Escape from Arora Ridge Quarry

On Level Five there were multiple digging sites. The one right at the far end of the level had three watchtowers, one of which was in complete darkness. It was this one that Misty and Zipp appeared at the door with a flash.

Misty couldn’t help but double-check they had appeared invisible. Seeing they were, she sighed with relief before glancing around to ensure the coast was clear. However, Zipp still had hers closed and frowned with confusion. “What’s happening?” she whispered.

“Shhhh!” Misty hissed as she tried the door. “The doors locked. Hold on.”

Zipp’s frown deepened. “What? What’s going on?”

However, Misty didn’t listen. She concentrated on teleporting them inside the watchtower and they both disappeared in a flash.

After they appeared inside, Misty looked around nervously. However, it was pitch black and she couldn’t see a thing.

“Misty, what’s going on?” Zipp growled.

“We’re in the tower. I don’t think anycreature’s here, it’s too dark.”

Zipp opened her eyes and squinted through the darkness. “Yeah, it’s way too dark. Are you sure we’re alone?”

“I think so, the door was locked,” Misty frowned. “Just a second.”

She cut the invisibility so she could focus on a luminescence spell. Her horn glowed and the room was immediately lit up.

Zipp grunted as the bright light filled her vision, blinking and rubbing her eyes as they adjusted. When she finally looked around, she couldn’t help gasping. “T...This is perfect!”

The inside of the tower was laid out the same as the one Giselle and Skysurf had infiltrated. Opposite the door were the steps up to the observation area which extended into the middle of the room. To one side of these were the racks of spare collars, bridles and straps. To the other was the same equipment that Skysurf and Giselle had seen.

However, the equipment was dismantled, the exterior panels were removed from all over it. Cables hung out of these, and components were left strewn all over the floor. There were baskets of cables, parts, connectors, screws and bolts positioned to one side.

Zipp surveyed the scene, looking like all her Whishintine’s had come at once. “Misty, this is perfect. It’s just what I need.”

She took her hoof from Misty’s shoulder, making her flinch. “I...I said...”

“Misty, I need my hoofs to examine this,” Zipp said softly.

Misty took a deep breath. “Yeah, and I suppose the doors locked. I’m going to check upstairs.”

“Maybe keep an eye out from up there,” Zipp suggested. “I’ll be as quick as I can.”

Zipp donned her visor and whipped out her phone. Then she began taking photos and documenting everything she saw. Meanwhile, Misty gulped as she started toward the stairs, she couldn’t help feeling worried.

Inside the casing, unbeknownst to either of them, a component was sparking away.

Misty frowned as she neared the top of the stairs, she wasn’t taking any chances. She carefully peeped over the top to check and breathed a sigh of relief, there was nocreature there.

She walked up the rest of the stairs and positioned herself above the door before settling down to keep watch. However, after a short while, her eyes widened in realisation. “Anycreature could see me from down there!”

Her horn glowed and she turned invisible, instantly feeling safer. “I need to be careful. I hope Zipp will be quick, I still want to go back to Skysurf and the others.”

Misty sat keeping watch for what felt like ages. Eventually, she decided she needed to check on Zipp and made her way back down the stairs.

She dropped her invisibility as she reached the bottom and frowned. “Zipp, how much longer?”

“Not much,” Zipp smiled. “Misty, this is the key to the collars and the artificial purr.”

Misty sighed. “I know, I…I just want to get back to the creatures. They’re waiting for me.”

“Yeah, I get that,” Zipp said as she took another photo. “But I can’t rush this, I’m sorry.”

Misty watched as Zipp continued tracing wires and documenting. She contemplated leaving her to it and going to see the creatures. However, she shook her head, she couldn’t risk leaving Zipp behind.

She frowned and moved towards the racks of straps, collars and bridles. Her eyes widened as she spotted the Unicorn bridles and went to take a closer look.

Suddenly, her hoof hit something large and hard, making her stop. Frowning, she looked down and blinked with confusion, it was a large plain green binder. Picking it up, she opened it and gasped. “Zipp. Zipp, look at this!”

Zipp was busy tracing a wire, her ear twitched but she didn’t react to Misty’s voice.

“Zipp,” Misty gasped as she hurried over. “You need to see this!”

Zipp finally paid attention as Misty held out the binder, its open pages showing a set of technical drawings. Her eyes widened in shock and surprise. “This....This...”

Quickly, she snapped a photo of the page before she set the binder down and began flipping through. Her eyes almost popped out with delight. “Misty, do you know what this is?”

“Well, I assume it’s diagrams of this equipment,” Misty blinked before shaking her head. “It makes no sense to me.”

