Escape from Arora Ridge Quarry

Misty appeared in the Ponies Hut with a flash. She looked around and smiled, glad to see she was the last to arrive.

“Evening, Misty Brightdawn,” Thymus smiled. “Are there any developments?”

“There is and there isn’t,” Misty admitted before taking a deep breath. “I’m about to go and infiltrate the Confinement area. I thought it better to come and tell you first.”

“You serious?” Giselle gawped.

Misty nodded.

The other creatures looked at each other in shock. All not quite sure they were hearing correctly.

“Misty, no,” Skysurf gasped. “You don’t have to put yourself in danger like that.”

“Skysurf,” Misty sighed. “We’ve seen no evidence of Coral Cloud and there’s been a development. Your Queen is in Equestria.”

Skysurf’s eyes widened in surprise. “W...Wait, no. Th...That’s not possible. Queen Skystar would never leave Seaquestria.”

“I don’t know the details why,” Misty admitted as she shook her head. “But she was upset that Coral Cloud wasn’t there.”

“Which means if she’s not here...” Skysurf gasped as she trailed off.

Giselle looked at her with confusion. “What? If she’s not here, then what?”

“Then she could be lost anywhere,” Skysurf sighed. “So, either way, I’ve failed to protect her.”

Thymus looked at Skysurf gravely. “Skysurf, do not be so hard on yourself. You jumped in the way of a beam aimed at Coral Cloud, did you not?”

Skysurf sighed and closed her eyes. “Yes, I did, and I know where you are going with this.”

“Doesn’t matter, you need to hear it,” Thymus frowned. “You sacrificed yourself for the one you were protecting. That’s the greatest thing a guard like you can do.”

“You sacrificed yourself for your friend,” Misty added.

Thymus moved closer to Skysurf and calmly looked into her eyes. “What happened after that, it wasn’t your fault.”

Skysurf closed her eyes and sighed. “I...I’ll try to remember that.”

Sprout frowned knowingly. “Coral Cloud isn’t the only one in Confinement though, is she?”

“Ah Ha!” Giselle said as she pointed at Misty. “You want to see your friend! You want to see Sunny!”

Misty sighed. “Yeah, I do. But we think Sunny will have information about Allura. Something happened today, Sunny and Sugar were taken to Level Zero. When they came out of the building, they didn’t seem to be under as much security.”

“Having more information about the enemy is important,” Bingo frowned. “Quite a good reason to see your friend.”

Skysurf sighed and shook her head. “It’s still a big risk.”

“There’s one last thing,” Misty reassured. “We have no idea how many creatures are in Confinement. We don’t know where they are or how to rescue them.”

“Allura could use them against us,” Thymus gasped.

Skysurf took a deep breath. “Okay, fine, you’ve explained your reasoning and yes all of that is probably worth the risk.”

“So, that’s it then?” Minty sighed. “We’re stuck waiting until tomorrow night before we’ll know you’re okay?”

Misty smiled as she fished around in her saddlebag. “No, I don’t want to leave you all waiting and worrying too long. I want to come back after I’ve finished.”

She produced a pile of small notebooks from the saddlebag and held them out. “Zipp prepared these, each one has the information she has on a specific subject. She suggested you all go through them and see if there is anything you can add.”

Thymus nodded as he accepted the notebooks. “Excellent, our time won’t be wasted then.”

“H...Hold on,” Sprout gasped. “The watchtowers, the emitters.”

Misty nodded. “I know. Please, add anything you saw or found out to the notes. I don’t know how long I will be.”

“I’m already ahead of you,” Skysurf winked as she held out a piece of paper. “I noted down everything we saw.”

“Oh, brill,” Misty gasped as she took the paper. “I’m going back to the hide first to check before starting. I’ll give it to Zipp then.”

“Did you have the recorder?” Thymus asked. “We maybe ought to record our discussion, beings as that is what your friend asked for before.”

Misty’s eyes widened as she squeaked. “I knew I forgot something else!”

She dipped a hoof back into her saddlebag and pulled out a red recorder. She held it out and Sprout took it. “Thanks, Misty,” he nodded. “Good luck.”

“O...Okay, I suppose this is it now,” Misty gulped nervously.

