//------------------------------//
// Chapter 11: Escape 
// Story: A Black Belt in a Colorful Land 
// by DismantledAccount 
//------------------------------//


Chapter 11: Escape



Late Evening/Early Morning...


"-but you might walk a little funny in the morning until you get someone to untie your legs." Alex felt the fight ebb out of Rainbow Dash as he held her face into the pillow. I was really hoping that she wouldn't struggle, but then again I can't really blame her, I know I would have, thought Alex, as he cut strips of Rainbow's blanket into makeshift ropes with his knife. He tied her front legs and hind legs together before he finished by buy putting a gag in her mouth.

I just suffocated a mythological creature with a pillow and tied her up with a blanket... Alex suddenly realized the absurdity of his situation and had an almost overwhelming urge to plunge his knife into his neck and just end it. Get a grip, Alex, there's still a chance you can get home, right?  he thought, folding up his knife and sliding it back into his pocket. He looked over at the unconscious mare and put his hand in front of her muzzle to make sure she was breathing. After feeling the air rush past his fingers a couple of times he was satisfied that she would be fine. 

Alex turned his attention to the wall of books behind Rainbow Dash. Jeez, it must suck to be a kid here, Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, and worst of all Ditzy Doo. Can't these parents think of any actual names? And what's next, Pinkie Pie? That would just be sad.





Pinkie Pie shivered in her sleep and pulled her covers up to her chin. "I heard that, new pony," Pinkie murmured quietly. "You can't hide forever..."





Alex kept looking at the wall of books, hoping to find one to suit his needs. No, no, no, ew, no, definitely no. Ah, here they are. Alex found what he was looking for and pulled out a slim book by the name of, 'Ponyville: Maps and Other Assorted Information' and a slightly thicker one 'Know Your Plants: A Guide .' "Perfect," he said, tucking the books in his leg pocket. 

After checking once again to make sure Rainbow was sleeping peacefully he decided it was time to leave. Alex slowly opened the door and peered out into the dark town. Seeing that no one was awake at this early hour, he eased himself out the door and walked into the night.

He found a small alley that had some easily readable street signs next to it, courtesy of a dimly glowing lantern. Alex pulled the book out of his pocket and opened it to a map, but not an ordinary one. You are here? Really? Like that's not a scam. To his surprise the small arrow was indeed exactly where he was, the street signs confirmed it. Out of curiosity he tried spinning in a circle and the arrow did the same. Alex inspected both sides of the page closely, Well what do you know... he thought, determining it was indeed a normal piece of paper. What was I thinking, he thought, face palming, This is the World of Flying Horses, Unicorns, and Ass Tattoos, logic need not apply. "Better get going before everything starts waking up," he muttered, following the arrow to the dark green blob marked 'Everfree Forest.'





Alex reached the edge of the forest by morning, the pre-dawn light slowly lighting up the sky. Ahhh, good to see you my old enemy. he thought, returning to the one place he had been trying to escape from for most of whenever he was in there. The days are all starting to blend together now... That reminds me, he thought, reaching down and picking up a small stick, roughly four inches long. He pulled out the blade on his multi-tool and cut a small notch in the side of the stick muttering, "Day one." 

He placed both the tool and the stick in his pocket before looking at his magic map again. "Let's see here... Sweet Apple Acres? Sounds promising," he said, while setting off in the direction of the orchard.

Alex didn't want to venture too far into the forest in the fear of getting lost again. Not that there's much chance of that, unless I go off the boundary of the map. Alex decided to go into the forest just far enough so that he couldn't see the town, hoping that nothing would happen to stumble into him by walking into the forest. After looking at the map, he determined that there would have to to be some sneaking involved if he wanted to get any apples, seeing as the forest didn't come all the way up to the edge of the orchard.

All right, then, he thought, nearing the edge of the forest, Time to... "What the heck?" Alex looked down from his map to see a long, thin, blue snake with a green hexagon pattern on its back latched onto his shin, directly above his boot. Reacting quickly, he closed the book he was holding and smashed the binding into the snakes skull, killing it instantly but driving its fangs in a little deeper into his skin. Alex carefully extracted the fangs from his leg noticing the poison that dripped from them. He slowly sat down on the ground and buried his head in hands, his mind shutting down, unable to deal with the craziness of late. I'm running away from four foot tall multicolored horses with freaking tattoos on their butts. And what's up with this snake? Were they all out of pink with hearts on it? He just chuckled lowly and softly for a few moments trying and failing to wrap his mind around things it was refusing to understand.

Alex died. But not in the way most people think of death. Alex mentally retreated into the depths of his mind to do some heavy thinking, and let Alexander the Great, or Alex Two for short, take control for a while. Alex Two was almost a different person from Alex, hence the name. 

Alex Two was an adrenalin fueled beast bent on survival that would do almost anything to insure that Alex survived, including not thinking about the horses that were probably chasing him. Alex Two had only reared his head in two situations, this being the third. The first one was when... Alex didn't think about much, and the second one was when Alex was out hiking with his buddy. A sudden rock slide had trapped his friend's arm in large boulders, destroying it completely, and knocking him unconscious. Alex Two awoke and had amputated his friends arm, then slung him over his shoulders, and carried him ten miles down the side of the mountain to the nearest hospital.

Alex Two stood up slowly and cracked his knuckles, "Time's ticking, no time for resting," he muttered. He picked up the dead snake and made a makeshift tourniquet out of it by tying it snugly around his shin. He wiped the snake's blood off of his book and opened it up to the map. He found what he was looking for, a small rectangle marked 'Ponyville Hospital.' "Target acquired," he said, ignoring the already extremely painful burning sensation radiating from the bite.

While Alex Two was determined, he wasn't crazy. He knew that venturing into town in broad daylight could pose some... interesting problems. Instead he set his sights on a run down looking house sitting on the outskirts of town. As he limped  closer he could tell that it had been neglected for years. The roof was in a sorry state, paint was peeling everywhere, and the small deck had several loose boards. Perfect, he thought, the burning in his leg fueling his desire to get to the house.

Fortunately, the presumed back door was unlocked. Finally, something that went right for once, he thought, stepping inside. Inside was cleaner but not much better shape than the outside of the house. The back door opened up into a small kitchen, however, there wasn't much in the way of anything in the kitchen. There was just a single counter that had a couple of cabinets below it, a oven/stove combo at one side of the counter and a small pantry on the other side. The one doorway out of the kitchen led to an even smaller dinning room that only had a table with four chairs in it. Walking into the final room of the lower floor he found the living room. Inside the living room was a matching floral patterned chair and small sofa with a short bookcase in between them. On one side of the rectangular room sat the front door and to the other side sat a staircase.

This house is definitely abandoned, he thought, noticing the prevalent state of neglect and rather impressive lack of personal items. I don't really need to go up stairs, he thought, laying down on the couch with most of his legs sticking over the side of it. If I go up those stairs I'm just going to find more of the same, he thought, while getting comfortable. Here's hoping I wake up tonight, he thought, attempting and failing to suppress the unbearable agony burning in his veins. I only have about ten more hours until I can break into the hospital, great, he thought, closing his eyes and falling into a uneasy sleep.




Here, have some awesomeness that I recently found and somehow manage to write to.

There is a lyric version and two other slight variations, one for the Marine Corps and one for the Navy if you're interested.