“He that is proud eats up himself; pride is his own glass, his own trumpet, his own chronicle.”

The sharp ring of a bell stirred me from the little sleep I’d managed to get. Whatever the doctor gave me yesterday was starting to wear off, and every time I moved I hurt. I bled from the long lines where I’d been opened up at, and I worried about the quality of the stitching. I tried not to think about it when I had to keep up the hope of escaping. Even with as unlikely as it is.

The doors across the entire cell block clanged and rattled open together. Slowly, the pair of prisoners from each cell stepped out and lined up in the center. Cheap Shot proceded out of his cell and took his place, not even giving a look back to me. Slowly, I pushed myself up to my hooves. I couldn’t move faster than what felt like a step a minute or I’d scream.

“You, prisoner.” The abomination that had been patrolling the block shouted. I looked up to him as I stopped. I’d only been about half way, and I could tell I was supposed to move faster. The guard who’d shouted was a pony with the minotaur’s head, the same one I’d seen yesterday. “Fall in line or I’ll ship you off to the showers.” He snorted and tilted his head down. The horns he had looked dangerous on their own, but had been capped with rusty metal so they looked more imposing.

I nodded and tried my best to find my place next to Cheap Shot. If I wanted to stay alive, I’d have to do as I was told. Adapting and blending in was the only way we could get a plan to break out. Cheap Shot looked to me with a look of concern before he leaned his head down and nudged my leg. Carefully, I lifted it and hung it around his neck. The extra leverage pulled at my stitches, but overall I’d felt better in this position.

“Go.” The abomination ordered. The sound of steady hoofbeats on the concrete preempted the prisoner train moving forward. The other prisoners knew this march well, while I didn’t even know where we were going. As we approached the abomination, he had a metal pipe in his fetlock, and lowered it so that it cut us from the train. We stopped as the other prisoners ahead continued out through one of the doorways.

“No physical contact.” He glared at me as his nostrils flared. “Remove your hoof.”

“Cut the shit, Slag.” Cheap Shot snipped arrogantly. “Can’t yah see dat she’s hurt? I bet yah she’s one of the boss’s special mares. Good luck tellin him yah were so dumb yah broke her.”

“You’re lucky, pony boy.” The abomination snarled. “One day you won’t have your deal to hide behind.” He smiled wickedly as he moved his muzzle inches from Cheap Shot. “And then…” He dropped his voice into a low whisper. “I’ll take my time gutting each and every inch of you.”

“Are we done, Slag?” Cheap Shot asked with a yawn. “Cause I’m kinda hungry, and yah keepin me waitin.”

With a growl, the abomination raised the pipe from our path, and we walked forward again. I didn’t quite understand what happened, but I had a feeling that Cheap Shot would tell me. Knowing that monster by name? Having some sort of deal for protection? He certainly had some explaining to do.

“Not now.” He looked at me with a smirk. “I know you want answers, but you can get them after you eat, deal?”

I didn’t know what to think, but I nodded anyway. We continued to walk down the hallway, turning towards the cafeteria I’d gazed into when I first got here. The corpses they had been cutting up were nowhere to be seen, and the tables had been wiped clean. Instead, rows of prisoners sat and ate. More surprising than the cleanliness, was the noise. As opposed to the stark silence I’d expected, the room was filled with conversations.

“Ugh, tuesday surprise.” Cheap shot muttered, pulling us in the direction of the cafeteria’s serving line. “The trick about it, is finding what tuesday they’ve scraped it up from.” He chuckled as he spoke. I think it had been then I’d noticed his eyes wandering over the whole room. The fact that he knew both how to turn a conversation around, and to survey somewhere so thoroughly told me what he was. Suddenly the whole arrogant attitude made sense.

“So, how long have you been a thief?” I asked. I slid a dirty looking tray from a stack and placed it on the line.

“My, what keen eyes you have.” He answered as he still scanned the room. “I’m good with more than just my hooves you know. I like to consider myself a stallion of many means.” He finally stopped and eyed me with a smirk. “But you know what they say. A rose, by any other name...”

“Still a thief.” I snorted as I hoofed a tray for him onto the line as well.

