Ancero waited at the rendezvous point for roughly twenty minutes before Nawir had returned.
"What took you so long?" she asked. "It's been thirty minutes, I was starting to worry!"
Nawir smirked. "In the long time we've known each other, have you ever had to worry if I'm running late?"
"I guess, but these griffons seem more powerful than what they used to be."
"What about these griffons?" Darim asked as he walked over, catching the two off guard.
"Oh, Darim, you're half an hour late." Ancero stated.
"Well, I found Kren." he gestured behind himself to the mare observing everything nearby hesitantly.
When she saw her friends, Kren's face lit up. "Ancero, Nawir! I haven't seen the two of you in so long!" She ran over to her friends and gave them each a hug. "Darim here told me that you were working with him in regards to the griffon attacks."
"Kren!" Ancero shouted, "I've missed you!"
When the two mares hugged, Kren whispered in her friend's ear. "When we get the chance, I need to know how much we're hiding from Darim."
"It's been so long! I-" Ancero cut herself off and looked at Darim. "Wait, where's Solar?"
Darim shrugged. "He disappeared when I talked to Kren. I figured he just left early. Didn't he stop by?"
"Nope, I've been here a while and I haven't seen him since we split up."
"Maybe he got lost?" Nawir suggested.
"He knows this kingdom better than any pony." Darim replied.
"He wouldn't have abandoned us without a perfectly good reason." Ancero assured them. "Anyways, now that we have Kren, we just need to get one more pony."
"Chase is the missing one?" Kren asked.
"Yes." Ancero answered despondently. "And I don't think he'll be very easy to find."
"Well," Nawir butted in, "I may not have found Kren, but I did gather some information on a pony that I think may be him."
"What?"
"I think he's in a maximum security isolation prison cell."
The group fell silent for a long moment before Darim broke the silence.
"Why would he be there, exactly?" he questioned.
"He likes to fight." Ancero answered.
"Like, really likes to fight." Nawir added.
Darim nodded.
"Sometimes I feel like his purpose in life is to fight with every pony ever." Kren finished for them.
"Thanks, I uhh, kinda gathered that." Darim said apathetically.
"Just remember not to piss him off. He won't hesitate to kill you, or us for that matter." Nawir warned.
"If he's so dangerous to even us, then why should we rescue him? We have four ponies right here, three of them are possibly the strongest I've ever seen. We even have a fifth who was trained to be a Royal Guard! Nothing stands in our way!"
"Darim," Nawir began, setting a hoof on Darim's shoulder and staring him in the eyes, "buddy, you don't even know the extent of Chase's strength. You saw me kick two different griffon's asses, right?"
"Yeah."
"Chase is so powerful, he could easily beat the rest of us by himself."
"So what you're saying is we need an uncontrollable pony who could kill all of us without breaking a sweat to be free to fight an enemy that the five of us could already beat? Besides, if all it took to prevent an all out war is for him to be released, we could just ask King Dawn."
"NO!" Ancero, Nawir, and Kren all shouted in unison.
"What? Why not?"
The three of them looked at each other nervously, silently trying to figure out a response. They were locked in the silence for about thirty seconds before Nawir spoke up. "Look, we've all been pretty secretive to you and Solar this far, so if you help us free Chase and don't let the King or Queen know about us, we'll tell you everything."
"Everything?"
"Everything. Just ask us any question, and we'll answer it truthfully."
Darim was clearly displeased with what he had to do, but he decided it was worth it. "Okay, I'll help you free this, Chase, or whatever his name was."
"Awesome! Ancero, what's the plan?"
Ancero cleared her throat. "Kren, we need your transformation ability to pose as a guard and infiltrate the prison. When you get inside, locate Chase's cell and try to make a mental note of where it would be on the outside. When you find it, come back here to us. Then you will take Darim, who will pose as a criminal, inside where he'll do something to create a distraction. A brawl or something, anything to draw the guards' attention away from Chase's cell. Next I want you two to both get out and signal us that it's time to continue. Nawir and I will do the next part when we get one signal, but it'd be best if you both assumed the other can't make it. Nawir will go around to where Kren tells us the cell should be from the outside and he'll smash it open. Nawir will then break free any possible bonds Chase is held in and take him back here. I'll go in with Nawir in case he needs help, and I'll also help either of you two if you can't get out for whatever reason."
"Sounds good." Nawir nodded.
"I'll do my best." Kren added.
Darim remained silent.
Ancero glared at him. "Do you understand the plan Darim?"
"Yes, create a distraction, signal you, meet back here."
