Synch

by sunnypack

95 - Prison Break: Take Three?

The carriage jolted to a stop the second time today. Unlike the first time, it seemed like the stop was unplanned.

I heard cursing from outside.

“Pony feathers!” A dark voice growled. It was deeper than cyan-eyes. I assumed it was the third assailant that hadn’t spoken during the assault.

“What’s the matter?!” The leader demanded loudly, I couldn’t see either of them, the bars only showed one side of the carriage. They were conversing off to the side.

“Axle’s warped”, the deep voice responded, there was a pause to which I assumed the leader was inspecting the damage.

“Horse apples”, the leader muttered, I could barely hear it. Pseudo gave me a worried look as I pressed my ears against the metal of the carriage. I shook my head and gave her a forced smile, a finger on my lips. Pseudo seemed to understand and went back to playing dead.

“I think we should camp here for tonight”, deep-voice suggested, I heard a stomp and a frustrated growl.

“We’ve put a fair bit of distance between the train and here but I wanted to go a few stretches more”, the leader snarled, he whacked the side of the carriage causing a sharp pain to suddenly shoot through my ear. I silently screamed and held my ear. Ouch.

“Alright”, he called out, stomping into the view of the bars. I quickly went back to Pseudo and pretended to stare in disinterest at a metal wall.

“Distribute the rations”, he ordered gruffly.

The copper-brown eyed one drifted into view.

“What about the prisoners?” she asked, eyeing me through the bars.

“Nothing for them, it doesn’t matter if they’re dead or alive.” He spat in disgust.

The copper-brown eyes hesitated before nodding and resuming her duties.

I shrunk a bit, looks like I won’t be eating tonight.

I whispered to Pseudo.

“Go ahead and siphon a bit of the emotions in the air. I’ll let you know if anyone comes past. After you’re done with that, can you help me with these ropes?”

Pseudo eyed me with worry.

“How are we going to get out of this? What are they planning to do with you?”

I sighed, shrugging. I feigned a nonchalance that was contrary to the twisting anxiety in my gut.

“No use worrying, right? Some things are out of our power, we just have to wait for the right opportunity”, I said, tapping my Synch on my head.

Pseudo smiled.

“If anypony can find out how to get out of this, it’s you”, she mumbled, positioning herself at the opposite ends of the carriage.

I activated the infrared overlay knot. It wouldn’t work very well in the Faraday cage of the carriage, however the small yellow glow would alert me as the kidnappers came close to the bar openings. Carefully monitoring the bars I left Pseudo know with a small hand-wave whenever a guard crossed the bars. After about twenty minutes or so, Pseudo gave me a nod, her mouth twisted with disgust. Seems like the emotions here were severely lacking.

I relaxed, almost dismissing the infrared knot, but a small glimmer caught my eye.

What was that?

My eyes widened.

A keyhole? Here?

I carefully shuffled over the keyhole gesturing to Pseudo to play dead near me. Keeping an eye on the bars, Pseudo crept over to where I was, gently rolling her hooves so as not to attract any attention. She gently lay down near the keyhole. I crossed my legs and leant towards Pseudo.

“Pseudo”, I hissed quietly, my hand pointed towards the keyhole with limited flexibility. “What do you see?”

Pseudo started in surprise.

“A keyhole”, she whispered softly. “I see the ground.”

I switched my knot to ultraviolet. It was faint, but there was a slight indentation on the ground. It was a trapdoor!

“A trapdoor. Okay we’ll wait for these ponies to go to sleep and then we’ll make our move.”

I settled in, giving Pseudo a few strokes on her mane. She calmed down a little.

“Alright, I trust you”, she said, giving me a small smile.

“Don’t worry, everything will be fine”, I repeated, trying to convince myself more than Pseudo.

-----

I had the sort of butterflies in my stomach that I felt back at the diamond dog caves. Every moment was filled with the sort of tension that could snap like an elastic band pulled to its breaking point.

I counted the paces outside.

One, two, three… then he pauses for a minute and turns the other way. I counted to myself silently.

It was nearing to the changing of the watch. I had only a rough measure of when they would changeover, relying on my Synch to time the change and hoping that the changes occurred at roughly the same times. The night was not as silent as some would think. I could hear the chirping of crickets and the beat of frogs in the background, the trees shook from time to time with the scurrying of bats and other tree-creatures that littered the forest around us. From time to time I could hear a start and a shuffle, as the guarding kidnapper would investigate a suspicious sound, only to find a rabbit or a squirrel to be the cause of the sound.

I waited until he investigated with both Pseudo and I wide-awake and poised for action. Tonight was a new moon and the campfire cast a small reflective glow partially into the carriage but the lights were muted inside. It was perfect for us to manoeuvre around without casting too much suspicion, as long as we were sufficiently quiet about it.

