Escape from Arora Ridge Quarry

There was another flash between the piles of building materials as Misty appeared. She looked down at herself and groaned, she was visible. “So, why’d it work last time?” she muttered. “Good job I didn’t trust it!”

She reactivated her invisibility spell before she started to make her way back towards the huts. This is going to take ages! Why don’t I appear invisible when I teleport like I want to? Heck, why can’t I just appear inside each hut?! She grimaced. I bet Starlight would. I’m so stupid, I’ll never be like her.

She sighed as she reached the wall of the hut, heading the opposite way than what she’d done the first time. No, I’m not stupid, I can’t afford to slip up and get caught. Her eyes narrowed with determination. I have to do it this way. Starlight got so good because she practised, so that’s what I need to do.

She groaned as she came to the corner. Checking around it for the patrolling Nirik before continuing. I’m not staying up all night practising though. I’m done with feeling tired! I’ll get there eventually.

Misty knew exactly where she needed to be to teleport into each of the huts, it had all been planned out. She also knew which order she ought to visit them in. She had watched the creatures that were in Confinement and seen which hut the Hippogriffs were being kept in. Therefore, that was the one she was aiming for first and crept into position to teleport.

Misty appeared inside the hut with a flash. Immediately, she looked down at herself and groaned, she was visible again. She looked around the hut, it was laid out exactly the same as Sunny’s. Six cages, three on each side.

Only two of the cages were occupied, by the pair of Hippogriffs that had been out pulling a cart. They were wearing shackles and muzzles, and their wings were strapped up. They looked back at Misty with surprise before a glimmer of hope began to appear in their eyes.

Misty sighed, she had inadvertently given Sugar false hope and knew she needed to explain quickly. “H...Hi there, err...” she sighed again as she struggled to find the words. “I’m sorry, you’re probably both hoping I’m here to rescue you. Well, I sort of am but I’m afraid we’re not ready yet.”

One of the Hippogriffs, a red-coloured male, nodded understandingly and brought its conjoined claws to its eyes. Holding them like a set of Binoculars and looking around.

Smiling, Misty nodded. “Yeah, I’m on a reconnaissance mission. Don’t worry, I’m part of a group working to free everycreature. We won’t leave you behind.”

The second Hippogriff, a light green female, lifted its claws and made a heart shape with them.

Misty nodded and, feeling safe, grabbed her notebook from her saddle bag. On a crudely drawn map of the confinement area, she made some notes about the hut.

She looked up at them again and frowned before trotting forward. “Please, do you know if Princess Coral Cloud is here, in the Quarry? She’s missing.”

The two Hippogriffs looked at each other before shaking their heads sadly.

“Thank you,” Misty sighed. “Don’t lose hope, I promise that we will rescue you. I’m sorry, I can’t stay any longer or help you more right now.”

The two Hippogriffs nodded understandingly, and Misty looked down with a heavy feeling in her heart. Her horn glowed and she first turned invisible before she teleported away.

When she appeared back within the piles of materials, Misty looked down and grumbled quietly to herself. “Okay, this time I’m invisible. Great, now if only there was more consistency!”

She gasped as a searchlight passed over her and instinctively ducked down, despite the fact she couldn’t be seen. Frowning, she set off to repeat the same process as before.

She sneaked into position and teleported inside the next hut. When she appeared, Misty found it was full of Diamond Dogs and she couldn’t help feeling relieved that she was still invisible.

Each of the six cages had more than one of them inside it. Whilst they were shackled, they weren’t muzzled. As a result, they were extremely rowdy and loud. After a quick count, she teleported away, feeling very glad she hadn’t needed to speak to them.

However, when she eventually appeared in the following hut, she looked down and groaned, she was visible. She sighed and looked up to see one Yak locked in a cage in the corner, but it didn’t look at all surprised.

“Yes, only one silly Yak here,” it said sagely. “Carry on Pony. Do not waste your breath. You have much to do.”

Misty blinked with surprise before making her note and leaving.

Her arrival in the next hut went unnoticed, it was very full and overcrowded with Griffons. Unlike the Diamond Dogs and the Yak, as well as their shackles they were all wearing muzzles, and their wings were strapped up.

Misty checked and saw she was invisible, and the Griffons were too distracted to notice her floating eyeballs. Therefore, she took her count before teleporting away.

