Applejack.  "All right everypony--we all have our parts to play, now let’s--”
 
They heard a mare's scream, and it wasn't among them.  In one of the monitors, the ponies witnessed three Clone Soldiers brutally beating down a prisonmare in a hallway not too far from them.  In that very same monitor, a red and lanky prison stallion charged in bucked the Clones unconscious.  However, the doors around them opened to reveal more Clones, who immediately fired upon the two trapped prisoners. 
 
Big Mac was not among the group in the control room, and Applejack, knowing where he was at, immediately bolted out with her katana cutting through swaths of Clone Soldiers before she found Big Mac shielding Golden Harvest from any gunfire.  He was bleeding, but his wounds appeared minor to him.  He shook himself back to his hooves without much effort. 
 
"You saved me," said Harvest.  "Both of you, even though I didn't deserve it after all I did to you and your friends." 
 
Lucy and Quirky, among others, were behind Applejack.  They were still frowning at the orange-maned prisonmare, and obviously miffed at Harvest's repeated snitching.  They could have left her to fend for herself, but Applejack extended her hoof to pull Harvest back to all fours. 
 
"Let's let bygones be bygones," said Applejack.  "We all forgive you, right guys?" 
 
"Um, sure," nodded Lucy. 
 
"That doesn't sound convincing," said Pinkie Pie, who was suddenly right in front of Lucy's muzzle.  "FORGIVE CARROT TOP!"
 
"Okay, we forgive her!" 
 
"Now come on everypony!  A prison riot is not a riot without family friends!" 
 
"That doesn't make sense!  Hey, wait!" 
 
From their present location, the riotous group tore through more and more Clone Soldiers, and throughout their way, they gathered more allies, both mutinous guard and prisoner, as well as armaments to combat the soulless Clones.   They emerged into the prisonmares' wing of the prison, starting at the lockers, and then going through the cafeteria wing where Pinkie Pie manage to stuff all the stale cornbread in her cheeks before being digested into her black hole of a stomach.  Then from the indoor gym, they kicked the doors out into the yard, and they arrived at the very baseball diamond Applejack had played her first game in.  Immediately, a spray of bullets halted their advance, and Twilight cast a barrier spell just in time for her friends to dodge and put up a barricade for a counterattack. 
 
Twilight then took cover behind a wall to charge up her horn, and she then briefly exposed herself to fire a concentrated blast of magic at the wall before taking cover again.  Her magic missile had not been diverted by any anti-magic bullets or struck any Clone Soldier standing in the way.  Her spell struck its intended target, but the magical blast had been absorbed to the wall's seemingly plain surface like water splashing onto carpet.
 
"My magic isn't working," said Twilight.  "They must have coated it with anti-magic materials." 
 
"Then we'll just have to break it down the old fashioned way," said Applejack.  "You think you can put up a barrier to protect us?"
 
"I can, but I'm not sure how long I can hold it up. But since Pinkie can use those skates, she can get rid of the soldiers on the ground before more rappel from those airships.  At the same time, I can use my barrier to protect you, Applejack.”
 
"Sounds like a good plan to me, Sugarcube.  Are y'all ready?"
 
"Ready as willing," said Twilight. 
 
"I'll do my best!" cried Pinkie. 
 
"Let me come along," said Sunny. 
 
"I know you're good at hoof-and-cuffs," said Applejack, "but I think we can handle this on our own.  Besides, you’re our special Alicorn, and we need you to find the other Elements.”
 
"I'm not going anywhere without Twilight.”  With that, Sunny hugged the purple unicorn and gave her quick lick on her cheek. This briefly angered the orange pony, but she quickly turned her focus back at the escape and the wall she needed to bring down.  
 
“Fine, you can back us up.  Everypony else, cover our flanks!”
 
Their armed allies quickly put up barricades with everything they could find, be it gym mats, electric carts, etc., and returned fire at the Clones at the other side of the field.  Then at Twilight's cue, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Sunny entered into her magical barrier, and at their fastest, the four braved bullets and grenades flying from both sides.  Pinkie's speed allowed her to bowl over the Clones on the ground, and Sunny kicked down any stragglers who attempted to pierce the magical barrier with the bayonet knives.  The four mares reached the wall, and Twilight stood firm on her hooves to raise her shield at its most powerful level.  With her katana gripped between her teeth, Applejack, made the first cut into the concrete, and it was deep enough for her to see the Everfree Forest through the narrow hole.  That it took almost all her current strength to make such an incision, and seeing Twilight sweating and grunting in mental pain as she held up the protective barrier worried the orange pony.  But they could not go back and retreat.  Not now. 
 
