Rescuing the Night

by Noctis

The Extraction

Big Boss snapped out of it and realized that he had to defeat Chrysalis, no matter whose face she donned. "Nice tricks, Chrysalis. You had me going there for a second. I really felt my heart jump when I saw her face, but you are not her. Just because you have her face does not mean that this will make it any harder for me to do my duty."

"Then prove it, my apprentice. I am The Boss, all you are is a slimy, slivering snake." The deceiver stated.

Big Boss once again got into his fighting stance. He signaled for Chrysalis to come charging at him, since it was now equal ground. He was a human, and so was she. This gave Big Boss the advantage he needed. Chrysalis foolishly went into Snake's trap, and was instantly punched by the soldier. His CQC skills were unmatched.

However, Chrysalis was not out just yet. She continued in her fruitless attempt to defeat Snake. This time, it was she who motioned for him to come over. Snake approached slowly with caution, and just as he got close, he grabbed her. However, she had grabbed him as well. It was another stalemate. Their strength, was again matched by each other. This time though, there was no magic that Chrysalis could use, other than to turn herself back into her changeling form.

Big Boss struggled, using every fiber of his being to try to flip and concuss The Boss impostor. It was true, her face did make his deeds difficult. However, he remembered The Boss' will and the words Luna said to him.

After five minutes of dead lock between himself and Chrysalis, Big Boss was starting to gain the upper hand. He began lifting the impostor off of the ground, slowly but surely. His lasts words, before he ended this whole ruse were, "I'm sorry I have to do this again... Boss...". He then threw Chrysalis into the nearest wall, head first, successfully concussing her. The concussion that Snake delivered her caused her body to automatically change back into her true form. He had finally gotten rid of the one obstacle in his mission.

After he defeated Chrysalis, he tried to phone Kaz again, and to Snake's surprise, he picked up. "Boss, what's going on here? We've been waiting around for hours. It's unlike you to take this long! Is everything alright?" The worried friend of Big Boss questioned.

"I'm just fine Kaz. I just ran into some trouble. I'll be out soon. I know of a perfect place to be extracted from. Wait for me at the back end of the castle, opposite of the end where I infiltrated." Snake ordered. Kaz had confirmed this location, and proceeded to hang up. Big Boss assumed that the jamming between Kaz and himself was Chrysalis' duty as well. Now all Snake had to do was find Princess Luna. He used his i-Droid to track where the call from her had came from, and used it to find Luna.

He went far back down into the depths of the castle, where he found an unconscious Luna laying on the ground next to some chains. He assumed she broke free of those chains in order to try to contact him, but she ran out of energy once she did contact him. The guards in the area had failed to notice her, surprisingly. As a precaution, however, he fired his tranquilizer gun at the changelings in sight. He proceeded to lift Luna and quickly make his way back to the Queen's chambers. To his relief, the Queen was still out cold, so he started to sprint out of that room, holding his i-Droid in one hand, and supporting Luna on his shoulder with the other.

As Big Boss was sprinting, he caught the attention of every single guard in the area. Stealth was no longer his concern, as he was soon to be extracted with Princess Luna and the fact that Chrysalis was unconscious lessened his worries. As he was sprinting, he decided to phone Kaz one more time, to confirm the arrival of the helicopter. "Kaz! Is the helicopter ready to extract me? I'm almost at the rendezvous point and I've managed to alert the entire castle!" Big Boss shouted into his communicator.

"That's pretty sloppy work, Boss. I'm surprised." Kaz responded.

"Look, we can discuss my methods later, but I need extraction now! Is it ready?!" Big Boss yelled.

"The chopper is almost there, you should hear the rotors by now, Boss. I'm hanging up now, we can talk when you get on."

Kazuhira Miller then hung up on Snake and just as he said, the rotors of the helicopter coming in could be heard. Snake quickly stopped for a moment to put on his Night-vision goggles again so he could see in the pitch blackness that was outside. Once he finished donning them, he resumed his sprinting as he exited through the back door of the Castle, and there it was, the Helicopter. However, things got a little complicated, as there were tons of guards there just waiting for Snake. He was not going to let the changelings stop him now, he had come too far.

To his surprise, Luna regained consciousness right before they reached the swarm of bugs that blocked their path. She mustered up enough strength to cast a barrier spell that encompassed her rescuer that knocked down all the changelings in his way. Finally, after he passed through all of the changelings, he saw the helicopter and made his final dash.

