"He's underground and we need a special device to get to him!" Kren blurted out when she got back to the others.
"What?" Nawir asked, confused.
"Yeah I know, it's ridiculous! Also he has giant metal spikes through his legs and they're starving him so he has no energy. It's not right!"
"Chase?"
"No, King Dawn, of course I mean Chase!"
"What the hell do we do then? I can't burrow through the ground."
"Can you smash through two steel doors and a few meters of concrete?"
"Easily."
"Okay. That's all we need. Change of plans then. ANCERO WAKE UP DAMNIT!"
The pegasus was jolted awake. "What? I'm up I'm up!"
Kren drew a simple diagram of the prison in the dirt, labeling the cafeteria and main entrance. "When I was in there I noticed that this area here had a ton of open cells. When I take Darim in as a criminal I'll put him in those cells, which are part of lunch group B. At precisely noon is when group B's lunch starts, so start looking for a signal then. When all the prisoners are inside, Darim will start a brawl and I'll signal you two. Ancero will fight off the guards that try to stop us and Nawir will punch down the doors. I'll show him where the concrete is and he'll break us in. I'll shapeshift into a Pegasus and fly the two of us down, Ancero can follow if she's free. Then we bust out Chase and I'll activate the concrete lift with the device from one of the guards. Darim, you'll have to get yourself out if Ancero is busy fighting because Chase will definitely need two of us to support him as he's way too weak to move by himself. Otherwise one of us will come get you out. Everyone meet back here and we'll figure it out from there."
The group nodded in unison.
"I better get all the damn answers for this." Darim muttered under his breath, just loud enough for everyone to hear. He looked the other way while Ancero clasped him in heavy chain cuffs. "I don't even want to know where you got these."
"Alright, let's get going, we're wasting time." Kren commanded.
When they were within the line of sight of the guards outside the prison, Kren started pushing Darim ahead instead of letting him walk on his own.
"Cut it out will ya? I can only go so fast in these." he spat.
"Keep going prisoner." Kren replied sternly. When they got to the door, the guards of the front door stopped them.
"Whats the crime?" the bigger one asked.
"Petty thievery." Kren replied confidently.
"How so?"
"Pickpocketed an old mare. Stole about a day's wage from her."
The two looked at each other then back at Kren and Darim. "The watchpony inside will tell you what to do with him." the smaller one said as they both stepped aside.
"Thank you." Kren said as she pushed Darim through the door.
"Cut it out I'm going I'm going!"
The same purple pony from earlier was still on watchpony duty, though it was obvious that a shift change was happening soon as he kept checking the clock. "Crime?" they asked.
"Petty theft."
The pony turned and checked a clipboard hung on the wall behind them. Then he picked up a pencil and wrote a number in one of the boxes. "Cell number 217. Somepony will be by within two hours for new prisoner orientation and to give you your stuff. Do you have any weapons on you or personal items you wish to have kept for the end of your sentence?"
"Nothing." Darim replied spitefully, though who the anger was directed at wasn't fully clear.
"Whisper, have you checked him for weapons?"
Kren nodded. "He's clean. All he had when I clasped him were the stolen goods."
"Okay. Prepare your sword and unclasp him. If he tries to run, stop him, kill him if you need to."
Kren used her magic to pull the sword out of it's sheath and touched the point to Darim's rear. Then she used her magic to undo the locks around his legs.
"Step through the gate, and before you try, the prison is in an anti-magic forcefield. Only guards can use it here."
"I understand." Darim said solemnly as he walked through the doors and metal detectors, Kren shortly behind him.
The watchpony nodded at Kren. "Show him his cell."
"Two one seven?"
"Yup"
"Odd numbers are left side, the two means second floor am I correct?"
"Yup."
"Thank you. Get going prisoner! To your left!"
Darim glared at Kren. "Bite me." he mouthed.
When they got to the cell, Darim walked in and Kren locked it behind him.
