“My stomach… My stomach has…” Paz groaned out as she lay on the seat. She’d been muttering things in her sleep the entire flight back to Mother Base, but especially with how she looked, that was the thing that concerned Luna the most. Snake didn’t seem too concerned as he sat on the other seat with the medic, both of them facing away from Paz, while Chico and Twilight stood next to her, Chico next to her head and Twilight by her legs, looking at her worriedly. Luna couldn’t blame them; Paz didn’t deserve whatever she’d endured, even knowing who she was and what she attempted to do.
Chico took a step forward suddenly, his eyes fixated on the blood on Paz’s shirt. He leaned over her slightly and looked intently at her for a moment before his eyes widened and he let out a quiet gasp. He brought his hands up to her and grabbed the bottom of her shirt, lifting it up slightly as he breathed, “Snake…”
Twilight’s eyes widened when she saw what Chico had noticed and she held a hoof up to her mouth. “Oh no…” she uttered.
Chico looked up and said, more urgently, “Snake!”
At first, Snake just glanced back at him, but as soon as he saw the cause of his distress, he quickly stood up while calling “Medic!” and making his way around to the other side. The other man stood up as well and maneuvered around Twilight as she moved to the other side while Snake picked up Chico and set him on the other seat before moving to stand at the top of Paz’s head.
Luna didn’t exactly have the best view of Paz from where she was standing, so she moved over to Twilight and Chico’s seat to get a better look. She looked at Paz over the railing with them as the medic was feeling around on her stomach with his white-gloved hands. Although they covered it up slightly, Luna could easily see that Paz had a large, ‘V’-shaped scar in the center of her stomach that was highlighted by dried blood and still being held closed with sutures. She wasn’t entirely sure what the scar meant, but she did have an idea of what it could mean.
She didn’t have to wait long for confirmation as the medic soon looked up at Snake, who breathed, “She’s rigged. Damn it, we were set up!”
The medic nodded, “We gotta get it out.” He stood up and moved to the back of the helicopter, putting on a fresh pair of gloves. He looked back at Snake and said, “No time for anesthetic. We have to open her now.” He turned back to grab the tools he was going to need while Chico and Twilight looked up at Snake worriedly as he held his hands up to his mouth and brought them together for a moment.
He then placed his hands on Paz’s shoulders, gripping them slightly, while saying, “Both of you, hold her down…” When Chico and Twilight didn’t move right away, he said, louder, “Hold her down!!” The two flinched for a moment before reaching over, Chico placing his hands on Paz’s arms while Twilight placed her hooves on her legs. They both looked up at the medic as he came back over, a pair of angled scissors in his right hand and a pair of tweezers in his left hand.
“They’re really going to do it. They’re going to open that mark up and remove something, while she’s fully aware of it,” Luna thought. Even with all she’d been through and seen in her life, she wasn’t sure she was going to be able to watch this.
The medic began by using the tweezers to lift up the end of the sutures where they’d been tied off and snipping it off with the scissors. He then alternated between using the angle, the scissors, and the tweezers to pull the rest of the threads out on the left side of the scar before putting the tools away and coming back with a pair of angled steel bars, which he used to pull the scar open. Both Twilight and Chico looked away briefly at this before turning back, the medic having Chico hold the rods while he came back with the scissors and did some more snipping.
Once he was done, he put the scissors and the bars back before reaching his fingers into the opening, searching. Even Snake had to look down and take a breath as the medic forced the scar open a little more, causing Paz to gasp and several streaks of blood to come running out. “Keep her gut in!” the medic commanded as Paz’s eyes shot open and she began to struggle. Snake, Chico, and Twilight had a hard time keeping her still while the medic continued searching.
Luna felt like she wanted to throw up really badly as the medic’s right hand went underneath Paz’s organs and turned away, trying to keep her breathing under control. She didn’t need to look to know that Paz was really struggling now, her pained gasps and groans becoming full-blown screams. As she listened, she recognized the screams. They had been amplified the last time she’d heard them, but she knew where she’d heard them: in the twisted recreation of Mother Base’s Sick Bay, right before she’d been attacked by that other Twilight.