“It’s okay,” Sprout smiled. “You’ve got this!”

“I’ve seen videos,” Minty said suddenly. “Of you fighting a giant flytrap plant. Rescuing lots of Ponies. I think you underestimate how powerful and skilled you are.”

Misty’s eyes widened. “No, No. I don’t want to hurt the Nirik. They’re prisoners the same as you are.”

“Power doesn’t only mean harming others,” Thymus advised.

“You’re able to visit us whenever you want without our captors knowing,” Skysurf added. “That is more than the majority of creatures can do.”

“I’d say it’s more than any other creature can do,” Giselle beamed. “You’re awesome!”

“Yes, you would make a great top dog,” Bingo grunted.

“We wish you good luck, Misty Brightdawn,” Thymus nodded.

“Yes, good luck, Misty.” Skysurf sighed. “T...Thank you.”

Misty placed a reassuring hoof on Skysurf’s shoulder. “I’ll send you a message as soon as I know. I’ll try and come back before lights out too.”

Skysurf nodded. “Thank you. But, please, don’t rush to get back.”

“Yeah, if we don’t see you again tonight, we’ll assume we’ll see you tomorrow night,” Giselle winked.

Misty nodded and gave a small smile as she took a step backwards.

With final farewells and wishes of good luck, Misty’s horn glowed, and she disappeared with a flash.

Within the High-Security Confinement Area, seven small huts were arranged in a semicircle. The doors of the huts were all facing inwards, towards a watchtower that was positioned in the centre.

Along the straight side of the semicircle, there was a much larger hut, long and wide. It had two doors, both on the side that looked towards the central watchtower.

Around the outside of the huts, there was wide open ground before a large fence. The fence had one gate but there were multiple watchtowers along its length.

The Nirik patrolled around three circuits, each having a pair of Nirik walking in opposite directions. The first pair walked around the outside of the fence. Meanwhile, the next circuit was around the back of all the huts. Finally, the last pair walked around the front of the huts, past all the doors.

For any creature without magic, it would be hard enough to just get past the fence. However, a short way from the back of the large hut there were multiple piles of stones, sand and other building materials. It looked like they had been forgotten about after a building project had been completed.

It was among these that Misty appeared with a flash to start her infiltration, thereby bypassing the fence and the first pair of Nirik.

Gasping, she looked around before her horn glowed and she turned invisible. Once again, only her eyes could be seen.

“Okay,” she whispered as quietly as she could. “Okay. T...This is it. I can do this!”

Carefully, she made her way out of the piles and headed towards the back of the large hut. Dodging searchlights from the watchtowers on the perimeter fence as she went.

Once she arrived at the hut, she made her way along the back wall, following the track the Nirik had left. All the time, the searchlights continued to make sweeps. When one came near, she’d stop and look at the hut and wait for the light to pass before continuing. Doing so meant she didn’t need to close her eyes; they couldn’t be seen from the back of her head.

Reaching the corner of the hut she peeped around it and squeaked in surprise. A Nirik was standing with its back to her. Its ear twitched at the sound but it walked forward, away from her, much to Misty’s relief.

With her heart pounding, she pulled her head back before staying where she was and waited. She knew she didn’t have much time, the second Nirik would be coming towards her. Therefore, she needed to get off its patrol route. However, she wanted to be sure the one she’d just seen had gone.

Eventually, she risked looking around the corner again and sighed with relief, the Nirik had carried on its way. Quickly, she made her way around the corner and along the side of the hut. It was much shorter, so she soon reached the next corner.

Having been bitten by surprise Nirik before, she carefully poked her head around the corner, checking the coast was clear. There was a gap ahead of her before the next hut, the first of the smaller ones. With her heart pounding, she waited for a searchlight to pass before darting out.

Having stopped, she knew time was against her. Therefore, when she reached the hut, she hurried along the back of it as quickly as she dared.

However, she wasn’t fast enough. As she reached the next corner, her eyes widened. The Nirik was walking along the back of the next hut, coming towards her.

There was no time to check anything. Desperately, she closed her eyes and moved around the corner with feeling alone. Hoping no surprises were waiting for her.

