Helpless To Help

by Mykola

Chapter 3

Droplets dripped every few seconds from the ceiling into the pool below, sending ripples cascading through. The water settled, only to be disturbed again. Between Twilight’s desperate attempts to summon magic, she watched the droplets incessantly fall into the puddle collecting into a growing pool at the bottom of her cell.

It was useless. She couldn’t even illuminate her horn. Something clenched around it like jaws of death, nor could she move her wings. The griffons had bonded the best advantages she had at escape. They left her with nothing.

Breathe, Twilight commanded herself. Focus. You’ll get out of here at some point. After that, you need to find Pinkie and Dash. They will help you get your magic back, and then we can get out. Just stay calm, stay calm—

There was a pounding at the door. Twilight pressed herself against the back wall. She anticipated the guards again, who would whisk her away to her final destination—Freedom.

The metal door swung open with a painful creak as a beam of intense light crossed the threshold. Soon enough, that light was obscured by two griffonish figures: one a female with white feathers tipped with green; the other a male with spotted-orange feathers.

Twilight kept her distance, trying to evade the two griffons who fell in on her. The male managed to seize her wing brace and whipped her toward the door. She stomped her hooves down to hold herself in place, but to no avail.

‘Ah! Move your hooves, you mule!’ he demanded. ‘What sense does it make to delay the inevitable? The gates of Freedom are open to greet you!’

‘Comrade Gelen,’ the female said with a huff, ‘stop taunting the creature!’

‘Then you get the prod and give her a bit of encouragement!’

‘I can walk—’ Twilight tried to interject, hoping it’d provide some silence.

‘Shut up!’ Gelen roared, shoving Twilight into a wall. Her head whipped against the concrete, the thud drowning out the mocking laughter. She did everything to suppress her tears, but couldn’t stop her cry.

‘—Chicken!’ The female griffon lashed out, swiping with her claws extended at Gelen. His right flank was torn to ribbons, blood spurting out of the clean wound. Gelen cried and involuntarily released Twilight before he turned back toward his attacker.

As Twilight collapsed onto the floor, terror took hold. Like those claws were still wrapped around her, holding her captive, as her eyes stung with tears.

The female griffon pressed what advantage she had and tackled Gelen to the floor. Her arm wrapped as tightly as a python around his neck. She rolled, her snake-like movement breaking her free from the fury of her opponent’s talons. His shouts and taunts were silenced. Soon enough, Twilight couldn’t even hear his suppressed cries.

His legs no longer moved.

Twilight stared in horror and cried aloud as the griffon who smothered her companion looked at her. She closed her eyes as the female griffon pounced. Those same claws that silenced Gelen shot forward and covered her mouth, followed by a shushing that whistled from her attacker’s beak.

‘Quiet! I’m not going to hurt you!’ the griffon reassured. ‘Him, though? In ways that are ungriffish, he would’ve—no, we don’t have time to speak about that! Your friends—they’re being moved to the trains—’

‘T-to Freedom?’ Twilight asked.

‘I—I don’t know,’ the griffon admitted. ‘The Politburo isn’t being clear; you were going to be detained here for longer—’

‘I thought I was going to—’

‘Shush! Come on, we need to move! We can only whisper now. If we speak too loud, they’ll hear—’

Footsteps in a joining corridor confirmed the griffon's concern. The female took hold of Twilight as the two rushed down the corridor. Twilight still felt her hooves dragging on the floor.

‘They’re going to find—’ Twilight tried to warn.

‘Of course they will!’ the griffon whispered. ‘I’m counting on it!’

‘B-but they’ll find us—’

‘They’ll be too disorganized and confused to actually do anything! These aren’t geniuses we’re talking about; the guards and whoever pledges loyalty to the Politburo are certified idiots!’

‘The Politburo? Is that—’

‘That poor excuse of a parliament that ordered your imprisonment on fake charges? Yes.’

‘Can you stop interrupting me?’

‘Can you stop being so loud?’

Twilight suppressed an annoyed sigh, realizing this wasn’t the time or the place to resist. She allowed this mysterious—ally was too strong a word—griffon to guide her. The footsteps got louder, but eventually faded in the distance. There was laughter, the chatter of beaks, and that strange, guttural Griffish language.

She didn’t want to focus on that. No, she couldn’t focus on that—

Rainbow.

Pinkie.

‘My friends. Are you going to help them too?’

‘They’re already on the train we need you to take—this way! You all will be headed back west in specially marked crates. It’s there that somegriffon else who’s with the Interim will pick you up and take you the rest of the way to Griffonstone. Once you’re there, you’ll be greeted by the Equestrian military.’

Twilight ran the plan through her mind. There were too many risks, especially if they made a commotion. What if the Politburo stopped the train? What if they were discovered somewhere in their travel and apprehended again? If they were caught again, it might be a worse fate than imprisonment—

‘Relax, horse!’ the griffon warned. ‘You’re going to get their attention if you keep hyperventilating!’

‘I don’t know who you are, I don’t know where my friends are, and I don’t even know if we’re going to make it out!’ Twilight felt herself tearing up.