“Not the answer I was looking for, but I assume you get it.” He sighed and carried us a few steps down the line. “To survive in here, you can’t pick and choose. Criticize my skills all you want, but I know who’s trustworthy enough to work with.”

As we slid down the line, I watched as tray after tray of cooked meat was served. I didn’t want to think about what I’d seen earlier in here. My thoughts kept drifting to the question of if this is, will I be forced to eat pony to survive? Sure enough, as we slid up to the window, I received a flat, mostly charred steak. On the unburnt bottom corner of it, sat a picture of the top half of a burning barrel. My stomach rebelled, but before I could throw up, Cheap Shot bit down on the tray. He balanced it on my back and pushed us forward down the line.

“Now now,” he spoke quietly into my ear. “We need to blend in, right?” He left his tray at the end of the line, and instead helped me to a table. As I sat down, he took the tray and set it in front of himself. “You’ll need to eat. I can’t have you any weaker than you are.” He simply stared at the meat in front of him. It was a sad gaze, full of pain and regret. Something I’ve begun to feel all too often these days. “You might hate doing it, but we do what we must to survive.”

“How… long have you been in here?” I asked. The smell of cooked pony flank hit my nose and I recoiled. The only thing that kept me from falling to the floor was Cheap Shot. He’d been quick to catch me, but as he set me back upright, he also pushed the tray closer.

“I mean it. You need to eat to keep your strength up.” He sighed as he looked at me. “No more questions.”

I just sat and stared at him. How could he expect me to eat what used to be a living, thinking pony? The idea that he’d most likely been doing it to survive disgusted me. At the same time, I knew I had too. I leaned forward on the bench and hovered my muzzle above the pungent steak. If I just ate it quickly, there’d be less time to think about it. I could do this.

As I opened my muzzle, the grimy end of a levitating nightstick poked from over my shoulder. It hooked around the edge of the tray and dragged it toward the edge of the table. It hung on the edge for a moment as the tray tilted ever so slightly. I looked up to the abomination that was controlling the nightstick, and when I did, it tipped it over. The tray and steak tumbled to the floor with a clatter that silenced the cafeteria.

“Oops.” The abomination smirked as he stared at me. He had been the same abomination I’d seen whose legs were all miss-matched. “Looks like you broke the rules by making a mess.” he took a step back and twirled the nightstick slowly in his levitation. “Clean it up.”

Cheap Shot nudged me. When I looked back, he gave a short nod that came with a specific look. One that read ‘do it to blend in’. Carefully, I pushed myself from my seat and hoofed at the tray. I took it in my fetlock and placed it on the floor to push against the steak. It was an attempt to scoop it on, but it failed when the abomination swung his nightstick down and knocked the tray from my hold.

“Didn’t you hear your friend? You need to eat.” The abomination chuckled. “Eating it from the floor is a much more efficient way to clean AND to keep your pathetic life for another day.” He placed the nightstick on the back of my head and nudged me toward the grim coated steak.

“Yah had yah fun, let her be.” Cheap Shot spoke up. In an instant, I felt the pressure lift from my neck. In that same moment, there was a sharp crack as the abomination hit Cheap Shot. He slumped forward onto the table limply, but the abomination only growled. He raised the nightstick again, but I couldn’t let him hurt the only chance I had of getting out of here.

Standing up, I put myself between his swing and Cheap Shot. Though my body ached, and my stomach churned, the one thing I would not lose is the will to survive. My defiance was short lived as the Abomination brought the nightstick down onto my back. I cried out as my rear legs gave out. The nightstick swung down again, this time into my side. A sickening snap and flare of pain took my breath away. I gasped as I failed to draw breath, my shaking forelegs gave way as he swung again. Just the edge of the stick caught me in the side of the head and I think I blacked out.

For a moment, the world was just ringing and flashing lights. When my vision came back, everything had shifted perspective. My mind felt hazy as I laid on the floor and struggled to reorient myself. I looked toward the Abomination that towered over me, grinning viciously as he held the stick in his magical levitation. For a moment he face twisted as if in pain, and to confuse me more, he slumped onto his haunches before falling over.