Suddenly, there was a fleshy ripping sound followed by the medic uttering, “Boss!” Luna dared to peek back and saw him holding a small, blood-covered box in his hands that beeped and had a red light that blinked on and off every second. Snake took it from him and turned it over, revealing a white peace symbol on the other side veiled with blood. Luna immediately knew what the package was.
“Bomb… They put a…” Twilight breathed before turning away and heaving, sounding like she was even closer to losing the contents of her stomach than Luna had just been seconds ago. The night princess looked over at Snake, seeing him open the chopper’s left door and throw the bomb out, closing the door afterwards.
As the door closed, the medic reported, “Breathing’s stable… No active bleeding.” Snake and Twilight both looked back at him as he said, “She’s clean. I’m closing her up.” He glanced at Chico, “Hold her steady. It’s gotta be a continuous suture.”
Luna heard a ringing sound coming from Snake and saw him raise his left hand to his ear, clicking on his radio. “Control tower, this is Morpho One. All hummingbirds are on the wing. We’ll shake hands, then head back to the cage. Boss, you got a call,” the pilot said.
There was static for a moment and then Luna heard a familiar voice, “Boss, can you hear me?”
Snake turned away as he asked, “What’s up, Huey?”
Twilight and Luna both watched him as Huey answered, “Our ‘guests’ are right on time. Document destruction and hanger decontamination are complete, AFVs have been stowed away, and ZEKE’s on the seafloor along with the nuke. Everyone’s got their story straight. The guided tour’ll be wrapped up by the time you get home.”
Snake turned and walked over to the right seat, resting his right foot on top of it as he said, “Make me proud.”
Huey replied, “By the time they leave, I’ll have the IAEA praising us as the poster boys for world peace. Out.” There was silence in the cabin after the call ended, broken only by the sound of the rotors and the rain hitting the outside of the helicopter.
With finally some quiet, Luna turned to look at Paz and saw her lying quietly on the seat as the medic closed up her wound. “She must’ve fainted from the shock,” she thought, wondering how long she was going to be unconscious.
________________________________________
A while later, Paz was still passed out on the seat. Twilight had moved to the top of her head by this time, sitting with a wet washcloth in her right hoof that she had draped over her forehead while the left hoof was resting on the girl’s shoulder. Chico was still standing next to her, looking her over with a worried expression. The flight back to Mother Base had remained uneventful so far, making Luna wonder when something was going to happen.
As Chico reached his hand forward to hold Paz’s arm, she got an answer when she heard the pilot’s voice over the radio, “Tower, this is Morpho One. Do you copy? …Can’t get through. The link seems fine, but…” Snake stood up when the pilot reported no answer and made his way over to the left door. He clicked the button to open it and Twilight looked back at him when they heard the pilot gasp. Twilight looked back down at Paz and gently touched her forehead before standing up and moving next to Snake, joining him as he looked outside.
As she came up behind them, Luna noticed red-tinted clouds off in the distance and the that the water below seemed to be an odd orange color as the chopper flew over it. She also noticed an unpleasant smell in the air that was getting stronger. Twilight let out a gasp suddenly and Luna noticed Snake turn his head to look at her for a moment before turning to look towards the front of the chopper, leaning forward a little to get a better view. The chopper soon flew past what Twilight had seen. There was another helicopter floating in the water, the entire thing almost entirely engulfed in flames, and off in the distance, one of Mother Base’s struts appeared to be on fire.
Snake grabbed his rifle and grunted to Twilight, “Weapons ready!” She nodded and grabbed the sniper rifle she’d been using earlier, holding it in her hooves while she grabbed her other guns with her magic and placed them on herself. She and Snake stayed at the sides of the door, still looking out as they flew past the burning strut, seeing its connecting bridge mostly destroyed with only a little bit hanging off the strut while the rest was in the water.
“No, no, no, no, no, no…!” Twilight muttered under her breath as they flew past more destruction. Another strut was on fire and cut off from the rest of Mother Base, explosions going off on the side of it as they flew past. Another looked like its support legs had been destroyed, the hexagon looking like it was floating in the water. More wreckage from destroyed bridges and burning helicopters floated on the surface of the water.
Luna noticed a strut up ahead that seemed to still be standing despite the top of it being on fire, but as they got closer, explosions went off on the support legs, followed by a larger explosion on top of the strut. As they flew past the smoke from the explosion, the pilot suddenly called, “Look! Commander Miller!” Luna looked closer and saw Miller with a squad of MSF soldiers on the other side of the strut, fighting back. Looking to the other side where they were firing, she saw the more numerous enemy soldiers were clad in white helmets, black flak jackets, and gray flight suits. It seemed they had the advantage.