“It is, but it’s so much more,” Zipp breathed. “There are diagrams of everything that’s here. I mean everything. This control equipment, the emitters that Skysurf mentioned in her note, the bridles, the straps. Literally, everything that has to do with these watchtowers and keeping control of the creature’s abilities and magic.”

Zipp was shaking, everything she needed had just been served to her on a silver platter. However, her face fell as she realised there was a problem. “It’ll take me ages to copy all this. T...There isn’t time.”

“You won’t need to,” Misty gasped. “There’s a spell, one Starlight used to copy the textbooks at the school. I mean, I wasn’t there but Sunny told me about it.”

Zipp’s eyes lit up with hope. “Do you know it?”

Misty shook her head. “Not quite, but it’s one that Starlight’s messages said I needed to learn. I have cast it, but I can’t without rereading the incantation.”

“Okay, but how does that help?” Zipp blinked.

Misty smiled. “I thought you were a detective? I have the book back at camp. I’m sure I can do it.”

Zipp’s eyes lit up. “W...Well let’s go! We’ll take this but if you can’t do it quickly then we’ll have to bring it back.”

“Don’t you want to look at this more though?” Misty said as she gestured to the equipment.

“With what I’ve got, I won’t need to if I’ve got these diagrams as well,” Zipp beamed.

“Okay, but first I have to revisit the creatures,” Misty frowned.

“But there’s not much time,” Zipp gasped.

“Exactly!” Misty replied hotly. “It’ll be lights out for them soon and I am not leaving them worried about me until tomorrow night.”

Zipp groaned. “Fine, you’re right.”

“To save time, you’re coming with me,” Misty replied as she held out a hoof. “Hold onto me.”

Gasping, Zipp closed the binder and put her phone away. Then, clutching onto the binder, she grabbed Misty’s outstretched hoof. With a flash, Misty teleported them away.

Neither of them had noticed the component inside the casing as it continued to spark away.

Inside the Ponies Hut, the creatures sat and waited worriedly.

They had already gone through all the notebooks, some more than once. After that, they’d started chatting about themselves, what their homes were like and their families. However, that had started getting them down and they’d given that up too.

“It’s ages since she messaged,” Skysurf fretted. “Somethings happened to her.”

“It has been some time, but we shouldn’t just assume the worst,” Thymus advised.

“But it all makes sense now,” Skysurf groaned. “Queen Skystar knew the disappearances were getting worse. That’ll be why she sent Coral Cloud with the delegation heading to Equestria, she wanted to make sure she was safe. It must have gotten so bad she’s gone to Equestria herself, only to find Coral Cloud never made it.”

“Which only means your Queen is safe,” Sprout reasoned.

“But for how long?” Skysurf growled. “If it’s gotten so bad she had to leave Sequestria…”

“Surely long enough for us to be rescued,” Giselle reassured.

“The castle in Zephyr Heights is impenetrable,” Minty frowned.

“Just like Seaquestria is supposed to be,” Skysurf sighed before groaning. “I’m sorry. I…I just feel responsible for Misty putting herself in danger like this. I hope she’s okay.”

Suddenly, there was a large flash which made them all gasp. After shielding their eyes, they were surprised to see both Misty and Zipp standing before them.

“I’m sorry it’s taken so long,” Misty blurted. “Something else came up and this is a really quick visit to say all’s fine.”

Thymus blinked in shock. “W...Wait, Misty Brightdawn, please, who is this with you?”

Sprout smirked. “That would be Princess Zipp.”

“W...What!” Skysurf gasped as her eyes widened in horror.

“NO!” Zipp said hotly as she pointed at Skysurf. “I presume you’re Skysurf. Look, don’t start going on about how Princesses shouldn’t be here. From what I’ve heard, Coral Cloud longs for the freedom I enjoy. If you’re truly her best friend that’s what you would want for her.”

Skysurf blinked and looked at Zipp with shock. After a few moments, she groaned and looked down sadly. “Y...Yeah, I do,” she admitted. “Queen Skystar, she’s really protective. Please, how did you convince your mother you could have your freedom?”

Zipp sighed. “Well, it sort of just happened to be honest. It helps that I’m living with my friends. I think that puts her mind at ease.”

“Along with you being a Guardian of Unity,” Minty pointed out. “That’s a huge help. It’s good to see you again, Zipp.”

“Huh, you remembered then,” Zipp smirked. “It’s nice to see you again too, Minty.”

“So, why made us wait?” Bingo grunted. “Will be lights out soon. I’m glad I already took bananas to the other Dogs.”

“That’s my fault,” Zipp admitted. “I spotted an opportunity. Long story short, we found this in one of the watchtowers.”

She held out the binder and flicked it open to a random page.

