Taylor had been skulking through the halls of the Sanctuary for nearly a half hour, searching for wherever Lyra was being kept. Strangely enough, he hadn't seen a single member of the Order yet, which was simultaneously unnerving and reassuring. He considered himself fortunate that he hadn't stumbled into a group of foes, but he was also fairly certain that this inexplicable absence of opposition was a bad sign.

A solid-looking wooden door stood at the end of a nearby hall, with a small barred window unlike any of the other doors in the Sanctuary. Curious as to what made this part of the building special, Taylor approached, taking care to stick to cover as best he could. Fortunately, if he needed to hide from anyone, there were half-pillars at regular intervals along the walls, which could easily have hidden two small ponies. He couldn't help but wonder whether or not this place had been designed with such a use in mind - perhaps as a measure to afford them some cover in the event of a raid. It certainly seemed like something the Order would want handy.

Taylor reached the door, and after taking a long look around to be sure he was alone, peered through the small window. Unsurprisingly, it led to another hall, but this one was different, built from the same kind of stone bricks as the lower levels of Canterlot Castle. On the left wall hung long crimson banners, embroidered with a black "I" and trimmed in gold. Between each of the banners was a lit torch sitting in a very plain wrought iron wall mount. To the right were hollowed alcoves - also similar to the architecture of the undercroft beneath Canterlot - each of which had been fitted with heavy metal bars and equally sturdy-looking doors. All of the doors bore large locks which seemed much newer than the fixtures they were mounted to. Engraved in each was a number, which Taylor guessed corresponded to a series of numbered keys somewhere.

"Well, this looks like the place," Taylor said to himself, "so now I just have to-"

He pressed against the door, but it refused to budge. Another harder push yielded the same result. He took a step back from the door and, using his shoulder as a battering ram, slammed against it with as much force as he dared muster. Still nothing. At that point, two things became apparent - the third time was most certainly not the charm, and the fucking door was locked from the other side. Also, his shoulder hurt, so that made three things.

"Son of a bitch! Why can't things ever be easy around here?" he complained a bit more loudly than he had intended.

"Because the hero's journey is fraught with obstacles, no?"

Taylor already had the axe raised high above his head and had begun to spin around for an attack before his mind caught up. The voice was familiar and sweet, and he only knew one pony in this crazy world who sounded like that. He hesitated, looking into the face of Sophie. She wore a smug smirk, leaning against the wall with one of her forelegs crossed in front of the other casually. Despite the outward display of arrogance, her eyes were alight with interest, taking in Taylor's new form.

"So, is this what you really look like?" she asked, looking him up and down with a gaze that bore a disturbing similarity to how one might ogle someone they found particularly attractive.

Taylor lowered his weapon to his side. "Yes, and stop molesting me with your eyes. It's creepy. Now, since you're here, I want some answers. For starters, what was the deal with that book? Celestia torched the thing as soon as I gave it to her - said it was a trap and indicated that it may have been meant for me. I didn't care much for that, you know."

"Aww, don't you trust me?" Sophie feigned a pouty expression.

"Fuck no. What you sent me off with was obviously not very well hidden. You wanted Celestia to pick up on that trap of yours, which means you're playing games with me, so I don't trust you at all. In fact, I'm wishing I had followed through with my swing." Taylor commented bitterly, hefting the axe in his hand.

"How very cruel of you," she said in an unimpressed deadpan tone. "You say she burned it? That's a shame. I wanted her to see the note I'd left in there for her. I assumed she would notice the obvious trap and think a bit further, but I suppose that was too much to expect from her-overly-cautious-highness."

"So why not just have me deliver the message? Why all the unnecessary effort and secrecy? Why risk it?"

Sophie smiled, as if she was recalling a fond memory. "Personal reasons. Let's just pretend that I was worried you might forget the message. I did just have you in a somewhat altered mental state not five minutes prior, so it's fair to say that you might have forgotten it before returning to her. Ink tends to outlast memory, after all."

Taylor wasn't buying it, but it didn't seem important enough to argue. There were far more pressing matters to worry about.

"Smells like bullshit to me, but whatever, I'm more concerned with why you're here. I seriously doubt that you just happened to show up at this door at this exact moment by coincidence, so I guess you've been following me?"

