Commander Hurricane was walking throughout the room slowly, as if he were pondering a strange question. He occasionally stared back at the seven agents, wondering if they were up to the task. What these seven agents could do could potentially save the clan. What they could do could promise a flourishing race of happy Pegasi.
Hurricane gave a fake chuckle and said, “Ah, here you all are, my finest agents. I have a mission for all of you, the toughest of the tough.”
Hawkeye waved him off, “Pshaw Hurricane, me and this crew can do anything, isn’t that right Stormy.”
Stormcaster spoke up, “ You know it Hawkeye.”
Hurricane chuckled again, “Yea, I should put more faith in you guys. Well, I might as well tell you the details.”
“Lay it on us,” Phoenix said.
“Alrighty, so I need you to get a quota of the number of troops the Unicorns have. Sounds simple? Wrong, they have guard ponies surrounding every corner, not to mention that their fortress is next to a garrison filled with soldiers. We need the parchments, and safe retrieval.”
“Hmm, sounds difficult,” Snowcone said.
“Do you by any chance have an architectural structure of the Unicorn Fortress?” Wind Turret said.
“Knew you would ask Wind buddy ol pal,” Hawkeye said.
“Good question though, it would come in handy to know the layout,” Specter said as Hurricane dug around for the map. “What do you guys make of this mission?”
“Piece of cake,” Hawkeye said.
“Rather daunting,” Wind said.
“Oh you and your vocabulary Wind Turret,” Snowcone said.
“Well, you know me-”
“Got it!” Hurricane said as he laid the map on a large table.
“Hmm,” Wind Turret said, raising a hoof to his chin. “Interesting. I’ve only been able to come up with five scenarios.”
“Sounds good,” Phoenix Flower said, trying to understand the map.
“Well,” Stormcaster said. “Everything looks to be ready, when do we go over protocol and start the mission?”
“Thats the spirit,” Hurricane said. “We’ll start next week, I expect great things guys. The court is adjourned”
“Wait,” Overcast said, walking from a dark corner of the room. “I fear for our lives, we don’t know what the Unicorns are capable of. Let alone what do you intend to do with these parchments.”
“That is to be clandestine,” Hurricane said, startled by Overcast inquisitive tone.
Overcast expected this exact response, he knew Hurricane was up to something.
“Our lives are in danger, what if we are compromised and killed on the spot?”
Everypony was shocked by Overcast sudden enthusiasm to speak aloud.
“Look Overcast, we got this mission locked down. There isn’t a reason to question the Commander about the knitpicks,” Stormcaster said.
Everyone else nodded in agreement.
Overcast squinted his eyes. “What do you intend to do with these parchments commander?” He said, suspiciously.
“Further questioning of this topic will make me infer that you are not cooperative with your leader. You’ll be charged with insubordination, possibly exiled.”
Everyone stood, their heads low, scared to say anything.
Hurricane smiled, “Good day gentlecolts and fair ladies.”
“Everypony ready?” Specter said.
“Yeppers, I am ready to get it on!” Hawkeye said.
“I’ve been dying for some action,” Phoenix said. “The corps aren’t enough, their pushups are too easy and I can fly hundreds of laps without a single sweat.”
“Do you smell that? Smells like horsecrap,” Snowcone said, snickering.
Everypony giggled.
“Hey! I can so fly that many laps.”
“Ugh, what is it with mares always arguing with each other. It’s as if they were born to hate each other,” Hawkeye said.
“Don’t be so misogynistic,” Snowcone said.
“Massage who now?” Storm said, joining the fun.
“Ugh, why are guys so insensitive,” Phoenix said.
“I can agree on that sister,” Snowcone said as she bumped hooves with Phoenix.
“And just like that they are friends again,” Hawkeye said, sighing.
“Lets just get going guys,” Specter said, smiling at his friends crazy antics.
“Thats a negative ghost rider,” Hawkeye said, professionally.
“What the heck is that supposed to mean?”
“I dunno know, thought it would sound cool.”
Everypony else just shook their heads with light smirks as they lifted off toward the Unicorn Fortress.
The crew reached the large fortress filled with guard ponies and Unicorn flags. There were only two instances Storm could recall that he has seen this fortress. One where he was passing by as a little colt, the peaceful days. And another where he was sent on Op LOL.
