Part 4 Mission Briefing
As Twilight and Raiden approached the encampment, they could see that it was hidden within a large cave. The Cyborg could see at least twelve tents, with a large camp fire in the center. Behind the camp was a rock wall, with a small opening, leading into the rest of the Badlands.
Walking among the tents were several dozen white Pegasi and grey Unicorns, all wearing gold armor. Two of them were guarding the entrance into the cave.
“HALT! Who goes there?” One of them said with authority.
“Hello Sirs.” Twilight said. “I’m Princess Twilight Sparkle. And this is my friend Raiden.”
“Ah yes.” One guard said.
“Commander Shining Armor has been expecting you” The other guard said.
“Thank you.” Twilight said as she and Raiden entered the camp.
As Raiden looked around, he noticed a lot of these ponies looked very much the same.
“So, we’re here to see your brother right?” Raiden said.
“Yeah.” Twilight said.
“Okay, so which one is he?”
“I don’t see him.” Twilight said, “He’s probably in the big tent.”
Just as they approached the tent, a stallion Unicorn stepped out. He was a little taller then Twilight. He had a white coat, blue and cyan mane and tail, and the cutie mark on his flank was that of a shield with a maroon six pointed star on it. He was also wearing a gold chest plate, and a royal guard helmet. As he stepped out into the open, he began conversing with one of the other guards.
“Have you been able to see anything?” He said.
“Sir,” The guard began, “There seems to be a train system set up running between the village and the fortress. That’s all we know so far.”
“Nothing about what it’s being used for?”
“I…I’m afraid not Sir. Only that it’s operational and it makes a move every hour.”
The Unicorn closed his eyes in worry. “Any word on the team we sent down there?”
The guard lowered his head slightly. “N…No word Sir.”
“Very well. Send the next Pony to keep watch, and go get some rest.”
The guard brought his hoof up to his head, giving a salute before trotting off.
Raiden folded his arms, as he listened closely to their conversation. Twilight on the other hoof simply had a worried look in her eyes.
“S…Shining Armor?” She said.
Shining Armor then noticed Twilight standing next to him.
“Oh, Twili.” He said with a big grin on his face. “When did you get here?”
“Ah…Just now.” Twilight said worriedly. “Let me introduce the guy I told you about.”
Raiden knelt down, extending his hand to shake Shining Armor’s hoof. The Stallion returned the gestured. “Name’s Raiden. So you’re the one in charge of this operation.”
“Yes. I’m Shining Armor, Captain of the Royal Guard and Prince of the Crystal Empire. Twilight told me in her letters, that she summoned a warrior from another world.”
“Well, I’m still getting use to this world. But if it’s all the same to you, I’d like to get down to business.”
“Fair enough.”
Twilight and Shining Armor both walked into the tent. Raiden however had to crouch down to avoid hitting his head. Despite it being the largest tent in the camp, it was still built for Ponies, not humans.
As Raiden sat down on the ground with his legs tucked under him, he noticed several sleeping bags along the walls of the tent, in the center was a large space, with a lantern hanging from the center of the tent’s wooden support rods.
Twilight and Shining Armor sat across from Raiden. The Stallion started the discussion. “So tell me Raiden, what do you know about the situation.”
“Only what Princess Luna and Twilight have told me.” Raiden said. “That Princess Celestia has been captured by these things called Changlings, and you need me to go in a get her out, right?”
“Right.” Shining said, as his horn began to glow light blue. A large crystal about the size of Raiden’s fist came floating from one of the corners of the tent. It landed between Raiden and the Unicorns. Shining shot it with a small beam of energy from his horn, and holographic image formed around the crystal.
It depicted a large castle, black and ominous looking, in front of it was an up raised train track that led from the castle, to a small village at the bottom of the cliff.
“Wow,” Raiden said. “It’s like one of the Holo-maps from my world.”
“Indeed.” Twilight said. “Nice one Big Brother, we can plan our strategy this way.”
“I try.” Shining said with a smile. “This is our current position.” He pointed at the top of the cliff with his hoof.
“You will make your way down the cliff, and infiltrate the village. Make your way through the village, and catch a ride on the train.”
Shining Armor shot the Cyrstal again, and an image of a horse appeared. She had a pure white coat, full set of wings, foot long horn, long flowing mane that looked like all the colors of the day sky. And a mark of the sun on her flank.
“This is Princess Celestia.” Shining Armor said. “She is your target. You must get in, and get her out.”
He shot it again and the image changed, to that of another, more sinister looking horse. It was pure black, had green bug like wings, a jagged horn, and her hoofs, green tail, and green hair, all had holes in them as if they were decomposing.