“There’s gotta be another way to get through this!” cried Applejack.
 
“There is!” said Pinkie Pie.  “Think of it this way: do you know why ponies cut cake from the top?  This wall is a cake!  A piece of cake!  Vroom-vroom!”
 
“What are you tryin’ to get at--whoa!”
 
Before she could protest, Applejack suddenly found herself shooting up like a rocket along gargantuan wall.  After her initial shock, she soon discovered she was riding in Pinkie’s back, and the Pinkie Gear glowed maddeningly bright at every wheel.  The orange pony never felt such exhilaration ever since riding a bull back at her farm, and she could not help but wave her hat back and forth to yell out “YEEHAW!”
 
But Pinkie Pie accelerated too fast, and both had been launched past the top of the wall.  They could go over, but they would never ever dream of forsaking their friends below.  Besides, a swarm of helicopters were heading their way at the other side, and two guard towers had their machine guns poised at the airborne ponies. 
 
“Pinks, take care of them guards,” said Applejack.  “I'll meet you at the bottom.”
 
“Okie dokey lokey!”
 
Pinkie Pie disappeared in a blur, and Applejack clenched her teeth as hard as she could on her sword’s handle as she made her rapid descent.  The katana blade sliced through the concrete wall like butter, but just as she was launched into the air too fast, she was falling too fast.  She was going to plummet to her to death, and maybe crush Twilight and Sunny in the process.  She counted on either Twilight's magic to cushion her fall, or whatever Pinkie was doing to save her.  Speaking of the pink devil, Pinkie Pie appeared to skate right beside the orange pony with a smile and a wink.  Almost at the last second, Applejack felt an outward push and she was now riding Pinkie Pie again. 
 
However, neither pony made a full stop when they hit the ground.  Instead, the momentum of their descent merely changed their orientation, and the ponies found themselves crashing back into the gym.  They looped and looped around the walls and ceiling with no signs of slowing down.  Applejack’s eyes rolled in every direction in her dizziness, but in the split second when she was level, she realized that Sunny was on her back, who then had Twilight on her back. 
 
The four-pony sandwich finally zipped out of the gym once more, but they were barreling dangerously to the cut wall.  Then at the last minute, a quartet of Clone Soldiers rappelled onto the ground before them with their bayonets directed at the four mares.  Pinkie had no choice but to slam on her brakes, inadvertently launching Applejack, Sunny, and Twilight into the air and safely over the soldiers. 
 
Safe was a relative word in this situation.  The three airborne mares would become pancakes if they were to slam into the wall. 
 
"Don't let up!" Sunny cried.  "We have to burst through!"
 
That's it!  It wasn't enough for the wall to be cut: it needed to be knocked down.  Sunny pushed out her hind legs for a devastating kick.  A composed Twilight put up a spherical magic barrier for herself and her two companions, and Applejack held out her katana for the final push.  The three ponies burst through the wall and crashed onto the top of an armored car. 
 
They were not out of the woodwork just yet.  Armored cars, tanks, airships, and helicopters pointed guns, missile launchers, and cannons at the fugitive mares.  Nopony ever said this was going to be easy. 
 
Eventually, the portion of the wall Applejack sliced did collapse, and her allies, led by a roaring Pinkie Pie, stormed out.  This wasn't good.  They would be mowed down before they could even hope to assist the rebel mare.  Then suddenly, every wall surrounding the prison came tumbling down, and every prisoner flooded the barren fields that stood between Rock Prison and the Everfree Forest. 
 
Assured of everypony's support, Applejack and her friends pressed on.  With Sunny protecting her, Twilight galloped ahead and pulled out and detonated landmines against enemy ponies.  Pinkie Pie zipped back and forth to knock down Clone Soldiers, while Applejack continued to cut through more and more obstacles.  The enemy's numbers were not letting up, and a phalanx of helicopters blasted blinding floodlights upon the escapees. 
 
