//------------------------------//
// Chapter 4: The Escape 
// Story: My Little Pony: Tirek's Revenge 
// by Darkblaze15 
//------------------------------//

	The Mane 5, Jacob, and Jenna, who had lost consciousness when Twilight shot at them, begin to wake up and check to see if everypony is alright.  Then, they gaze at their surroundings; they are on what appears to be a rock-covered mountain, where the sky and the ground have a reddish tint to them.  “Where the hay are we?” Applejack asks nopony in particular, to which the group answers with “I have no idea”.  Just then, a strange-looking creature dives down from the sky and swoops back up before it hits them.  
“The Everfree forest?” Rarity offers.
“No, that was much scarier than anything in the Everfree forest,” Fluttershy says nervously and hides behind Rainbow Dash.  
“Well, wherever we are,” she says as she brushes Fluttershy off, “we need to get back to Ponyville as soon as possible, before Tirek gets the chance to take his revenge out on Twilight.”  
“But, how?” Applejack asks, “even when were held hostage by them, we couldn’t figure out a way of escaping then, let alone trying to figure out where we even are right now.”  
“Ooh, an adventure!  I’ll lead the way!” Pinkie says, and she zips away in a flash of pink.  
“What was that about?” Jenna asks.
“I wouldn’t pay any mind to it,” Applejack reassures her, “It’s just Pinkie being –” but before she can finish, Pinkie Pie reappears behind her, giving her a shock.  
“Where did you go?” Rarity asks Pinkie Pie.
“Well, I went all the way across this place from one side to the other and, boy, is it dreary!  Absolutely no party balloons anywhere!” she says in her usual chipper self.  
“Pinkie, I don’t think party balloons are our biggest concern right now,” Jacob says sternly, “What else did you see?”  
“Well, I also saw this giant dog with three ginormous heads who was guarding what looked like a gate made of rocks,” she says without missing a beat.  The others in the group suddenly gasp in unison.
“I think we have a pretty good idea of where we are now,” Applejack mutters, “we must be in Tartarus!”
Back in Ponyville, Twilight is still upset by her actions and Celestia tries to comfort her as much as she can.  Meanwhile, John has since returned with parts and pieces from his shop.  “What are you up to, John?” Emily asks when she comes into the den from Twilight’s bedroom.  
"Well, as I said before, I’m going to try to find out where our friends are before they get into real trouble,” he says.  
“John, you heard what Celestia said; for all we know, our friends might be –” 
“No!” John interrupts.  “We can’t give up so easily.  I know our friends are still out there.  Twilight may have felt them disappear, but I didn’t feel anything, so I’m going to try and contact them if it’s the last thing I do!” he says sternly.  
“Okay, okay,” Emily says to calm him down, “I believe you, but how exactly are you planning on contacting them when we don’t know where they are?” 
“I’m building a device which should show us a visual of our friends and their exact location, kind of like in a picture frame," John explains.  "Of course, it needs magic to operate, so that’s where you’ll come in:  all you need to do is think about our friends and shoot a beam at the device and it should come to life.”  
“Are you sure it will work?  I don’t know how much more suffering Twilight can take,” Emily asks concerned.  
“How is she now?” John asks. 
“She’s still hurting.  She genuinely believes she killed her friends and there is no hope for their return,” Emily says. 
“Which is all the more reason to put our trust in my abilities to get this device up and running.  You trust me, right?” John asks of Emily. 
“Of course I do,” she says, “I’m sure whatever you’re doing will help.  Now, I’ll leave you to it, I’ll go up and see what else I can do for Twilight,” and she exits the room, leaving John to work on his machine.
Deep in the Everfree forest, Lord Tirek and Starlight Glimmer await the arrival of King Sombra and Queen Chrysalis.  “I never should have let her go off on her own.  Better yet, I should never have released her from Tartarus in the first place!” Tirek growls to Starlight.  
“Like you said before, you need our help, so I suggest you stop complaining and focus on completing the plan,” Starlight Glimmer says coolly.  Just then, Sombra and Chrysalis appear in front of the duo; as soon as Chrysalis materializes, Tirek strides over to her and grabs her by the neck.  
“What were you thinking?!” he roars, “You’re little stunt in Canterlot wasn’t part of the plan!”  Chrysalis gasps for breath, so he releases her so she can answer.
“But, you said we could have our very own kingdom of our choosing, and I want Canterlot!” she complains.  
“I said you can have whatever kingdom you wish after we’ve finished the plan,” Tirek explains, “I still want to get my hands on Twilight before any of you even think about deserting me!”  
“Sure, fine, but how are we going to do that now that we have no idea where she went?  She was supposed to go with her friends to Tartarus so we could take them all at the same time, but now that she’s survived, where do we look?” Sombra says condescendingly.  
“Twilight mentioned that she lived in a castle now, but she did not say where,” Starlight Glimmer says.  
Then, Tirek smiles evilly; “We may not know where Twilight is, but I know where we can find some leverage to draw her out of hiding,” he says malevolently, and explains the rest of his plan to the others.
