//------------------------------// // Chapter 4 // Story: Helpless To Help // by Mykola //------------------------------// Twilight tried to make sense of the plan once more while Greta set to work, hiding her in a crate labelled with strange characters. The scent of some grain that had been poured into a section of the crate right above her completely overwhelmed her senses. She hid in a small compartment underneath grain, which conveniently provided the space necessary to keep her undetected from prying eyes.  Good. At least that checked out. But there were still too many other factors. How did she know that guards hadn’t already passed by her cell? How did she know that Gelen’s body hadn’t been detected yet? They’d have expected her to try and escape at some point, and because ponies can’t travel too far, that’d narrow it down to an escape through rail. Rail… How many trains travelled through this point on a given day? What were their destinations? Would the stops be as frequent as they were trying to enter the country? If they were— Calm down! Twilight demanded of herself. There’s little we can do. It’s either years at “Freedom,” or it’s... Hard work? She could work hard! Work is better than the alternative! Her friends. She still didn’t know where they were, or even if they were safe. Sure, they could’ve been on the train with her—that’s what Greta had said—but how could she know for certain? If she was alone in this, and Rainbow and Pinkie were abandoned in Gryphoniya without their passports— Don’t think about it! ‘The breeze must be awfully strong if I can hear it,’ Greta grumbled. ‘I wish the Bringer of the Winds would cease it.’ Twilight checked her breath and tried to regulate it. Didn’t Greta understand? This was risky—too risky! Sure, it was unfair, and she shouldn’t have been subject to it, but this was a “be complacent or…” Twilight couldn’t think of a better way to put it. “A be complacent or die situation.” It wasn’t a way anypony should live. It wasn’t a way anycreature should live!  ‘There… This should be good for shipment to Gandurino. The buckwheat will be enough to feed the population there,’ Greta muttered in Ponish, before her language became more harsh. «Otnesi eto v poyezd. Skoree! On ukhodit v sledyushchii chas!» «Nu ladna.» Another voice sighed. «Poslat’ sekret?» «Ne mne govorit’,» Greta responded. «Idti!» Twilight held her breath as the crate she was hidden in was lifted off the ground. She couldn’t even see outside, save for one crack in the plank of wood. She curled up into as tight a ball as she could and commanded each muscle to keep still. The only thing she couldn’t command were her thoughts—a rushing torrent not even she could make sense of anymore. The Princess hadn’t had to soothe herself like this for years. She… What could she do? She couldn’t save her friends! She was reliant on the good grace of strangers. And not just any strangers—traitors to her captors. Greta proved that she had the right intentions, but she also just delivered her into the claws of a griffon that could just as easily betray them.  Minutes of travel dragged on like hours for Twilight. Then, the movement ceased. There was a loud whistle, interspersed with the excited chitter of griffons. The air became thick with the fumes of burning coal. The box was set down onto a flat surface, before it was shoved alongside other things. Twilight could only imagine what was being placed into some sort of box car. She could feel items being placed around her own hiding place: burlap sacks, other wooden crates, maybe even some metal tools. Stop thinking about it! Twilight demanded of herself, Focus on what matters! Focus on the fact that… that you can’t do anything at all. For a sorceress as mighty as herself—for an alicorn—she had been reduced to something completely useless. She couldn’t even muster the strength of an earth pony; she couldn’t bring herself to be courageous as they were. Perhaps it was some stupid fear—that primal instinct of being an animal preyed upon by ferocious and unforgiving predators.  Why would they even do all of this? It didn’t make any sense! She didn’t do anything wrong. Her friends didn’t do anything wrong. She laid still. Tears brimmed at the corners of her eyes and ran down her cheeks. Petrified—that was the word… But being turned to stone by a cockatrice was better than this. At least then she would be divorced from the world and its worries. In this state, she was completely exposed to it all.  A loud whistle startled her. After painful seconds of uncertainty, she realized that this sound wasn’t an alarm. Twilight ignored the tug of movement. The train gained its momentum and came to life. She was at least on the move, but she couldn’t even guarantee how long she would survive. If she did survive. Twilight couldn’t discern the noise she heard over the pained shriek of the rail. The train sped down the trail to a destination that Greta had called “Gandurino”. She shunned her own curiosity. Why should she investigate? It could be another trap for all she knew! There could be griffons that lurked in the cart, waiting for her to burst out from where she hid, their beaks morphed into smiles at their twisted game of cat and mouse. The joys of being a predator!  However, the more she listened to the strange noise, the more it sounded like sobbing. Surely, the griffons weren’t trying to appeal to her compassionate nature. How could they know, the greedy creatures? ‘Dashie!’ a faint voice hushed. ‘We need to be quiet! They have the ears of eagles!’ ‘That’s not even how it goes!’ ‘Well, they can’t see us! At least, I don’t think they can.’ A short gasp. ‘What if they could see through boxes?’ ‘You’re not helping!’ Twilight’s heart raced. Those two voices she did recognize, meaning at least one thing: Greta had gotten them all on the same cart. If they all made it out alive, she’d need to find a way to thank the griffon—perhaps by helping her escape this wretched place. But she didn’t have time to think about that now! Her friends were right there—safe! Twilight gave her first sigh of relief in what felt like a lifetime. She didn’t care if the griffons heard. That’s not what mattered now! ‘What was that?’ Rainbow asked. ‘Is there a griffon in here?’ ‘I-I don’t think that was a griffon—’ ‘It’s me!’ Twilight couldn’t contain herself. ‘Twi?’ both asked in unison.  ‘B-but how? Greta told us that you weren’t going to be joining us!’ ‘She said you were being taken to Prison Freedom—which doesn’t really make much sense, because how are you free behind bars?’ ‘Greta managed to get me out of there,’ Twilight whispered louder. ‘We’re all going to get out of this!’ ‘But how? We’re far east! Griffonstone is several thousand kilometres away from here!’ Rainbow replied. ‘Wh-what?’ ‘Yeah! Gryphoniya is a really big place! You’d think we’d find a place without meanies after a while, but the chances are really starting to look slim...’ Pinkie’s voice trailed off into disappointment. ‘We just need to stay together.’ Twilight tried to take the initiative. ‘We stay together, and we’ll get through this.’ ‘Yeah, unless the Politburo picks us off one by one.’ Rainbow sighed. ‘Look, as much as I’d love to trust Greta, we don’t know anything about this plan. We’re really in a bad position! I mean, she’s just going to trust us with a stranger?’ ‘Greta did get us this far,’ Twilight commented. ‘But we don’t know anything about this place. If she was really going to screw us over—’ ‘It’s not if she’s going to screw us over! She isn’t going to do that! But besides Gilda and Greta, who can we really trust?’ ‘Well, I was going to say Gat’, but then I remembered—’ Pinkie added. ‘Ugh! If I ever see that peacock again, I swear!’ Rainbow interrupted. ‘He poisoned us! He tricked us! We should’ve known!’ ‘I knew, but you weren’t listening!’ ‘Next time, say something, Pinkie! It would save all of us from being abducted!’ ‘Who drinks something a stranger gave them?!’ Twilight added, before she realized that was exactly what she did. ‘Pinkie’s right. I’m sorry, Pinkie. I guess I just thought we’d be able to salvage what was then just an awful vacation!’ ‘Yeah, and we’ve just turned it into a nightmare.’ Rainbow sighed. ‘I can’t even move my wings! They’re tied or something!’ ‘I-I can’t use my magic,’ Twilight said. ‘I don’t know what they did, but I can’t even cast a simple illumination spell!’ ‘Griffons used to make a sort of cuff they’d put around unicorn horns to stop their prisoners from using magic against them. But it’s been decades since the last war. I thought the griffons would all be peaceful!’ ‘The griffons in Equestria are peaceful! They make delicious éclairs!’ Pinkie complained. ‘I wish they would teach these griffons a thing or two about being good hosts!’ ‘Well, they’re not good hosts.’ Twilight strained her neck to try to see her friends through the small gaps in the wooden crate. Beyond her was only darkness. It was almost like they weren’t together at all. She prayed that this was all a cruel dream—that her cart was speeding along just fine. It’d just be a story for her nightmare journal. Yet, Luna wasn’t interrupting this trauma like she usually did. Twilight didn’t even know if they would ever— No! They came this far! They’d be back home! ‘So what should we do?’ Twilight asked. ‘Should we go along with Greta’s plan, or should we try to do our own thing?’ Neither Rainbow nor Pinkie dared answer. What options did they really have at this point? They didn’t even know the way back to safety. It would be a long walk for them to try to do on their own. And who knows how much the griffons explored the vast tract of territory? They could probably be found within a day if the Politburo were really looking for them. And then it was— ‘Nothing?’ Twilight sighed. ‘Well, I don’t have anything either. We can’t really do anything, can we? We’re stuck with what we’ve got.’ ‘Girls?’ Pinkie raised her voice. ‘I-I’m sorry... I wish I would’ve said something. I just didn’t want to be rude.’ ‘It’s okay,’ Twilight tried to comfort her. ‘We all could’ve done something differently there. That doesn’t matter now. We’re going to get through this, together, okay?’ ‘I can’t do anything now!’ Rainbow spat. ‘Usually I’d be able to outfly these birdbrains! Distract them! Maybe even—oh, who am I kidding? They’ve got slug-throwers!’ Those two words got Twilight’s attention. Slug-throwers. If the griffons used those, she didn’t have her magic to throw up a shield, or even teleport them out of harm’s way. All it took was one well-placed shot, and they’d be… She didn’t even want to finish that thought. It scared her more than she cared to admit. And if she showed weakness now, she knew her friends would see it. The griffons would see it too. ‘We’re going to stay in these boxes,’ Twilight commanded. ‘The buckwheat will hide our scent. When we are picked up at whatever place we’re going to, we will stay hidden. Not a word! Whoever will pick us up will take us back to Griffonstone, and everyone there should be ready to take us back to Equestria.’ ‘But what if we don’t—’  ‘We don’t think about that, Rainbow!’ Twilight interrupted. ‘It’s all going to be okay. And... girls? I’m sorry. We should never have come here.’ ‘Twi, it’s not your fault,’ Pinkie replied. ‘But let’s just focus on the good things. Like, we’re all going to remember this, right?’ ‘How is that even a good thing?’ Rainbow snapped. ‘This shouldn’t have even happened in the first place!’ ‘Pinkie isn’t wrong,’ Twilight responded. ‘We owe it to them to remember this. If it’s really this bad, can we just forget it? Do nothing about it?’ ‘It’s their problem!’ ‘Yeah... Yeah, it is, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t help them fix it,’ Twilight replied. ‘Greta told me how much you changed her life. She really thinks that getting us out of here is going to save the griffons.’ ‘Friendship is going to fix all of this, Twi?’ Twilight was about to chide Rainbow for her question, but relented. It was a valid question. Her friends and their actions had helped change the course of the world, sure, but this entire situation seemed beyond even her understanding. She’d figure something out in the time that they had. By the time they got back to Equestria, she’d be able to explain this to the other Princesses. Then they'd be able to work something out between the griffons and settle this whole mess—whatever it was. ‘I don’t know,’ Twilight admitted. ‘But I’ll figure something out.’ ‘You always do!’ It was meant to be a comforting remark, but, in that very moment, it cast something very different:  Doubt.