As the creatures leaned in to look, most looked confused. However, Minty’s eyes widened, and she gasped in shock. “T...Th...That’s...”

“Yeah, it’s the drawings and diagrams for everything to do with the watchtowers and the collars,” Zipp smiled. “Misty’s going to make us a copy with a spell.”

Minty held out her hoofs hopefully. “C...Can I?”

Smirking, Zipp handed her the binder and she quickly began flipping through it. The more she looked, the more her eyes widened and the more excited she got. “Zipp, with this you’ll be able to build your own version of the collars and the charging equipment. You could create a testbed!”

Zipp sighed and shook her head. “Thought of that but it would take ages out here. I don't have everything to hoof.”

“Then go back to Equestria,” Minty urged.

“Wait, don’t you go sending our help away,” Giselle gasped. “We need them.”

“Yeah, we’re not leaving you,” Zipp frowned.

“Zipp, your notes say you want to overload the collars by fitting a device to the charging equipment,” Minty said seriously. “We worked it out, there’s hundreds of watchtowers all over the Quarry.”

Zipp blinked, her mind processing the information. “You’re right, I’ll never make enough devices out here. I…I need to go back to Equestria.”

“My dad’s company, Cloudstrike Industries,” Minty frowned. “Tell your Mum to requisition the development lab. It has everything you’ll need to build a test bed and then manufacture the devices.”

“But it took ages for them to get here,” Sprout gasped. “It’ll take ages for them to get to Equestria and come back.”

Zipp tapped her chin. “Actually, it won’t. The Airship was zigzagging all over the place, to the point it was going back on itself. The Marestream is way faster than it too. If I get an early enough start I might even do it by late evening!”

“So, you are aiming to overload the collars and bridles,” Skysurf frowned. “It sounds dangerous.”

“Yeah, which is why testing would be the best thing to do,” Zipp confirmed. “If done exactly right we’ll not only be able to free all of you, but we’d also free all the Nirik as well. Then we’d only have the Auroricorns and Allura to worry about.”

“This is sounding extremely positive,” Thymus smiled. “However, I feel we’ve kept you long enough. You need to copy this binder and return it before it’s missed. Thank you, both of you, for your continual efforts.”

“Yeah, let’s get this done,” Zipp nodded to Misty before looking back to the creatures. “It’s real, real nice to be able to put faces to the names and voices on the recordings.”

“Skysurf,” Misty gasped. “Before I go, I did see Coral Cloud.”

“I got your message,” Skysurf nodded. “Is she okay, did you speak with her?”

“I spoke to her, but she was wearing a muzzle so she couldn’t reply,” Misty sighed. “She couldn’t even gesture with her claws. They were locked in these rigid shackles that stopped her from moving them much. But I reassured her we’d get her out. She seemed excited to hear that.”

“Thank you, Misty,” Skysurf nodded. “That means a whole lot.”

“I’ll have to tell you all more about the Confinement area tomorrow night,” Misty sighed.

“That’s not an issue,” Thymus smiled. “Thank you for coming back and letting us know you are okay. We’ve made some progress.”

He held out the notebooks and recorder. Gasping, Zipp took them gratefully before helping Misty pack them into her saddlebag.

Bingo groaned. “So, we’re helpless now until you return?”

“Appears that way,” Sprout admitted.

“Well, we could prepare our plan,” Skysurf frowned. “What we do when Zipp turns off the collars.”

“That’s a good idea,” Zipp smiled as she closed the saddlebag. “We have no idea what your strengths and weaknesses are.”

“Yeah, we don’t want to be running in circles,” Giselle grinned. “We need a plan of what to do.”

“Then that is what we’ll spend our meetings doing,” Thymus nodded. “Like when the best time to do it would be.”

“Yeah, I’ve got theories, but you guys are the ones in the know,” Zipp winked.

Suddenly, the lights in the hut turned off and plunged them all into darkness.

“That’s everycreature's cue to leave,” Thymus sighed. “Misty, Zipp, thank you again for all you are doing.”

Zipp nodded. “Don’t worry, we’ve got this. When I see you again, I promise, you’ll be free creatures.”

“I should be back tomorrow night,” Misty added as she held a hoof out towards Zipp. “Zipp, we’ll nip to the hide first. I want to make sure Hitch and Izzy know we’re okay.”

“Oh! O...Okay,” Zipp blinked as she took Misty’s hoof.

With a round of farewells, Misty and Zipp both disappeared in a flash.

Pipp and Feather Breeze were sat on the wood carved chairs around the campfire, waiting worriedly. However, it was too warm for a fire and having nothing to do was driving Pipp mad.

“I...I can’t take this anymore!” she exclaimed as she held her hoofs to her head. “There’s nothing to do out here with no signal!”

