Escape from Arora Ridge Quarry

Twitch coughed as he extracted himself from the remains of the burned-out tower. He’d spent the best part of the day slowly sifting through the debris, trying to work out why the tower had caught fire the night before.

His fur was covered in black ash and soot, and he looked exhausted. He carried the binder in his forepaws, now looking very charred and burned. Grunting, he set it down amongst the other bits he’d salvaged and attempted to open it.

He sighed as page after page disintegrated to ash in his paws. Watching as the remains fluttered away on the small amount of hot breeze that blew through the Quarry.

Suddenly, his ear twitched as he heard a voice. “TWITCH!”

Twitch’s eyes widened as he looked skywards and spotted Allura swooping down directly towards him, her eyes narrow and her mouth curled into a snarl.

He squeaked in shock as she landed on top of him, causing him to fall over backwards as she pinned his forelegs down with her forepaws.

She snarled with anger as she looked him directly in the eye. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

Twitch grunted as he tried to free himself from Allura’s grasp before he squeaked back at her desperately.

“Don’t give me that!” Allura growled. “You’re supposed to check the reports we extract from the Nirik! That’s. Your! JOB!”

Twitch’s eyes narrowed as, despite his compromised position, he growled at Allura. Then, he squeaked angrily back at her, one of his hind legs banging down on the ground.

Allura gasped as her eyes widened in realisation. She stepped backwards, releasing Twitch and allowing him to stand.

“Y…You’re right,” she gasped. “You’ve been working on the gateway.”

Twitch grumbled as he tried to dust himself down. However, all he succeeded in doing was smearing the dirt into his already soot-filled fur. He scowled before squeaking back at Allura angrily.

“Yes, there’s strange anomalies in the reports,” Allura scowled. “One concerns me greatly; a Hippogriff and Griffon being seen out of position. Just when that pony, Sugar Moonlight, made her escape attempt.”

Twitch’s eyes widened. He began squeaking and grunting again, tapping a hind paw with concern.

“Yes, I’m going to have to make life difficult for everycreature for a while. I know you don’t like it. But I have no choice. Unless you’ve found something?”

Twitch sighed and shook his head as he reached down for one of the burned components. He squeaked and grunted as he showed it to Allura. Trying to explain everything was too burned.

However, Allura blinked and shook her head. “Oh, stop it you idiot,” she snarled. “You know I don’t understand your technical nonsense. I’ll take your word for it. I want the Nirik to enact Situation Ninety-One tomorrow morning.”

Twitch gasped as his eyes widened. Blinking in shock he began squeaking and grunting again.

“Yes, I’m sure,” Allura interrupted. “Look, I’m sorry I’ve left so much to you. I’ll find the Hippogriff and Griffon. I know which creature to start with.”

With that, Allura spread her wings and took to the sky. Leaving a very concerned Twitch behind.

Knowing exactly where to go, Allura flew quickly over the Quarry towards the High-Security Confinement area.

As she got closer, she couldn’t help grinning as she spotted that the door to Sunny and Sugar’s hut was open. She glided down, landing as she reached the doorway before entering the hut.

Inside, Sunny and Sugar were both in their cages, waiting for the Nirik to close the doors and remove the chains.

“Nirik. Pause!” Allura commanded.

Hearing the command, the Nirik all immediately stood to attention and froze in position. Meanwhile, Sunny and Sugar shared a worried glance, completely taken by surprise at Allura’s sudden arrival.

Eyes narrowed, Allura strode past the Nirik and entered Sugar’s cage. Smirking as she approached her with purpose. “So, have anything you want to tell me?”

“N…No,” Sugar gasped as a chill ran down her spine.

She took a step backwards, but the chains between her bridle and the cage went taught and held her in place. Stopping her from escaping as Allura got uncomfortably close to her.

“Oh?” Allura smiled sweetly. “Nothing to tell me about your escape attempt? About how a Hippogriff and Griffon were involved?”

Sugar blinked, desperately trying to hide her surprise. “I…I don’t understand.”

Allura smirked as she took a step backwards, allowing Sugar a little more breathing room. “Oh, don’t take me for a fool. Your escape attempt wasn’t anything of the sort, was it? It was a distraction!”

Sugar’s eyes widened as she gulped. However, her eyes suddenly narrowed as she pulled a quizzical expression. “What are you talking about?”

