BNS Chapter 25 - Two sides, two plans

Watching the mare rise from the bed and sleepily blinking her eyes, Alan was finally able to see her a little better, and although she was still in the shadows, it was clear that she was not who he expected to see.

«Wait a minute… are you…» Alan was a little confused, as apparently he was mistaken in his assumption.

After Alan's words, the mare seemed to finally notice the stranger, and with a slight fright asked:

"Ah, what? Who are you?..." then, as if realizing something, she flared up, "wait, were you caught by those nasty griffins too? AH, what's wrong with those stupid, feathered jerks?!" the mare did not hide her displeasure and irritation at all, going out towards the light.

Finally, having fully seen the blue fur of the speaker, and hearing her voice, which is almost impossible to forget, Alan almost immediately recognized who he had stumbled upon, and didn't even know what to think. Such a meeting was indeed an unusual twist of fate.

The mare finally took a closer look at Alan, too, and could not help noticing that the stallion in front of her was a very attractive specimen, even for her picky nature.

Seeing such a long silent pause, Alan decided to dispel it and answer her very first question:

"Well, nice to meet you. My name is Alan, you can just Al. And no, I was not exactly caught, but rather got the opportunity to do it," he said the last part with a slight enigmatic smile.

Raising an eyebrow questioningly, the mare asked:

"And what is that supposed to mean?"

Shaking his head from side to side, Alan replied:

"It doesn't matter for now, by the way, why don't you introduce yourself first?"

Hearing his words, the mare immediately perked up, and smugly said:

"Oh, how could I forget!" coughing in her hoof, she solemnly declared "in front of you, the best magician and illusionist in all of Equestria - THE GREAT AND POWERFUL TRRRIXIE! " at that moment, she took out a small ball from somewhere, and blew it on the floor with pink smoke."

"Cough-cough… Damn it! I forgot that we are in a small room," she sat and waved her hooves, dispelling the smoke she had caused.

Stepping aside, Alan waved the smoke a little, and looked strangely at Trixie. He found the whole situation quite amusing, since Trixie was definitely the type of character that evoked both a smile and a cuteness. That's why he laughed a little and said:

"It was quite a show, nice to meet you, miss Trixie. I must say that I have already heard about you."

Finally getting rid of the smoke, Trixie replied in surprise:

"Really? I mean…" quickly hiding her surprise, she lifted her head proudly, "of course! My performances must be known in many parts of Equestria! From whom did you hear about me?"

Trixie's eyes flickered, and she abruptly approached Alan, wanting to know the answer.

Alan smiled wryly and replied:

"Well, I don't know about your fame in Equestria, but personally, I heard about you from my friend, Starlight."

Hearing that name, Trixie's eyes widened and she cheered up.

"Are you a friend of Starlight? Was she with you? So she came to rescue me? I knew that my great and powerful friend would not forget me!" Trixie started jumping up and down for joy like a little foal.

Turning awkwardly away, Alan scratched the back of his head and replied:

"Well, not quite."

Trixie stopped immediately, and looking at Alan asked:

"What? So Starlight isn't with you, and you just got caught by griffins, just like me? Well this… sucks." Trixie slumped her shoulders and looked blankly at Alan.

"Well, that's also not entirely accurate," seeing the mare's confusion, Alan explained, "I did come with Starlight, but due to some circumstances I was separated from her."

"Wait, what are the circumstances? I'm sure Starlight can handle anything. What could have happened that you split up? And anyway, why were you together in a place like this?" Trixie frowned, wanting to know the answer and worried about her friend.

"Well, it's quite a long story, so I'll tell it later. All you need to know is that Starlight and I split up over a problem, and when the problem was solved and I was about to meet her, I ran into some local griffins who blabbed in their conversations that they had caught a certain unicorn. I thought it might be Starlight, so I devised an escape plan on the spot and allowed myself to be caught in order to get inside."

After listening to his explanation, Trixie rolled her eyes, and with a slight causticity and causticity remarked:

"Great! Now you're inside the cell with me, and the Starlight you came for is somewhere outside, having no idea we're trapped here. Perfect plan!"

