Escape from Arora Ridge Quarry

Preparing the Marestream for departure hadn’t taken long. However, Zipp frowned as she worked through the pre-flight checklist, walking around and ticking items off after she’d inspected them. Being careful to ensure everything was ready.

Meanwhile, Misty gasped as Izzy pulled her towards one of the tents.

“Come on, Misty,” she beamed. “I wanted everypony to have their own special tent, so I decorated this one just for you. Ta-daaaaaa!”

Misty’s eyes widened as she looked at the tent. The edges were adorned with a pattern created from leaves, twigs, pinecones, conkers, and various other items foraged from the forest. Above the entrance flap, there was a collage depicting Misty herself.

Izzy laughed, “No way anypony can get mixed up now.”

“It’s wonderful,” Misty breathed in awe.

“Hold your gasps,” Izzy giggled, waving a hoof. “You need to see inside too before you run out of them!”

Misty stared as Izzy hurried towards the flap, holding it aside and gesturing for her to enter.

As Misty entered the tent, her eyes widened in awe again. Above her, woven into the canvas, there was another collage. Once again made from items foraged from the forest, it depicted all of her friends. Quickly, she realised that as she was laid in bed it would almost be like they were there watching over her.

Izzy grinned. Even though Misty didn’t respond, the tear in her eye revealed exactly how she felt.

“It doesn’t stop there!” Izzy beamed. “I spoke to Feather Breeze and together we made this.”

Her horn glowed as she levitated a golden incense holder out from under the camp bed and placed it in the middle of the tent.

“But, Feather Breeze said we didn’t have one of these,” Misty blinked as she inspected the holder.

“We didn’t,” Izzy smirked. “Not until I made it with transfiguration. I designed it specially so that anything burning inside can’t light the tent on fire too.”

Misty couldn’t help but give Izzy a sideways glance. She wasn’t sure what she could have made the holder from, but she quickly set that aside and smiled back gratefully. “Thank you. I don’t know if I deserve all this.”

“Course you do,” Izzy smiled. “You’ve worked so hard, and it was the least I could do. You’re practically my half-sister and I’ll do anything I can to help you recover.”

Misty smiled happily as she flung her hoofs around Izzy gratefully.

Izzy giggled as she joyfully returned the hug. “Come on, we don’t want to miss them leaving.”

Misty only nodded in reply before the pair headed out of the tent.

With all checks complete, Zipp, Pipp and Feather Breeze stood before their friends ready to give their final farewells.

Feather Breeze smiled as she levitated a basket towards Misty. She took it gratefully and looked inside before looking at Feather Breeze in confusion.

“These are incense sticks and leaf tea bundles,” Feather Breeze smiled. “Izzy helped me with them. You should burn one of the sticks each night as you sleep. They’re not as powerful as the therapy you’ve been getting, however, they’ll still aid your recovery.”

Misty nodded gratefully before lifting one of the bundles and inspecting it hopefully. “And are these the tea you gave me last night? It worked really well.”

Feather Breeze nodded gleefully. “Stir them in boiling water for five minutes. Then, strain the water into your cup. You don’t want to drink the leaves, throw them away.”

“O…Okay,” Misty gasped. “You…You really shouldn’t have gone to so much trouble.”

“Misty, I know it feels like you don’t deserve it. But trust me, I would do this for anypony,” Feather Breeze reassured her. “However, you do deserve it, you rescued me and you’ve worked so hard to help everycreature.”

Misty blinked before giving a grateful smile. “Thank you, Feather Breeze. Thank you so much.”

“You are very welcome, Misty,” Feather Breeze smiled. “To fully regain your strength, you will need to follow my instructions.”

Misty nodded gratefully before blinking in surprise as Pipp and Zipp both approached. She gasped as they lifted their hoofs around her and hugged her tightly.

“You take care,” Pipp smiled as she closed her eyes. “Concentrate on getting better.”

“Yeah, don’t worry about us,” Zipp grinned. “From what I can tell, we should be in Zephyr Heights by early evening.”

Misty blinked in confusion before closing her eyes and enjoying the hug. Despite it being unexpected, especially from Zipp, it felt right somehow.

“Hey, no fair!” Izzy gasped as she hurried over.

“Get in here then,” Zipp laughed as she held out her hoof nearest Pipp.

“Yeah,” Pipp grinned as she also held out a hoof. “Hurry up, Iz.”

Izzy grinned as she wrapped her hooves around Pipp and Zipp, all of them laughing as they hugged each other tightly. They eventually broke off the hug, and Hitch stood nearby smiling.

“Oh, come here you,” Pipp smiled as she hurried over to hug him. “Don’t you dare think you are missing out!”

Hitch couldn’t help chuckling as he returned the hug. “I’m not, just don’t be gone too long.”

“Don’t worry, Sheriff,” Zipp smirked as she waited for Pipp to finish before giving him a hoofbump. “We won’t be.”

Izzy couldn’t help herself. She skipped over towards Feather Breeze and held her hoofs out wide. “Don’t leave me hanging.”

Feather Breeze gasped and awkwardly accepted Izzy’s hug. “T...Thank you, Izzy.”

“I didn’t want you to feel left out.”

“It just feels… kind of wrong,” Feather Breeze admitted.

“Hey, everypony deserves a hug,” Misty gasped as she joined in. “Especially when you’ve been helping me so much.”

Feather Breeze nodded thankfully and sighed contentedly. “I don’t know what I would have done without you all,” she admitted.

“Right, everypony all hugged out?” Zipp asked.

Izzy pushed out her bottom lip, “I guess so.”