Not wanting to risk continuing blind, she pressed her back to the side of the hut. Her heart pounded as she listened for the Nirik. Fortunately, she could only hear the one that she knew about.

Its hoofsteps got closer, and closer, and closer, then suddenly stopped.

Misty could barely breathe. Her invisible ears strained to hear what was happening. She could hear breathing that wasn’t her own and was certain the Nirik was only a few steps away from her.

She didn’t understand, this wasn’t in the plan. Zipp had watched the patrol patterns and told her the Nirik didn’t stop. She knew Zipp would be right, so why had the Nirik stopped?

Misty could hear the Nirik sniffing the air. Her mind raced, had it seen her eyes? Her heart pounded as she tried desperately not to make a sound.

Finally, she heard hoofsteps again, but they got closer. She held her breath and readied her teleport spell to escape.

However, the Nirik passed by and continued walking along the back of the huts. Heading the way Misty had just come from.

As she heard its hoofsteps retreating, Misty let out the breath she’d been holding and gasped for air. She opened her eyes and, heart still pounding, leaned around the corner.

The Nirik continued walking away from her along the back of the hut. Then when it walked out from between the huts it stopped again.

Misty pulled her head back and breathed a sigh of relief. She could only assume they had updated the patrol route. Maybe they changed things after Sunny and Sugar met Allura?

With a deep breath, she started the part she was not looking forward to.

To access the huts, she’d wanted to get to the doors, like she had done for the Ponies Hut. However, Zipp had warned that wouldn’t be advisable. She couldn’t avoid the flash being seen by the Nirik on the watchtower and those patrolling.

Therefore, they’d come up with a compromise. Misty had to get into a position where she could see the door. Hopefully, whilst she was still between the huts. Then, she could look at the door and focus on teleporting to the other side.

She’d decided that practising long-range teleporting to areas she hadn’t been to before was a must!

As she began making her way down the side of the hut, she looked up at the watchtower. It was square and there were two Nirik that patrolled the top. They continually walked around the tower, looking out opposite sides. She knew she’d need to time her teleport to perfection so she wouldn’t be seen.

When she reached the corner of the hut, she crouched low to the ground. Even though she was invisible, her eyes weren’t. She hoped the Nirik in the tower wouldn’t spot a set of floating eyes if they were near to the ground.

However, when she looked towards Sunny’s hut, she groaned with disappointment. She couldn’t see the door and needed to creep out into the open, further than she’d expected.

Before she could do so, Misty gasped as she spotted one of the Nirik that was patrolling around the front of the huts. It was walking towards her, and she closed her eyes to ensure she wasn’t spotted.

She listened hard and realised, she could hear two sets of hoofsteps coming towards her, one from either side. Another Nirik was coming from the other way, one she hadn’t seen.

Both sets of steps got louder and louder. Suddenly, one set got so loud she was sure they were right in front of her nose. However, she trusted in her invisibility spell and just about managed to keep calm.

Then, the closest set of steps stopped whilst the other set continued, getting louder and louder as it got closer and closer. Then, that set of steps stopped too.

She was sure she could hear breathing, really, really close to her. She wished she could see what was happening.

Finally, both Nirik started walking again. Misty heard another set of steps just in front of her nose, but they passed by. Then, both sets of hoofsteps began getting fainter as the Nirik both walked away.

After a few moments, Misty carefully opened her eyes and sighed with relief, she was safe. Both Nirik were continuing on their patrol route and had passed her by. Carefully, she crept forward and out from between the huts, just enough so she could see the door to Sunny’s hut.

She looked up at the watchtower and waited. A Nirik appeared and looked out, the spotlight on the roof moving around in a pattern. Misty narrowed her eyes, squinting in an attempt not to be seen whilst still watching.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the Nirik disappeared towards the other side. Immediately, Misty looked straight at the door to Sunny’s hut. With a deep breath, she concentrated on the teleport spell.

With a flash, an already invisible Misty disappeared completely.

Sunny couldn’t help chuckling and shaking her head as she looked at her bowl of food. She couldn’t eat anymore but there was around half of it left. “Well, Sugar, this confirms it. It was all a mind game. There’s too much here.”