The helicopter was being attacked by the changelings however, and was starting to leave without him. Big Boss had to make a perfectly timed jump if he were to land in the helicopter. However, when it came around to the moment of truth, Big Boss' jump was too short.

In an incredible lucky strike, Big Boss was saved from being at the mercy of the changelings down below. Kaz Miller had grabbed his Boss' hand at the last moment, pulling up the weight of both the mercenary and the Princess. "Kept you waiting, huh?" Kaz jokingly stated as he helped get the two on the helicopter as they took off for Canterlot.

"Thanks Kaz, I don't know what I would have done without you. But don't steal my line next time." The mercenary said.

They rode into Canterlot at top speed, hoping to have lost any and all changelings that pursued them. The stars and moon were gradually regaining their respective shine and glow the closer they got to Canterlot. "Oh, that reminds me. Kaz, give our friend here some rations. She hasn't eaten in over a month, I can only imagine what that does to any living creature." Kaz nodded his head, and quickly grabbed the rations.

"Listen, Princess. I know this isn't a five star gourmet meal that you might be accustomed to, and it certainly isn't the best tasting food, but you need to eat something." Kaz said as he handed the rations over to the frail looking Princess. She nodded and quickly consumed the first piece of food she had seen in over a month.

Soon, the waxing gibbous Moon was able to be seen along with some of the constellations among the stars. They had finally arrived at the Castle. Kaz told Snake to go bring Luna back himself, as Kaz just wanted to relax on the helicopter. Big Boss agreed and stepped down from the helicopter into the courtyard of the castle. He extended out his hand for Luna to hold onto for support as she stepped out as well. The two walked together into the throne room of the castle to be greeted by a happy and smiling Princess Celestia.

"Sister! I am so happy to see you again at last! I'm so sorry it took so long to rescue you... there were so many issues regarding your capture that I could simply not get out of the way quick enough! Please, forgive me for taking so long"

"Oh big sister, you need not apologize! So long as I am here with you again, and not that vile Chrysalis, I do not care. Being in that prison was an incredibly traumatizing, yet familiar experience... as I'm sure you can guess why... but regardless of that, I missed you so much!" Luna said as she began to cry tears of joy. She went to go hug her big sister, her mental stability regained and her heart at peace. The two sisters cried together as they were at last reunited with each other after so long.

Big Boss was touched by this display of family love. A sense of happiness was starting to form in his heart. He then proceeded to take out a cigar, and light it, relieving him of all the stress the entire mission has put him through. "All I needed, was a good smoke after all... heh..." He said to himself quietly.

"Oh yes! Big Boss, I do believe I owe you your payment for rescuing my sister." Celestia acknowledged.

"Keep everything for yourself, Princess. I don't need any payment. It was worth it just to see you two sisters happy again... it's what The Boss would have wanted and done in the first place. I guess I'll be taking my leave now. I'll stay out of your troubles." The mercenary who's heart was warming up said.

"Wait! Please do not leave us just yet, Jack." Princess Luna begged.

"Huh? Is something wrong?" Big Boss asked.

"I just want to let you know, I will forever be grateful to you for this. I want you to know that both Celestia and I love you. You're our friend now, Jack. You are always welcome here, should you ever find the desire to visit us again. I'll miss you until you show up again." The princess stated, with tears in her eyes. She went to go give a hug to the man who saved her. Big Boss knelt and gave the Princess the hug she desired.

"Thank you, Luna. I'll miss you and your sister to." The man said with a hint of sorrow in his voice. Celestia then joined in on the hug, and it was as if they were family.

"Heh, I won't keep you two waiting for too long. After all, we're friends. Now, I gotta go. I got people waiting for me back home."

"Farewell then, Jack!" Luna exclaimed

"Goodbye, Jack. Best of luck to you." Celestia said with a smile, hoping she'd see the man again.

Soon, Big Boss climbed back onto the helicopter. He did not say a single word to Kaz or anyone else, but they could tell that he wanted to leave the helicopter door open. As they took off, Celestia and Luna both waved goodbye to him as tears flowed down both of their eyes. As Snake took one last puff of his cigar, he threw it out, and waved goodbye to as he shed a single, small tear, not only in memory of the ponies, but in memory of The Boss.

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[IonBeamIceCreamMachine]

*Celebrations in the distance*