“They can’t spend all morning hugging,” Misty smiled. “But I’ll have another.”

“Yeah, you will,” Izzy beamed as she gave Misty a tight squeeze which made her eyes bulge.

“Okay, that’s too tight,” she gasped.

Laughing, Zipp, Pipp and Feather Breeze finally made their way towards the Marestream.

“Come back as soon as you can!” Izzy hollered as she let go of Misty.

“The sooner you’re back, the sooner we can finally rescue everycreature,” Hitch smiled.

“Good luck!” Misty said as loud as she dared. “I hope it all goes well.”

Pipp and Zipp paused at the doorway, turning back to their friends and waving.

Pipp beamed. “We’ll be back as soon as we can.”

“Yeah, we won’t be gone long,” Zipp winked. “Keep an eye on everything for us.”

Feather Breeze sighed before she gave a small grateful smile. “I…I haven’t felt like this in so long. Goodbye, for now, my friends.”

With that, all three entered the Marestream. When they appeared in the cockpit, Hitch, Izzy and Misty stood and waved as the Marestream powered up.

Pipp and Feather Breeze spotted them and waved back as the Marestream began to lift into the air. Zipp smiled at them but didn’t wave as she kept her hoofs on the controls.

The Marestream gracefully climbed into the sky. As soon as it was clear of the trees, it turned around before shooting off and almost immediately disappeared out of sight.

Below, the three ponies looked at each other before sighing and heading off in different directions.

In Zephyr Heights, Strawberry Sunflash sighed as she sat at her writing desk. The sun had risen and it looked like it was going to be a glorious sunny day. However, she didn’t much feel like going outside.

By normal castle standards, her room was extremely plain. Just a bed, a set of drawers, a writing desk, bookshelves and a window. There were no elaborate drapes, paintings, or anything else. It looked more like a dungeon than the actual dungeon.

However, this had all been by request. Strawberry didn’t feel like she deserved any of the finer things the castle had to offer her. Politely turning down the room until it had been stripped back to basics.

Unusually, she was wearing a simple brown dress. Wearing clothes was rare in modern Equestria but she wasn’t wearing it for fashion, she was wearing it out of necessity.

Her head rested on a hoof, the leg for which was propped on the desk as she studied a book. Oddly, this wasn’t a spell book, although a pile of these was sat by the side of the desk.

Instead, it was a history book. One of many that had been recovered from the old Canterlot Library recently. Letting out a deep sigh, she placed a hoof on an image that depicted an amber Unicorn with a streaky red and yellow mane and tail running towards a mirror. She sighed again. “What would you do?”

Suddenly, she gasped. Her horn was tingling, and she knew what that meant. Desperately, she activated the messaging spell and listened intently as Misty’s voice played in her mind.

“Morning Strawberry. Zipp, Pipp and Feather Breeze have just taken off. Zipp said to tell you they expect to be back by late evening.”

Strawberry’s eyes widened in surprise. “Misty! Y...You sound so well. Much better than when you messaged yesterday.”

“I’ve not long woken up from one of the best night’s sleep I’ve had. I still need to take things carefully though and I’ve done so much this morning already. I...I can’t keep speaking for long.”

Strawberry smiled thankfully as she felt like a weight was being lifted from her.

“Oh, thank hoofness. I...I won’t keep you. But, I... I...”

She trailed off, looking down at the book unsurely as her horn stopped glowing.

However, she jumped in surprise as her horn immediately began tingling again.

“Strawberry, it’s okay. I’m sorry I couldn’t answer your questions last night. I kind of need your help.”

Strawberry gasped. “My help?”

“Yeah, I need you here,” Misty paused, and Strawberry frowned as she heard her gasping for breath. “I need you to help me. When Zipp and the others get back here. I...I won’t be able to do everything on my own.”

Strawberry blinked disbelievingly. She looked down at the book again, staring at the image as her eyes widened and her breathing got quicker and quicker.

Her horn tingling again snapped her back to reality with a squeak. She hadn’t even realised she’d stopped concentrating on the spell and shook her head as she activated it again.

“Strawberry? Did you get that? Are you okay?”

Hearing the concern in Misty’s voice, Strawberry grimaced. “I...I don’t know if I c...can.” She gulped before taking a deep breath. “Misty, I failed you. I was a stuck-up arrogant hothead. How could you give me another chance like this?!”

“Because I know that inside you have a kind heart. Strawberry, please. I know you’ll be able to help. I just need you to do something.”

Strawberry closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “Name it, Misty.”

“Learn Teleportation. Find the spell in Glimbursts Volume Two. That’s the one that Starlight taught me. It’s actually more about focus than actual incantations though. Use an orange... focus on it... then on…. Then on somewhere within l…line of sight.”

Strawberry gasped as Misty suddenly sounded more and more breathless. She grimaced as conflicting thoughts spun in her mind. She was desperate to learn but her concerns for Misty grew ever stronger.

“Thank you, Misty, I’ve got that volume here. I…I’ll give it a try. Please, don’t push yourself anymore.”

“Y....Yeah, my lungs feel like they’re burning. I…I’m going to rest now. S...Speak to... you soon.”

“Thank you, Misty,” Strawberry sighed as a tear welled in the corner of her eye.

After ending the messaging spell, Strawberry hunched over as she stared at the image again. Focusing hard on the pony before taking a deep breath and closing her eyes.

When she opened them, they were narrowed with determination. She let out a deep sigh before getting up from the desk and heading towards the door. She knew Queen Haven would want to hear the latest news so she could make arrangements.