By now, the guards were playing cards with one another. They were faced away from the cages, which gave the ponies an advantage. Lyra quickly got Minuette's attention with a wave of her hoof.
You ready? She mouthed, making sure the guards didn't see. Minuette nodded and faced towards the guards.
"Here goes nothing..." she said to herself as her horn charged up. She imagined shooting the beam at the guards, causing them to fall over and become unaware of the prisoners. As soon as her horn was fully charged, she shot out the magic and hit the guards. To her surprise, it just made them jump.
"Ow! Who shot that?" One of the guards questioned, his voice filled with fury. Nopony answered him.
"Answer!" The other guard added on. Minuette decided to speak up.
"Sorry. I did."
"Minuette!" Lyra remarked, motioning for her to stop talking.
"Why did you? You know better than to shoot guards!" One of the guards responded, getting right next to the cage.
"I'm sorry. I just have to practice magic every day. I won't hit you again, I promise!" Minuette answered. She thought of the best lie she could, and to her surprise, the guards believed it.
"Alright. But if you do, I will send Ahuizotl in here to personally destroy you!" The guard informed, walking back to play cards. Lyra walked to the edge of her cage near Minuette.
"Want to try again?" Lyra questioned in the lowest voice possible.
"Yeah! I will put more concentration in this time."
"Alright. They're turned completely around now," Lyra informed, pointing her hoof at the guards. "You should try again now."
"Alright. I hope this works..." Minuette quietly remarked to herself. A faint blue glow engulfed her horn. She then imagined putting the guards to sleep. She tried her best to fully concentrate and block out the guards' talking. When her head hurt from holding the magic in so long, she fired it. It engulfed the two guards, and they got angry looks.
"I thought I told you-" The guard tried to say, but was cut off by sleep. The other one drifted off shorty after. A moment of silence went by.
"I did it!" Minuette cheered, skipping around the cage.
"I guess we should all break the cages now," Lyra suggested. Minuette started charging up her horn again.
"I have a strong urge to use magic now!" She remarked as all of the cages started glowing the same color as her horn. "So, I can break all of the cages!" Minuette finished. She then charged a little more magic onto her horn and spread it to the cages. Instantly, all of the metal bars broke. Everypony looked around, astonished that the cages just shattered. Minuette ran to the entrance of the cave and turned to face the rest of the agents.
"Come on, everypony! Time to get back to Canterlot!" She declared. The blue unicorn took off, with everypony else following closely behind.
When they came up to Canterlot, they noticed a very eerie silence. The doors and windows were locked, and some were even boarded up, completely sealing any entrances. The agents walked around the city, looking for any sign of a big creature. Lyra then looked up one way and saw Princess Celestia standing in a battle position. She was charging her horn up, ready to fire.
"Everypony! This way!" Lyra remarked as she walked down the path. She saw the Sun Princess fire the beam, and heard a groan of pain. She then saw Ahoizotl's tail grabbing Celestia and holding her in the air. Suddenly, he threw her forcefully on the ground.
"Sister!" Princess Luna cried, running up to Celestia. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine, Luna," Celestia answered, standing back up again. She turned to find the agents all walking down the path and grew a small smile.
"Here is when you fall, Ahoizotl!" Celestia remarked. Lyra gulped and turned around to her fellow agents.
"I think we have to fight him," Lyra informed. She then took a heavy breath. "Here goes nothing..."