Alan was a little embarrassed, because from the outside it really doesn't sound too good, but knowing that although the goal of salvation has changed, he still has everything under control. So he quickly replied:

"Don't worry, I didn't come here with empty hooves. Better tell me this, how did it happen that the great magician and illusionist got into such a situation?"

Now it was Trixie's turn to get her awkward moment, so she turned her head away and, hiding her embarrassment, replied:

"Well… I drove my wagon towards Hoovesville to put on a magical performance there. But the usual road turned out to be littered with trees, and given that there was a forest on one side, and on the other a sharp and high cliff into the river, it was impossible to bypass this blockage."

Listening to her story, Alan tilted his head slightly, thinking about how those trees ended up there. Even more embarrassed, Trixie continued.

"Thinking about solving the problem, I remembered how Starlight recently taught me the teleportation spell. Well, not quite taught, rather just told how to use it. And… well… um, I decided to use it to teleport myself and my trailer through a pile of trees." With a dejected sigh, she reluctantly continued, "and as you can guess, I screwed up a lot and ended up somewhere in the middle of the forest. And while I was stunned after such an unsuccessful jump in space, these nasty griffins found me and took me away from my trailer to their strange town. That's how I ended up here."

After her story, Trixie's mood was a little depressed. Seeing this, Alan said:

"Yeah, on the one hoove, it's stupid to use a spell that you haven't fully mastered, but on the other hoove, it's pretty amazing that you were able to carry such a massive object like a wagon so far. I'm impressed," Alan tried to cheer up the filly a little.

Hearing his words, Trixie quickly recovered:

"Really? You think so? "suddenly realizing her behavior, and seeing Alan's nod, she quickly spoke," I mean... Of course! The great and powerful Trixie has the most amazing skills that need only a little polish to shine even more!"

«A little?» Alan was even sweating a little, from her abrupt switch to self-praise mode.

Finally, Trixie decided to return to the main topic, and asked:

"So, Mr. I didn't come with empty hooves." How are you planning to get us out of here?

Alan was about to answer, but suddenly thinking about something, he asked:

"First of all, may I ask you a question? Receiving a nod from the mare, he continued, "why didn't you try to use your teleportation again?" I'm sure it's better to be in a distant but random place than to stay in prison.

Trixie just snorted and replied:

"Frr! I tried, and more than once! But those nasty griffins put this weird stupid thing on me that prevents me from using magic!" As she said this, she pointed to the metal collar around her neck, "every time I try to direct magic into the horn, it is interrupted by this collar, which shocks me. And I…" showing notes of fear in her voice and on her face, she said, "I couldn't even think that losing the ability to use magic is so terrifying."

"As I thought. So this is the same blocker that that griffin was talking about," Alan began to carefully examine the collar, "have you tried to remove it?"

Trixie frowned, and answered with annoyance:

"Of course I tried, do you think I'm completely stupid?" seeing how Alan looked away, Trixie glared at him indignantly, and sighing heavily, she said, "when I try to pull it off or tear it, I also get an electric shock, after which I can hardly move for a minute," from these memories, the mare's body trembled slightly, "the first attempt was enough for me to stop trying to take it off."

Having learned everything he needed, Alan frowned and thought:

«I see… That complicates things a bit. I could try to remove the collar with magic, simple brute force, but it looks like there is protection, so now this is not an option. Here we need at least an object teleportation spell, and no less. Unfortunately, I don't know how to use it yet, and I wouldn't want to risk experimenting on Trixie.» With a heavy sigh, Alan finally decided, «I guess I just have to bring her to Starlight, and entrust this operation to her. Unless we get lucky, and stumble upon a way to remove the collar. Something like a key, or maybe a remote control.»

"Okay, I got everything I wanted to know. Now let's get out of here!" Alan flashed a bright smile.

Trixie looked at him doubtfully, trying to figure out where his confidence came from. Alan, in turn, began to carefully examine the cell in which they were, and think:

«So, at first glance, the bars of the lattice seem quite strong. Outside of them, there is nothing like keys or a button to open them.» looking at the walls, Alan noticed «the walls are solid, without any hint of wiring, or cavities. But as for the ceiling, it has a lattice with slots, which should definitely be ventilation.»

Frowning slightly, Alan thought:

«In films, ventilation is often used as a universal escape method, but in reality, the ventilation system can hardly support the weight of the dog, so usually it would definitely not help. But given that I am in the world of a cartoon, this option may work. And if not, then I don't care about damage to local property.»