After what seems like a few days, the Mane 5 and Jacob and Jenna continue their trek through the dreaded lands of Tartarus, looking for a way out.  “Ugh, it’s no use,” groans Rarity one time they stop for a break, “there’s no way we’ll ever find a way out of this place; it’s hopeless!” 
“Calm down, Rarity,”  Applejack says, “We just need to keep going and trust that there will be an exit somewhere along here; I mean, how do you think Tirek, Sombra, and Chrysalis escaped?”  Just then, Pinkie Pie, who was elected to occasionally scout ahead of the group to put her energy to good use, comes over the top of a hill beneath which the group was resting.  
“Not sure if this will solve our problem, but that weird-looking dog thing is right above us and the gate is right behind him,” she says with a smile.  
“Good work, Pinkie Pie!  You’re a natural at this sort of thing,” Rainbow Dash says commending her friend’s efforts.  
“Alright ya’ll, settle down.  Now, we need a plan of action when we come up against Cerberus,” Applejack says to the group.  Rainbow Dash, however, is already on her hooves.
“Come on, everypony, let’s get the heck outta here!  Woo hoo!” she shouts and leads the others over the hill.  
“Wait, we need a plan!” Applejack shouts as she chases behind them.  When they reach the top, they gasp at the sight; Cerberus, looking as mean as ever, glares down at them with his three massive heads while behind him lies the gateway back to Equestria, which is made completely of rock.  
“Alright everypony, listen up,” Rainbow dash says as they huddle around her, “Here’s how it’s gonna go; Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie, you distract him, Rarity and Applejack, you find a way to tie him down, and Jacob, Jenna, and myself will grab boulders to drop on each of his heads – just to knock him unconscious, Fluttershy,” she adds when she sees her friend’s look of concern.  “Ready everypony; to positions!” Dash shouts, and the group of friends race towards Cerberus as he lunges at them.
Meanwhile, John finally manages to finish his communication device, and he and Emily prepare to power it up.  Celestia has since returned to Canterlot to help with cleanup, and Twilight, who had calmed down enough to leave her bedside, watches on earnestly.
“Are you sure this will work?” she says anxiously.  
“Don’t worry,” Emily says calmly, “John always knows what he’s doing when it comes to this sort of thing.”  She then leans down and whispers to John “You do know what you’re doing, right?”  
“Only one way to find out,” he replies; Emily then sits back up and smiles nervously at Twilight.
“Nothing to worry about,” she tells her.  
“Well, I certainly hope so,” Twilight says, “I don’t know what I’d do without my friends –” she then starts to tear up again at the thought of her friends.  
“It will work, Twilight.  You’ll see,” John reassures her, then turns to Emily.  “Ready?” he asks.
“Ready,” she replies, and shoots a beam of magic at the device while simultaneously picturing their friends in her mind.  The machine begins to whir, and everypony looks on in hope, but ultimately the device does nothing.  Twilight feels that all is lost, but John keeps reassuring her that it will work, that it must not have gotten a good signal.  The more they try, however, with failed results, the more John begins to share Twilight’s feelings of hopelessness.
Back in Tartarus, the Mane 5 and Jacob and Jenna manage to take down Cerberus; Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie confused him with their dueling personalities, Rarity found some vines and she and Applejack threw them over him, keeping him in one place, and Rainbow Dash, Jacob, and Jenna used large rocks to render him incapacitated for a short time.  Rarity trots up to the gateway and begins to use her magic to try and crumble it to pieces; the more she tries, however, the more she believes she cannot do it.  
“Come on Rarity,” her friends shout as encouragement, “you can do it!”  So, Rarity gives it all her might and, much to her surprise, the gate comes crumbling down with ease.  
“Jumping June bugs, Rarity,” says Applejack, “When did you get so strong?”
“I don’t know, dear,” Rarity explains, “I didn’t know I had it in me.  I just willed it to come down and, so it did!”  
“Wow, Rarity, your magic must be improving by the second!” says Pinkie Pie, but before they can get back to Ponyville, the air in front of them suddenly starts to shimmer.  Then, an image of Twilight’s castle appears before the group, with John and Emily apparently fiddling with something out of sight.  
In the castle, John and Emily finally get the device to work and an image showing them the insides of Tartarus and their friends appears just over the machine.  Twilight is the first to notice this and immediately trots over to greet her friends.  “Applejack!  Rarity!  Fluttershy!  You’re all here!” she squeals with delight.  
Applejack looks into the image and says “Twilight, is that you?  Oh, it’s great to hear somepony familiar again.  Where are you?”  
“I’m in my castle, where are you?” Twilight says.  
“We were in Tartarus, but we’ve just opened the gate to the outside and are on our way,” Rarity explains.  Just then, the image of the Mane 5 shakes and John, Emily, and Twilight hear a loud stomping noise on the other side of the conversation.  
“What was that?” Twilight asks through the device, but their friends have already scattered.
“Oh no, not him again!” Applejack shouts, and orders her friends to stand guard, but soon the image goes fuzzy and eventually blanks out.