Op LOL was basically a joke mission to find out what Princess Platinum hates, so Commander Hurricane can use it at the summit in a few months. Of all things, Princess Platinum hates dirty things, like mud.
The fortress was built with stone blocks that were cut to precision, and the garrison was practically a steam pump.
The sun was setting over the horizon, giving a beautiful orangish-pink color that was breathtaking. Overcast always seemed to stare at sunsets, and other things in nature.
The crew stared behind themselves, there was a backup squad. They were just a rescue squad, it was mandatory for every mission to have one. After a few tragedies in investigations Commander Hurricane decided more security would solve the problem. Mission success rates improved dramatically after his decision.
Hawkeye didn’t think they would need any help. His friends were the best spies in the agency. Seems only pedantic to send a rescue squad.
Specter took a deep breath, “Show time.”
The Pegasi spies were swift as they ran down the snowy hill, almost tumbling to the bottom. They discussed the plan once more behind a bush as they waited for secluded darkness to give anonymous faces. The moon was rising and so were the spirits of the spies.
“Now, or never,” Stormcaster said.
With their black thermal suits, they rushed into the blind spot of the large fortress; the dumpster. Not many Unicorns liked to look at the dumpster, because they felt the duty to act as their princess, with pretentiousness. Whatever the princess did, the Unicorns did.
They ran toward the dumpster alley and came to a rusty door. The door was open, and they came across an ominous kitchen.
The kitchen was dark, filled with pots and pans, but no signs of food. Maybe the Unicorns don’t have as much food as the Pegasi thought.
The seven spies spread out and walked on the tips of their hooves. Their destination was the secretary office they spotted in the architectural layout.
Snowcone couldn’t keep her eyes off of the walls of the fortress as they walked along the shadows. The walls were filled with decorations and jewels, it was exquisite, but made her envious.
Wind Turret pointed a hoof toward a staircase, signaling to scope out the scene while we traveled upward. There was a faint trotting noise that echoed the large hallway. The secretary’s office was just on the side. The unicorn guard pony continued to walk down the hall without a glance.
They all went up the staircase and tip-hooved on the side walls. It was difficult, due to the paintings and pony armor on the walls. The office was only a few feet away when the spies heard the trotting noise again.
Buck my life, Specter thought.
The spies stood on their two hooves pressing against the cold stone walls. Hoping to be unseen against the shadows. Overcast has the perfect camouflage while I have a white coating, lucky, Snowcone thought.
The guard pony began walking down the hallway again.
Phoenix Flower began to sweat, We’re doomed, she thought.
The guard pony inspected the wet carpet due to some melted snow, and continued to walk down the hallway.
The spies slumped downward, and began to breathe calmly again.
They moved quickly to the office, opening it gently and closing it softly. They could see a small light in the front of the room, an oil lantern.
The Pegasi searched the room, looking for any sign of the troop reports. There wasn’t a directory, which made Wind Turret furious on the inside.
Overcast looked around the corner, where the light protruded, and saw a desk filled with papers and written documents. No pony was sitting at the chair.
He signaled to the others that the coast was clear and he began to search the desk. The desk was very organized, filled with neat stacks of written papers. He came across a few interesting papers such as ‘Pegasi Aggression’ and ‘Event Hall News.’ The event hall showed how more modernized the Unicorns were compared to the utilitarian living standards of the Pegasi.
The Pegasi Aggression was more interesting. It showed detail documents and assumptions based on how Commander Hurricane could start a war. It showed all of his behavior and philosophies, his ethics and standards. All of it led up to the fact that he could try to start a war. And Overcast knew it was true.
They heard a muffled humming noise from a mare behind the supply room door. Wind Turret hadn’t thought of the possibility that someone would still be here. He should have taken account of the work hours secretaries had, he thought.
Everyone hid behind bookcases and small indentations of the shadowy walls.
The secretary walked in the room and sat down at her desk. She had a violet mane and a tan coating. She also had a nerdy look, with glasses and a pony tail. “Hmm,” She said, rubbing a hoof under her chin. “I didn’t leave these papers the way they are now.”
She began to walk around the room. The pegasi were quiet as a mouse, knowing one mistake could mean being taken prisoner.
The secretary squinted her eyes, she could see a light gray coming from the wall, a color she’s never witnessed on that wall. She walked toward the light gray, trying to figure out what it was.
Why did I have to be born in December, just why, Snowcone thought.