A little later, Misty appeared in the penultimate of the smaller huts. She gasped at the three strange creatures she found locked within the cages. Immediately, they looked straight at her and when she looked down at herself, she saw why, she was visible again.

Frowning, she looked up at the creatures and her frown changed to a look of confusion. They were unlike anything she’d seen before, one even had three heads of different animals.

All the creatures were heavily chained up and wore muzzles over their faces. However, Misty wasn’t even sure if they could speak anyway.

After a few moments, she suddenly realised. “Are you Changelings?”

The creatures all nodded.

Misty sighed and looked at them sadly. “I know you’ll be hoping I’m here to rescue you. I’m sorry, I’m only on a reconnaissance mission right now. But my friends and I, we’re working hard on an escape plan. Now we know you’re here, I’ll make sure you’re rescued. I promise. Please, don’t lose hope.”

The Changelings all nodded, and, with an even heavier heart, Misty turned invisible again before teleporting.

She appeared back within the material piles and checked; she was still invisible. “T...This is getting too much,” she whispered. “This was a mistake; I hate dashing their hopes!”

However, she took a deep breath and frowned with determination. Wait, we can’t help them if we don’t know they need help! I still have a job to do, I can do this!

Sneaking her way past the Nirik patrols was almost getting too easy now. Therefore, it wasn’t long before Misty appeared inside the last of the smaller huts.

She gasped in surprise; it was completely different inside to the others. Instead of having six cages with open bars. She found herself in a narrow metal-lined corridor. On either side, there were six strong-looking doors which she assumed led to cells.

Misty glanced down to check, she was still invisible and decided to stay that way. Taking a deep breath, she tried to be as quiet as possible as she approached the first door.

She frowned as she spotted a sliding hatch at around eye height. However, as she got level with the door, she gasped as she felt a strange sensation in her horn. It was like a tingle, but a whole lot stronger.

Grunting, she lifted a hoof to her head. However, when she saw it, she gasped and looked at it with confusion, it was visible. “What? I...I didn’t...”

As she put two and two together, her eyes widened, and she squeaked in shock and horror. “N...No, nono! My magic!”

Overwhelmed with fear and horror, Misty turned and desperately hurried towards the door of the hut. She didn’t notice the sensation in her horn disappear as soon as she was no longer level with the cell doors.

She raised a hoof to the door, hoping that somehow it would be unlocked. However, she froze and blinked with surprise. She couldn’t see her hoof; it was invisible again.

Gasping, she finally realised she couldn’t feel the sensation in her horn anymore. She looked down and double-checked, sure enough, she was completely invisible. “O...Okay, what’s happening here?”

Panting with fear and anxiety, Misty walked back towards the cell doors. As soon as she was level with them the sensation returned. She looked down, confirming the spell had failed and she was visible again.

Then, she took a few steps back. The sensation disappeared and she once again turned invisible.

“O...Okay... Okay, it’s okay,” she panted. “It’s something to do with these cells. Oh, my hoofness, I’m so lucky it didn’t affect this whole corridor! I should go.” She gasped as her eyes widened. “No, wait! This could be where they’re keeping Coral Cloud. I...I have to look... I have to be sure.”

Deciding not to change anything, Misty kept her spell active before moving forward towards the cell door. Once again, she felt the strange sensation as she got close. Ignoring it, she raised a hoof and slid the hatch downwards.

Misty gasped as she looked inside. It was a small metal-lined cell. The light inside was dim but she could still see a light-yellow Kirin was sat huddled in a far corner.

Ignoring the sound of the hatch, it looked despondently at the ground over the muzzle strapped to its face. It didn’t move at all due to the two pairs of heavy rigid shackles locked around its hoofs.

“Spring Flare!”

Hearing her name, Spring Flare finally looked up and gasped. Seeing Misty at the door, her eyes widened in shock and disbelief.

“D...Don’t worry, Spring Flare,” Misty reassured. “Feather Breeze, she’s free. I freed her. That’s why she didn’t return to the airship. She’s helping me and my friends, we’re going to save everycreature.”

Spring Flare didn’t try to move, she continued to stare at Misty with a look of disbelief.

Misty sighed and looked down sadly. “I’m sorry, I can’t rescue you right now. Even if I wanted to. Don’t lose hope though, we’re going to save everypony, everycreature. I promise!”

With that, Misty slid the hatch back into position. She grimaced as her heart ached that she could do nothing more.

