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Carefully watching the griffins playing cards from around the corner of the steel building, Alan and Trixie picked up the right moment, and quickly ran to the broken enclosing wall, and hid behind the debris from the hole. Gently stretching their heads and looking at the griffins, they sighed with relief, since the griffins did not notice them.
Turning to Trixie, Alan said in a whisper:
"Great, we got off to a good start. It remains to slip through this hole undetected, and we will be one step closer to escaping. Are you ready?"
Tense Trixie swallowed and nodded her head. Seeing this, Alan looked at the guards again to make sure they were still distracted, so he decided to take action right away. Signaling Trixie, he began to carefully move from wreckage to wreckage, getting closer and closer to the hole until they finally reached the edge.
With a last look at the griffins engrossed in the game, Alan and Trixie quickly turned inside the hole, and were surprised at the thickness of the wall through which they made their way, since the hole in it looked more like a ten-meter tunnel to the other side.
Moving as fast and as silently as they could. Avoiding all obstacles in the form of protruding rods, steel beams and concrete debris, they reached the other side in just fifteen seconds.
While Alan, without leaving the hole, pressed himself against its rough inner part to carefully look outside and look around, Trixie, driven by the desire to leave this place as soon as possible, did not notice Alan's caution, and quickly went outside with a joyful smile. Only now her smile was quickly lost when she heard a voice from beside her:
"Ha? Who the hell are you?"
Glancing in the direction of the speaker, Trixie turned pale as she saw a formidable-looking griffin guard staring at her, holding a spear with a strange electrified tip in its paws.
In addition to this guard, at some distance from him there was another no less severe griffin, who sat on one of the wreckage and looked at her with a stern look.
Swallowing, she mechanically turned her head towards Alan, who was still hiding, and saw how he made a face-hove, which quite clearly expressed his thoughts on this situation.
"He-he… heh…" after laughing nervously, Trixie looked back at the standing griffin.
Coming out of his former confusion, the griffin slowly walked towards her and spoke:
"Ah, now I remember! Our guys sort of caught two violating ponies. Are you one of them? How the hell did you get away?" But then, the guard smirked and haughtily said, "Never mind, I will make sure that this doesn't happen again." Saying so, the tip of his spear sparkled even more.
This frightened Trixie even more, and taking a step back, she stuttered:
"D-do you think t-that I'm afraid of you? N-never in... in my life!" Swallowing, she nervously continued, "Great and p-powerful Trixie, d-defeated even s-stronger creatures!"
Hearing her uncertain statement, the guard only burst out laughing, and continued to walk towards the frightened mare. As soon as he stepped into the area near the exit of their hole, his ribs were hit by a quick kick with a hoof followed by a roundhouse kick to the stomach, knocking him back and causing him to drop his spear.
Seeing this, the second griffon abruptly stood up with great surprise, clearly not expecting an attack from the second fugitive, and went to help his partner.
At this time, amazed Trixie watched the incredibly serious and collected Alan, who approached the fallen spear, and put his hoof on it, watching the actions of the griffins along the way.
The fallen griffin pushed his partner away, and, ignoring the pain, got up and looked at Alan with an angry expression on his face, and said:
"Damn cowardly ponies! You think you attacked me on the sly and immediately won?"
Alan just chuckled and replied:
"Well, it's not my fault you don't look around. I'm surprised you were ever trusted to guard anything with such incompetence."
Listening to his words, the griffin clenched his beak in anger, but then his eyes fell on how Alan was holding a hoof on a spear, and grinning said:
"Oh, I see that after a successful attack, someone believed in himself, do you think the spear will help you?"
Alan didn't answer, just shrugged his shoulders in a relaxed way. Seeing this, the griffin snorted and replied:
"Fine, now that I'm fully prepared, I'll play with you," turning to his partner, he said, "hey Soubi, give me your spear, I'm going to return the favor to this artiodactyl."
The griffin, who was named Soubi, looked strangely at his partner, and said:
"Are you sure Harsh? Why don't we just shoot him and be done with it?"
Spitting, Harsh replied irritably:
"Hell no, I won't be at peace until I personally teach that piece of fur a lesson. I will return these blows to him tenfold!"