Whelp, there goes the mission, Storm thought, sweating as he pushed against a wall behind a bookcase.
The secretary touched Snowcone’s muzzle. For an instance Snowcone thought she wouldn’t scream, but then the secretary began to yell loudly.
“Guards! Guards!” The secretary screamed as she was confronted by the spies.
Overcast trotted behind the screaming mare and hit a puncture point on her body and set her body on the ground gently.
“Run,” Overcast said, quietly, as if he wasn’t even nervous.
The pegasus spies ran out of the secretary room and heard shouts from the guard ponies. Overcast led the rest of the crew to the staircase, but the soldiers from the garrison were rushing up the stairs. They ran the other way down the hall.
“Come on Wind Turret, where the hell are those scenarios you talked about,” Storm shouted.
“Those scenarios never applied to this hallway, this hallway has no other doors.”
They reached the end of the hallway, but the guard ponies were already there.
“We’re cornered,” Specter said.
“Now isn’t the time for a joke right guys?” Hawkeye said.
“No,” Wind Turret said in a defeated tone.
The guards and soldiers grabbed each of them with aggressive magic, dragging them down many hallways.
The guards were laughing and making jokes toward the spies.
“What a bunch of failures, Hurricane could have sent fillies and gotten better results,” A guard pony said.
“What to expect from Pegasus scum.”
“Buck you too,” Hawkeye said, sarcastically.
The guard pony carrying Hawkeye stopped abruptly. He used magic on his hoof and suddenly turned around and punched Hawkeye in his torso.
The impact sent shivers to the rest of the squad. Hawkeye coughed blood and began to throw up.
The guard pony smirked, “Now as I was saying,” The guard said, as he joked around with his guard friends more.
The spies were thrown into cells, they smelled of filth and other atrocities. Each cell separated them away from each other.
“Should have kept your mouth shut Hawkeye,” Wind Turret said.
Hawkeye whimpered in the darkness of the cell. He tried to respond, but all that came out were howls and squeaks.
“So plan B it is I guess,” Storm said.
“Never thought an elite crew like ours would get caught like this,” Specter said.
Stormcaster plucked a feather from his wings and trotted toward the barred window.
This was how plan B is supposed to happen. A pegasus plucks a feather from his wings and tosses it toward the rescue team to signal something went wrong. It doesn’t always work out, sometimes the wind can blow the feather too far or too little. And aiming it is like shooting a target with a blindfold on.
Stormcaster dropped the feather and watched it blow toward the east, where the blizzard was flowing. Perfect position, Storm thought.
The others plucked their feathers as well, the more feathers dropped the better chance that the rescue team will find one.
One of the cell doors opened and the voice of a guard was heard.
“Well, prepare to die, the princess herself wants to speak to you.”
Oh no, Specter thought, if we are sent to the princess we might die before the rescue team gets here.
Why did it have to be now, Phoenix thought.
The spies were all released and dragged by magic down a huge hallway. The large door opened as they got closer toward the throne. A tired Princess Platinum sat on the silver throne.
The rescue squad stood in the cold blizzard, staying close to stay warm. The captain was shivering until he heard a cadet start to call his name in excitement.
“Captain Ace! Captain, we got multiple feathers over here!” The young cadet said.
The captain stared at the feathers, trying to make sure they were not just bird feathers. Usually rookies make this mistake a lot and it can jeopardize the mission.
“Well I’ll be damned. Move out, we got a code red,” Captain Ace said.
The squad of ten tired, cold, and hungry pegasus became excited. It’s been forever since we’ve had some action, the young cadet thought.
Princess Platinum stared at the pegasus spies with cold, apathetic eyes. Snowcone went over the two words she would say over and over again, “Execute them.” She knew it was only a matter of time before she would die.
Who knew today would be the day I die, Stormcaster thought, my son, my wife, all will fade away.
“Ahem,” Princess Platinum said. “What were your intentions, what were you looking for?”
Snowcone sighed in relief.
Overcast felt something new, excitement. He’s always wanted to talk to the other pony race leaders. He felt he could serve as an ambassador of some sort, perhaps finally bring peace, maybe even happiness to himself.
Overcast stepped forward which made the six guard ponies and Princess Platinum alert. He bowed and began to speak.
“Princess, our goal was to steal information on the amount of troops you have control over.”
“Overcast, what are you doing! You can’t give mission details like that!” Specter said.
