1 - A Single Step (REWRITTEN)
It wasn't supposed to go like this.
It was just supposed to be a five-minute walk to the underground train station on the outskirts of Las Pegasus, where they would load their things into their personal transportation machine and join it on a train that would carry them through the first step of reaching safe haven.
Instead, the very same ponies that destroyed their lives ambushed and captured them, taking them to a nondescript building that they knew was just a cover for their... "interrogations."
The Equestrian Monster Hunters had gotten the drop on them, and it could very well end up being the targets' last time in the realm of the living. But they had a few hidden tricks.
The trio had been seperated shortly after they were carted in, but the lack of other being not a part of the EMH meant that finding each other wouldn't be too difficult for the three. But first, they had to get out of their binds.
A quintet - two earth ponies, two unicorns, and a pegasus; three male, two female - pushed along a large cage that contained a sullen-looking pitch black bat pony, who currently had his wings tied up and had been silent and unresponsive ever since he entered the building. He wasn't a foal, but neither was he a well-aged adult; rather, he was twenty-two.
"Hot diggety, I still find it hard to believe that something like him could get ahold of blades this premium." One of the earth ponies - carrying a pair of saddlebags - commented while looking over two large, shiny katanas he had balanced on one forehoof, both weapons sporting a black handle that matched the color of the bat pony's fur.
"Well, we'll find out soon enough, because I have some good guesses as to this one's weaknesses." The lone pegasus, a female, said while motioning to her head towards the pony in the cage. "Ya hear that?" She taunted with a smirk. "It doesn't matter how tough you think you are, we'll find a way to destroy you."
The black bat pony stayed dead silent with his gaze pointed at a single spot on the cage's floor, remaining still as a statue when he was wheeled into a room.
"So Belle, what should we do to get this one to talk?" The other mare, a unicorn, asked the pegasus after closing the door.
"I've been wanting to try using this to get some words out of these abominations." The pegasus said with a sneer while picking up a rather crude-looking whip with numerous sharp nails portruding through it. At her nod, the cage was opened and the lone occupant was roughly yanked out and onto the floor, whose expression was unchanged when he laid his eyes on the spiked whip.
"..."
"I'll be straight; tell us what you and your two cronies were planning and we'll let you go, refuse, and we'll be using this on you until you talk." Belle said.
And you actually expect me to believe that? The black stallion bitterly thought to himself. Sighing, he spoke.
"This is what we were planning."
In the blink of an eye, he thrust one forehoof forward and knocked the spiked whip out of Belle's grasp and lunged forward while delivering a hard punch squarely into her muzzle with an audible crack, sending her crashing against the wall. Just as the other ponies snapped out of their stupor, with the earth ponies attempting to tackle him while the unicorns tried to restrain him, the black bat pony charged towards one of the unicorns and put her into a headlock, swiftly changing direction and shoving the mare in front of him while slamming into the other unicorn, temporarily stunning both of them.
With blinding speed, he caught one of the earth pony's tails in his jaws, changing the trajectory of the pony's charge and sending him colliding head-on with his partner. Still moving with surprising swiftness despite his wings being tied up, the black stallion grabbed a pair of inhibitor rings and slid them onto the unicorns' horns, before grabbing Belle and hurling her towards the still dazed earth ponies, leaving all three of them in a heap. Finishing the job, he tied up the earth ponies' legs before doing the same to the lone pegasus mare in addition to tying her wings.
Picking up one of the katanas by the handle, the black bat pony effortlessly cut the ropes that were rendering his wings useless; after flapping them a few times to regain feel, he slipped the razor-sharp blade into a sheath underneath one wing before doing the same with the other. His blank, slightly defeated expression gone, now replaced by a harsh glare, he picked up the spiked whip with one wing and walked over to the pegasus mare, who was struggling with her new bindings.
"I'm gonna make this quick." The black stallion said in a tone brimming with anger. "Where are my friends?"
"Like I'd ever tell you." Belle spat.
"You're gonna tell me now or I'll hit you with this until you do." The stallion hissed while rolling her onto her stomach and giving the crude-looking whip a sharp crack for emphasis.
"You don't have the guts." The tied-up pegasus growled.
"Wrong answer!"
Without hesitating the slightest bit, the black bat pony brought the spiked end of the whip down with a crack, not blinking when the nails dug into Belle's back and caused her to shriek in pain.
"I'll ask again, where are my friends!?" The stallion snapped angrily.
"I'm not telling!"
Crack!
The tied-up pegasus let out another pained scream.
"Where are they?!" The stallion demanded furiously.
"Screw you!" Belle snapped despite the very visible tears now leaking from her eyes.