Sighing, Soubi shrugged his shoulders and replied:
"Whatever, here you go."
Taking his partner's spear, Harsh directed its sparkling tip towards Alan, and grinning, said:
"Well, haven't you had the desire to start begging for mercy yet? If you apologize well enough, then I might consider being softer with a couple of weak ponies like you."
Startled, Trixie approached Alan in fear, and said:
"Alan… w-what should we do? Are we really going to fight them?"
"What, are you afraid?" Alan grinned at the frightened mare.
"Well… it's not that I'm afraid… it's just…" Trixie didn't have time to finish, as she was stopped by Alan's hoof on her shoulder.
Looking into his eyes, she saw his reassuring and confident look. He just smiled at her gently and said:
"Do not worry. Leave it all to me, I won't let you get hurt."
Having said this, Alan's face changed to a serious one, and taking hold of the guard's spear with his hoof, he was able to lift it, albeit with some difficulty.
Seeing how Alan could hardly hold his spear with his hoof, Harsh laughed again and said:
"Ha-ha-ha! What is it, you can't even hold it properly? Poor little pony, but don't worry, I'll be done with you quickly."
With these words, Harsh began to walk towards Alan with a slow but confident gait. Alan, on the other hand, smiled, and began to move a little to the side, shifting the enemy to the position he needed, until he finally stopped, and sharply swung his spear, after which he threw it towards Harsh.
The surprised griffon quickly dodged to the side, avoiding the hit, and was about to gloat over Alan's failure, but could not, as he heard the sound of pain behind him. Turning around, he saw how the thrown spear cut his partner's leg slightly, sticking right next to him. He wondered how this pony could throw his spear with such force, but he couldn't find an answer.
It was this moment of distraction that Alan had been waiting for, as using the magic of the bracelet, he enveloped the spear in Harsh's grip with magic, and pulled it in such a way as to hit Harsh's head with the shaft of the spear, stunning him for a while. After that, Alan jerked sharply in his direction, accelerating himself with magic, and inflicted another blow to the chest with a hoof, throwing him towards his partner, simultaneously snatching his weapon in the form of a strange pistol from his belt with magic.
The thrown Harsh screamed in pain, and quickly shouted:
"Damn, Soubi, he took my gun, shoot that bastard!"
"Got it… dammit!" Soubi answered through his clenched beak, enduring the pain of the cut on his leg.
He reached for his weapon, and feeling it on his belt, he wanted to get it, but ...
"Don't even think about it," Alan's cold voice stopped him.
Hearing his voice, Soubi didn't care at first until he sensed something and stopped in his tracks with a bead of sweat on his panicked face. His face was full of incomprehension and disbelief, as he knew what he was feeling, but did not know how it was possible.
Finally, looking closer, he realized that the spear thrown earlier was levitating behind his partner, with a sharp tip attached to his back, which indicated the communion of magic, the presence of which an earth pony simply should not have.
Looking at his partner's surprised face, Soubi said:
"I'm sorry, Harsh, but I can't do that."
Angered, Harsh growled and said:
"Damn, useless coward, I'll deal with him myself."
All this time, Trixie watched with deep awe the incredible and thoughtful actions of the stallion, who dealt with the griffins so terrible for her as if they were small children. Looking at him with her eyes shining with admiration, she finally understood what a real stallion is.
And that's why she thought to herself:
"He is… just incredible. Just a few seconds, and the enemy was defeated... "she looked at Alan with a spellbound look, and smiling strangely, she thought," This is how a real stallion should be, and not all these pampered simpletons who dared to talk to me in the past."
While she was thinking, Alan finally spoke.
"So, gentlemens, if you don't do anything unreasonable and answer my questions nicely, no one will get hurt. Deal?"
Swallowing, both guards nodded. Seeing this, Alan looked at Harsh and said:
"First, drop your weapon, and standing next to your partner, put your paws behind your head. Your partner should do the same."
After they had obeyed his order, Alan levitated both of their weapons into his bag, and then said:
"So, the first question. How can we remove the magic blocker from her?" Alan nodded towards Trixie, not wanting to take his eyes off the griffins.
