Redheart stood before me motioning for me to turn. I heard the flapping of wings and saw brown feathers flutter on the floor. I turned my body a bead of sweat rolling down my forelock. What I saw I thought was only a fairy-tale, was only a myth. What I saw before me was a very scared white and grey griffon.
The griffons brown eyes lit up as she saw me, they flicked from my wings to my tail over and over. She slowly floated to the floor some more stray feathers making it to the grey stone floor. As her talons and paws reached the ground a unicorn and pegasus teleported abruptly into the tunnel. Both were mares the unicorn was scared and bandaged, the pegasus was auburn and bandaged as well. Neither the ponies nor the griffon wore a mask or respirator on their muzzle or beak.
The griffon turned to the pegasus a smirk plastered on her beak. Her voice was smooth and silky, not at comforting as Redheart's voice. "Well done Two Shoe your sources were right, he was an Alicorn. That makes this find worth to keep."
A shiver ran down my spine. I stood protectively in front of Redheart shielding her with my large body. "How did you know about us?" I inquired still rather confused about their sudden and abrupt appearance.
"Tsk, tsk, I am the one to ask questions here." She sighed, "but since you are an Alicorn and a rather feisty one at that I will answer you. Our friend's corpse had a contraption like yours. We have it back at our base, but the think is it actually picks up on other signals and pinpointing them. Your signal was large enough that we just mosied on over here and what do we find but an Alicorn and a gorgeous mare." the griffon winked at Redheart. Her face got more serious nodded over to the unicorn, "do in Apple Fritter."
My eyes jumped over to the unicorn resting on her rather opaque hue encasing her horn. Her iris's contracted as a huge smile took over one half of her face. I frantically tried to draw magic back to my horn but the when the spirits of the mare and foal came it seems to take all magic I had returning away.
"Not fast enough." Apple Fritter cackled a red beam expelling from her horn striking me right in the gut. Pain arched across my body shocking all of my nerves. Screaming I collapsed to the floor my legs giving off vicious spasms I clenched my jaw trying to ease the pain> My wings are extended the left one causing a horrendous amount of pain, 'broken.' My ears were ringing, I can't hear. Trying my best to will my legs to stop spazzing was yielding little to no result at first, eventually though they would only twitch. I lay there vulnerable to attack, 'I am so dead.' That was what they were attempting to do, kill me. My eyes jumped to anything that moved in my peripheral vision. Something obstructed my view covering my head completely. My hearing was slowly coming back to me as I was hoisted onto someones back, the griffon.
"C'mon doll." One of the mares giggled.
"Don't want to mess your pretty face, now do we?" Chimed the other. "Don't fight us either it is only a couple of miles.
The next few things I heard were chains and a grunt. The chains moved along with the hooves of three ponies.
"I'll meet you there with this one and put the chains on him as well. We can get the branding done later. I don't want him to be able to get away by the time you slowpokes reach it."
I grunted beginning to feel my hooves as hot air was rushing against my legs. We were flying. Though I could not tell how fast we were going I knew it was faster than Lightning Dash, the fastest pegasus in Ranch LUN. I tried to not concentrate on the fact of flying so high in the air and how fast we were going but more on how to get out of this predicament.
"And we are coming in for a landing." Nose diving to the earth I felt like my lunch was trying to crawl up my throat and into my mouth. Crashing down I fell off the griffon and onto the hard stone.
"You stay here, if you ever want to see your super special somepony again." She had a very throaty cackle. Laying on the floor alone gave me the time to think and assess the situation. This griffon had both Redheart and I taken to some unknown place. I groaned slamming my head on the stone floor.
Hearing footsteps one again I lifted my now aching head. "Your savior is not here!" She cackled grabbing the bag on my head and yanking it back violently. My vision was met with more darkness, it was now night. The griffon sat on her haunches grabbing a metal collar. The iron was rusty and would tear at the fur and skin on my neck, rubbing it raw within minutes of wearing it. I could run now but that would be bad for both Redheart and myself. Begrudgingly it let her hook the horrid excuse for a collar on my neck. The metal weighed me down and I was weary that my neck would snap from the weight.
I felt a tail brush my flank, I felt my cheeks heat up as it traveled to my wings lifting them up. My head stared forward as my eyes wandered to the griffon as she walked around my body, eyeing me up. The griffon grinned her voice was laced with pure euphoric bliss.
"An Alicorn, in the flesh, and a Ranchy!" Her lion tail pointed to the dark respirator attached to my face. I shakily stood up my legs wavering under the weight. Pain striked through my shoulders. Wincing I corrected her, "not born Alicorn."
My eyes flicked to movement in the distance. Relief rattled around in my gut as ponies walked over the bleak horizon. They were trotting over to the slaver camp the griffon and I were at.
I looked over to the griffon who sat idly behind me. My eyes grew wide, "Oh wait! What is your name, I never got that?"
"Arhyya." She stared forward to the ponies walking across the landscape. "And you?"
"Spades." I huffed.
"And your cutie mark, what's with that?" Her talon prodded the scythe and spade on my flank.
"I have no idea." I lied.
Her eyebrows perked and she cocked her head. "You're a really bad liar."
'Woah, DeJa Vu much?'
She stepped around me obstructing my line of sight, "Your cutie mark, what does it mean?"
I glared at her flicking my tail and snorting.
Arhyya sighed, "I didn't want it to come to this." Her grey eyes showed pity but her body language shows power. She strutted around me to the back of my neck. I could feel her breath tickling the back of my neck. I felt her talon gripping the strap connecting the respirator to my muzzle. My body stiffened and sweat dripped down my temple as I saw a horror before me.