Having finished thinking about the plan, Alan looked at the waiting Trixie, and said:

"So, our ticket out of here should be that ventilation grate," Alan pointed with his hoof at the ventilation on the ceiling.

Turning her gaze to that place, Trixie was surprised, and rolled her eyes and replied:

"And how are you going to get there? The ceiling is at least three meters high, and in case you haven't noticed, we're not pegasi, and certainly not griffins with wings, for which this would certainly not be a problem. And without my magic, you can forget about levitation."

The tone and causticity of her voice could have knocked anyone down, but not Alan, who only smiled mysteriously and calmly said:

"Who said you were the only magician in the area?"

"Uh… What?" Trixie was confused.

"Just look," smiling mysteriously, Alan directed his hoof towards the lattice on the ceiling, and said in a playful way, "Wingardium Leviosa!"

Suddenly, the grate on the ceiling was engulfed in a pale light from magic, and after a few seconds, with a slight screech, it separated from the ventilation, and slowly moved towards the floor, under the surprised look of Trixie, who stood with her mouth open and unable to say anything.

"Ta-daa!" With slight amusement, Alan pointed with his hooves to the ventilation grate lying on the floor, like an experienced magician or showman.

Trixie, who had been standing with her mouth open all this time, finally came to her senses, and clapped her hooves with a joyful smile, while saying:

"Wow! I didn't know you were a magician too! How did you do this? I have never seen such advanced tricks from earth ponies. They usually need a whole bunch of props for performances! OH! We just have to put on a show together! I'm sure we'll put on an incredible performance!"

Unexpectedly for Alan, Trixie really took it as a gimmick and became enthusiastic about the show together. He wasn't sure how to answer her, so he said:

"Let's put this question aside for later, okay?"

"Oh, yes, yes, right!" Trixie quickly calmed down, then looked up at the ceiling, and again frowning, she asked, "You removed the grate, but I still have no idea how we get there."

"Well, in the same way that I removed the grate," with these words, Alan suddenly pointed his hoof towards Trixie, and this time without any foolish spell words, he lifted the surprised Trixie into the air.

Trixie squeaked from the sudden loss of ground from under her hooves, and then, feeling the magic on herself better, her eyes widened, and she spoke in amazement:

"WAIT! This is real magic! HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE!? How are you…" she didn't have time to finish, as she was interrupted by the view in front of her.

All this time, while Trixie was exclaiming in surprise, Alan had already delivered her to the ventilation, carefully watching that nothing collapsed. Seeing this, the mare put her questions aside for later, and tried to crawl inside the rectangular air duct.

"Make sure the duct can support your weight." Alan wanted to make sure the vents were well designed.

Carefully stepping inside the air duct, and tapping lightly with her hoof on all the walls, Trixie sighed with relief, convinced of the reliability of the structure, and sticking her head out of the opening, she said:

"Everything looks fine, so you can climb up here."

Nodding, Alan concentrated, and wrapping himself in magic, tried to lift himself into the air. To his surprise, it was much more difficult than with foreign objects. He could hardly keep himself in the air, as the flow of magic was difficult to control when it came into contact with its own source.

With great effort, and the speed of a turtle, he was still able to lift himself to the desired height, and climb inside the ventilation. Standing with his hooves on the metal surface, Alan sighed with relief, and looking around, raised an eyebrow in surprise, since the size of the air duct was sufficient to stand almost at full height.

«I think this was done for easier cleaning, although it is surprising that they installed a similar system in a prison.» Alan couldn't help but notice.

Wanting to see where the air duct leads, Alan turned his head, and in fact came face to face with Trixie, who, burning him with her eyes, said:

"When we get out of here, you will definitely tell me everything, do you understand?"

Blinking in confusion, and looking into her violet narrowed eyes, Alan calmly replied:

"Um, yeah, of course," and then he added with a slight smile, "and we will also discuss the joint performance."

Looking at his smile, and realizing her extremely close position, Trixie quickly pulled away with a slight embarrassment, and said tensely:

"W…well, that's fine then! Let's find a way out."

Quickly turning away, Trixie walked along the air duct, hiding her face.