Allura snarled with rage, baring her teeth as she leapt forward. Slamming her paws into the chains, she made Sugar squeak with surprise as she pushed down on them. “I TOLD YOU! Do not take me for a fool!”

“I…I don’t know what you mean!” Sugar grunted as she struggled to hold Allura’s weight.

“Leave her alone,” Sunny shouted desperately. “She told you she doesn’t know.”

Allura swung her head towards Sunny as she snarled. “Stay out of this, Starscout.”

“But she doesn’t know what you’re talking about,” Sunny protested, her chains rattling as she tried to move closer.

“Oh, I think she does,” Allura sneered crossly. “I think she knows far more than she’s letting on.”

Allura pushed down on the chains again, raising herself up so that she towered over Sugar.

Sugar grunted as the weight pushed down on her bridle. Gritting her teeth she looked up at Allura with defiance. “I. Don’t. Know!”

Allura snarled. “A Hippogriff and a Griffon. Spotted far from where they should have been just as you started your little escape attempt. Does that ring any bells?”

Sugar grunted again, closing her eyes and gritting her teeth. Her neck and legs screamed under the pressure. However, she didn’t want to see what would happen if she dropped to the floor. “NO! No, it doesn’t!”

“See,” Sunny interjected. “She doesn’t know anything.”

Allura snarled with rage. “QUIET, STARSCOUT!”

Growling as she turned back towards Sugar, Allura sneered as she leaned in closer to Sugar’s ear. “You are lucky.”

“Lucky?” Sugar grunted as her legs quivered under the weight.

“Lucky that Starscout included you in her deal,” Allura snarled. “I don’t go back on my deals.”

“I don’t feel lucky,” Sugar groaned. “I…I don’t even know what hoppo or griffy things are.”

Allura growled as she jumped backwards and off of the chains. Sugar immediately gasped with relief, staggering slightly as the pressure released.

However, Allura advanced back towards her threateningly, scowling and snarling in rage. “Fine, play this game,” she sneered. “Thanks to you, the lives of every creature in this Quarry are about to get a whole lot harder. Yours especially!”

Before either Sunny or Sugar could respond. Allura reared upwards and her forepaws glowed a light blue before she slammed them both into the ground. There was a flash of blue energy from the impact which rippled under Sugar’s hoofs.

Sugar cried in shock as shafts of ice suddenly erupted from beneath her. They rapidly grew upwards and around her body, forming a large spiky mass of ice which enveloped her.

Sunny gasped; she could only watch as Sugar was almost completely encased, the only part visible being her face. However, the ice had formed a cup, pushing her chin upwards and holding her head around the base of her neck.

Sugar grunted as she was forced to stare at the ceiling, gritting her teeth as she tried to move. However, despite her efforts, the ice held her firmly. All she could move were her ears, mouth and eyes.

“Final chance,” Allura snarled. “The Hippogriff and the Griffon, what do you know about them?”

“I…I don…. Don’t know anything,” Sugar wheezed.

“Then stay like that!” Allura growled in annoyance as she turned towards the cage door. “There’s worse coming if you don’t tell me what I want to know.”

Still snarling in anger, Allura paused as she reached the door to the hut. “Nirik! Continue.”

With that, as Allura disappeared, the Nirik continued their normal routine. Closing the cage doors and then removing the chains before finally exiting the hut.

As the door was locked, Sunny hurried towards the bars with a look of concern on her face. “Sugar! Sugar, are you okay?”

“I…I think so,” Sugar wheezed before grunting. “B…But I can’t move.” She grunted again as she gasped for air. “It…It’s so tight. I…I can barely breathe.”

“Sugar,” Sunny gasped worriedly.

She pushed herself against the bars, poking one of her conjoined hoofs through. Grunting as she stretched as far as her shackles would let her. However, it was nowhere near far enough to reach Sugar.

Scowling, Sunny tried pushing her other hoof through the bars to gain more reach, groaning as she tried to maintain balance.

“S…Sunny stop,” Sugar wheezed. “Y…You’ll get stuck. I…It’s o…only ice. It’ll m…melt, right?”

Sunny frowned as she pulled her hoofs back, the bars rattling as she clanged the shackles against them. She studied the ice intently, bobbing her head around as she looked at it from multiple angles.

“I think it is already,” she said at last. “I don’t know how long it will be though. Wait, there is something else I could try.”

