//------------------------------// // 26 - Prison Break // Story: Synch // by sunnypack //------------------------------// Quite literally breaking our prison. Well, I wasn't going to shed any (manly or otherwise) tears for the cell, but hey call me crazy, I was interested in the inhibitor magic. To be more precise I was interested in magic in general. To a scientist (or an engineer) nothing says ‘screw you, muwhahaha!’ better than defying all physics and entropy and (as a bonus) setting things on fire. Let’s be honest here. Everyone likes fire. If you don't, then you clearly evolved from another group of primates that didn't use it to survive, so there. Getting away from my tangent on the curvature of the issue, the escape went off without a hitch. It was beautiful. The plan I mean, not the escape, I was a bumbling fool most of the time. Twinkie worked quickly and effectively together as if they had long practiced how to get out of awkward situations involving being kidnapped and taken away from all that you know and love and being relegated as hostages in a slavery situation that would make any sapient creature despondent. Pinkie was being… useful. She had procured a sticky glowing substance (which I chose not to think about) and stuck them to the floor near the bars. Luckily, guards that patrolled the area never saw fit to give prisoners the comfort of having their own light so we were well aware when one would decide to approach. The glowing substance was amazing in the dark but barely visible in the light and it made perfect camouflage lighting. I had asked Pinkie where she got this stuff but Pinkie just shrugged and said something about stashing things all over the place in case of emergencies. When I approached Twilight, her expression told me she kept things locked up in a mental vault before it would cause any of them harm. I thoroughly agreed. In fact, I had considered building my own mental vault ever since I accepted this reality. Twilight had been simply amazing. Her scientific knowledge had rivalled mine and she was convinced that adding a magic catalyst would speed up the thermite. She dove into an explanation of the effectiveness of a magic catalyst which would boost the thermite efficiency. I cautioned her that we only had one shot of the spell before the inhibitor overwhelmed her. Efficiency calculations could wait, ah but she was a mare after my own heart... scientifically speaking of course. I saw her packing dirt around the opposite side that the thermite would be contacting the inhibitor bars. When I asked why, she told me it would help shield the light whilst also trapping the heat from the reaction, increasing the efficiency of the thermite without resorting to a magical catalyst. Again, I was impressed and grateful. I started feeling bad about slapping her on the flank and I decided to apologise as soon as we were clear. Stupid! Solid and Iron were two ponies I had not spoken to for any length of time. I knew almost nothing about them. I felt I could trust Iron, he seemed like a good fellow, but Solid was a different matter. As far as I knew from the guards, Solid had been a criminal they were transporting back to Canterlot castle and from what I gathered, Iron was here to keep her in check. I never liked the unstable sort. People had to be predictable for me to like me. I don't mean in the way that you had to be not-Pinkie but more like you had to be someone safe and solid, a person who didn’t mean any harm. I could be misjudging her but I needed to see solid evidence (hah, see what I did there?). On a more serious note, we were finally ready to destroy the inhibitor bars. Twilight waved a hoof at me in a beckoning gesture. I crouched next to her and peered at the thermite compositions next to each bar. I nodded. They looked fine. “Okay, we'll wait for the guard to pass, which should be any second now and then activate the thermite”, I told her as I swept one last critical gaze over the thermite. The muffled sounds of clinking armour and scuffed gravel alerted me. I signalled everyone to pretend to sleep. Pinkie was already asleep so I didn't need to worry about that. The guard approached the inhibitor bars, clacking them with his claws. I shot him a dishonestly annoyed look and pretended to be groggy. He simply laughed gruffly and moved on. As the light receded from his torch, the room lit up with the glow substance right away. I gave a thumbs up to everyone to which Twinkie and the guards nodded to but the rest seemed confused. Huh, I guess some gestures depended on cultural awareness. Twilight and Solid gathered at the first thermite point carefully sticking their horns out to touch the thermite lightly. Twilight had warned Solid on many occasions that the thermite would be slow to start but once it was underway it would burn bright and fast and she would not like her horn to be around that for long. Solid nodded nervously as they both started the spell at the same time. Fortunately it was a simple spell and Twilight managed most of the complicated physical mechanics after activation, all Solid had to do was provide as much magical energy as possible and Twilight would add and direct it. A huge spark popped from their horns and a dull red glow could be seen under the compacted dirt around the thermite. I heard Twilight warn Solid to step back and she did while Twilight tried containing the light and heat for as long as possible. Eventually the inhibitor bars prevented her magic and she sat back exhausted. I patted her on the head for a job well done and we waited to see what the results would be. For a moment when the red glow faded I thought we had failed and I almost stamped a foot in frustration. Hand on my chest though, the thermite mixture caught and a brilliant fountain of sparks shot out producing a dazzling fireworks of a display. Solid Evidence grinned (I pinned her as a pyromaniac), Iron File was enraptured and the guards both hoofed me in the back in congratulations. Pinkie woke up, looked at the broken bar, then bounced up to Twilight, giving her a hug. With one of the inhibitor bars down, Twilight instantly felt a small reserve of magic sink in. She immediately set to work on the next thermite composition. Throughout the process Twilight worked at a careful, measured pace and I admired the fact that she never lost her calm or let the excitement get to her head before the job was done. She shot Pinkie a grin though, as the last inhibitor bar was disconnected. I asked Twilight before about the mechanics of the inhibitor bars, why they would fail if the thermite severed the bottom. She told me it was a matter of luck. If the bars were constructed to have multiple points of reinforcing inhibitor spells along the section of the bars then the best we could do would be to weaken the inhibitor spell slightly. Fortunately, this would cost a substantial amount, no matter if you had a unicorn, griffon or some