Clink. Clink. Clink.

Kaylee's hoofsteps rattled on the grating below as she cantered away from the stairwell as fast as she could manage. She had been doing a lot of running as of late, however, so she found she had to slow just so the pain in her side wouldn't become too unbearable, and so she could still breathe. It was hard to tell whether the rattling hoofsteps were merely her own, or if perhaps somepony was chasing right behind her, ready to catch her at first stumble.

Up ahead, there was a small space where the path jutted out for a metre, facing a small electrical panel whose metal door hung half-open, obviously last tended to by somepony who didn't think anyone would be running by. Kaylee caught this in the corner of her vision and, as she pulled up beside it, ducked behind the pipes that protruded out from the wall. As she caught her breath, the filly peered around the corner, prepared to see Dessic's or Butternut's lumbering form almost upon her...

...but all she saw was the latticed grating stretching out all the way back to the last turn in the path, and the wall of rusted pipes on the end that stretched up to the ceiling and beyond. One thing was for certain—nopony was standing there, and certainly not running for her. All she could hear, even, was her own ragged breaths coupled with the whooshing of air and water in the pipes around her. She could feel her muscles relax, if even just a bit, and she took a deep breath.

And then, coming from somewhere behind her...

Clink. Clink. Clink.

They weren't like hoofsteps, not quite; they were softer, and more metallic, coupled with a quiet skittering after each clink. A little scrape on the metal. Whatever was behind her, it sounded like it had claws.

Kaylee didn't want to turn, she really didn't. She wanted to just walk back the way she had come, and maybe meet back up with Scootaloo and Flight, if she could find them. But the guards would certainly have gone after them, and there was something right behind her. Her heart skipped a beat.

Then, she turned. And what she saw there wasn't quite what she had expected.

"No..." Kaylee breathed. "What? How?"

The raven before her opened its beak. "You knew this was coming, my dear."

"But... why?" Kaylee asked. She looked around nervously, looking for some sort of out. "What are you doing here?"

"I've come to help you," the bird replied, its golden star sticker reflecting the dim light from above with a twinkle. "I can get you out of here."

Kaylee didn't know what to say, so she just gulped.