"Good. Then Kren, it's time for you to start."
"Ok." She shut her eyes and slowly her coat turned white while her mane and tail turned blue. The mane and tail also retracted slightly to match the style of the guard ponies. "How do I look?" she asked when the transformation was done.
"Perfect. Just needs armor and we're golden." Ancero answered. "You should be able to get some just inside the entrance."
"Give me twelve hours. If I'm not back by then, assume I was caught."
"Understood. Good luck."
Kren saluted the other three before turning around and heading towards the prison.
"And now we wait." Kren said with a yawn. "I'm gonna sleep for now, wake me up if something happens."
Kren arrived at the front door of the prison complex in a short couple minutes. Several fully armed guards stood outside, two outside the door directly, while the others sparred with each other, or rested for their next shift. The two guards at the door stared Kren down.
"Where is your armor, soldier?" The left one asked. He was slightly larger than the other and had a gray coat with a white mane and tail.
"I left it in the barracks." Kren said unwavering.
The two guards looked at each other before nodding. "You may pass, but don't leave your gear unattended again."
"It won't happen again." Kren replied before scurrying inside.
"Damn newbies." the guard on the right muttered. His coloration matched his partner, though he was smaller.
After passing through the main doorway, Kren looked around. In front of her was a heavy iron door with metal detectors on both sides that lead to the main prison containment, on the right was a purple watchpony that operated the door, and her left was a similarly heavy iron door to a long room filled with beds.
"Excuse me?" Kren asked the watchpony politely.
The pony looked at her. "Where's your gear?" he asked as if it was an insult.
"I left it in the barracks."
The pony shook his head before disappearing underneath his desk to flip a switch. There was a small click followed by a startlingly loud buzz before the pony popped back up and the door to the barracks creaked open. "Get your stuff and get back."
"Thank you." Kren added before darting into the barracks. Along each wall was countless sets of bunk beds, each with one giant chest at the front of it. There were only a small amount of ponies in the room lounging around. They all shot her a single glance before returning to whatever they were doing. Kren went down about halfway through the barracks to a bed with no pony nearby and opened the chest. Inside was a set of the golden armor and a short sword. As luck have it, the pony whose stuff Kren was stealing happened to also be a unicorn, so there was a hole in the helmet for her horn. Although the armor was slightly too small. Kren used her shapeshifting ability to carefully shrink down to just the right size, making sure nopony was watching her as she did it. Then she used her magic to fasten the sheath around her torso and sheathed the sword. Finally she exited the barracks and back to the watchpony. "I need to enter the prison now."
"Do ya now?" the purple stallion asked sarcastically. "Are you late for this shift or early for the next?"
"Umm, what time is it?"
The pony gestured towards a clock above the barracks door. Kren checked it. 5:05 it said.
"Late by five minutes."
"Ah, you must be Whisper Shade then, the new girl. Don't be late again kid." he said as he flipped another switch to open the first prison door and turn off the metal detector. Click. Click. BUZZ. Kren stepped through. The pony shut the first door then opened the second. Click. Thud. Click. BUZZ! Kren then went through the last door and the pony shut it behind her. Click. Thud. "Your shift lead should be at the cafeteria."
"Thank you! That's forward right?"
The watchpony sighed. "Yes."
"Okay." Kren looked around at the bleak building. It had a whole three stories that split off in three directions. Forward led to the cafeteria which was next to the showers and yard. To the left and right were countless prison cells filled with ponies of all walks of life. The first floor had a solid concrete floor, but the second and third floors only had a metal walkway wide enough for two ponies to pass, with a flimsy fence to keep them from falling. Kren walked forward, deciding it would be best not to piss off the shift lead and risk blowing her cover.
In the center was the regular door while on the side opposite the showers was the staff door, which had stairs leading to the catwalk above. At the top of the stairs was a larger white male Earth pony with scars all over.
"What's your name?" he shouted when Kren entered.
"Oh, uhhm. Whisper Shade, s-sir!" she saluted, her calmer demeanor suddenly melted in the stallion's presence.
He walked down to her and checked her up and down and all around. He prodded her equipment to see that it was indeed put on and fastened correctly. Then he slapped her cutie mark, which was currently a shield. "New girl eh?"
"That is, uh, c-correct sir."
"Listen here Whisper, I got one rule on my shift." he leaned in close to her face. "And that rule is do your job right. Being late ain't how you do it." Despite the fact that he was chewing minty gum, his breath smelled horrible, way overpowering the candy.
"Understood."