Snake looked over at Twilight and told her, “Get down there!” She nodded and, after taking a moment to plan, leapt out of the helicopter, spreading her wings a second later, gliding. Snake, meanwhile, took his gun in both hands and opened fire as the chopper continued to fly around the strut and descend. Deciding to leave him be for the moment, Luna jumped out as well and flew after Twilight. The lavender alicorn landed on top of the crane closest to the enemy and took her sniper rifle in both hooves, taking aim at the soldiers and firing. Luna noticed she had to perform a reload of sorts between shots, and she seemed to be focused on slowing the enemy down since her shots were aimed at their arms and legs. It seemed to be enough, though; every soldier she hit did have to stop firing, giving MSF a chance to turn the situation around.
Her efforts didn’t go unnoticed, however, since several soldiers soon ducked behind cover and began firing up at the crane, forcing Twilight to back away from the edge as a number of bullets either shot up past where she’d been or hit the underside of the platform she was on. She performed her reload again, but then looked down at her rifle and held it up for a closer look. She gasped and Luna realized that it was empty. Twilight looked up and moved back to the edge of the platform, letting out another gasp a few seconds later. Luna moved to the edge and followed her gaze. One of the soldiers was pointing a launcher up at her.
Twilight spread her wings suddenly and threw her sniper rifle over the edge before jumping up onto the railing of the platform and diving off, the rocket hitting the rifle and exploding before it hit the crane. Even though she couldn’t be harmed by it, Luna still recoiled at the size and sound of the explosion. She quickly followed after Twilight, her friend managing to land behind an MSF helicopter on the deck of the strut despite some of the soldiers firing on her. She took a moment to catch her breath before she grabbed her assault rifle, taking it in both hooves and using her wings to help her balance on her hind legs as she moved out from cover, firing at the enemy as she moved to join Miller’s squad. Luna noticed that by this time, the helicopter had landed and Snake was disembarking to do the same.
Although she stood back behind the MSF soldiers, Luna could tell the battle was beginning to turn in their favor almost immediately. Having Twilight’s magic and an extra gun on their side was a lot of help already, but Snake seemed to be an even bigger tide turner. He didn’t bother going for cover; he stayed out in the open to shoot, yet they didn’t seem to be able to hit him. When an enemy chopper rose up, he opened fire on it and managed to send it crashing down onto the deck with just a few seconds of gunfire. It seemed like they might be able to hold the line here.
As Snake reached cover and crouched down, though, one of his men called, “Incoming!” Luna looked over at the other side and saw the problem: the enemy soldier that had shot the rocket up at Twilight was now aiming his launcher at the squad. Twilight managed to hit him in the arm and Snake landed the killing shot, but it wasn’t enough. As he fell back, his finger managed to squeeze the trigger, the rocket firing immediately afterwards.
The rocket hit one of the crates that they were using for cover, but the explosion from it was big. And loud. Luna could feel her ears ringing as she saw even Snake get thrown off his feet from the blast. Looking over at Twilight, she saw that she had been thrown out of cover onto her back and her assault rifle had fallen from her hooves, landing on the deck out of her reach. One of the soldiers, presumably the one from earlier, managed to get back on his feet fairly quickly and called again, “Incoming!” Twilight managed to raise her head up after a moment and saw what Luna saw: several soldiers were moving up, trying to get to them while they were disoriented. Reacting swiftly, Twilight used her magic to pull her handgun to her right hoof and began firing until it was empty, managing to stop the group of flankers.
Now that she had a little breathing room and no more rounds left in her handgun, Twilight lifted the gun up and away from her with her magic and rolled over to reach for her assault rifle. As she did, she noticed Miller had been thrown to the ground by the explosion and was having trouble getting back up. She grabbed her gun and strapped it to her right hind leg as she stood up and moved to help him, standing next to him and letting him put his hands on her back to pick himself up. One of the surviving soldiers moved to support him by his left arm when he was partway, though he kept his right hand on Twilight’s back as they moved toward Snake amidst the other survivors being killed.
