Leader of the Pack (Book 3/3)

by AdrianJNovelle

Chapter 7 - The Great Escape

Twilight found her husband.

"Are you alright, Honey?" he asked, giving her a kiss on her head.

"I'm fine," she replied softly. "Just a few intruders. I put them in the dungeon. They shall be executed in the morning."

"Don't you think that's a bit harsh, My Love?"

"They called me a...Nub."

"Oh, I see. Very well, Twilie. We cannot let the other Ferals know that happened. They're finally starting to trust us. While you were away, I counted heads. Twenty more joined our fleet, and I hear more are on the way."

"There are more?"

"I heard that there are several other tribes like ours which inhabit several forests around Equestria. And there's talk of their addition into our society. We'll have to keep everypony working day in and day out to support the population increment. But that is a good thing. It means they are beginning to trust us. Maybe they'll start talking soon. We'll feast together. Socialize. Sympathize. And, most of all, rise above the ponies who have insulted us in the past."

Twilight sat next to Dawn and the two watched the sunset together, Twilight putting her hoof around Dawn. Not a word was spoken between them. The noise that could be heard was the sound of the other Ferals building houses and other buildings - the campground becoming too inhabited and complex to remain a simple place to sleep - and sawing down trees and gathering other materials from the other plants which occupied the land of the Everfree Forest.

"You know, your mane looks really cute in a bun..."

"Does it?" Twilight asked.

Dawn nodded. "I think you should start styling it like that. You aren't the Nub of a unicorn you were back when you lived in Ponyville. Why look like the pony you're not anymore?"

"That's a good question, Dawn. Perhaps I shall."

---

"We can't just stay in here, Rarity," Applejack said. "We gotta get outta here and tell somepony about Twilight. She's deranged. She needs our help."

"Don't you think I realize that?" Rarity asked exasperatedly. "If we are able to make an escape, we can hitch a ride straight to Canterlot Castle and report Twilight and her deranged husband to Princess Celestia. She'll know what to do. She always knows what to do."

"Mighty fine plan, Rarity, but...what's yer plan for gettin' us outta here?"

"We need to distract the guards. I noticed the bars don't have a key, so we can open them from inside - an extremely primitive prison - but we are trapped here as long as the guards are here." Rarity turned her head to face Rainbow Dash. "Rainbow, you love making funny faces for security guards. Can I count on you to divert the attention of those guards out there?"

"Totally!" she exclaimed, saluting.

"The rest of us will make an escape attempt. But we must make our timing perfect. I suggest we wait until morning, right before our execution. The guards will go after Rainbow Dash, and we can get away and fight off anyone who tries to stop us."

"What about me?" Rainbow asked. "Am I just doomed to be caught by the guards?"

Rarity shook her head. "No, Rainbow, you'll just fly out of here and bring yourself back to Canterlot. We'll catch the Friendship Express when we get there. But you, Rainbow, once you're free of the Everfree Forest, get your blue butt to Canterlot Castle and relay our warning to Princess Celestia as soon as you can."

"Understood."

"What if we don't make it?" Pinkie Pie asked.

A cold shiver stung Rarity's body. "Let's pretend that failure is impossible."

"I don't wanna die!" Pinkie Pie screamed, tears forming in the corners of her eyes.

"We're not gonna die," Rarity said calmly. "Have faith. Twilight may be deranged and intelligent, but there's no way she and her precious guards are gonna detain all five of us. We outnumber and outwit them. We'll make it...together..."

"And what if we don't?" Fluttershy whispered, her eyes shimmering like Pinkie Pie's.

"If we don't...then we'll die here together..." Rarity put her hooves into Pinkie Pie's, who was sitting on her left, and Applejack, who was seated at her right. Every pony held hooves with the pony abreast to them. "We'll make it...but...if we don't...we'll die here together...success or not, we're a family...and if we fall...we fall as one."

Tears were shed. Pinkie Pie lunged to Rarity and started crying. Rarity patted her back, a tear or two streaming down her cheek.

"We'll make it...I promise..."