"Somethings off about this place." Darim whispered.
"I know, they didn't even ask for proof that you were convicted, or how long your sentence is."
"Something else too, I can't quite pin it."
Kren nodded. "I'm not feeling anything, it could be the anti-magic forcefield reacting to your horn."
"Possibly. Anyways, when does lunch start?"
"Your group is in about three hours if I remember correctly."
"Okay, well you better go get Ancero and Nawir then. They probably followed us a ways so they shouldn't be too far behind."
Kren nodded before heading back downstairs and out the front door. She found a fellow guardspony who was sitting around and asked them to spar with her, and they obliged. While they fought, Kren kept a close watch on the clock, which that paired with her inexperience made her lose every bout. An hour had passed, then two, then three. Not a word about anything happening inside. Four hours after they arrived, an hour late, and Kren began to fear the worst, "Maybe he gets a private lunch for his first day? Was he busted? Maybe he tried to start a fight and the guards stopped him." Another half hour passed, and finally, Kren got what she was waiting for. An alarm sprang, alerting all the guards that something was happening. The watchpony quickly stumbled out the front door in a hurry.
"There's a fight in the cafeteria! All personnel with combat training are required! This is not a drill!" they shouted. Immediately, all of the guards that were outside except for the two at the door, Kren, and one other, flooded through towards the cafeteria, the watchpony had left both of the front doors open so they could flow in easier.
When the last one that was going had entered the prison, Kren looked around the bushes for any sign of her friends. She saw them a ways up, hiding in the bushes just well enough so you wouldn't notice them unless you were looking. Kren pulled out her sword and a rag and started polishing it, making sure to shine as much light at the two as possible as the signal. Kren then went over to the extra guard pony sitting around and started talking to them to take his attention off the path Ancero and Nawir would take.
"So, you must be new too huh?"
"Yeah, they hired me just a couple days ago." they were the usual white unicorn guard.
"Cool! Me too!"
"Kind of odd seeing a mare in the guard."
"Yeah, that was my thought too when they hired me. My friend told me to apply, I really didn't think I'd get the job."
He nodded. "I hear they've been getting desperate recently."
"I wonder why."
"Yeah, I've never seen- hey wait a second, what's that?" he pushed Kren aside and squinted down the road. "Hey, HEY HEY HEY!" he shouted, pointing at the two ponies sneaking through the bushes. "OVER TH-" he was cut off when Kren pinned him to the ground and put the sword to his throat. The two guards by the door saw this and immediately rushed over.
"Drop your weapon!" the larger one shouted.
"Put your hooves in the air!" the smaller one demanded. Both of them had spears pointed directly at Kren.
There was a long pause as everyone tried to process what was happening.
"You have three secon-GYAH!" the larger one cried as Nawir spun him around and threw him back. He hit the ground with a loud THUD! The other guard quickly swung his spear at Nawir, who raised both front hooves with his gauntlets on to stop the attack. Then Ancero sprung from the bushes and tackled him to the ground. She kicked his helmet to knock him out and Kren did the same to the other guard. Then the three went inside.
"Do you think we went too far?" Ancero asked.
"Not at all." Nawir replied. "We went just far enough.
When the watchpony saw the two strange ponies walk inside, he immediately shut the doors. "Woah woah woah. Who the hell are you?"
"I'm your worst nightmare." Nawir replied, giving the purple pony a death stare. "Unless you open these doors that is."
"Authorized personnel only!" he said, reaching for the panic button beneath the desk. His hoof met a magic sword and he looked at Ancero. Her face turned rough and rugged, the intent to kill in her eyes.
Nawir grabbed the pony out of the booth and flung them at the iron door of the barracks. BANG! "Oh that felt great," Nawir smiled, "haven't done that in sooo long."
After Ancero returned the sword, she glared at Nawir. "Smash the damn doors!"
"And hurry!" Kren added.