Not showing or feeling any remorse, the black bat pony brought the whip down five times in quick succession, leaving his victim's back bloody and torn. By now, Belle had tears streaming down her face, her back feeling like it had just been set on fire.
She tensed when she felt the whip rest on the spot between her wings.
"Just a few well-placed strikes here with this thing, and there's a pretty good chance you'll never fly ever again." The bat pony growled. "I don't care what you say, I'm gonna get the answers out of you one way or another, and I'm giving you exactly ten seconds to make a decision. What's it gonna be?"
Belle weighed her options. Part of being a member of the EMH meant never spilling important information to those they captured, and she sure as hell didn't want to break that rule, not after how dedicated she became to keeping Equestria's general society untainted. But this one was completely remorseless, not hesitating when he repeatedly whipped her, what was stopping him from going even further than crippling her flight abilities? Who knew what else he had in mind... ?
"Time's up, bitch." The black stallion seethed.
"No!!" The distressed pegasus cried out. "I'll tell you, just please stop hurting me!"
Her attacker lowered the spiked whip, letting it rest on the floor.
"Then tell me, where are my friends? And don't try to lie to me, otherwise I'll make what I just did look like a stubbed hoof in comparison."
"... The unicorn's at the end of the hallway in room 5, the other bat pony's down the hall to the left in room 17." Belle choked out despite the immense amount of pain she was in. "Please, no more..."
Grunting, the pitch black stallion gently laid the whip on his back, double-checked that his blades were sheathed properly, and left the whimpering pegasus to her current predicament, closing the door as he left, but not before checking that the coast was clear and taking his saddlebags back and slipping them back on.
They could be attacked by actual demons immediately after he left, and he wouldn't care the slightest bit. Besides, right now, rescuing his friends was at the top of his list of priorities.
[/hr]
In another room, this one identical to the one the black bat pony had been in seconds ago, a dark blue unicorn with a yellow, short-trimmed mane and an inhibitor ring on his horn sat tied to a chair, with a quartet of earth ponies surrounding him.
"Don't try bluffing your way outta this wise guy!" One of the earth ponies shouted angrily. "Tell us what you had planned."
"Wow, the big bad interrogator can't think of anything to say that gets ponies to talk!" The unicorn replied snidely. "Have you ever considered watching crime-related movies to get some ideas that could help you actually sound intimidating?"
"I'll be asking the questions here, jackass!" The earth pony snapped while smacking the physically powerless stallion.
"I gotta say, I've known eight-year-olds that can hit harder than that!" The blue unicorn said with a goofy grin. His eyes diverted subtly when he noticed the pitch black equine that had appeared in the shadows. The black pony nodded, indicating for the unicorn to make a move.
"You know," he said, "while there are foals that can hit harder than you, I know somebody that can break your nose with a single blow yet isn't an earth pony."
The interrogator was about to shout again, but before he could speak, was interrupted by a new voice.
"And he's right here."
The main interrogator spun around just in time to take a hard punch that sent him sprawling to the ground with blood leaking from his nose. As the other three ponies recovered from their shock, the black bat pony rushed behind the chair and, revealing one of his katanas, sliced through the ropes, freeing his friend.
"Now this is more like it!" The unicorn said while swiftly sliding beneath one of the interrogators and pistoning all four of his hooves into her gut, sending her flying through the air before being knocked out by a strike to the head. In a flash, the two of them rushed the remaining two ponies, ramming them against the wall, then the ceiling, and finally onto the main interrogator, who was still on the floor, shouting and cursing angrily while clutching his bloodied muzzle.
Reaching beneath the two stunned ponies on top, the black stallion grabbed a key and tossed it to the unicorn, who used it to unlock and remove his inhibitor ring.
"You alright Sparky?" The bat pony asked.
"I'll have a couple of light bruises later on, but I'm otherwise fine, Raven." The unicorn said while experimentally levitating the inhibitor to regain the feel in his horn. Confirming that he could use his magic with no issue, he levitated his saddlebags over to him and slid them on. "How did you find me so quickly?"
"I beat up my interrogators and forced the answer out of one of them." Raven replied, sounding indifferent. "Bitch also told me where they're keeping Aurora."
"Then let's get moving." Sparky said in a now-serious tone.
[/hr]
The duo silently trekked down the next hallway, stopping outside of the room with a "17" painted on the window. Cautiously, Raven placed one ear against the door, listening to the muffled sounds coming from the other side.
"Alright li'l miss monstrosity, you listen up good." Said a stallion with an audible accent. "Don't think you can count on your friends to break ya out, 'cause we've got 'em holed up with some of our best at getting things like you to talk. I'll only say this once, so perk up your ears: either tell us in detail about where the three of you were going, or I'll literally do whatever it takes outside of killing ya to force the answers out. It's your choice."