"Striker." he shouted at the guard that let Kren in.
The stallion jumped in surprise. "Yessir?"
"Show her around."
"Gotitboss."
"Dismissed, both of ya." he turned and headed back up the staircase, ignoring the two guard ponies.
"Whisper Shade wuzit?"
"Uhh, yeah, Striker I take it?" Kren extended a hoof for shaking.
"Yes'm. Striker Bolt th' Third." he took the offer energetically. "Lemme show ya'round."
"O-okay." Kren said hesitantly. The pony seemed awfully excited for his job.
Striker led the way out the door and took Kren back to just inside the entrance. "As ya'know this 's the prisn. Forwrd is th' cafeteria n' showers n' yard n' such. Left and right of us 's regular confinement. Underground 's solitry confinement."
"Underground?"
"Yes'm."
"How do we get there?"
"I'll show ya at th' end. Gotta make th' rounds." Striker took Kren left first. "Nopony 'mportnt here. Just lowly crimnals, purse snatchas n' th' likes."
The two of them slowly made their way around all the cells and up all the floors then down, all the while Striker blabbed on and on about how the prison was "the most s'cure in the pony Kingdm." and how "its 'mpossble fer a pony to escape."
On every floor, right in front of the staircase was a typical propoganda poster to keep the guards motivated and scare the criminals, but the last caught Kren's attention, as it was unusual compared to the others.
"Hey Striker?"
"Yes'm?"
"What does this poster mean?" she asked, pointing at the odd one.
"'Evn th' smallest flame c'n cause a wildfire.'" he read aloud. "Well y'see, they ran outta th' reglar posters so they just grabbd an extra one. It s'posta remnd us that if one gets out, they all c'n."
"I see."
"'Nywho. Solitry confinemnt now." Striker took out a small metal plate from a pack Kren just noticed. He set it on the ground right at the intersection of the three paths. "Wenya get enuff promoshns you'll get one too." He stomped it with all of his might, then the ground shook. The chunk of concrete they were standing on slowly started lowering.
Kren looked around in a panic as she sunk into the ground. After they went down a ways, another concrete slab replaced the one they took down, and everything was pitch black.
"Evryone freaks out their first time. Just stay calm, almost there." Striker reassured her. After about a minute of descending, the slab stopped in the ground of a small room. Striker stepped off and Kren followed, then the slab was pulled into the wall. "Cool rite?"
"Yeah, freaky too."
Underground were a handful of cells with small windows on the doors so guards could look inside. There were also seven guards, not counting Kren or Striker. The only lighting was by torches, lanterns, flashlights, and magic glowing on the tip of the one unicorn's horn. Kren took a hint and did the same with her horn.
"Striker!" one of them shouted. "What are you doing down here?"
"Showin the new gurl 'round. Boss told me ta."
"Okay. Carry on then."
"As ya c'n see. Theres no way out unless you have that plate, so don't go too far frm me."
"Okay. Wait, whats behind that door?" Kren pointed at a door with easily triple the locks of the others and was at least twice the thickness. It also had a table propped on it's side resting against it.
"Oh, thts our numbr one prisnr. I forget his name, but he's supa dangrous."
Kren peeked through the window on the door to see the pony. The cell itself had walls, floor, and ceiling made of metal rather than concrete, and were splattered in dried blood. At the back corner, Kren could make out the figure of a male Earth pony with a black coat. "Oh my." she was at a loss for words. There were giant spikes driven into the pony's front legs, pinning him to the wall.
"Only way we c'n contain 'im. We have to starve 'im and do that, else he'd break free. Kilt twelve guards jst tryinta get 'im in. That metal there is a super alloy of Tungst'n, Plutonum, Rad'n, and Xen'n. It emits just enough radishun to keep 'im weak, and it also repairs itself."
Kren held a hoof to her mouth and stepped away from the cell. "That's Chase." she thought to herself. "I'm not feeling well. I need out." she bluffed.
"Mkay." Striker stepped where the concrete slab disappeared and did the thing with the metal plate when Kren got there. The slab took them upwards and the replacement slab was pulled back. When they got to the top, the concrete formed a perfect seal so no pony could tell the difference. "Staff bathroom 's this way." Striker pointed towards the cafeteria, but Kren was already going through the doors with the watchpony.
"You feeling well?" the watchpony asked, showing genuine concern.
Kren shook her head, keeping her hoof to her mouth. As soon as the second door opened, she bolted out of the prison entirely and ran straight for the rendezvous point where Ancero, Nawir, and Darim were waiting.