Shaking his head, Alan chuckled and followed her.

* * * * * * * * * *

Starlight and Chrysalis were currently sitting in the bushes watching a pair of griffins on patrol who were talking to other patrols.

Sitting with a strange expression, Starlight looked at Chrysalis and asked in a whisper:

"Sooo… Why are we watching them again?"

"Huh…" Chrysalis looked at Starlight with a slight sigh of annoyance, and replied, "We need to get to know their behavior in order to best suit their character," then returning her gaze to the patrolmen, she added, "Last time, I was too overconfident, thinking that with so many subordinates, they would not be able to recognize the differences in behavior, but unfortunately, not only did they put me under suspicion, they also made some strange identification of the uniform they wear, which I could not copy , causing me to be attacked and barely able to escape."

Starlight frowned at the griffins, and then returned her gaze to Chrysalis, and said:

"I understand the study of the characters of these two griffins, but how do we get around their method of identification that you spoke about?"

Chrysalis smiled somehow strangely, and answered with slight amusement:

"Well, there's only one way that comes to my mind. We just need to borrow their uniforms."

"Huh?" Starlight was a bit confused, not quite understanding how this was supposed to work, "I don't think we'd get it if we asked."

"Pfft.." Chrysalis barely contained a chuckle when she heard the words of the purple mare, "you know, Starlight Glimmer, asking for something or someone is not what I usually do when I want something," then ominously grinning, she added, "when I want to «borrow» something, I usually do it in such a way that no one has a chance to refuse me, I hope you catch what I'm talking about?"

Staring at Chrysalis in a slight confusion, Starlight thought about her words for a second, and finally understood what she meant:

"Wait, are you suggesting we attack them and take their uniforms from them?"

"Exactly!" Noticing Starlight's indecisive expression, Chrysalis asked with a grin, "what's wrong with your face? Is our heroine of Equestria Starlight Glimmer afraid of a little mischief? HA! All of you ponies are the same."

Starlight's brow twitched slightly at this statement, and lowering her head, she replied in annoyance:

"If you think that I am all such a good girl, then you are deeply mistaken," then she raised her determined and stern look at Chrysalis, and continued, "compared to what I did in the past, your attempts to seize power were nothing more than a small scam."

Listening to her words, Chrysalis' eyebrow slightly raised, and with a slight smile, she said:

"Oh really? Is there something I don't know about you, mmm?"

"Oh, you don't know anything about me," Starlight said dryly, turning away from Chrysalis towards the griffin patrols that began to disperse, "and so that you don't continue to be mistaken about me in the future, I will personally take care of obtaining these uniforms for us! You want to see a bad girl, I'll show you how bad I can be."

With that, Starlight confidently followed the griffins along the bushes before exiting and heading towards them.

Surprised, Chrysalis, who was watching all this, smiled with interest, and quietly said:

"Now this is getting interesting! I guess giving it all a chance wasn't a mistake."

At this time, the Griffins finally noticed the sound of footsteps from behind, and turning around, they noticed a mare walking in their direction with a serious look.

One of the griffins immediately spoke:

"Stand still, we…" but before he could reach for his weapon, he was interrupted.

Both gryphons were abruptly immobilized by Starlight's magic and then lifted into the air, pulled apart, and then abruptly brought together, hitting each other with enough force to knock the air out of their lungs and subsequently pass out.

Right after that, they were separated from their uniforms by teleportation, and after that they themselves were teleported as far away from their town as possible.

Chrysalis, looking at all this, came out of the bushes, and whistling admiringly said:

"Well, I have to admit, it was unexpected. Didn't know you had it. I guess I really didn't know you very well." Then, glaring at Starlight, she smiled and added, "I guess you deserve some of my respect."

Smiling, Starlight replied:

"Yes, if you look at it that way, we are not so different. Both went through not the most pleasant days, because of which we did what we did."

"Pfft, maybe we are similar, but there is a significant difference. Unlike you, I have no regrets about what I did, and I do not try to hide this side of me. And I advise you the same. I may be bad by Equestrian standards, but I'm sure that burying an important part of myself is not good."

After hearing her words, Starlight really thought about it. After all, in fact, giving this part of her an outlet, she felt much freer and better. It reminds her of those moments with Alan, when they both didn't care about holding back their speech and weren't afraid to offend each other, or anyone. She thought that maybe she should really accept herself, and ease the pressure on herself a bit to see how her friends would react.