Meanwhile, Spring Flare blinked. W...Was that real? Are they really going to save us? Save me? She mentioned Feather Breeze, is she really free? Could she… Her head twitched. I am Allura’s prisoner forever... Nocreature can save me...

Her eyes welled with tears. No, no it wasn’t real. My mind is playing tricks on me. Nopony knows I’m here, not even Mum. She thinks I’m still under Allura’s lab. I’m going to be stuck here forever, nocreature can save me.

Meanwhile, Misty was carefully making her way to the next cell. As soon as she moved so she wasn’t level with the doors her spell returned. “I’d better not hang around,” she muttered. “I don’t want this effect to become permanent.”

Quickly, she worked through the cells. Each one was occupied by a single creature, a large Changeling, an old female Griffon, a Yak and a Diamond Dog.

Each wore muzzles and had rigid shackles locked around their forelegs. They looked despondently at the ground, seemingly devoid of hope. It broke Misty’s heart, however, she dared not hang around in whatever aura or field was stopping her magic. They didn’t see her, so she moved on.

Finally, she came to the last cell. She slid the hatch open and gasped. Inside, there was a Hippogriff, light pink with a light-yellow mane and tail.

She was looking down despondently as she sat against one of the walls. A muzzle covered her beak whilst her claws were locked together by a pair of rigid shackles. Her wings were strapped up too, but her hind hoofs were free.

“H…Hi, are you Coral Cloud?” Misty asked.

The Hippogriff gasped as her head shot towards the door. Her eyes widened hopefully as she nodded excitedly.

Misty sighed. “I...I’m really, really sorry. I bet you’re hoping I’m here to rescue you?”

Coral Cloud blinked and nodded slower, visibly looking less hopeful.

Misty sighed as she felt her heart sinking lower. “I...I’m sorry, I’m only here on reconnaissance right now. I can’t rescue you right away. You’re going to have to hold on a little longer.”

Coral Cloud blinked but nodded. She tried to move her claws to gesture but the shackles stopped her. She scowled and shook her conjoined claws up and down with frustration, as though she had just remembered she was restrained. Then she grunted before pulling on the muzzle with annoyance.

Misty groaned. “I...I’m sorry, I know you can’t speak, and I… I can’t help you right now. But don’t worry. My friends and I are going to rescue everycreature. I know Skysurf, I’ll let her know you’re here. Now I’ve found you, I’ll make sure you’re rescued. I promise.”

Coral Cloud’s eyes lit up and she nodded.

“Don’t lose hope. We’ll help you; I promise.”

Coral Cloud nodded again, this time almost as excitedly as the first time.

Misty gave a reassuring smile. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

Finally, she slid the hatch back into position. Sighing, she stepped clear of the cell door.

Looking down, she felt some comfort that her invisibility spell had reactivated. Grimacing, she teleported away.

Back safely amongst the building materials, Misty lay down as tears welled in her eyes. “Those poor, poor creatures,” she sniffed quietly. “Maybe I should have done all this then gone to see Sunny? She would have cheered me up.”

She looked down at her hoofs and realised she had appeared invisible again. “Wait. T…This feels different?”

Slightly worried, she dropped the invisibility spell and breathed a sigh of relief as she became visible again. She reactivated the spell and moved towards the hut. Then, just to be sure, she teleported back to the materials. Wait! I…I think I’ve got it! It feels easy now like it should do. Okay, I’ll check the last one.

Feeling slightly happier, she took the notepad from her saddle bag and scribbled some hurried notes next to the previous hut. Then, she remembered her promise to Skysurf and concentrated on the messaging spell.

Skysurf, it’s Misty. She sighed. I’ve found Coral Cloud. She’s in High-Security Confinement like we’d feared. I just have one last hut to look in. I’ll be back soon.

After finishing the spell, she took a deep breath. “J...Just one more. I’ve got to check that big one.”

With a deep breath she started what she thought would be the last infiltration of the night.

Misty hurried towards the large hut, straight towards the corner. She wanted to be finished and she’d started easily bypassing the Nirik patrols. Therefore, instead of carefully walking, she started to run.

As she did so, she started thinking about the fastest way to get line of sight of the door. Therefore, when she reached the corner, she didn’t stop to check, she ran straight around it.

Misty squealed as she collided with a Nirik. Her invisibility spell dropped as they both spun around together and ended up in a tangled heap on the floor.