Feather Breeze didn’t reply, her eyes were closed as she breathed deeply, meditating.

Pipp groaned and lent back in her chair. She sighed as she looked up into the darkness, wishing she’d downloaded an offline game or something.

Suddenly, there was a large flash as Misty, Zipp and Izzy appeared. Immediately, Pipp and Feather Breeze jumped up and hurried towards them, a look of hopeful excitement on their faces.

“How’d it go?!” Pipp exclaimed. “Did you see Sunny?”

“I...I’m almost afraid to ask, Spring Flare?” Feather Breeze stammered.

“Wait, where’s Hitch?” Pipp gasped as she held her hoofs to her mouth worriedly.

“He’s still at the hide,” Izzy grinned.

“Yeah, he’s just keeping watch,” Misty smiled. “I...”

“Hold on,” Zipp interrupted. She stepped forward, still clutching the binder. “Misty, get your spellbook. We’ve wasted too much time already! We need to get this copied.”

“O...Okay,” Misty gasped. “But...”

Zipp’s expression softened. “I’m real sorry, Misty. I know you want to update everypony but there’s no time. We really need to get this back before it’s missed.”

Misty nodded, dropping her saddlebag to the ground before hurrying towards the Marestream. Meanwhile, Zipp turned to her worried Sister and Feather Breeze.

“I’m sorry guys, lots started happening after Misty stopped her infiltration,” she sighed. “We found this binder of diagrams and drawings. It’s imperative we get it copied and back to where we found it before it’s missed.”

“So, she didn’t...” Pipp groaned.

“No, no, she did,” Izzy gasped. “She saw Sunny and Spring Flare.”

“Yeah, sorry,” Zipp said worriedly. “Misty was successful. There’s just no time for us to go over it now. She’s made notes and recordings though.”

Pipp sighed thankfully whilst Feather Breeze looked up at the trees with a small smile. “At least we know where Spring Flare is.”

Suddenly, Misty skidded to a stop with a spellbook held in her levitation. “Okay, hold the binder up,” she instructed. “I’ll make three copies as that’s the minimum this version of the spell will do.”

Zipp nodded and held the binder up. Then, Misty took a moment to re-read the incantation before taking a deep breath.

She narrowed her eyes as she focused on the binder before shooting a beam of magic at it.

It immediately began to glow before three beams of magic shot out of it. Each beam ended in a flash above Pipp, Izzy and Feather Breeze. All three looked up in shock and awe as copies of the cover appeared.

Then, the binder began rotating, and copies of the pages started firing from it and into the three copies. Each was slowly filled until eventually the covers slammed closed.

The original and three copies then floated downwards towards the four of them. Zipp grabbed the original whilst Pipp, Izzy and Feather Breeze each grabbed a copy.

Misty gasped as she wobbled on her hoofs for a moment. However, she shook her head and quickly regained her balance. “Okay, getting tired now,” she admitted. “Do they look right? Please say they’re right.”

Zipp hurried over to the others and they quickly looked through the copies and the original.

“We’re all good,” Zipp beamed as she held out the original. “Go for it, Misty.”

“O...Okay,” Misty grunted as she took it. “Back to the tower to put this back. Then to the hide to pick Hitch up and then back here. Somepony had better have some supper ready for me because I’m going straight to sleep after that!”

Most of her friends couldn’t help chuckling as Misty closed her eyes and her horn glowed before she turned completely invisible.

However, Zipp’s eyes widened as she gasped. “Wait, Misty, don’t just...”

However, Misty didn’t hear her. There was a flash as she disappeared.

Misty appeared inside the watchtower with a flash. However, she instantly knew something wasn’t right. She felt insanely hot and there was a very, very strong smell of burning.

She opened her eyes and squeaked in horror. The inside of the watchtower was on fire, the flames erupting from the equipment that Zipp had been inspecting.

She began coughing and coughing as she struggled to breathe in the smoke-filled air. She closed her eyes as she stepped backwards. Her invisibility spell failed, and she dropped the binder to the ground. She backed into a corner, with the stairs between her and the raging flames.

Feeling her bottom hit the wall, she opened her eyes again. Her mind raced as she desperately looked for a way out. However, the stairs were blocked, as was the main door. Her eyes stung from the smoke, and she was forced to close them again as they began streaming.

There was the sound of something breaking and falling. However, Misty paid no attention to that, her lungs felt like they were on fire. She struggled to breathe, coughing and coughing in the thick acrid smoke.

Her mind was a jumbled mess, she wanted desperately to escape but she couldn’t focus. Gasping, coughing and wheezing, her legs buckled from below her and she fell to the ground.

She thought about Hitch, he’d be watching and unaware she was in trouble. Finally, there was a flash before her world went black.