Sugar nodded as she stopped drinking and looked at her unfinished food. “Yeah, I can’t get through all this stuff either. Doesn’t help that it tastes horrible.”

There was a flash from the door that made them both jump and squeak with surprise.

“W...What was that?” Sunny blinked as she looked around with confusion.

“I…I don’t know,” Sugar gasped. “There’s nothing there.”

Suddenly, two floating green eyes appeared from nowhere, making Sugar shriek in surprise and shock.

However, Sunny only gasped before her eyes widened, she’d seen those eyes before. “Wait? It…It can’t be…”

There was another flash, and it was Sunny’s turn to cry in surprise as Misty appeared in front of her, inside her cage.

“M...Misty?!” Sunny stammered as her eyes welled with tears. “Is...Is it really you?”

Misty flung her hoofs around Sunny as tears trickled down her face. “S...Sunny,” she croaked. “It is. It’s really me, I’m here.”

Sunny gasped, lifting her conjoined hoofs as she sat down. Doing so broke Misty’s embrace but only so she could put the chain from the shackles over Misty’s head and hug her back.

Misty chuckled as they both hugged each other, both of them crying with joy.

From her cage, Sugar could only watch the two friends reunite and suddenly realised she had nopony to reunite with. She couldn’t help feeling left out and gulped before sitting down sadly, looking at the floor.

Finally, Sunny and Misty broke off the hug and Sunny carefully lifted her conjoined hoofs back over Misty’s head.

“I...I can’t believe this,” Sunny sniffed as fresh tears began to fall. “Misty, I can’t believe you’re here.”

“I had to come,” Misty grimaced as her eyes continued to well with tears. “B…But now… I…I just wish…”

Sunny sighed knowingly. “You’re not here to rescue us, are you?”

Misty closed her eyes as tears trickled down her cheeks. Slowly, she shook her head.

Sugar blinked as she felt a sinking feeling inside. “Y…You’re not…”

“I can’t,” Misty groaned. “W…We’re….”

“Not ready,” Sunny sighed as she lifted her hoofs over Misty’s head again and pulled her into another hug. “It’s okay, Misty. I thought it didn’t make sense after your message last night.”

Misty wrapped her hoofs around Sunny again. Meanwhile, Sugar looked between the pair of them, looking completely confused. “Then why come?”

Misty let out a deep sigh as she broke off the hug. “There’s a few reasons, this is only my first stop though. I’ve got to get information about all the huts. We don’t want Allura to be able to use you or any of the other creatures here as leverage.”

She sighed again as she wiped her tears. “I’m sorry for getting your hopes up. The important thing is, when the time’s right, we’ll get you out of here.” She looked pointedly at Sugar. “Both of you.”

“Maybe you should be the Element of Bravery,” Sunny chuckled. “Oh, Misty! I’m so sorry. I’m sorry I convinced you that letting me play bait was a good idea.”

“It’s okay,” Misty reassured as she held Sunny’s hoofs. “Seems we don’t have the best track record when it comes to ponies playing bait. We tried it again when we needed to capture a Nirik, and the same thing happened. Strawberry got taken.”

Sunny looked confused. “Strawberry? As in Strawberry Sunflash? Isn’t she the Unicorn that set off that giant flytrap?”

“Yeah, I didn’t like how she felt like an enemy,” Misty sighed. “So, I’ve been slowly turning her into a friend. Luckily, they didn’t want Unicorns so sent her back. They’ve taken Pegasus Ponies though, including Minty Cloudstrike.”

“R...Really,” Sunny blinked before gasping. “Wait! That’s going to have changed, they’ll likely be after Unicorns as well now!”

Misty looked worried. “How do you know?”

Sugar frowned, determined to get involved. “The bridle Sunny’s wearing. It’s isolated her powers.”

Misty gasped and reached into her saddle bag and took out a blue recorder. “Hold on. Let me record all this for Zipp!”

Sunny chuckled. “Yeah, you better not forget anything. Is it on?”

Misty pressed a button on the recorder. “It is now.”

“H...Hey, everypony,” Sunny stammered as tears welled again. “I...I know Zipp likely wants us to talk turkey... But first I need to say sorry to you all. I’m sorry, Hitch, Zipp, for not listening to your concerns. If I had, I wouldn’t be in this situation and I wouldn’t have put all of you through so much.