Overcast ignored him and Princess Platinum raised an eyebrow in interest.
“Hmm, I suspect your awful leader Hurricane wants to wage war. Only a matter of time,” Platinum said.
“Please, I beg you not to go to war.”
Platinum shifted in her seat in interest. She never heard of a pegasus who doesn’t want to fight. “Why should I not go to war, you pegasus scum want it so badly, I’ll give it to you,” she said, haughtily.
“Because if you go to war, we’ll all die. The Earth ponies will side with the stronger force and one of the races will be eliminated completely.”
The spies stood shocked at Overcast. He never talks and he always sits with his eyes closed, pondering. Speaking aloud was unnatural as it was fascinating, Wind Turret thought. He’s trying to stop a war which I should have seen coming from a mile away!
“And what if you are the race that is completely eliminated, that would only benefit us with more food,” Platinum said, as her stomach growled loudly.
“I heard that. You’re hungry, your people are hungry, our people are hungry. We are both too weak to go to war, there isn’t enough supplies to go around. It’s suicide.”
“What is your plan, how can you stop the inevitable?”
It all came together perfectly, Wind thought. The war was inevitable, more spy missions are done every day, it’s only a matter of time.
“By uniting the races together.”
The room was quiet, even the guard ponies listened intently.
Princess Platinum stood and said the one word on everyone's mind. “How?”
The door was opened voraciously and loudly as the rescue squad ran through the room with war cries and swords in their mouths ready for blood.
Overcast turned around swiftly and yelled, “No wait!”
“It’s a trap!” One guard pony said.
The rest of the guard ponies charged their horns and fired powerful beams of magic at the crew. Princess Platinum was ushered urgently out of the room into a safe place.
War broke out, and the crew was unconscious.
Bucking kidding me, Overcast thought, as he fell into unconsciousness.
The crew sat silently and stared back at the fire after Overcast told his incredible story. They were pondering over all the details. Such as a negotiation with Princess Platinum, it seemed unorthodox for any pegasus to do such a feat.
Snowcone broke the eerie quiet by saying, “How come we can’t remember any of these things?
“You do,” Overcast said, almost in a whisper, “in your dreams.”
“I’ve never had the dreams, and if you were knocked unconscious, how come you can still remember wise guy?” Hawkeye said.
“I was the lucky guy, I had acquired my memories a month after the incident. But it did start with the dreams, I just pieced together the puzzle pieces.”
“Surely Hurricane must know about all of this?” Phoenix said.
“You’re damn right he does,” Overcast said, holding back a petulant attitude. “He knows that I tried to negotiate with Princess Platinum. He doesn’t know all the details, so he assumes that you guys were negotiating as well. We’re all charged with treason, the punishment is death.”
“W-What? No, no no no,” Phoenix kept repeating. “This isn’t right. I just- why would he do this?” She said as tears began to well up in her eyes.
“When I remembered Co-Op PARCHMENT, I told Commander Hurricane all of the details. And you know what he did, he bucking experimented on me!” Overcast yelled, sending reverberations through the forest.
“What did he do?” Stormcaster said.
“He blackmailed me, if I were to tell you guys about the mission, I would be killed. He took the blackmailing further to test how much of my memory I retained. So he tested if I still knew how to survive waterboarding,” Overcast said gravely.
Snowcone and Phoenix Flower gasped.
The forest resided to it’s pristine quietness, not a sound could be heard except for the crackling of the fire.
Snowcone stood up and walked slowly towards Overcast. At first she seemed to hesitate, but she grew over her fears and gave Overcast a warm, soft, and long hug.
“I’m so sorry Overcast, you didn’t deserve any of that.”
Overcast felt something for the first time in his life, it was love. Tears streamed down his eyes and he reciprocated the warm hug.
“Thank you Snowcone.”
The hug somehow warmed the rest of the group as well. She broke away, and Overcast wiped his eyes with a hoof. Hawkeye suggested bringing out some snacks from the food package and everypony complied. The enclosed circle of pegasi felt lively and joyous for the first time.
Hawkeye and his former best friend Wind Turret joked around. Phoenix Flower and Snowcone talked with each other with big silly grins on their faces about colts and various cosmetics.
Stormcaster hesitantly joined in on the conversation with Hawkeye and Wind, and was happily welcomed.