While we had been waiting for the next opportunity for the sentry to investigate another sound, I got Pseudo to use her mouth and release me from the ropes. I kept a loop handy to use as an improvised garrotte. Well it worked for me before, so why not now? With my hands free, I stretched my arms and shook the circulation back into them. It wasn’t extremely tight, but they were uncomfortable.

I heard the sentry darted off to investigate another noise. At least he was diligent at his post. Unfortunately he should have checked the prisoners.

“Pseudo, can you unlock this?” I susurrated. I prompted her with a nod towards the keyhole with my head.

Pseudo nodded.

“I will try, it may be more complex than it looks”, she whispered back, her horn glowing softly.

I gazed intensely at the bars with my infrared knot active, waiting for the inevitable moment of whether we would be found out first or if Pseudo could get the lock first.

Snick.

We were out.

Pseudo gave me a frantic nod her blue eyes glowing in the aftermath of the complex magic. I stealthily made my way to the trapdoor, hoping to the universe that my shoes wouldn’t squeak on the metal.

It didn’t.

Pseudo boosted the trapdoor with her magic and thankfully, it slipped up silently. I was grateful to the person who had last oiled the trapdoor.

Cautiously I laid the trapdoor hatch lid down on the other side. The small ‘clink’ it made as it touched the metal on the other side made me freeze and listen intently for any changes. I heard the guard come back. If he peered into the carriage it would be all over.

I tensed when I heard his hoof steps pace closer and closer.

Step. Step. Step. Step. Stop.

I held my breath.

Step. Step. Step. Step.

His hoof steps faded away as I let out my held breath silently.

Pseudo gave me a glance of relief and I petted her as I climbed out, crouching under the extremely low space of the undercarriage. Underneath the carriage I could make out the two sleeping forms blocking the fire and I crawled on my belly to get to the wheel of the carriage. Looks like this carriage was extra-sized to transport dangerous animals or something. I didn’t want to think about where it came from.

I reached the wheel, looking back at Pseudo making a very silent landing, thanks to her outstretched wings. I sighed in relief as she caught up to me.

Carefully, I transformed my posture to a crouch and listened for the steps of the kidnapper on watch.

I waited until he was on the far side of the campfire. I reasoned that the fire would blind the guard to our escape on the opposite side.

The steps faded from my hearing as he paced to the opposite side of the fire.

I crept forward, keeping a wary eye on the other two sleeping ponies.

In a moment I thought we were clear until a clear snap from my foot rang in my ears.

I allowed myself one curse.

Damn!

I froze, hoping the guard hadn’t heard. No luck. I heard the hoof steps of his approach already.

“Run”, I croaked, urging Pseudo ahead of me. Her wings flittered as she took flight, leaving me behind. I felt a moment of joy before a tackle from behind pinned me to the ground. The kidnapper alerted his compatriots with a loud shout. Dang, the ponies were faster than me on foot.

Pseudo hesitated, looking back at me.

“Run! Get away, alert the others, you can lead them here, go!” I shouted, urging Pseudo to leave. She flittered away just in time as the other two came into view. Pinned as I was, I couldn’t shift the small pony off me, he was much heavier than he looked. His hoof moved to my throat, immobilising me.

I couldn’t reach the rope tucked in my belt, my movements prompted him to press into my throat harder and I ceased. After a moment the pressure decreased slightly. I sagged in defeat.

“Shall I go after her?” A feminine voice asked.

The leader glared at the sky for a moment.

“No”, he growled, stomping a hoof in frustration. “We still have our prize, let it go.”

Cyan-eyes glared at me.

“I don’t know how you escaped but there won’t be a next time”, he promised me, turning to the stallion that pinned me down.

“Bind him again, make sure the carriage is safe again. I don’t want a repeat”, the leader ordered, the stallion on me gave me a harsh look.

“No funny business this time”, he warned, shoving me around and tying me with the rope he found hidden in my pocket.

The mare had returned with a spear and was pointing it at me.

“I don’t want to kill but I will if I have to”, she added but I didn’t really hear her. I was glad Pseudo was safe, even if I weren’t.

There would be another opportunity… wouldn’t there?

Author's Note:

More prison break! Except our valiant protagonist doesn't escape. Poor guy.

Next Chapter: A case of pony-fluenza makes its way to Manehattan. Everyone freaks out! Will the ponies destroy themselves before the virus does? Will Celestia and Twilight be able to formulate a vaccine in time?

As always, my expert readers, thanks for reading!

Comments

[DaedricPrinceSheogorath]

*Builds life sized city out of cheese* still waiting....

[sunnypack]

5004693 While Kronos is the Titan that is present within the Greek myth the god that overthrew Uranus, Chronos (latinized as Chronus) is the personification of time in pre-Socratic philosophy. The names are often interchanged and confused.

[sunnypack]

5005476 Your phone is a Synch! Don't run any unknown apps or you might end up in Equestria! (Or perhaps I shouldn't say that and everyone will just run unknown apps...)