Behind where he’d stood was a well dressed, normal looking unicorn. The white suit he wore was positively radiant, not a speck of dirt to be found. He stood with a rigid pose that presented strength, and his short green mane read to me like that of a mercenary. The unicorn’s horn glowed dimly, adding an odd layer of tinting to the scratched up sunglasses he peered down to me with. Slowly, a smile parted his lips and he held his hoof out to me.

“Tsk, Tsk. It seems that not every guard got the memo.” His voice was deep, and the way his words rolled off his tongue was too naturally. This stallion showed off twice the arrogance of Cheap Shot, and his words were tainted with privileged tones. “Let me apologize for your mistreatment, you are a VIP after all.” He sighed and rolled his hoof impatiently. “You know how it is though, good help is so hard to find nowadays.”

I reached up and took his hoof in mine. With an effortless yank on his part, he lifted me off the floor. I let out a scream of pain when I felt my side give out an unnatural tug. The prisoners let out a few hushed gasps as a bit of blood splashed up onto the pristine suit he wore. His vision dropped as he looked to the floor, and he shook his head ever so slightly. I followed his vision down to see the familiar grey tubes unraveled from my body.

“Well, that’s unfortunate.” He said as he let me go. “Will one of you take her to the infirmary? We can’t have her dying just yet.” Without his support, I dropped back down to the floor. As if it needed to be worse, all the pain of my wounds hit me at once, and I lost control of myself. I writhed and screamed in agony for I don’t know how long before blacking out again.

“Oh, come on doll, I hardly even know her!” Cheap Shot’s voice was far from what I’d wanted to hear when I regained consciousness. “Don’t do me dis way, baby!” He may have been speaking the right words, but there wasn’t an ounce of sentiment in them. I opened my eye and watched as a unicorn mare across the way rolled her eyes and turned around. “Fine, bitch! See if I care when ya come crawlin back!” He spat out as he sat down.

“A real gentlecolt I see.” I coughed out. A whine escaped from my muzzle as even the exertion to talk made my chest hurt. I looked down to find that I had several grimy looking bandages wrapped around my body to keep me shut. “How long was I out?”

“Just a couple of hours. With the beating yah took in the cafeteria, I’m surprised yah weren’t torn in half! Well, yah kinda were…” He looked to me as he shook his head. “That doesn’t matter, yah alright now. Tell me, what’s yah plan of escape?”

“Excuse me?” I groaned.

“Oh don’t play coy.” He snorted and turned to face me. “I’ve heard stories of yah pretty much getting outa anything. Everypony know’s yah are the mare who get’s outa the hard contracts alive. Are yah telling me what they’re sayin’s all lies?”

“Well, no…” I stammered. I never knew I had any sort of memorable reputation out there, let alone one that makes me sound like some unkillable badass. Fucking assholes made me out to have unfair expectations.

“So I ain’t wrong in thinking yah’ve got some idea of what ta do.” He smirked in a way that made me uncomfortable.

This place didn’t look to be too well guarded on the outside when I arrived. So once we could get out we would probably be home free. The only things keeping us in, were those abominations and the warden from what I could tell. I had no idea how many abominations were in here, but as the warden proved, they weren’t indestructible. If we could get at least half of the prisoners in here to work together, we’d have the advantage of numbers. Only problem was finding enough trustworthy ponies willing to work together.

“I might have a way, but it will take time.” I stared at him straight in the eyes. “You’ll have to be patient, and you’re going to have to trust me.”

“Whatever yah say, I ain’t goin nowhere.” He yawned and leaned back into the bars. “So long as we both get outa this place, take all the time yah need.” With a flop, he dropped himself to the cold concrete floor. “Now if yah don’t mind, I gotta get some sleep before tomorrow. Big first day of plannin an shit.” He waved his hoof at me lazily. After only a minute, he was snoring softly.

Time was something I wasn’t sure I had. I’d been fortunate enough that they’d sewn me up this time, but who was to say they’d be fast enough next time? Cheap Shot better be every bit as charismatic for others as he is egotistical. If the spirits of harmony were right and my friends were coming to save me, then getting out of here in time for their arrival was my priority.