Then one by one, the helicopters started falling and crashing.  Applejack noticed one of them started to turn right towards another part of the forest, but its windshield shattered, and it too crashed down into the barren fields.  The orange pony looked around to see who would be helping them with such crackshot skills.  So far, nopony in her line of sight was pointing a rifle into the air.
 
Yet the orange pony knew who was behind this.  Rather, she knew which two.  She could not see them, but Applejack, with the utmost certainty, felt the presence of the Unicorn Hunters perched on the trees picking off the heads of their targets one by one. They were helping Applejack escape, but the rebel mare knew it was only for their selfish reasons.  Applejack appreciated their help, but she would refuse to thank them. 
 
"All right, we're almost there!" Pinkie cried.  "Come on Lucy!  Come on Quirky!  The forest is that way!" 
 
Yet everypony was still fighting, and more ground reinforcements from Gaea's military were arriving by land and by air.  Lucy took command of a machine gun installed on top of an armored car and sprayed bullets at another armored car.  Meanwhile, Quirky stood nearby lobbing away what might be her one-hundredth grenade to an advancing enemy troop. 
 
"Go!" Lucy cried.  "We’ll hold them off while you escape!” 
 
"But you're my friends!" Pinkie cried.  "We have to escape together!" 
 
"Sorry, but we can't.  You got an important mission with the rebel, the unicorn, and that white mare.  Besides, it’ll be a lot more efficient for all of us to travel in small groups.”
 
"Hurry up and go!" cried Quirky.  "Go and make the world smile, just like what you said on TV."
 
Pinkie Pie became disappointed, if not saddened by their decision, but she smiled nonetheless.  She shed a single tear of happiness before joining up with Applejack, Twilight, and Sunny for their final leg of their escape.  Joined by Big Mac and Golden Harvest, the four mares, aided by a pair of snipers and their allies behind them, defeated the last wave of soldiers before finally entering the Everfree Forest. 
 
They kept running and running deeper into the twisted jungles in which Twilight used her glowing horn as their beacon of freedom.  The moonlight of the Mare in the Moon illuminated a large and open area where the escaped fugitives crossed a very old bridge towards the rendezvous point that was the ancient castle ruins.  Inside the collapsed grand foyer, Mr. and Mrs. Cake and their adopted baby dragon son tended the campfire, and the three got off their haunches to receive Twilight and the others.  The campfire's glow appeared welcoming in contrast to the blazing red-orange halo that came from the fires engulfing one of the buildings of Rock Prison.  The scene reminded Applejack of the razing of her barn, and she made sure that she, her brother, and her family friend Golden Harvest were not looking back to watch the dreaded prison burn. 
 
"Thank goodness you're all safe!" Spike cried as he ran up to hug Twilight's leg.  "I knew it was you guys causing trouble when we heard the sirens." 
 
Everyone heard a loud collapse, followed by the sound of a large block of stone shattering.  Their attention drew themselves towards Big McIntosh who lay slumped against a collapsed wall with blood pooling up around him.  Golden Harvest uttered a loud cry and fainted in Sunny's hooves, and Mrs. Cake pulled her son to shield his eyes from the possible gore.  Everypony else rushed to Big Mac's side and discovered that his wounds, which he claimed to be minor, were much more serious than anypony had anticipated. 
 
"Big Mac," said Applejack.  "Big Mac!  You stupid idiot!  Why didn't you tell me that your wounds were serious?  Why do you have to be all stubborn like that?"
 
"I didn't wanna slow you down, little sis."
 
"Twilight!  Do something!  Can't you use your magic to heal him?"
 
"I'm not so sure," said Twilight.  "He lost a lot of blood, and that's not something you can conjure up from thin air.  I can at least close his wounds." 
 
"Don't waste your magic, Miss Unicorn," said Big Mac.  "I don't have much long to live anyway." 
 
"Don't you dare say that, big bro!" cried Applejack.  "You can't leave me!" 
 
"I'm sorry little sis.  I'll let Granny Smith and Apple Bloom know that you're in good hooves." 
 
Applejack wiped her tear from her eye.  "Maybe Granny Smith won't be all alone up in heaven."
 
"What do you mean?" 
 
"The thing is, I found Apple Bloom, and she's alive.  She's alive!" 
 
He could see it in his sister's eyes that it was the honest to goodness truth, and he couldn't hear any greater news than this.  Thus, the lanky red stallion closed his eyes for the last time, and he lay there proud, happy, and free.