Gasping and wide-eyed in terror, Misty desperately untangled herself from the Nirik. Getting up she skittered backwards, falling over herself again in desperation to get away. Landing on her bottom, she squeaked again before looking around desperately.

For some reason, the nearest watchtower was in complete darkness. Meanwhile, the Nirik didn’t move, its eyes were closed, and it lay completely still.

Misty sat panting, wide-eyed, as she looked at the Nirik with concern. She was ready to teleport away, but something told her to wait. She gasped, realising its collar was sparking.

Suddenly, it erupted in flames and transformed back into a Kirin, making Misty jump. However, it still didn’t move, it lay completely still with its eyes still closed.

Misty froze as conflicted thoughts spiralled in her mind. Finally, the urge to escape overcame her curiosity and concern for the creature before her.

Her horn glowed and she teleported away, just before another Nirik walked around the corner behind her. Upon seeing the Kirin, it began growling, running forward as its mane flared.

In the hide, Zipp, Hitch and Izzy had been anxiously keeping watch. However, due to Misty’s invisibility spell, they kept losing sight of her. Despite Hitch and Zipp’s reassurances, Izzy became more and more worried.

Then, when Misty ran into the Nirik, it was Izzy who spotted it happen. “No! Nononono!”

“Izzy?!” Hitch gasped as he lowered his binoculars. “What is it?”

“She’s been caught!” Izzy wailed. “She…She… I don’t know, one moment this Nirik was walking along. Next, it’s on the floor with Misty!”

“Where?” Hitch said as he raised his binoculars.

“The biggest hut, right-hand side corner,” Zipp advised, already watching intently.

Hitch trained his binoculars in. “I see her. I think she’s okay, the Nirik isn’t moving. Wait, it's just turned back into a Kirin.”

“What can we do?” Izzy gasped.

“Nothing,” Zipp sighed. “We can’t do anything."

“Don’t worry, Iz, she's teleported out of there,” Hitch advised.

Misty appeared behind the hide with a flash, gasping for breath as tears began to well in her eyes.

Almost immediately, Izzy came running out of the hide and flung her hoofs around her. “Misty! Oh, Misty! Are you okay?”

“I...I knew it! Misty cried. “I’m a clumsy idiot! I’ve ruined everything! Those poor creatures, they’ll never be rescued now!”

“You don’t know that,” Izzy gasped as Misty cried into her shoulder. “I’m so glad you’re okay. I thought…”

“Yes… Yes, I do,” Misty sobbed. “They’ll know we’re here now!”

“I don’t think they do,” another voice said.

Misty looked towards the hide and saw Zipp standing at the door. “Misty, from what I’ve seen. The Nirik just think their friend’s collar malfunctioned.”

“R…Really?” Misty gasped. “But, the one I ran into…”

“Wait, is that what happened?” Izzy gasped. “I mean, I saw that Nirik go flying and then you appeared on the floor with it. I thought it had caught you!”

Misty grimaced as tears continued to trickle down her cheeks. “No, I was stupid. I just ran around the corner without checking. I ran straight into it.”

“But you were invisible,” Zipp smirked.

“Y…Yeah,” Misty nodded. “Up until when we collided.”

“Okay, and it transformed back into a Kirin,” Zipp recalled.

Misty nodded. “It’s collar was sparking. I think I damaged it.”

“Exactly, they just think the collar malfunctioned,” Zipp reassured. “They’ve made no attempt to search for anycreature.”

“T…They haven’t?” Misty gasped.

“They haven’t, they don’t suspect a thing,” Zipp smiled. “I think it's because of these Situation things they're following. They didn't see any evidence of anycreature. Therefore, they just fetched a new collar and then took the Kirin away. I think we’re in the clear.”

Misty let out a sigh of relief as she blinked away her tears. However, she still looked down sorrowfully. “I’m so sorry. I got careless, I put everything at risk. I…I failed…”

Izzy blinked. “But you can’t have failed, you were down there ages.”

“Did you see Sunny?” Zipp asked.

“Y...Yeah,” Misty sniffed.

“Really?” Izzy beamed. “Is she okay?”

“Yeah, she’s doing okay,” Misty reassured. “I...I’ve got a recording of all the information she’s got for us.”

“Awesome,” Zipp grinned. “And Coral Cloud?”

“I found her,” Misty sighed. “Spring Flare too, they’re both locked in cells. The hut they're in looked like Solitary Confinement. I’ve got notes about it and all the other small huts and creatures trapped in them as well. There were so many.”