As Starlight pondered over her words, Chrysalis turned into one of the stunned griffins and began pulling on their uniforms. After making sure that she was sitting correctly and everything was in its place, she turned to Starlight, and now with a different voice asked:

"So, are you going to stay like this, or will you transform like me to start our rescue operation as soon as possible?"

Stepping out of her thought stream, Starlight looked at the transformed Chrysalis, and said in surprise:

"Transform like you?"

Rolling her eyes, Chrysalis in the skin of a griffin replied:

"Oh, don't be surprised now. I saw your level of magic, you definitely know such a spell."

Frowning, Starlight lowered her gaze and replied:

"Well, to be honest, there really is such a spell, only it works more like a visual illusion. My body and voice will remain the same. And if the first can be noticed only if you touch me, then the second will be noticed immediately, as soon as I open my mouth."

But then, to the surprise of the mare, Chrysalis grinned, and said:

"Why do you think we were following this particular couple? Have we tried in vain to understand their characters? Take a closer look at me, which one of them did I choose to transform?"

Looking at Chrysalis, Starlight immediately replied:

"This is the one that most of all kept the conversation going."

"That's right, then what do I suggest you turn into?" Chrysalis still kept a smile on her face.

"A griffon that didn't say much even when they… talked to another patrol…" Finally realizing what was happening, Starlight smiled, "Ah, that's it! Now I understand."

"Great, then let's quickly take his shape. If you're lucky, you won't actually have to say anything. A nod, typical for this griffin, or a gaze will be enough. You will figure it out yourself."

After casting the illusion on herself, and putting on a griffon uniform the way that matches it's position in the illusion as best as possible, Starlight and Chrysalis headed towards the entrance to this griffin's suspicious town.

Chrysalis spoke to Starlight one last time before facing the gryphons.

"Try not to draw attention, and stick to the role of the silent griffin. Leave all interactions and conversations to me. After all, we Changelings are the best when it comes to pretending or acting."

"I've already made sure of that," Starlight replied with a roll of her eyes.

Chrysalis smirked as she headed towards the entrance post first, Starlight following her. Starlight tried to imitate the gryphons' gait, which didn't look very natural, but could have passed for fatigue. Chrysalis had no problem with that. She looked as if she'd been a griffin all her life, and even Starlight herself doubted for a moment whether it was really Chrysalis.

When they approached the checkpoint, a griffin with shoulder straps approached them and asked:

"Scrab, Pangus, is your shift is over?"

Scrab, played by Chrysalis, replied:

"Yes, just in time. We're already pretty tired, there, Pangus is already barely trudging," saying this, Scrub pointed his thumb behind his back at his partner, who was portrayed by Starlight.

Pangus simply nodded his head when suddenly everyone looked at him, which caused smiles and head shakes from the rest of the gryphons, who apparently were already accustomed to his silent nature.

"Okay, go to the scan and you can enter."

"Great, I can't wait for dinner!" With these words, a satisfied Scrab approached another griffin at the gate, who, taking out some kind of device, ran it along Scrab's belt, and making sure of his identity, did the same with Pangus.

"Hmm, everything's right. Okay, you can pass."

"Finally. Let's go Pangus, I'm so hungry I could eat Rockodile!"

"Um," Pangus replied with a simple nod, trying not to show his inner wince at the words about eating Rockodile.

As they passed through the gate, a very unusual sight opened before them. Hangars, tents, and a whole bunch of various stone and iron buildings and structures that they had never seen before. All this smacked of the spirit of war. This feeling did not please Starlight at all.

Even Chrysalis thought of it with a certain amount of distaste, although she did find some things quite amusing.

Finally reaching a place where no one could hear them, Chrysalis said:

"Well, we got inside, then things will go easier, we need to collect information through a few chats, and find out if anything interesting happened, for «our absence»."

"Right. I don't think Alan would have been able to sneak in here unnoticed, as the security around here is very problematic. Someone definitely must know something."

Having discussed their plan, and having examined the environment, two mares "slash" griffins, began to fulfill their plan.

* * * * * * * * * *

Author's Note:

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