The griffon paused, then wrapped her wing around the princess. ‘We don’t have much time, but, look. Name’s Greta. I’m not sure if you’ve even heard about me, but your friends helped change my life. I’m not going to let them come in the way of harm, even if it meant I… y’know.’ Greta sighed. ‘Let’s just say “we need you.”’

Twilight froze under those wings. But that promise? It did something to ease her shiver—to warm that cold. Twilight looked up to Greta, who kept shepherding her to a location she didn’t know. Though the griffon tried to reassure her, as much as Twilight wanted to just believe her words…

Twilight tugged away from Greta’s wing.

‘Alright.’ Twilight’s thoughts immediately closed in on one thing that could absolve her of any doubt: removing whatever blocked her magic. ‘How are we going to get there? Can you get whatever is blocking my magic off my horn?’

‘Your horn? Can’t. It’s too strong for a griffon to break without the right tools. It’ll have to stay on.’

Figured as much, Twilight thought. When would it ever be that simple?

‘As for your first question, we can’t just parade you around,’ Greta added. ’That’ll raise too much suspicion. But they aren’t going to be looking for you. That’s the important thing.’

‘How do you know?’

‘Ponies can’t leave claw marks,’ Greta responded. ‘Besides, Gelen doesn’t have a long list of friends. I won’t be the first suspect.’

‘But you were—’

‘The management here is a complete joke. They never know who’s with who.’

‘And you know that how?’

‘Sometimes it’s best to not ask many questions,’ Greta warned. ‘An eagle’s eye reveals more than meager—’

Footsteps echoed down the hallway, closer and closer. The traitor griffon and the captive pony stopped in their tracks. The two skidded to a halt and hid away in the musky shadow of the hallway. The griffon covered Twilight with the full span of her wing, as a thief would an object they stole. Twilight felt Greta use her claws to fiddle with something, though she couldn’t exactly see what.

Her heart throbbed, worry creeping down her throat. Panic set in, but the only thing she could do was—no, no, no! She’d reveal herself even if she breathed; griffons’ keen sense of hearing worked against her. She did the only thing she could do in this moment—hold her breath and keep still.

«Chto delaesh’, Greta?» a callous and harsh voice demanded. «Ti snova igraesh’ so svoim klitorom?»

«Zamolchi!» Greta shot back with equal ferocity. «Razve ti ne dolzhen mit’ tualeti?»

Twilight kept her mouth shut tight, straining not to take as much as a breath. Her jaw started to feel sore, her entire body trembling, her teeth involuntarily grinding. She prayed to Celestia that this bandit would lose interest and leave her alone.

A possibility she didn’t want to accept crept up from the deepest recesses and fears that haunted her: Greta could just lift up her wing, revealing her. What would she do then? Run? No… she couldn’t do that. She wouldn’t realistically escape—not without her magic. Even if she could, how could she rescue Rainbow or Pinkie?

«Chto oo tebya pod krilom?» a second griffon squawked.

«Moya prachechnaya, eto nuzhna mit’!» Greta hissed.

«Zapakh soglashaetsya!» The first griffon laughed. «Ti pakhnaesh’ loshad’yu!»

The other Griffons’ paws ushered past with a laughter that Twilight had come to despise. Greta held still for a while before she ushered Twilight forward, still under the cover of her wing. Twilight took in a much needed breath, relieving the tension that had lasted for what felt like an eternity.

At least Twilight could depend on Greta to not surrender her to the others.

‘What were they saying?’ Twilight asked.

‘You stink,’ Greta answered. ‘And if we get somegriffs that are more inclined to pry, it’ll not end as well.’

Twilight ignored the rude remark. ‘S-so, they’re already suspicious?’

‘As suspicious as one rock would be of another. They just thought I was—’ Greta paused. ‘I really shouldn’t say.’

‘Why?’

‘I’m in polite company.’

Comments

[Bicyclette]

‘Ah! Move your hooves, you mule!’ he demanded. ‘What sense does it make to delay the inevitable? The gates of Freedom are open to greet you!’

Those mules can’t even catch a break away from equine-based Equestria!

‘—Chicken!’ The female griffon lashed out, swiping with her claws extended at Gelen.

Interesting, the species-based insults.

‘Quiet! I’m not going to hurt you!’ the griffon reassured. ‘Him, though? In ways that are ungriffish, he would’ve—no, we don’t have time to speak about that!

Seems like things work very differently here than in Equestria…

‘Relax, horse!’ the griffon warned. ‘

I love the mental image of Twilight being addressed this way.

«Zapakh soglashaetsya!» The first griffon laughed. «Ti pakhnaesh’ loshad’yu!»

I presume this is based on some language? It sounds natural language-ey.

‘As suspicious as one rock would be of another. They just thought I was—’ Greta paused. ‘I really shouldn’t say.’

‘Why?’

‘I’m in polite company.’

Ha, lots of ways that could be interpreted…

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It's neat to see Greta, and I like the way you show glimpses into griffon culture, complete with language and partial, untranslated idioms. It feels lived-in and cynical.