Sugar’s eyes widened as Sunny rose a hoof, immediately realising what she was about to do. “S…Sunny don’t,” she wheezed urgently. “W…We need to keep E…Earth Pony magic a secret, remember.”

Sunny gasped with surprise, “B…But…”

“S…She could come back a…anytime,” Sugar reasoned before taking a deep and shaky breath, her teeth chattering together. “W…Well at least I’m not hot anymore,” she smirked before pausing for breath. “I…I did it again. I…I just protected them w…without even thinking about it.”

“You knew it was the right thing to do,” Sunny reasoned as she lowered her hoof.

Sugar gave a weak smile. “Y…Yeah, I…I know. They’re my friends.”

Sunny sighed as she sat down, a feeling of dread building inside her. “I don’t think Allura is going to leave you alone now.”

“I know,” Sugar breathed. “I…I just hope your f…friends rescue us soon.”

At the camp, preparations for the Marestream to leave were underway. A tent had been pitched and others had been laid out ready to be put up. The camp kitchen was also no longer attached to the Marestream, nor were any of the tarpaulin rain covers.

Izzy was laid on one of the carved wooden seats, her normal jovial and excitable personality seemingly completely gone. She let out a long sigh as she stared gloomily at the dormant firepit, it being too hot to light a fire.

Nearby, Pipp groaned as she stirred a pot of clover soup, which bubbled away on the hob. It was nothing fancy, she didn’t much feel like doing fancy.

She glanced towards the Marestream and the cockpit windows. Not that she could see anything through them as the inside was filled with smoke.

Suddenly, Izzy let out another long and overdramatic sigh which made Pipp grunt and scowl in annoyance. She took a deep breath, trying to remind herself of the situation before she continued stirring. However, she was unsure how much longer she could stand Izzy’s continual over-the-top moping.

Then, as Izzy flipped over to her other side, she let out another long and melodramatic sigh. Flopping her legs around dramatically for increased emphasis.

It was the last straw for Pipp, she cried out with anger as she pulled the wooden spoon out of the soup before slamming it against the metal kitchen worktop. The sound of the impact rang throughout the camp making Izzy jump and fall to the floor.

“Izzy, will you quit the sighing already?!” Pipp shouted. “It doesn’t make any difference!”

Izzy’s eyes widened as she lay gasping in shock on the floor. However, her eyes narrowed as she jumped to her hoofs defensively. “I…I can’t help it!" She thrust a hoof towards the Marestream. "How…How would you feel if it was Zipp lying in there and there was nothing you could do to help?"

Pipp gasped and grimaced as she stared at the splatter of soup that now covered the worktop. “I'd feel the same as I do now,” she answered. “If things keep going as they are between Mom and Alphabittle, then…”

She trailed off as Izzy blinked in surprise, her mouth opening in astonishment. “Wait, what are you saying?”

“Mom has been seeing a lot of Alphabittle,” Pipp explained. “Like going to his tearoom, a lot. Inviting him to the castle, a lot. Zipp suspects something is going on between them.”

Izzy gasped. “And Zipp’s never wrong.”

Pipp couldn’t help chuckling. “Almost never wrong.” However, she sighed as she grimaced again. “She just hasn’t had a chance to look into it properly.”

Izzy gasped again, holding her hoofs to her mouth. “Th…That means…”

“Misty,” Pipp groaned. “If they get married, she’d be my new sister.”

“But I’d be too!” Izzy exclaimed before looking less certain. “I…I mean, almost. Alphabittle, he’s all the family I’ve had for so long! I…I…”

She trailed off as tears welled in her eyes. Gasping, Pipp forgot the soup completely, putting the spoon down and hurrying to Izzy.

“Iz! I’m so sorry!” she gasped in dismay. “I completely forgot how close you are to Misty. How Mom and Alphabittle being together would affect you too!"

She flung her hoofs around Izzy, holding her close as she began crying into her shoulder.

“I…I’m sorry too,” Izzy gasped between sobs. “I…I know moping around isn't helping. I just can’t lose somepony else like this. I just can’t!”

Pipp let out a sigh as she held Izzy tightly. “It’ll be okay, Feather Breeze said she knew what to do. She’s helping her.”

“I…I hope so,” Izzy sniffed. “I really, really do.”

The pair said nothing more as they continued hugging each other, both hoping that whatever Feather Breeze was doing in the cockpit was working.