other creature with access to magic spell the bars, so it was usually better to spell the bars in one shot. Since the bars had to kept whole for the spell to work properly, it would quickly degenerate as deformities ran through the structure. This was why spells were usually kept in high ordered structures such as gems, the harder they were, the more durable they would be and the better preserved a spell would be. The way Twilight described it sounded like the spell ran similar to a computer, well she called it specifically an enchantment but I didn’t want to complicate with labels. I only had a limited time to admire this when Twilight introduced us to a magical version of bolt cutters. Solid quickly and quietly levitated the dropping bars to a pile outside the cell. Twilight reported she was back up to full capacity. I gestured to Pinkie and made an exaggerated bow. “Ladies first”, I winked as she giggled and bounced on through the opening. Twilight followed behind as well as Solid, then the rest of the guards and myself. I cast one look at the cell and saluted it mockingly before meeting up with the others. I took lead since I knew the most about the cave system, quickly reaching the old furnaces. There had been small, tense incidences when a guard almost caught us as we rounded a corner, but we barely managed to escape detection by diving into a side room or hiding behind a cart or trolley as they passed. As luck would have it, one of the side rooms contained all of our belongings (minus myself for I never had any). Twilight, the guards and Iron happily recovered the confiscated property. I spotted a spool of copper wire and a pair of flint rock. I confirmed it by striking the two together. Nice. We headed out cautiously but it seemed we had missed all the local patrols. I sighed in relief as we reached the old furnace room. I pointed to a particularly big one that dominated the other end of the room. “It’ll be a tight fit for me but I think all of you should fit comfortably”, I said, leaning against a wall. The guards nodded and began the process of lifting all my prison buddies (I snorted in amusement) out of the caverns. While I was waiting, I looked around to see if I could find anything useful. There were just discarded metal and slag and there wasn’t anything worth recovering. I sat on a small anvil as I waited for the Hardy and Lightning to finish their runs. I spotted a light approaching from the doorway and panicked. I realised we had left it open. “Go, go, go!” I whispered urgently and gestured emphatically at Twilight who was the only one left. She protested quietly as she was lifted up and I stalked away from the furnace, determined to provide enough of a distraction for their escape, if it came down to it. I positioned myself behind the door, hoping the guard wouldn't smash it open and hit me. The light gradually grew lighter and I clutched my copper spool of wire like a garrotte. I didn't want to hurt anyone but I would if I had to. The light intensified through the doorway as a curious diamond dog peered in. He stalked into the furnace room, looking around. I recognised him immediately. I strung the garrotte around his head and whispered into his ear. “Don’t move Gruff, or I will strangle you.” Gruff flinched but otherwise stayed still. “You're a friend Gruff and fortunately I don't need to kill you”, I growled softly, I sounded sinister, almost evil. I was also on the verge of crapping in my pants. Gruff was a big guy. “Promise me you'll walk away and pretend this never happened”, I said. He hesitated and I tightened the garrotte. “Promise me!” I whispered urgently. He nodded. “Thank you.” I released him and he scrambled out the door. I felt a wave of guilt hit me. It seemed like everything I had done had made me feel guilty. What was wrong with me? I shook my head and climbed into the furnace. The chimney opening was crowded with the anxious faces of all my compatriots. “Hey all, sorry it look it took so long”, I called up softly. I plethora of grins broke out. Lightning made his way down and gripped me. “Up we g- whoa!” He tumbled to the ground. “Wow! You’re either really heavy or something is wrong with my wings”, he said. I frowned. “Try going up there”, I suggested. He flew up easily. “Okay come back here.” He came back down and alighted next to me. “Give me your hoof”, I said and he gave me his hoof, I gripped it in my hand. “Now try flying.” He flapped his wings but nothing happened. I thought about this for a moment, I had a hunch but I needed more confirmation. "Do your wings require some sort of magic?" I asked, to which Lightning nodded. Twilight shouted down an affirmation, I rolled my eyes, seems like sound can carry quite far up the chimney. I thought about it for a while. There were many thing that required magic to work in this place. The bar for one were magical constructs as far as I could tell, but surprisingly I had never touched them so I couldn't confirm if that had an effect. I probably didn't since Twilight didn't report a surge of magic returning. Also when she tried teleporting me she had been touching me and things had not gone to plan with the teleport. I had discount it as a mishap and Twilight had been confused. Things seemed to point in one direction. “Hmm, it seems like I can nullify magic somehow”, I declared. It wasn't a complete theory, I mean I had still teleported, it just didn't work as well. Also Lightning couldn't lift me but was able to fly up quite easily only moments after releasing him. I needed more testing to confirm the mechanics of my 'nullification' theory. Twilight’s voice interrupted my thoughts as it echoed down the chimney, “What?! Why didn't you tell us? We could have broken out ages ago!” “Even if I could, I would probably only be able to nullify about three or four bars, Twilight. The rest would still be inhibiting. I have to physically be touching them (at least so far), you wouldn't even be able to use the bolt cutter spell. Besides, I don't know what the repercussions of nullifying magic would do”, I answered, spoken like a true scientist. Twilight looked thoughtful. She nodded accepting my explanation, at least for now. “Okay, this changes nothing. Lightning, I need you to leave me behind”, I commanded, giving him a solid look. Lightning looked hurt. “We can't just abandon you”, he replied, he looked with pleading eyes. “You're not”, I affirmed, locking gazes with him. His eyes reflected something deeper and I felt like I could understand, if only a little. “It’s not like last time”, I said gently as he started with surprise. “You will be back and you can save everyone. Free me and free the slaves, get help. Now go!” He reluctantly spread his wings and flew out the opening. One by one I looked on as I heard their farewells and noted each departing face. I looked back to see Gruff. He had returned. “Ah pony feathers”, I cursed, borrowing from my recent friends.