---

Rarity did not sleep that night. She stayed up, and mothered Pinkie Pie until she stopped crying and fell asleep in her lap. Rarity assumed that since Twilight was not with them, and since she's also a unicorn, the group just elected her as their new leader. Why Pinkie Pie was being such a crybaby, however, that Rarity could not answer. Everyone else slept in a circle around the hollow cave. The only sound audible was Rainbow Dash's snoring. It was quiet and peaceful, and surprisingly warm considering how cold of a place the Everfree Forest was considered to be, especially with the deadly storm encroaching overhead.

Morning came. The first thing that happened was the prison gate was opened by the guards who monitored it.

"Alright, everypony," one of them said. "Let's get this over with. Come with us."

"Rainbow - that's your cue."

Without a word, Rainbow Dash bolted from the cave, and started on hoof through the Feral village as fast as her hooves could carry her.

"Hey! You! Stop! Get back here!" the other guard shouted, both of them chasing after the pegasus.

Meanwhile, the other four made their escape. They ran out of the mountain and into the village, moments behind the guards, when a familiar figure - her mane up in a bun - blocked their path.

"Uh-uh-uh," she said, standing on her hind hooves, her deadly spear pointed at them. "Where do you think you're going?"

"Um...freedom?" Rarity sarcastically inquired.

Twilight shook her head. "I don't think so."

"Twilight, please! This is your friend, Rarity, talking! You're not in your right mind! You're delusional! You're deranged! You're out of your ever-loving mind! You're not a Nub, you're a Feral, you're not a Great Mistress of anything - you're Twilight Sparkle, our friend, and just a regular unicorn."

Twilight's pupils shrunk in her eyes. Rarity's words touched her. As soon as she was lost in realization, the group continued their flee. She was paralyzed. She vaguely remembered what life as like before she became a Feral, and started this whole society. She hardly remembered who those ponies were and how special they were to her. Suddenly all the thoughts about her friendships and memories of the quality times she had with them came rushing back to her. Were those ponies really her friends? Or were they simply playing the cards they wanted so they could make their escape? Blinded by her new personality - her new insane personality - Twilight suddenly snapped out of it. She did not trust those ponies with her life. She showed a fiendish face of abhorrence and resentment. She turned around and hissed at the intruders.

"Go ahead, run!" she roared. "But don't think there's any place to run to! We will find you! Our numbers will exceed yours, and we will overcome any obstacle in our path! Don't even think about coming back here! Because if you do, you will never be seen again!"

Twilight would have bothered to chase her so-called friends in an effort to apprehend them, but Rainbow Dash had already made her escape from the guards, and the others were so distant, there was no use chasing them. They had got away.

They all took a breather in the Everfree Forest, out of sight from the Feral village.

"How many are there of us?" Rarity asked.

"Four," Pinkie Pie answered.

"Plus Rainbow Dash, who we assume made it out of here alive. Alright, now to the Friendship Express. We'll go straight to Canterlot and then to Princess Celestia. Let's move!"

---

Rainbow Dash, being the fastest flyer in Equestria, only took several minutes to reach Canterlot from where she began. She landed herself right at the entrance of Canterlot Castle, and let her wings rest while she walked on all four of her hooves inside the great building. She went directly to Princess Celestia.

"Princess Celestia!"

"Rainbow Dash? What are you doing here?"

"There's been a disturbance in the balance of harmony in Equestria!"

"Oh?"

"Twilight has gone mad and started this secret society known as the Ferals. They're taking refuge in the Everfree Forest, and that in it of itself isn't so bad, but she doesn't really remember us or her life as your most faithful student, and she almost tried to kill us! And she would've if we hadn't escaped!"

"Oh, my..." Princess Celestia did not seem to be aware of this travesty. "Thank you for coming to me, Rainbow Dash. Twilight is clearly not the only pony in your little circle of friends who is noble."

"It was all Rarity's idea. The others are on their way as we speak...she's hoping you'll let us stay here in Canterlot until Twilight comes to her senses."

"Of course you may," Princess Celestia smiled meekly. "There are a few empty suites here where you can stay."

"Thank you, Princess Celestia."