When they reached Snake, he took Miller and supported him under his right arm and began moving back towards the chopper while Twilight and the other soldier started shooting at the enemy again, trying to help the remaining survivors pull back as well. As Snake reached the chopper with Miller and three other soldiers, he yelled, “Move!!” Twilight and the last two soldiers began moving to join them, as did Luna, as a metallic groaning sound filled the air. It didn’t take Luna long to locate the source of it: the other crane had broken off of its base and was falling towards the deck, shaking the ground and raising a cloud of dust when it hit. Seconds afterwards, the strut began to tilt towards the crane and Luna took another look. She immediately saw that the crane had bisected the strut, the parked helicopter and some of the crates and supplies on the deck sliding off into the water below due to the angle. And, if Luna wasn’t mistaken, the strut seemed to be sinking.
Luna stopped next to the door of the chopper, watching two more MSF soldiers fall while Twilight and two others covered Snake while he helped Miller get onboard. Once he was in, Snake turned and joined in to help lay down cover fire as the last survivors got onboard, a third managing to reach the chopper. After two of them got in, the third briefly took his left hand off of his assault rifle to pat Twilight’s left flank, indicating it was her turn to go. In response, she tucked her gun back under her wing and turned to the chopper, putting her front hooves on it and beginning to pull herself up.
All of a sudden, Luna saw multiple sprays of red as Twilight cried out and the last soldier let out a brief scream and they both fell, Twilight falling forward while the soldier fell back and was caught by Snake’s left hand. Luna stared, her mouth hanging open. It happened so fast. One moment, they were both okay; the next the man had taken a round of gunfire to his neck and Twilight had been hit in both her hind legs and her left foreleg, both of her guns falling from her grip and landing on the deck as she banged the bottom of her head on the helicopter door. As she watched Twilight trying to stand up and climb back onto the door, Luna could feel anger and hatred for the enemy attackers welling up within her.
She wasn’t the only one as, after a second of looking between the dead man in his hand and Twilight as she struggled to climb up, Snake turned back to the enemy and let out a furious scream as he stepped away from the helicopter and began firing once more. Luna looked back at Twilight after a few moments and saw Miller had offered her his hand and she had placed her good hoof in it to allow him to help her up into the helicopter’s cabin. Once she was all the way in, he helped her up against the other door before moving back to it and kneeling down again as he called, “Snake!”
It didn’t seem like Snake had heard him, but it didn’t matter anyway as his gun ran out of ammo. After shaking it for a second like he was hoping to find more inside, he threw it to the ground and ran back to the helicopter, taking Miller’s hand and calling “Go!” once he was onboard. Luna quickly leapt into the cabin as the helicopter lifted away and looked back outside to see the side of the strut they’d been on starting to sink beneath the waves just like she’d thought. The door was closed as they witnessed a pair of towers on two nearby struts collapsing in a plume of dust and smoke as explosions went off from inside of them.
Luna turned away from the door and looked around the cabin. To say the mood was somber would be an understatement. One of the soldiers that had been rescued was crying in the back with Chico trying to comfort him. Twilight was still sitting up against the other door, her right hoof pressed up against her left foreleg where she’d been shot, though it seemed like she wasn’t actually trying to apply pressure to it. She just sat there, staring at the door with a horrified expression. Snake sat to her right, looking shocked and disconnected, and Miller sat to her left up against the seats, his head currently turned towards the door.
Miller soon turned his head away and looked towards the floor. “The inspection was nothing but a smokescreen. I heard explosions, then…” Luna noticed Twilight was trying to inch over to him while he was speaking, reaching her right hoof out to him. Before she could reach him, though, he suddenly turned his head and, upon noticing her, reached over and roughly shoved her back against the wall with a cry. Luna turned and glared at him as he stood up and glared down at her, Twilight letting out a whimper and holding her shaking hooves up in front of her face like she was trying to shield herself.
Whether it was due to Twilight being scared, the blood on her hoof and foreleg, or a combination of the two, Miller seemed to turn his anger away from her after a moment, swinging his arms down and shaking his head as he yelled, “They played us like a DAMN FIDDLE!” He turned to Snake and reached down, grabbing him by the shoulders and shaking him as he went on, “Give it back! This isn’t right! That was ours…” Snake was unresponsive, only looking up at Miller as he let out his anger. He slammed his right fist against the door, “We built it, damn it!” Luna’s anger dissipated as she watched him, the reality of what they’d just lost physically not being easy to accept hitting rather close for her.