"Correct, ever since you walked into the Sanctuary. It would have been much easier if you weren't so slow. I think I've seen slugs move faster. Dead ones at that. Anyway, we've been keeping the others away from your path the whole time. "

Taylor was about to rebut, prepared to pull out all sorts of reasons for his cautious progression, but something about what Sophie said gave him pause. "Hold on a second, did you just say 'we'? Who's 'we'?"

"I'm 'we'!" giggled a voice from the other side of the door, startling Taylor.

"What the shit!?" he exclaimed, awkwardly scrambling away from the new arrival. After a brief moment to regain his composure, he turned to find another pair of eyes identical to Sophie's staring at him through the bars. There was a muffled click and the door swung open to reveal an exact duplicate of the silver-coated unicorn grinning gleefully at him.

"Meet my other half. You may call her Starbright." Sophie stated with a wry smile.

"Christ on a unicycle, there are two of you now? The fun has been doubled," Taylor said, mustering as sarcastic a tone as he was able. "So, what is she, your sister or something?"

"Not quite. As part of my training, I had to learn to create a 'ghost' of myself, for lack of a better word. It was an interesting parlor trick, but hardly worth the time it took to learn, so I set out to make a better version." Sophie nodded in her clone's direction. "Starry's the result of that effort. Not quite perfect, but she has plenty of uses."

Taylor suppressed a smirk "Yeah, I'll bet. I've seen my share of rule thirty-four involving this exact scenario."

Sophie paused, narrowing her eyes at him. "I don't know what that is, but the way you said it makes me believe I'm better off without that information. Anyway, the door's unlocked, and I suspect we don't have much more time before the patrols realize they're not where they're supposed to be - which would be here. I think it would be prudent to make ourselves scarce."

"There you go again using plurals. Stop that. Just what makes you think I want you anywhere near me during any of this? In case you've forgotten, I do not trust you."

"Yeah yeah, I know that already, mister suspicious. Don't worry, I'll take the lead and everything so you can keep an eye on me, if that'll ease your mind. I intend to help you free your little marefriend-"

Taylor held up a hand. "Stop right there. First, kindly refer to her simply as my friend because I don't want to take any chances with anyone getting the wrong impression - though I suppose at this point it's probably too late for that. Second, you absolutely will not be accompanying me on this because I just know that you plan to turn on me the instant I'm vulnerable. It's an advantageous position for you and a really shitty one for me, especially since there are two of you now."

"Y'know, back at the castle - you were right. You really are a coward. Just shut up and follow me... us... whatever. If anypony shows up, you're our prisoner. For your own sake, I recommend playing along."

Sophie flicked her tail in Taylor's face as she passed by him, establishing that the conversation was over and she would have no more of his stubborn attitude. Taylor wanted to protest after suffering that indignity, but was forced to submit, hearing unfamiliar voices approaching from an adjacent hall, most likely belonging to other members of the Order. He jogged after Sophie, and Starbright closed the door, bringing up the rear.

Bon Bon sat in the corner of the cell, hanging her head, her ears drawn back. There had been an extremely uncomfortable silence in the minutes following her confession. She had spilled it all - her role in the previous day's events, being a member of the Order of Canterlot, her relationship to the Grand Inquisitor.

She knew Lyra would react negatively, but that didn't make it any less painful to deal with.

"For what it's worth, I'm sorry. I was trying to protect you, but I guess it didn't really..." Bon Bon trailed off.

Lyra's eye twitched. "You've been lying to me for years, you tried to hand over Taylor to the Order, you got us both locked in this cell, and you think that an apology means anything to me!? I had one goal in life and just when I finally got to enjoy success, you set all of this in motion and ruined everything for me, not to mention Taylor! A million apologies wouldn't even begin to reverse the damage you've done!"

Bon Bon unconsciously leaned away from the raging unicorn. To say Lyra was behaving out of character was a massive understatement. Even when they had entered into heated arguments in the past, it was never like this. There was a look in Lyra's eyes that terrified Bon Bon, the look of somepony who was capable of unspeakable things at that moment.

The cream-colored mare sighed. "I know that. I've made some terrible mistakes recently. I just want a chance to fix thi-"

"Don't talk to me," Lyra seethed, interrupting Bon Bon's plea. She was clearly struggling to maintain any semblance of composure. "I want nothing to do with you right now."