“Pipp, Izzy, I’m sorry. I’m sorry I convinced you that making a disguise was more important than listening to your friends. I...I’m so… I’m so sorry.”

She broke down in tears again.

“It’s okay, Sunny,” Misty gasped as she pulled her into another hug. “What’s done is done. We’re here now.”

Realising the recorder was still running, Sugar piped up. “The disguise was epic though. Nopony recognised her at all when she walked into the hut. It did start to fail because it gets so hot, but we patched it up. Her cover only got blown because we were all given a wash.”

“Really?” Misty gasped as she broke off her hug.

“Y...Yeah,” Sunny sniffed as she wiped her eyes. “It lasted way longer than we expected it to.”

Sugar smiled. “Izzy’s fake cutie mark was brill, it stood up really, really well.”

“So, turkey talk,” Sunny sniffed. “Firstly, the hut we’re in now. We’re each locked in a separate cage, there are six cages in here though. I…I think the only way to get us out would be teleportation.”

“It takes at least three Nirik to open each cage,” Sugar added. “So, when they come to get us each morning there’s five of them.”

“There are pads in the floor on either side of the cage door,” Sunny continued. “One Nirik stands on each pad, then there’s a control panel at the far end which the third Nirik uses to open the cage."

"The door to the hut is locked too," Sugar added. "It makes really loud clunks and rattles when it's unlocking."

"We've no idea how that's opened," Sunny said as she shook her head. "The control panel thing, that's locked too. I’ve seen Twitch use it before as well, it might control the food and water dispenser.”

“We’re fed twice a day,” Sugar explained. “The food’s horrible, truly and utterly rancid.”

Sunny couldn’t help chuckling and shaking her head. “Next, my powers, I can’t use them. The bridle they’ve put on me, it’s isolated them. When I first saw Allura, she said something about being able to capture Pegasi and Unicorns now.”

Misty looked at Sunny worriedly, “You have met Allura then? We thought you had.”

“Yeah, a couple of times now,” Sunny confessed.

“I’ve met her once,” Sugar added.

“Okay, that’s one of the main reasons I’m here,” Misty admitted. “What can you tell Zipp about her?”

Sunny sighed. “She’s powerful and maybe more dangerous than Opaline. Not because of her powers though, she’s hard to read. When I was talking to her, she sounded genuine but in the back of my mind I wasn’t sure.”

“Manipulative then,” Sugar frowned. “I’m sorry, I barely heard anything she said.”

“So, like how Opaline manipulated me?” Misty frowned.

“I’m not sure,” Sunny sighed. “I never fully saw Opaline’s manipulative side; not like you did, Misty. But it’s other things Allura says too, not just when she wants something from you. It’s…” She groaned. “It’s hard to describe.”

“Sunny, tell them about the thoughts,” Sugar suggested.

“Thoughts?” Misty blinked.

“Yeah, it’s something she can do with her purr,” Sunny sighed. “You said about her purr controlling the Nirik. Well, I think this is sort of similar.”

“In what way?” Misty frowned.

“Well, I’ve been controlled by her too,” Sunny admitted. “I...I suppose it’s like being remote-controlled. But she’s not controlling your body, she’s controlling your thoughts.” She closed her eyes and shook her head. “It quickly became a blur though; I can’t really remember most of it.”

“Sunny, when your cover was blown, she put her mouth right up to your ear,” Sugar remembered. “You just walked off, like you were possessed or something.”

“Yeah, that’s when she started to control me,” Sunny nodded. “Like I said though, I think she controlled my mind, not my body.”

“So, we need to keep away from her, so she can’t,” Misty frowned.

Sunny shook her head. “That wouldn’t help though. She didn’t need to be close to inject thoughts into my mind. She starts purring and says, just remember, then what she wants you to think.”

Misty looked at Sunny worriedly as she took hold of her hoofs. “What did she do?”

“She was trying to break me,” Sunny sighed. “Made me think things which started eating away at me, making me more and more depressed.”

“Sunny had to continually fight against the thoughts,” Sugar added. “It was kind of working too, I’ve never seen her look so depressed before.”