"Alright alright, calm down you nags." Nawir said as he effortlessly punched the first door off of it's hinge. "As long as there isn't an alarm built into these, we're perfectly- FINE!" he shouted as he punched the second. "Now where's the lift?"
Kren stepped in front of her friends and felt the ground with her hooves for a few seconds. "Right here, this is the center of the block."
"Okay, one of you two grab me so I don't fall." Ancero picked up the Earth Pony as he prepared to smash the ground and Kren transformed into a Pegasus, sending her armor flying.
Hovering just a couple inches off of the ground, Nawir punched the concrete floor, and it crumbled to pieces. Without delay, Ancero flew Nawir down and Kren followed close behind. At the bottom of the concrete elevator shaft, a new group of guards had heard the noise and had their weapons drawn, and pointing towards the entrance.
When they were just above the bottom, Kren transformed back into a unicorn and dropped the rest of the way, Ancero threw Nawir towards the guards, then followed up herself with her sword out. Kren grappled with another unicorn over a sword with their magic, eventually overpowering the other then slamming the hilt into their helmet, knocking them out. She then dueled a second guard, who was a perfect match for her. Nawir stood on his rear legs and punched out to both of his sides, each hoof connecting to a guard, sending them flying into the walls on either side. Then he picked up a third guard and slammed him into the ceiling with enough force to crush a car. Ancero swung her sword around, intentionally missing exposed flesh on the final two guards. She slammed over the top of the helmet with the flat of the blade then hilt bashed the other's chest, taking both of them out of commission. Kren was still struggling with her second guard, so Nawir came over and slapped him, making him go limp and unresponsive.
"Oh my, Nawir! I think you killed that one!" Kren shrieked.
Nawir looked down at his hoof. "Shit. Didn't see that coming."
Ancero waved them away from the guard in question. "Get Chase, I'll make sure he's okay."
"Which cell?" Nawir asked, eyeing them all up.
"That one, with the door in front of it and the extra locks." Kren said, pointing at the over-protected cell.
Nawir pushed the table aside then punched open the door, shattering the hinges. For a moment when he locked eyes with the pony, Nawir was taken aback. "No way." he whispered under his breath. "Ch-Chase? What did they do to you?"
The black pony looked up and cracked an eye open, it was glazed over and entirely red, though it was difficult to tell in the low lighting. He opened his mouth as if to say something, then hung his head in defeat.
"He looks so different, are we sure this is him?" Nawir asked Kren.
Kren nodded. "We both had the same reaction when we saw him, I know it's him."
Nawir got closer to the pony and rested a hoof on one of the spikes lodged in his leg. He jiggled it around as much as he could, the only response Chase offered was cracking open an eye.
"We'll get you out of this buddy, we'll fix you up. Then we can go out for a drink when this is all over, on me." Nawir tried to laugh at his own joke but only offered tears.
"Hurry up Nawir!" Kren shouted.
Nawir shook his head. "Right, we don't have time to mess around. I'm sorry if this hurts." He grabbed one spike and ripped it out of the wall, the leg it had pinned slumped downwards. He did the same to the other spike and removed the bonds on the lower legs, then found one on Chase's neck and undid it, freeing the pony entirely.
"Good news, the guard is alive!" Ancero said cheerfully as she entered the cell. The instant she caught sight of Chase, her heart dropped. "No." she whispered.
"Ancero, you carry Nawir back up, I'll get Chase."
Ancero nodded and wiped away tears. She flew over to the shaft and waited for Nawir to join her. Then she picked him up and flew out. Kren meanwhile transformed back into a pegasus and grabbed Chase's back as well as she could, but she was definitely not strong enough to carry him out, so she simply dragged him to the elevator shaft and dug around in the unconscious guards' pockets for the metal square. Then she set it down on the elevator and stomped it. She rode the elevator all the way up with Chase.
When they all met back up at the top, Ancero looked around. "That must be the cafeteria where Darim is. Nawir, since you're stronger, carry Chase to your house. Kren, I want you to help take care of him, he needs food and water immediately. I'll go in and get Darim."
