Hi! Hyena King here! This is the first part of "Jailbreak", the next part of our adventure.* "So, without further ado, here's chapter 19!

(Bentley's POV.)

It took a sleepless week of data crunching, but I eventually tracked down the location of our friends. Locked away in the mysterious towers of Prague. At the moment, they're the unwilling guests of Interpol's most renowned prison warden, The Contessa. While still a criminal psychology student, she entered into a whirlwind romance and married a wealthy aristocrat.

Sadly, the union was short lived, as, the general suspiciously died a few weeks after the ceremony. The widowed Contessa put her education and newly acquired estate to work, by opening a criminal rehabilitation center. Her pioneering into Hypnotherapy as [produced some good results, and subsequently earned her a prominent position in Interpol.

Our friends are locked up somewhere in that clinic, and are slated for the Contessa's "Good Samaritan." brainwashing. If we don't bust them out soon, They'll be working a nine to five job selling shoes! And I'll be out two best friends.

The gang, minus Sly, Murray, Thunder and Lightning, were outside of their current Prague hideout, going over the game plan.

"Alright, we'll split up into teams of two." Bentley began. "Twilight and I will look for clues regarding the whereabouts of Sly and Murray. When we do, We'll go for Sly. Applejack and Rainbow will free Murray. Pinkie and Sasha will go and look for Sasha's sisters. Fluttershy and Rarity will look for Thunder. Any questions?"

"Nope!" They all cried at once. Twilight walked up front and center and looked to her friends. "Good luck everybody. Remember, the fate of our friends is riding on this. We can't and won't fail!"

Everybody cheered, and then went off to their appointed tasks.

Meanwhile, Thunder was being chained up by a pair of vulture guards.

"What, I'm not getting a good Samaritan brainwash?"

The guard's response was to hit him across the face with his crossbow.

So, Thunder stayed silent until they had secured him to the wall and left him there. After what seemed like an eternity, another figure entered. This was a pure black stallion humanoid with flaming red hair, looking like some big business mogul.

"Nice to see you again, Thunder." Malice said, smiling as if he were going to bite someone's head off. "I'm so glad my associates have brought you here." He came to a stop a foot away from Thunder. The black Pegasus immediately recognized the insidious alicorn demon.

"You're that guy who tried to kill me and Lightning the first time we were here!"

"Yes. I also tried to strike a deal with Lightning, but he's a stubborn one." Malice's smile never wavered. "I'm Lord Malice, by the way."

"I don't care." Thunder snarled. "That doesn't mean anything here."

Malice gave a sigh. "And you're supposed to be the smart one." He gestured to the room around him. "My dear friend, the Contessa, whom I helped arrange an 'unfortunate' accident for her late husband, has lent me this room for the evening. We have much to talk about, you and I."

"Talk about what?" Thunder asked with a raised eyebrow.

"About you and me, of course. Let me tell you a story." Malice sat on a stool, looking like an old storyteller as he began to speak.

"A long time ago, there were two princes, not unlike the princesses. They ruled their kingdom with fairness and dignity, you know, that whole clichéd thing. Then, the Elements of Harmony fell from the sky and the elder prince became obsessed with their power. You know where this goes from there, but you don't know the brothers story, or even that there was a brother.

This brother became resentful. How dare his brother hoard the power he had taken from the Elements? How dare he take power that he stole and not share it with his brother? This couldn't go unpunished, you see. When the Elder brother came back from his defeat, the younger used his weakened state to his advantage, imprisoning his brother inside mount Tartarus.

Of course, Celestia found out about this, and do you know how she repaid him? By making him the warden of Tartarus for all of time. The younger brother was resentful, at first. But then he began to absorb the dark powers from those evil creatures that were imprisoned in Tartarus by him. He soon grew so powerful, that he dared to challenge the Sisters, emerging and, with a little planning, take back what was rightfully his."

Malice stood up then, throwing the stool aside. "Those Elements belong to me! Don't you understand? Mine!? And no one, not some mediocre pegasi from a Podunk town, is going to keep me from taking what's mine!"

Thunder laughed all of a sudden. "So, you're the younger brother, huh? Makes sense, now. You throwing a temper tantrum over you older brother not sharing his toys?"

Malice gave him a blank stare. "You're just as annoying as your brother. Good thing he's dead." This caught Thunder by surprise, but Malice continued. "And soon, you'll be too. But first, we have some delicate work to do."

With that, Malice reached behind him and took out a large knife, which he removed from its sheath. He held it up to his face, a wicked smile on his face.

"Let's begin." He said, advancing on the shocked pegasi.

There you go. Ended with a cliff-hanger. I hope this has been eye opening. If you wish to see what story Malice is talking about, read "Guardians of the Elements." R&R please!