“Yeah, I...I had sunk to a really bad place,” Sunny admitted. “Some of it was reverse psychology, she made me think of things I didn’t or couldn't have. So I had to remind myself I didn’t or couldn’t do them." She sighed. "If I didn’t fight them, they’d keep coming and coming, repeating over and over. It...It was awful.”

“But you seem okay now,” Misty blinked as she looked at Sunny hopefully.

“Yeah, she didn’t break me,” Sunny smiled as she looked at Sugar gratefully. “But only because Sugar joined me here. She helped me to overcome it.”

Sugar gave a small smile and Misty looked at her gratefully before sighing. “We should have gotten here sooner.”

“No, no, Misty,” Sunny gasped. “It’s okay, I know you all came as fast as you could.”

Misty sighed and shook her head regretfully.

“Yeah, you’re here now,” Sugar grinned. “Literally!”

Misty smiled and took a deep breath. “Yeah, and we will get you out. We’ll save everycreature here.”

Sunny frowned in thought, “So, what else to tell you about Allura?” Her eyes lit up. “Oooh, she’s from another world, not the human world like Sunset, a different one. Twitch is too. The whole point of this Quarry is to mine the Ore, they need it to power their gateway home.”

“They had Sunny doing something with it today,” Sugar interjected.

“Yeah, we saw you being taken into a building on Level Zero from our hide,” Misty blinked. “What happened?”

Sunny sighed. “They needed help with their gateway. I think they said calibration or something.” She groaned. “Nopony can understand Twitch, only Allura and she doesn’t seem to understand the techie stuff. Their relationship, it’s odd.”

“How?” Misty blinked.

“W...Well,” Sunny shifted uncomfortably. “Misty, you said how Opaline treated you. It’s sort of similar, Allura is in charge and Twitch does as he’s told. But he talks back to her.”

Misty’s eyes widened. “If I talked back to Opaline I got in loads of trouble.”

“Exactly, but Twitch doesn’t,” Sunny sighed. “Allura praises him a lot too.”

Misty looked thoughtful, “Well, Opaline did praise me too. But only if I had done something she wanted.” She sighed. “Like when I got the Dragon Stone. She praised me a lot then, took care of me even.”

Misty suddenly shuddered, making Sunny gasp worriedly. “Misty, I’m sorry.”

“I’m okay,” Misty reassured. “I...I just...”

“No, I’m really sorry,” Sunny gasped. “I didn’t mean to dredge up your old memories.”

“So, back to today,” Sugar said, changing the subject. “I only saw what happened. They locked me in this tank thing, I couldn’t hear anything.”

Misty looked between them with concern.

“They needed me to use my powers,” Sunny explained. “So, Sugar ended up being their insurance.”

Sugar sighed. “If Sunny tried anything, they’d...”

Misty frowned. “Allura seems to like that kind of thing. That’s what worries us about this Confinement area.”

“Thing is, Allura didn’t use Sugar to convince me to help her,” Sunny frowned. “We made a deal...”

Misty listened as Sunny described the details of the deal she'd made with Allura. Then, what she’d done for Allura and what had happened.

When she’d finished, Misty frowned. “I sort of hope we rescue you before they use it. They’ll appear in this other world upside-down!”

Sunny blinked. “Huh, I didn’t think of that.” She sighed. “I don’t know if it was the right thing to do now. At the time, I hoped they’d go through the portal, and we’d be free.”

“Well, I’ve decided it was,” Sugar grinned. “I’m real glad we don’t have to wear the muzzles anymore. Playing charades all the time was getting so old.”

“Well, she can’t give mine back,” Sunny smirked. “I shot it before they could take my powers away.”

“Wait! Ice powers!” Sugar gasped. “We only saw them for a moment. She froze my muzzle completely before crushing it.”

Sunny blinked. “Yeah, that was so sudden. I’ve no idea how strong those are. She could do anything with them, I’ve no idea.”

“Well, she gives me the shivers just by looking at me,” Sugar shuddered.

They all chuckled before Sunny frowned. “There’s something else, Allura mentioned about programming.”

“The Nirik,” Sugar gasped. “They came in to get us and got all confused. That’s when Allura mentioned reprogramming.”