"Lyra, I know you're upset, but I can still-"

Bon Bon was interrupted again, this time by a particularly loud and jarring noise coming from above the cell. It sounded like somepony had just bucked a door. Shortly after, she heard somepony shouting, a deep voice that was certainly male, joined soon after by another voice, though she had difficulty identifying the gender. There was a brief discussion between the two, and then the faint sound of two sets of hooves crossing the hall above them. Soon, the pair had crossed all the way to the wooden spiral staircase at the end of the hall and were descending to their level. No doubt it was Cerise and Adrastos. Then again, she had never heard Adrastos raise his voice, and what in Equestria could that noise have been?

The clacking of hooves against stone grew louder as the unknown ponies approached, and Bon Bon quickly realized something was wrong. She detected a light scuffing sound, certainly not made by hooves, and it certainly didn't keep with the same tempo as a cantering pony. Lyra's ears perked up, having heard the same noise. Both prisoners were now watching the cell door, suspicious and apprehensive.

First to come into view was Sophie, who smiled at both of them. Lyra was uncertain of this new arrival, but Bon Bon breathed a sigh of relief at seeing her chapter's director. It was never a good sign when the leadership had to go down to the cells, but at least it wasn't Cerise. Sophie was far more civil, and given their history, it was more likely she was here to offer a kind word of encouragement, and perhaps even some good news.

Next, it was Lyra's turn to feel relieved. Taylor crossed behind Sophie, taking his place next to her at the cell door, looking down at them with a confident smile. Lyra barely recognized him, as he was covered almost head to hoof - or, more accurately, head to toe - in heavy chain mail armor, but that silhouette was unmistakable.

"So, how's life on the inside, Dufresne?" Taylor asked, grinning.

All three ponies (four, counting Starbright) stared blankly at Taylor, who rolled his eyes in mock exasperation.

"It's a movie. I'll explain later, after I-"

"We." Sophie corrected.

"-after we get you two out of there. Because this chick loves her fucking plurals and won't go away." Taylor finished.

Sophie ignored Taylor, turning to nod at Starbright. Whatever wordless communication was happening between them, Starbright seemed to understand fully, producing a large ring of keys seemingly from nowhere. Sophie's horn flashed with energy, levitating the keys from her double. Taylor took notice of this, and guessed that Starbright might not be capable of magic. It seemed like a fair assumption, given that she wasn't a real pony, after all.

Sophie sorted through the numerous keys on the ring, found the correct key for this door, inserted it into the keyhole, and turned. With a loud click, it swung open. Lyra rushed out, glad to have her freedom back, but Bon Bon remained where she was, eyes downcast.

"What's wrong with her?" Taylor asked Lyra quietly.

Lyra huffed. "She's with them. The Order came looking for us because she tipped them off the day you arrived. Everything that has happened was her fault."

Taylor looked to Lyra, whose eyes were filled with anger and hurt, then to Sophie, who seemed indifferent to the situation, and lastly to Bon Bon, who simply appeared defeated. There was no other way to describe it. Her expression was that of a pony who had lost everything important to her. It was a look Taylor was familiar with.

He knelt down to get closer to eye level with her. "Well, Bonny, you fucked up big time, but you probably won't get a chance to fix anything if you're stuck in this cell. Time to get back on your feet- er... hooves... and do the right thing."

Something about his words seemed to slowly bring the pony back to life, as if Taylor somehow knew just the right thing to say to someone in her position. Bon Bon exited the cell, and Sophie slammed the door shut behind her, returning the keys to Starbright, who headed for the stairwell, presumably to put the keyring back where she had gotten it.

Sophie turned to Taylor, Lyra, and Bon Bon. "If we make a run for it, it should only take about five minutes to get out of here. I think it's safe to say that the sight of a human alone will scare away any newbies we might encounter. The only thing we might have to worry about is running into another High Inquisitor. Fortunately, they're much more susceptible to my suggestion spells than you were," she glared at Taylor, "so keeping them off of us won't be any trouble. Just stay close to me. Oh, and human, try to look as terrifying as possible."

"Got it. I'll put on my best Gary Busey face." Taylor laughed, receiving more awkward looks from the others.

"Of course they wouldn't get it."

With that, they ran for the spiral stairs, taking them two to three at a time. Taylor and Sophie were in the lead, Lyra just behind them, and Bon Bon in the rear, struggling to keep up after getting minimal rest and nourishment in the past day and a half. She arrived at the top, thinking the other three were waiting on her, but she quickly realized they had stopped for another reason entirely. She peered over Lyra's shoulder to get a better look.

There, blocking the door at the end of the hallway, stood the Grand Inquisitor, smiling evilly at them.