A soft beep pinged out from my pipbuck. With only minor pain, I brought it up to my muzzle to see what it was trying to say. As I did, the display in my vision went blue and Pai fuzzed into existence. She sat curled up in the corner with her muzzle buried under a foreleg.

“Pai?” I whispered out. My eyes looked first to Cheap Shot before I changed focus to making sure the guards weren’t walking by. “Where have you been? I could have used you back in Dodge!”

“I know!” She wailed as I fumbled to turn down the volume. As I scrolled the wheel, her voice dropped enough that I had to pull the pipbuck close to listen. “I’ve been a bad sister.” She looked up to me with tears in her eyes. “Everything that happened was because of me. You… you lost your friend because of me.” She sniffled.

Knowing Pallet was gone? It hurt. It hurt almost as much as the wound on my chest, but I had to keep up hope. The spirits of harmony, daddy and mommy? They told me that I could help ponies, and that’s what I was going to do. Losing Pallet was bad, but if I broke down completely over her, then she would have died in vain. As long as I can get back up, there’s hope for others. That’s what the spirits reminded me of, and that’s what I had to remind Pai of.

“Yeah, you’re right.” Pai smiled at me and wiped at her cheek. “Still, I’m sorry. I can never repay you for the freedom you’ve given me, and I can never be forgiven for what I’ve done.” She shook her head softly and rubbed at her eyes. “I promise, sister, I’ll never leave your side. I’ll do everything I can to help you fix what I’ve done.”

“There was more going on than what we both knew. It’s as much my fault as it is yours.” I don’t know why, but I tried to give a comforting smile to Pai. “We’ll work together, and we’ll set things right.” My eyes shifted to the still slumbering form of Cheap Shot. “First, I’ll need whatever help you can give to get out of this place.”

“The pipbuck has already mapped the entire first and second floor of this building.” Pai spoke up in a more hopeful tone. “If you can find a way to get me near a working spritebot or terminal, I might be able to send out a request to cross reference this building’s layout with any on still available data servers.”

“Why do I keep this thing when I keep forgetting what it can do.” I didn’t expect a ‘get out of jail’ trump card, but I’d hoped for something I could at least use. “What good would knowing where we are do us?”

“If I can open the building permits, structural blueprints, and maintenance records, I might be able to find a weak point to exploit.” As Pai spoke, the different parts of the display in my vision flickered back to pink. “And you keep the pipbuck because I’m here.”

“If I had somewhere else to put you that could travel with us, I would. We can talk about that later though, how long would you need to get all that information?” I whispered, eyeing as one of the abominations trudged through the cell block with a bored look across his muzzle. Spritebots were few and far between, but I might be able to find a still running terminal somewhere in this place.

“Five or six minutes at most.” Pai bounced a bit as she spoke. “And I know exactly where there is a usable terminal. The pipbuck logged it as an available access point earlier.”

“What?” I snapped louder than I probably should have. “Then why did you suggest we find another one!”

“Because, that terminal was only in range when you were on the second floor of this building...” She trailed off as she finished her sentence. She hung her head as the realization hit me. The only time I’d gone up to the second floor was… “But, it’s fine!” She cut my train of thought and stammered her words through a forced smile. “We can find another one, or like I said, a spritebot.”

“We can try.” Now it was me wearing the forced smile. “But for now, keep a low profile until we’re alone in the cell like this. If even a prisoner finds out about you, I don’t know what they’d do to either of us.”

She nodded vigorously. “Cross my heart, hope to die, stick a cupcake in my eye!” She smiled as she put her hoof over her eye. Then with a flicker, she disappeared. My pipbuck returned to it’s default green and I let my hoof slowly slide to my side.

I didn’t want to go back up to the doctors level, but I’m sure there would come a time when I’d have to. Pai would have to use that time to our advantage, and with what she found, I’m sure we had real hope of getting out of here. Cheap Shot wouldn’t be easy to keep in the dark about Pai, but I don’t entirely trust the stallion. Part of me kept up the idea that he’d just betray me at the last moment. That once we’re home free, he’ll try to turn on me.