“That lines up with what Feather Breeze said about the instructions the Nirik follow,” Misty frowned.

“Feather Breeze, she’s the Nirik you captured,” Sunny remembered.

Misty smiled bashfully, “Well, she says I rescued her. Anyway, the Nirik follow these Situations things that are etched into their minds.” She groaned. “There’s so much we still need to find out and Zipp’s working so hard. She’s making breakthroughs, slowly but surely.

“One thing she’s worried about is you guys being tracked somehow. That’s what’s stopping me whisking you both to our camp. You could see everypony before I bring you back.”

Sunny’s eyes widened. “A...As much as that sounds brilliant. I don’t think it would be wise. I...I should have been more careful before. Misty, you’ve taken a huge risk coming here. I’m so grateful. But, please, don’t push it too far.”

“Yeah, if you’re not ready to rescue everycreature we need to stay here,” Sugar groaned. “I admit, I’ve been so selfish before. But everycreature deserves to be rescued too.”

“Don’t worry, we will,” Misty smiled as she stopped the recorder. “I think that’s enough turkey talking. I’ve got something for you both.”

She put the recorder away and withdrew a flask from her saddlebag. Sunny’s eyes widened with joy, “Is that?”

Misty smiled as she took two cups from the top of the flask and set them down. She undid the top and poured a steaming dark brown liquid into them.

“Yeah, hot chocolate,” Misty grinned. “I’ve got some of Dad’s best tea with me. But I know you really like this.”

Sunny grinned happily as Misty passed her one of the steaming cups. She blew on it before taking a sip and closing her eyes blissfully.

Sugar blinked with surprise as Misty carefully passed one to her through the bars. “M...Misty,” she gasped. “Thank you. I...I don’t deserve this.”

Misty looked at her with confusion. “Why not?”

“When you joined the Filly Four,” Sugar sighed. “I didn’t think of you as a friend. I didn’t even try to remember your name. I...I didn’t even realise you were that same Unicorn. I’m sorry for how I treated you.”

Misty shook her head. “I was only there because Opaline needed me to for her plan. So, you don’t need to apologise, I don’t hold any of it against you.

“I’ve changed so much since then. In many ways, I’m not that Unicorn anymore. I’ve become the real me. If you want to be friends now, then I’d really like that.”

Sugar gasped, her eyes glistening as she looked at Misty. “Thank you, Misty. I’d like to be friends too and to get to know you properly. Thank you for this.”

She blew on her cup before taking a sip. Sighing with satisfaction as the hot chocolate hit her taste buds. “Wow! Th...This is delish! Thank you!”

Sunny grinned as she finished her cup. “Misty makes epic hot chocolate. Her apple crumbles are brilliant too.”

Misty smiled. “I promise when this is all over, I’m making the biggest crumble yet.”

“I can’t wait,” Sunny beamed. “W...Wait that’s something else. Misty, come here.”

Sunny waved Misty closer so she could whisper something in her ear. Sugar blinked and gasped with surprise. “No, no, don’t you start planning something for me. I don’t deserve it!”

“Too late,” Misty grinned as she pulled back from Sunny before sighing. “Okay, that’s part one of this mission done.”

Sunny gasped. “Part One?”

“Yeah, I’ve got to check all the other huts for Coral Cloud,” Misty revealed. “She’s Skysurf’s best friend and...”

“Their princess,” Sugar gasped as she passed Misty the empty cup.

“Exactly,” Misty sighed. “There’s a chance she’s been in confinement the whole time. We need to know for sure or not.”

“Along with who else you need to rescue,” Sugar remembered.

Sunny looked at Misty calmly. “Then be careful. The next time I see you, I don’t want you to be stuck in the cage next to me.”

“Don’t worry, Sunny, I’ll be careful,” Misty smiled. “Anything happens, I’m teleporting straight back to the hide.”

She went to pull Sunny into a hug, but Sunny pulled her towards the bars. Misty’s smile broadened as she pushed one hoof through the bars while putting the other around Sunny.

Sugar gasped before moving closer, accepting Misty’s one-hoofed embrace through the bars. They all leaned in and enjoyed the hug, all hoping the next one would be without the bars stuck between them.