“Then you haven’t failed,” Zipp grinned.

“But I didn’t get into the biggest hut,” Misty groaned. “I was on my way there when I ran into that Nirik.”

“That’s fine, we’ll just have to factor that into our plans,” Zipp smiled reassuringly. “Most importantly, you saw who you needed to. You completed your primary objectives.”

“Yeah!” Izzy danced on the spot. “So what if you didn’t get inside the biggest hut? I bet it’s just some silly storeroom anyway.”

Misty looked at Izzy with a dumbfounded expression. Then she looked at Zipp’s reassuring smile. It took her a moment to process but she eventually gave a small smile in return. “Thank you,” she sighed. “I...I needed to hear that. Those poor, poor creatures. We need to save them!”

“Don’t worry, Misty. We will,” Zipp winked.

“Yeah, we will!” Izzy agreed.

Suddenly, Hitch’s voice came from inside the hut. “ZIPP! Get in here!”

Frowning, Zipp turned and headed inside the hut. Izzy and Misty gave each other inquisitive looks before they headed to the entrance and poked their heads inside.

“Zipp, I’ve just seen Twitch,” Hitch explained as Zipp approached.

Zipp gasped and quickly grabbed her binoculars. “Really? Where?”

“The Confinement Area, that watchtower that I said was in darkness,” Hitch described. “He’s gone inside.”

Zipp swung her binoculars around to look at something at the far right before looking back at the Confinement Area. Just in time to see the lights in the watchtower lighting up.

Izzy and Misty looked at each other. Both were completely confused and had no idea what was going on.

“Okay, he’s coming out,” Hitch frowned.

“Keep an eye on him,” Zipp instructed. “Looks like he’s fixed that tower and hopefully he’s done for the night.”

She turned around towards Misty with a hopeful look on her face. “I know you’ve probably had enough sneaking,” she sighed. “But there’s a golden opportunity to get into a watchtower that I think Twitch is working on.”

“Wait, is that why you wanted me to watch for him?” Hitch blinked. “But the tower looks like it’s all fixed now and Misty needs to get back to the creatures in their hut.”

“It’s not that tower,” Zipp clarified. “It’s one on Level Five, all the way to the right. It’s still in darkness and there are no creatures around it at all. Where’s Twitch heading?”

“Down to Level Zero,” Hitch advised. “I’ve lost him in amongst the buildings.”

“Then he’s not gone back to this tower,” Zipp frowned as she wafted a piece of paper. “It’s got all the things that Skysurf noted down here. It’s a golden opportunity to get vital information.”

Hitch groaned, “You say everything is vital information! Misty’s just had a close call.”

However, Misty took a deep breath and narrowed her eyes. “Okay, I’ll do it.”

“Wait, what?” Hitch gasped. “You don’t have to.”

“Yeah, you’ve done so much already,” Izzy added worriedly.

“We need to get the rescue plan sorted,” Misty said resolutely. “The creatures I saw in Confinement tonight. They need us. Sunny, Sugar, Coral Cloud, Spring Flare and lots of others. Then there’s Sprout, Minty, Skysurf, Giselle, Thymus, Bingo and the others as well.”

“Misty, come take a look,” Zipp offered. “Level Five, the watchtower furthest to the right in the area they’re digging.”

Misty nodded and walked towards the hide opening. She picked up the binoculars and looked through them. It took her a few moments, but she soon found the watchtower Zipp was talking about. “I see it, there’s no Nirik around it at all,” she sighed. “Like you said, it’s a golden opportunity.”

“So, let’s go,” Zipp smiled.

“Wait, what does that mean?” Izzy gasped.

“Whoa, whoa, you are not going too!” Hitch exclaimed.

Zipp looked at him firmly. “Yes, I am. It would massively speed up my analysis if I could actually see this equipment. There’s no Nirik there, it’s safe.”

Misty frowned as she lowered the binoculars. “Okay, but don’t let go of me unless I tell you. I can’t get us both out quickly if we’re separated.”

Zipp nodded and placed a hoof on Misty’s shoulder. Her horn glowed and they both turned invisible.

“Ahhh! They’re doing it!” Izzy gasped.

“Close your eyes,” Misty advised.

Hitch looked around in horror, “Whoa, wait! Hold on! Don’t just...”

However, Zipp closed her eyes and there was a large flash as both Misty and Zipp disappeared completely.