After a few seconds, Miller turned his head away from the door, his gaze falling on Paz. “You spying BITCH…!” He pushed the medic away from her with his shoulder and reached down, grabbing her by the shoulders and shaking her. “C’mon. C’mon, start talking, bitch! C’mon, get up and start talking!!” he growled even as Chico tried to get him to back off. Paz suddenly awoke with a start, spitting blood out of her mouth that hit Miller in the face and caused him to take a step back, though he still glared down at her. She was just as intimidated by Miller’s anger as Twilight had been and she stood up and tried to run away, bumping into Snake, who had stood up, and backing up against the door as she looked between him and Twilight. Luna heard Chico utter Paz’s name as Twilight managed to raise herself up on her hind legs, using the door behind her to help support her weight.
Paz looked back at Snake with a worried expression, but before either one of them could say anything, Miller came over and pointed at her, “You little…” He was stopped from going any further when the medic came up behind him and wrapped his arms around Miller’s waist, pulling him back to the seat and making him sit down.
Paz turned back to Snake a second later, saying, “Bomb! There’s a…”
Snake held his hands up, trying to reassure her, “It’s all right. We got it out.” This didn’t seem to calm Paz down, though, since she was still breathing faster than normal.
A few seconds later, she looked over at the door control and reached her left hand over to it, causing it to open. “Paz?!” Twilight asked as the door was opening.
The girl looked at her and Snake one last time before taking a step back, placing her left hand on the door frame. “There’s another… in my…” she breathed. Luna could hear the faint sound of another chopper nearby, but nobody else seemed to notice it since they all kept looking at Paz. Luna noticed that Twilight’s eyes widened and, for a brief moment, her mouth fell open before Snake’s did. It seemed like they realized what she was trying to say.
“PAZ!!”
“NOOOOOOOOO!!”
It all happened so fast. All of a sudden, Twilight pushed herself away from the wall, placing her front hooves on the floor as she came down, and leapt after Paz, who let herself fall out of the open door. Snake moved forward as well, but he was stopped from jumping out after them by the medic, who reached the open door ahead of him, seemingly reaching his hands out towards Paz and Twilight as well. Luna moved to the door as well, standing at Snake’s right side as she looked out. Things seemed to be moving slower now as she saw Paz had her arms crossed over her chest and Twilight had spread her wings as she fell after her. Luna could see her horn starting to light up, but it never got a chance to actually start glowing.
She wasn’t prepared for it. Even with as long as she had lived, nothing could’ve prepared her for what happened next. One moment, it seemed like it was a desperate freefall with Twilight trying to catch Paz before she hit the water; the next, the girl was gone, replaced by a large explosion that had erupted from inside her. And Twilight was just about right next to it. Luna’s eyes became even wider as things still seemed to be moving slowly, as if to let her get a good look at what had happened, but she didn’t need to. This was it. There was no doubt now, no room for uncertainty. This, more than anything else she’d seen, was the moment that Twilight couldn’t bear to talk about, where the rest of her injuries came from.
She didn’t need to get closer. She’d already seen what this explosion had done the night Twilight returned to Equestria. Her Sneaking Suit had been burnt by the explosion, and, with the size of the explosion, it was a miracle only her right cheek had been burned enough to leave behind a mark. Her wings had been swinging down when the explosion happened and so ended up getting burnt like her face. She was aware that the explosion didn’t stop at her and Snake and the medic had both landed on their backs next to her as the blast lasted for several seconds more, but she was too fixated on Twilight to look over at them.
The explosion blew Twilight back up at the chopper, a minor change in her trajectory causing her to slam into the hull next to the door rather than being flung back inside the cabin. Her left wing ended up behind her back as she hit and it was safe to say between that and the force of the explosion that this was when she broke it. Her head hit hard and Luna saw her head crane up, her mouth open and eyes closed, before the chopper began to spin out of control. Once again, luck had been on Twilight’s side as, as the blast died down and smoke began to block Luna’s vision, she fell away from the chopper as it spun and didn’t get sliced up by the still-spinning rotors. Luna moved forward past the smoke and caught a glimpse of Twilight spiraling down towards the water. Horrified and having momentarily forgotten she had no control over these events, Luna spread her wings, leapt out of the chopper, righted herself, and flew down after her friend, hoping to catch her.