That didn’t matter, not yet anyway. Tomorrow we’d have to start to build an alliance, and there are many more ponies in this place that I trust less than him right now. With as much trouble as this would be, my friends better be waiting for me on the other side of these damned walls.

I didn’t sleep more than a few hours, and when I’d gotten up it was time to head to the cafeteria. My chest felt less painful today for some reason, and I chalked it up to the fact they probably gave me a potion or something to keep it from happening again. Cheap Shot still helped me walk, and I used the closeness we had to go over the plan. He hadn’t been too happy with the idea of a riot, but he couldn’t offer a better suggestion.

I stomached as much of the cooked pony meat as I could to keep up both my strength, and appearances of cooperation. Eating another pony was something I never wanted to do again after today. Not just because it was wrong, but because some part of me inside registered that it actually passed as tasting alright. When the time to march back to our cells came, Cheap Shot gave me an unsettling smile.

“Alright you worthless ponies.” One of the Abominations by the doorway shouted. “One hour yard time starts now. Enjoy your ‘fresh air’ while you still draw breath.”

“It’s showtime.” Cheapshot told me in a hushed whisper. As I hooked my hoof around him and backed away from the table, he continued. “Look, yah gonna need ta sit tight while I get all the ponies we can trust on our side. I’ll bring ‘em to yah when I know they’ll work with us.”

“So, you want me to sit and do nothing?” I eyed him curiously as we fell into our place in line. I didn’t mind so much, seeing as this might be a good time to look for a roving spritebot’s signal. The hope I had in avoiding the second floor was something I couldn’t let go of.

“What, are you kiddin? Yah still need ta sort out plenty of the plan.” He cocked an eyebrow and widened his smile. “Yah just need ta trust ole’ Cheap Shot ta do what he does best, ya dig?”

Forward we marched. Through the halls and back through the cell block to a set of double doors at the other end. I still couldn’t trust Cheap Shot, not one hundred percent. However, he was right. There was still plenty of work to be done on my end.

The doors to outside opened and we were marched out into a rocky courtyard. Immediately before us was an enormous cliff that rose up the mountain that this prison rested on. The jagged and rocky edges cast odd shadows in the morning light, but looked almost big enough for ponies to hide in. They might be hard to get to, but they could be an option if we needed somewhere to hide quickly.

With another look around the yard, I saw the other building in the complex. Just as large as the one we’d come from, I wondered if it was just as full as this block had been. All around us stretched a tall chain link fence, enclosing the yard between a few guard posts that sat at the extreme edges of it. One of the sides offered a fairly good view at the flatlands that ran around the mountain, and I got an idea.

“I’m going to go sit over there and think.” I told Cheap Shot as I removed my hoof from his neck. “Go do your thing.”

He simply nodded and stepped out of line. Slowly, I walked my way to the edge of the fence. I looked up to the one of the tower guards nervously. The closer to the fence I got, the more uneasy he felt. In the interest of not seeming suspicious, I stopped where I was and sat down. In doing so, he seemed to relax before turning his eyes elsewhere. I gave myself a few minutes before I lifted my pipbuck up.

“Pai.” I whispered. “Are there any Spritebots in range?”

The display shifted to pink as she popped into my vision. “Nopey Nopey!” She spoke in a harsh whisper. “Sorry, but you’ll have to be patient!”

Yeah, patient. That’s what i was trying not to become. I had been that doctor’s patient enough times already. Why can’t the great goddesses above grant me just one, simple spritebot? Is that too much to ask? The sound of hooves coming up behind me were the only response I received.

“Well well well, this just got interesting.” A stallion spoke up. When I tried to turn to face him, a right hook connected to my muzzle and I flopped down into the dirt. “Remember me, bitch? You gelded me, screwed up my shoulders, and made me look like a fool in front of my own gang. And I’m going to enjoy doing exactly the same to you.” As he spoke, the stars from my eyes faded away, and I looked up to find that he indeed was the stallion I’d delt with weeks ago.

“Well, seeing as I made you a mare, how about we…” I tried to be witty, but he wasn’t having it. To cut me off, He pressed his hoof into my neck and pinned me with his other legs.