"Okay." Kren and Nawir said in unison. Nawir slung Chase over his back with Kren's help before the two of them set off. Ancero then headed towards the cafeteria. As she approached the door, Darim happened to be leaving. Other than a new black eye, he had no visible injury.
"Are you okay?" Ancero asked.
"Fine, I got the brawl started, is everything else going according to plan?" Darim inquired.
"Yes, just need to get you out."
"Good." The two of them headed for the front door, but were stopped by a lone guard pony.
The guard stood prominently with pristine armor and a sword at their hip. "By the order of Queen Dusk, I must either slay you both right here, or put you behind bars. Make your choice now!" the white Earth Pony drew his glistening sword with his teeth.
"Solar?" Darim asked shocked.
"Solar what the hell, let us past." Ancero cried.
Solar Rain shook his head.
Ancero took out her sword.
Darim put a hoof across her chest. "No, this is my fight."
Ancero returned the sword before talking. "But you can't use magic here, remember?"
"I don't need magic, I'll distract him, you slip past, I'll meet you back at Nawir's house."
"What? No! He'll kill you!"
"TRUST ME ANCERO!" Darim shouted, shooting her a glare.
She nodded and added a quiet "okay."
"Solar, I don't want to fight you, but if I need to, I won't go easy on you." Darim lowered his head and charged straight at his friend. Solar stood his ground, analyzing the situation, confused at his friend's sheer stupidity. He dipped the end of the blade lower and took one step sideways so Darim would pass on the blade's side. When Darim got to Solar, he flicked the hilt of the sword down, bringing the Blade up. The blade caught Darim's horn, tilting his head back and eventually flipping him over. Ancero tried to glide past, but Solar was ready for it, he put a hoof on Darim's chest to keep him from getting up then threw the sword at the Pegasus, causing a massive gash in her side. Within seconds, blood coated the floor where she crashed down. "Ancero!" Darim screamed.
"Easy to take down as always." Solar said snarkily. "Now it's your turn."
"Are you serious? We're trying to help the kingdom here!"
"No, you're killing it!"
"But you know about the old world griffons! They'll kill us all!"
"Your friends here are the cause of the reverted griffons!" he emphasized the word 'reverted' as if it was an insult.
"You can't prove it!"
"I can't, but Queen Dusk can. Any pony associated with Ancero and her friends is to be killed on sight. They're terrorists Darim. But you can't know that, they brain washed you!"
Darim struggled out from under the hoof and back onto his own. "You imbecile!" Darim tried another charge, but Solar was easily able to get his hoof under Darim's chest, and kick him. This knocked all the air from his lungs and sent him sprawling.
"I'm sorry Darim, I really didn't want to do this to you. But I have no choice, it's for the safety of the innocent." Solar said in monotone as he walked towards Darim, picking up the sword from Ancero's limp body.
"What's wrong with you? They did something to you!" Darim cried desperately, scrambling away from his friend.
Solar smirked. "Promotion." he managed to say around the sword. Then he quickly spun his head so the point was aiming downwards and stabbed at his friend's exposed stomach.
"NO!" Darim shrieked, putting up both hooves and closing his eyes in reaction. There was a strange bloop and a moment of silence before he opened his eyes. Around him was a transparent blue sphere. "What? Magic?"
Solar tried swinging the sword at the bubble, trying to break it, or get this sword through, but it didn't work.
"I must be outside the anti-magic forcefield!" Darim stood up and glared at Solar. He wasn't fully sure what happened still as he was a solid two or three meters past the doors still.
"Damnit." Solar said after he spat the sword out. "What the hell is this?" he was panting from the flurry of attacks.
Darim looked between Ancero's limp body and Solar before deciding to grab Ancero and leave, the blue shield around him the whole time. "Next time, decide to be on the right team!" Darim shouted behind him.