Soon, both the groups merged as Hawkeye threw silly jokes about the mares of the group and the latter reciprocated. The campfire was lively with laughs, grins, and chocolate covered faces from the hot cocoa they made earlier.
Overcast leaned on the log he was sitting on earlier and watched his newfound friends. He watched them and felt amicable.
“Come on buddy,” Hawkeye said, pointing at Overcast. “We got a fresh and hot one waiting for you.”
The rest of the crew beckoned him to join the circle as well. Overcast stood up and gave a warm smile that was surprisingly fitting for the stallion who never speaks nor smiles.
He began to walk over to the circle when a huge beam of red light shined to the right of the group. It seemed to illuminate half of the forest with a red hot color.
“Nows not the time for a joke is it guys?” Hawkeye said, gulping.
“Lets follow that beam!” Stormcaster said.
“And what if it kills us?” Phoenix said.
“Only one way to find out,” Stormcaster said, running after the beam with a daring excitement.
“It must be the sugar in the hot cocoa,” Hawkeye said, chuckling.
The rest of the crew followed intently behind the maroon shadow of Stormcaster. Wind Turret was happy that he could actually see the trees in his way now that the forest was illuminated.
Stormcaster suddenly stopped and said, “Whoa.”
The pegasus all caught up to Storm and stood gazing with confused but marveled faces. They were fascinated by the diamond shaped construct that beheld them. It was a huge red diamond that stood ten feet tall.
“What do you suppose it is Wind?” Hawkeye said.
Everypony turned to Wind Turret expecting a profound statement, but Wind simply said, “It’s the magic focal point.”
Wind Turret took a further inspection of the strange object and took out a notebook. He began to take detail notes on everything he could find on the object. When he looked behind the diamond, he saw a small engraving of hieroglyphs. The language seemed familiar to him, like olden Latin.
“There are hieroglyphs, but i’ll need time to decipher them. Until then, this is all we have, wish I had my microscope.”
“What do you suppose it’s for, diamonds don’t just fall from the sky ya know,” Snowcone said.
Wind Turret mused for a moment.
“It fell at a certain moment, and that moment was when we were having fun for the first time in this dreadful place.”
“Thats true,” she said.
“But what does that symbolize?” Storm said.
“I hope that these hieroglyphs will help me find the answer.”
The rest of the crew built a new campfire and traversed over their food and packages to the new camp while Wind Turret studied his books on linguistics.
The crew talked again at the campfire, but more quietly this time. Not wanting to disturb Wind Turret.
“Hey Overcast, why didn’t you tell us before, about the op?” Phoenix said.
“I couldn’t.”
“Why?”
“You won’t like the answer.”
“Just tell us.”
Overcast sighed and said, “Fine, I’ll tell you. Eventually you would have all remembered about the mission. When you guys would have remembered, it would’ve been the death of you all by the hooves of Hurricane.”
“How so?” Hawkeye said, sipping on hot cocoa.
“Because, he still thinks you guys negotiated with Princess Platinum. No matter how hard you try to dissuade him. His plan was to get rid of us before we remembered. He found out about this forest and saw it fit the perfect place. He’s sent so many ponies into this forest and none of them ever returned.”
“So you decided how I am going to die?” Phoenix Flower said.
Overcast flinched at the cold remark, “I just thought it would be the best way. At least in the forest, we have a chance of surviving, with Hurricane, we’ll get executed or exiled to starve.
“I still don’t want you deciding how I die!” Phoenix said, with a hint of anger.
“Phoenix,” Hawkeye said, “leave the stallion alone, he chose the best death for us, we couldn’t have survived anyways.”
“Well why did he have to negotiate with Princess Platinum! This is the only reason we are in this predicament!”
Wind Turret’s eyes perked up when he saw a bit of the diamond turn black. He took notes on it and looked over to his friends to see a dispute bursting out.
“Interesting,” Wind said, whispering.
“I just wanted to bring peace to the pony races, I never meant for my best friends to be killed,” Overcast said, bringing hooves to his face. “I’m so sorry, I understand if you can’t forgive me. I just wanted to do something right for the first time in my life.”
Phoenix had concerned eyes and had a guilty countenance. “I-I’m sorry Overcast, you were just looking out for me, all of us, I guess it really is the best way to die. With your best friends.” she said as she stared at everypony around the fire.
The blackened spot on the diamond turned into a bright red again.
Wind Turret noted the change of color and said once more, “Interesting.”