“There you go, running your fucking mouth again.” He leaned in close to me with a disgusting grin. He stuck his tongue out and ran it along my neck, making my fur stand on end. “I’m going to kill you, but first, I want to show you how a real stallion fucks.”

“I wouldn’t do dat, Jack Knife.” Cheap Shot called over. “The Warden doesn’t like it when somepony plays with his toys.”

“Fuck off, Cheap Shot.” The stallion above me snapped. I presses his hoof down harder, and I struggled to breath. “This bitch is mine for what she did to me. I’d rather die having had my fun than before.” He looked back to me and lowered himself closer. Darkness clawed at my vision and I tried to find the strength to throw him off me.

Before he could continue, the quick beat of hooves filled my ears. With a groan, he was lifted off of me. I gasped for air, turning my head to watch as Jack Knife tumbled a few feet along the dirt. Above me stood Cheap Shot. His muzzle twitched as he grimaced at the douchebag he’d knocked off me.

“I’m serious, Jack. She’s under my protection.” He spit as Jack Knife recovered. The stallion trotted forward again, stopping just an inch or so away from Cheap Shot’s muzzle.

“Back the fuck off, Cheap. Your deal means nothing to me.” He looked down to me as a smile crept back across his muzzle. “Besides, you can’t watch over her one hundred percent of the time.”

I wanted to get up, but with them standing so close, I couldn’t. Cheap Shot leaned in closer, putting his muzzle right up against Jack Knifes ear before whispering to him. As hard as I tried, I couldn’t hear what he’d said, but it got Jack Knife to take a step back.

“Are you fuckin serious? You expect me to believe that?” He scoffed and kicked at the dirt. He paused when all Cheap Shot did was nod. “You better be serious, or the both of you are fucking dead, you hear me?” He said before he looked down at me and snarled. “We aren’t through, bitch. You’re safe until we get out, but that’s it.” He turned and walked off after that.

I looked to Cheap Shot for answers, and he simply shrugged.

“He ain’t ideal, but yah goin ta need more support if this is going ta work.” He sighed and sat down. “I don’t like the guy either, but beggars can’t be choosers. Lucky for us, we got plenty of options.” He looked over his shoulder as a pair of identical black mare’s walked up beside him. Their matching silver eyes and light pink manes looked to be mirror reflections of each other. “Meet the Ash Twins. They control the dash production and distribution in the Baltimare settlements. Or, at least they used to.”

“We have heard of your reputation, Miss Storm.” The one on the right spoke.

“Breaking out will be no easy task, even for a mare of your talents.” The one of the left spoke up without breaking the pace of the conversation. All in all, I could tell that they were an eccentric pair right off the bat. I’d never heard of them before, but if they knew me by reputation, that at least made them more trustworthy than Jack Knife.

“I only ask two things. One, that you keep my identity a secret and refer to me only by the name ‘Hope’. Two, is that once we’re out, you go your own way and stay the fuck away from me and my friends.” I grumbled as I pulled myself back to my hooves. “Unless you’re willing to help me kill the asshole who put us in here, I never want to see you again.”

“If you can guarantee us a way out, and the freedom to return home.” The one on the left started this time.

“Then we can accept these terms.” The one on the right finished. The way that they did that was not only uncanny, but unsettling. “A pleasure making your acquaintance, Miss Hope.” She spoke softly with a small nod. As her and her sister turned around, she kept her eyes on me just long enough to offer a blush and a wink.

“Well, dat went well.” Cheap Shot chuckled and pat me on the shoulder. “Looks like yah even got an admirer!”

“Don’t assume that, as their word means little to me. Hell, we’re not that good of friend’s yet, Cheap Shot.” I shot him a glance that I’d hoped would tell him how serious I was. “Three allies in ten minutes is good. Now show me what you can do with 50 more. I need quiet to plan.”

“Sure, sure.” He shook his head with a smirk. “But yah really gotta learn ta loosen up a bit!” He turned and started trotting away. “Maybe learn ta smile even!”

I chortled and smirked at that. “Idiot.”