She passed through Twilight when she reached her, moments before she hit the water and disappeared beneath the waves. Luna turned and flew down after her, remembering to use her magic so that she wouldn’t be affected by the water. She flapped her wings to hover next to Twilight as she stared sadly at her face. Her vacant look and lack of movement told Luna her impact with the chopper had knocked her unconscious, and now she had no idea what was going to happen next as Twilight floated there in the water.
Suddenly, Luna heard a click followed by singing and soft gasping. She raised her head up and looked around. They were still surrounded by blackness, so where was it coming from? As she listened, she recognized the song. It was the same song that had been sung back at the start of her journey, back at the ‘cemetery’. Why was she hearing it now?
“Your favorite song.”
Luna gasped. “That voice!” she thought. She immediately knew it was the man, remembering when he was talking to Chico. Who was he talking to now?
“Nicola. Bart. Immigrants, wrongly executed.”
Luna’s confusion was put to the side when, out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a light coming from Twilight. She turned back to her and saw sparks coming from her horn. They were white in color and she could see the familiar magenta glow of Twilight’s magic as it tried to surround her horn.
“But their deaths served as a message to others.”
As the glow climbed further up her horn, the sparks became more frequent, some shooting across her horn like lightning bolts. “Is she doing this subconsciously?” Luna wondered.
“That ours is a society that murders the innocent.”
Her horn was surrounded fully now and, after a few seconds, a bright white light began to shine from the tip of it, getting brighter by the moment.
“Do you, too, believe your sacrifice will change the world? If so, the time is now.”
Luna closed her eyes and looked away as the light became too much to bear, a bright flash emanating and lasting for several seconds before the light began to die down. When she looked back a moment later, she didn’t see Twilight and looked around quickly. She soon saw her below her, falling to the ground below and landing hard on her side as she heard a click again. Luna flew down next to her and looked around. Their surroundings had changed and she immediately recognized the gardens around Canterlot Castle, the castle itself not far away from where Twilight had landed.
“Cipher has been in hiding ever since his grand experiment. No one’s seen him in years.”
Luna looked back down at Twilight, realizing what was happening. One of her other memories was spilling over into this one, mixing with it like the unpleasant, seemingly unconnected moments in a nightmare.
“All we hear are orders delivered by proxy. Except you.”
Luna looked up and noticed three ponies approaching. One was a member of her night guard and the other two were part of Celestia’s guard, one an earth pony and the other a pegasus. When they got closer, they stopped for a moment before they rushed over to Twilight.
“You met with him – face to face – in order to contact Big Boss.”
The three ponies reached her and immediately began checking her as Luna heard a gasp from who she could now reasonably guess was Paz.
“Tell me where he is. Where is Cipher… Where is Zero?”
The guards started talking to each other, but Luna couldn’t hear any sound coming from them. She wasn’t concerned, though; she was more intrigued in the man’s words and the information he was trying to get from Paz.
“I’ve never known choice. Where I was born, the language I speak… I’ve never had the freedom to choose for myself.”
Luna noticed her guard was trying to patch Twilight up with bandages with aid from the earth pony guard while the pegasus guard was talking to the latter.
“But you, right now, are free. Do as you will.”
The night pony backed off after a couple of seconds and the pegasus guard stepped forward.
“This will save… Big Boss?”
“It may.”
“Will you… really… kill… Zero for me?”
“Not for you.”
The pegasus guard hoisted Twilight up onto his back and looked at the earth pony one last time before he began running towards the city while the earth pony turned and headed for the castle, leaving the night pony alone.
“Alright… Zero is…”
Luna winced as she heard static, causing her to close her eyes briefly. When she opened them again, she noticed that Canterlot was beginning to fade away at the edges of her vision, being replaced by nothing but blackness.
Luna gasped and channeled her magic into her horn, trying to stop it, trying to stay connected. “No, no, no! What did she say?! What did she tell him?! I must know!” she screamed in her head, but it was no use. She couldn’t stop Canterlot from fading away, and she couldn’t maintain her link with Twilight any longer.
There was nothing left.