Silence followed.
"..."
"..."
"..."
"... Not talkin', 'uh? Fine, we'll just force it out of ya the hard way. Speaking of which, it wouldn't be the first time I've taken pleasure in getting monsters like you to talk..."
That final statement set off multiple alarms in the black bat pony's head, and although Sparky noticed that his friend tensed, he remained silent and waited for his bud's signal. Both, however, shortly heard Aurora let out a panicked yelp that was quickly muffled, along with a chair falling over.
"Wait, we don't have to-!" A second voice spoke up, but was cut off.
"Don't matter what you say, wimp," the first voice said, "if I can release some pressure while forcing some answers out of this bitch, that's a win-win for me; hell, this'd be the third time I've done this!"
Risking detection, Raven peeked through the window, seeing a struggling white bat pony mare with a light purple and green mane held down with her rear raised high in the air, while a smaller stallion struggled in a corner, held tight by a unicorn's magic. He backed away and nodded to Sparky. Standing right next to each other, the black bat pony softly counted to three before he and the dark blue unicorn charged and knocked down the door.
In the brief moment of surprise that followed, Sparky electrocuted the two ponies that held Aurora down, slipping the inhibitor ring he had from earlier onto the unicorn's horn, while Raven tackled the slightly-larger-than-the-rest earth pony that stood behind her. While the unicorn untied the ropes around Aurora's wings, the enraged black bat pony slammed his target against the wall before flaring one of his wings open, causing the katana hidden underneath to pop out to full length, before driving it into the stallion's gut.
Withdrawing the weapon, Raven let his target collapse, clutching the large hole in his abdomen, before joining his two friends.
"You alright Aurora?" He asked.
"Yeah, I'm good." The slightly shaken mare responded while shaking her wings as Sparky dragged her saddlebags over to her.
"Then let's get going before more of these bastards show up."
As the three of them exited, Raven paused just outside the door.
"He'll eventually be perfectly fine if you start by covering the wound to slow down the bleeding." He said to the terrified earth pony cowering in a back corner of the room. "If he tracks us down again, then I'm gonna make sure he lives with the consequence of that stupid decision for the rest of his fucking life."
He left without another word.
[/hr]
The walk to the underground train station was short and uneventful; they had to stick to the shadows more than the would have otherwise, but it wasn't anything like a high-stakes spy mission. Entering another nondescript building on the outskirts of the city, the trio trotted down the few staircases and emerged in a spacious area of an old mine, converted into an underground city of sorts.
They had arrived in a station of Equestria's biggest underground community: the Refugee Railroad. It had started as just what the name implied: an underground community that housed both foreign and native refugees until they could find a home. Over time, it began providing housing for poor residents and societal outcasts, turning it into what is was today, though another big change was that it grew to include established above-ground cities and towns with open-minded populations. One of the above-ground places was exactly where the three friends were going, in fact.
Raven and Aurora paused to completely remove their cloaks, always glad that they could do so in the Railroad not only without the risk of being attacked, but also while drawing nothing more than, at most, a few extended glances.
There was more than that, however. It was in the Railroad that they possessed the most technologically advanced piece of machinery in the country, if not the world; a machine from another universe where things like it were commonplace, and this particular one was actually rather crude by that world's standards.
The unique machine, called a Mustang, which somewhat ironically was a variant of something called a "pony car," came with four visitors who each possessed a similar machine of their own. The visit wasn't intentional, but they gladly stayed with the poor and outcast residents whose living space they arrived in, telling tales, entertaining, and helping them get by. When it came time for them to leave, they left behind a few common items from their world, along with literature and documents related to "automobiles," as the Mustang was one of, along with the machine itself. Those in the Railroad with a flair for mechanics kept it in good shape, with it eventually becoming like a form of entertainment for the community. When Aurora, Raven, and Sparky took a liking to the beige camouflage-colored Mustang, they mechanics generously handed ownership over to the trio, and they had been tinkering with it and pushing it hard ever since. At Raven's suggestion, they named the machine "Polaris," and afterwards, it became as important to them as each other.
Raven and Sparky tossed their saddlebags into the Mustang's back seat while Aurora spoke with one of the train's conductor, after which the mechanical beast was wheeled into a boxcar, with the trio of friends joining it.
"We had a bumpy start, but we're now on our way to a peaceful life." The dark blue unicorn said with a smile.
"Yeah. To the most obvious place in the country that's truly a place of equality, not the bald-faced lie that Equestria claims to be." Raven said, also smiling.
"Hollow Shades." Aurora finished as she made no attempt to hide a smile of her own.
Author's Note: Heavily rewritten version. Don't be afraid to comment with suggestions, constructive criticism, etc.; I'm always looking to improve as a writer!