Soubi, being the more frightened of the two, replied:
"I-it can only be removed using the captain's or prison warden's remotes. I don't know any other way to do that."
"I see," Alan knew that going back to the prison was definitely not an option, so he decided to ask the next question, "then what is the safest way out?"
This time, Soubi found it difficult to answer, and his partner, Harsh, chuckled, and amusedly replied:
"It doesn't exist. There is only one way out, through the main gate. Even we cannot leave this place without orders or permission. So sooner or later, your pathetic company will be caught! And when that happens, I'll be the first volunteer to be in charge of your detention. And trust me, I'll give you a real... argh!...
At this moment, Harsh fell flat on the ground due to a strong blow to the head with the hilt of a spear. The impact was strong enough to knock him unconscious.
"What a noisy guy. Let him rest until I decide what to do with you," saying so, Alan turned his gaze to the second guard.
Watching his partner unconscious, and hearing Alan's words, Soubi became even more nervous, since now all the questions will be addressed to him, and their future fate will depend on his answers. Inwardly, he couldn't help thinking:
"What the hell is this? At all briefings and trainings, we were told what carefree and defenseless creatures ponies are in comparison with us. And suddenly, this guy appears, whose look scares me even more than our captain. Damn, are all ponies like this? If so, then our troops are in big trouble."
"So, was your friend right about there being only one way out of this place?"
Slowly nodding his head, Soubi replied:
"T-That's right… We are very strict when it comes to leaving our town, or leaking any information to the outside."
"I see, then, the question is purely out of curiosity. Why are you the only two guarding this? Isn't it too presumptuous to leave you such a large area?"
Hesitating, Soubi replied:
"W-well… the fact is that after the destruction of the barracks that was located near this hole, many guards in charge of this area were hospitalized. And since no one was ever eager to return to service, the authorities were not worried that anyone would take advantage of this hole, so few guards were allocated here, and only during the period when the repair team was resting."
Surprised at his luck, Alan said:
"Is that how? Apparently it really was a good time to escape. Thank you for your cooperation, Mr. Soubi. You can join your friend."
"Wait, what a… agh!…" Soubi didn't have time to finish, as he received the same blow to the head as his partner, and lost consciousness.
With a sigh of relief, Alan turned to Trixie and said with a smile:
"Well, like I said, everything will be fine. Unless, now I have no idea what to do next, because judging by the words of these guys, there is only one way out."
While he was talking, Trixie was still looking at him in a different way, which seemed a little strange to him. Approaching her, he waved his hoof in front of her face, and asked:
"Hey, Trixie, hello? Are you okay?"
Trixie looked at him a little lost, and answered:
"Y-yeah… are you… free?"
Trixie's sudden question confused Alan, and he asked again:
"Um, what?"
Finally, Trixie came to her senses completely, and panicking at her words, she quickly corrected them:
"I-I mean, are you free now? Should we move on?"
Looking at the mare strangely, Alan shook his head, not wanting to think too much about it right now, and replied:
"Okay, it's a strange choice of words, but yes, I'm done, so we can move on, it remains only to understand exactly where to move."
Just at that moment, they heard a voice behind them:
"Hey, there you are!"
Frightened, Alan and Trixie quickly turned around to see two more griffins slowly walking towards them with slight smirks. Alan immediately prepared both spears, and Trixie quickly hid behind him, wanting to see him deal with the bad guys again.
Seeing how Alan stood up in a fighting stance, and noticing two unconscious guards lying not far from them, one of the newly arrived griffins whistled in surprise, and said:
"Wow, it looks like you are a pretty capable stallion, I must admit I'm impressed. I didn't think you could stay in enemy territory for so long and still be safe and sound."
"What?" Alan was bewildered by the griffin's words. And looking at Trixie, he realized that she also did not understand what was happening.
Here, when the newly arrived griffins saw the blue mare behind Alan, they were surprised, and the griffin who had spoken earlier said in surprise:
"Hey, isn't she one of your little team?" He looked at the griffin next to him as he said this.
The second griffin blinked in surprise, looking at Trixie and asked:
"Trixie? What are you doing here?"
Tensing, Trixie peeked out from behind Alan, and looking at the griffin asked:
"Excuse me, but do we… know each other?"
Blinking once, the griffin suddenly laughed, and said:
"Ah, right, we're still in disguise."
As he spoke, the griffin flashed magic, and to the surprise of Alan and Trixie, Starlight appeared in his place. Seeing her, Alan immediately realized who the second griffin was, and breathed a sigh of relief. Trixie, seeing Starlight, immediately rushed in her direction, shouting:
"Starlight!" Trixie hugged Starlight, hitting her with the strength of her grip, and when she released her, she quickly spoke, "I'm so glad to see you! You have no idea what I've been through! They caught me, took away my magic, locked me in a cage, and fed me lousy and sugary porridge! What's more, I haven't showered in three damn days!"
Listening to her friend's complaints, Starlight identified the main detail of interest to her, and covering Trixie's mouth with magic, she asked:
"What did you mean by taking away your magic?"
"She talks about it." Alan pointed to the mare's neck, "it's a device made by the griffins to prevent the unicorns from using their magic. Quite a nasty little thing, I must say."
Looking at the strange collar, Starlight asked:
"And how does it work? Could you show it?"
At last, Trixie was able to speak, and said in a despondent voice:
"Every time I use my magic, this collar gives me an electric shock that makes it hard to concentrate. Moreover, each time I am paralyzed for several minutes, which is accompanied by severe pain. So I'm sorry, but I'm not going to demonstrate it."
"I have to admit, I like the way this thing works," said a griffin next to Trixie.
Looking at him irritably, Trixie asked:
"And who are you? Why were you with Starlight?"
Smiling, the griffin replied:
"Well, if you really want to know, then look."
With these words, a wave of green magic swept over the griffin, and in its place a black tall mare with a bluish silky mane and two emerald green predatory eyes appeared.
"C-Chrysalis!" Seeing her, Trixie jumped up in fear, and quickly hiding behind Alan, nervously asked, "wh-what are you doing here?"
Satisfied with her fearful reaction, Chrysalis replied with a smirk:
Well, it's quite a long story. But in short, I decided to give a little chance to all this friendly nonsense, and along the way to save this hurried guy. After all, I must repay him for saving my life.
Hearing her words, Alan grinned, and feigned indignation:
"Hey! I may have rushed into this place, but if not for this, then we would not have known about Trixie being imprisoned here."
"Pfft, not like I care or interested in her, but I guess you're right." Chrysalis shrugged her shoulders in a relaxed manner.
At this, Starlight finally decided to speak up:
"Okay. Trixie, come here, I'll take your collar off, and then we'll leave this place."
"Finally!" Trixie immediately ran up to her friend.
With a slight flash, Trixie's collar landed in Starlight's hooves, who smiled and said:
"That's it. Now, grab onto me, I'm going to teleport us out of here."
Following her instructions, they put their hoof on her, after which a powerful wave of magic enveloped them, and they disappeared, leaving behind only a small burn on the concrete.
It was at this moment, in one of the electronic complexes of the griffins, that one of the workers recorded strange indicators on the monitor, and raising the communicator, said:
"Sir, the sensors have detected a large amount of magical activity in the territory of the military complex. What are the instructions?"
The communicator was silent for a while, until a hoarse voice came from there:
"Only unicorns are capable of strong bursts of magic. Send a squad to check on the captive unicorn mare, and a few magical analysts to the point where the activity itself was recorded. Have them also collect all the data from the video cameras, I want to have a report by the end of the day. Fulfill.
"Understood," having received the order, the griffin behind the monitor began to send orders through his terminal, wanting to fulfill his master's wish in the best possible way.
The "master" himself stood in front of the window, and looked at a group of scientists who were fussing around a strange metal object. Looking at them, and thinking about the information he had just received, he thought:
"What a bad time for violators. If information about this leaks out, we could be in big trouble." Glancing at what looks like a holographic display with a code above this object, he smiled, "Well, at least we are closer than ever to understanding this technology. I am sure that we will have time to prepare for unwanted guests."
Having finished his thought, Griffin turned away from the window and left the room.
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Author's Note:
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I've finally finished this little adventure, and it's time to get back to everyday life and some vulgarity.