“And this, is Queen Chrysalis. She is the one responsible for kidnapping Celestia. If you run into her, don‘t hesitate to take her out.”
“I heard that she almost ruined your wedding.” Raiden said.
Shining Armor’s face turned red. “Yeah…well… I’ve been tracking her movement ever since.”
Shinging Armor changed the image back to the map, and pointed at the train track. “Anyway, Intel tells us the Changlings have been using that train to travel between the village and the castle. Why? We don’t know. Only that there have been some strange disappearances of Unicorns from the village.”
“Most likely that train is transporting them.” Raiden said
“That’s what we thought too. But again, we don’t know why. Saving Celestia is your top priority, but if you can investigate this as well, it would be appreciated.”
Twilight had to speak up. “Wait, there are Ponies living down there? I thought any villages in the Badlands were suppose to be abandoned.”
“We thought so too. I guess we were wrong. Had we known about them sooner we would have done something.”
“Wait a minute.” Raiden interrupted. “Something your not telling me?”
Twilight hesitated before answering. “The Badlands are also known as Old Equestria. Before the Royal Sisters were born, Ponies were divided by mistrust and hatred toward other races. Three tribes, Earth Ponies, Unicorns, and Pegasi, fighting for their own desires. All those negative feelings brought forth a never ending blizzard.
The three leaders left on there own to find a new land. After meeting up, they fought at first, but eventually became friends. They united under one flag, and what followed was the Great Migration. All of the citizens left as well, and abandoned their old homes, to start a new life in Equestra. Who would have thought there would be some still living down there. Not to mention the Changlings moving in.”
“I’ve already sent a message to Princess Luna about this.” Shining Armor said. “Plans have already been made to move them to Equestra. But saving Princess Celestia has to come first.”
“Agreed.” Raiden said. “So once I board the train, I’ll ride it into the castle. Do you have any Intel on what’s inside?”
“I’m afraid not.” Shining lowered his head. “I sent a team of Unicorns in, but I haven’t heard back from then in days.”
“If I see them, I do what I can. When do I start.”
“First thing, tomorrow morning. Changlings are most active at night. Doing this during the day, you will be less likely to be spotted.”
“Okay.” Raiden said. “I take it that small hole in the wall leads to the drop off. I’d like to see for myself.”
Twilight and her brother looked at each other, before nodding in agreement.
Shining Armor lead Raiden and Twilight to the back of the encampment. Behind one of the tents was a wide open crack in the wall. It was about as tall as Raiden.
“Nice placement of the tent.” Raiden said
“Why’s that?” Shining Armor said.
“Well, the light from your camp fire would shine through the hole. Any enemy that looks up here would see it. Except you have this big tent in the way, blocking the light. Just saying, good call.”
“Huh, never thought of that. Glad it worked out that way though.”
Raiden approached the hole, and crouched on one knee. It was quite the view. Everything he saw on the Holo-map, he could see before him, except that the sky was covered in dark red clouds. Raiden looked down, and saw the village directly below him.
“Quite a drop.”
“Your going to have to climb down tomorrow.” Shining Armor said.
Raiden activated his scope. “You let me worry about that. Now let’s see that castle.”
Raiden zoomed in on the castle, it was pretty huge and looked so old, it could collapse at any time.
“What the…” He said.
He focused on a small outside walkway. He saw the Changling Queen.
“I see Chrysalis.”
“You do?” Twilight said.
“Yeah, she’s talking to someone. And she looks pissed.”
“They’re arguing?” Shining Armor asked. “What about the other one, who is it?”
“It’s kind of hard to say. He looks bipedal. Human even, but I think he’s wearing a red cloak. His face is hidden by a hood, so, I don’t know if he’s human. He seems to be the calmer of the two. Oh, Chrysalis just stormed off…”
Suddenly the mysterious figure turn it’s head, and looked at Raiden. All Raiden could see of it’s face was a bright orange, piercing gaze coming from it’s eye.
Raiden’s eyes went wide as he quickly put his scope away, and grabbed the hilt of his sword. Something about, whatever that was, put a chill down his spine.
“Raiden, what’s wrong?” Twilight asked.
Raiden spaced out for a bit, before shaking his head.
“Nothing. Come on.” Raiden turned and reentered the camp.
Raiden walked back into camp, and sat down next to the fire.
“Well, at least I know where I’m going.” He said. “Shame I don’t know where they’re keeping her.”
Shining Armor and Twilight sat across from him.
“That’s the hard part.” Twilight said. “She could be anywhere in that castle.”
“I suppose if I got my hands on one of those Changlings, I could beat the information out of them.”
“Yeah.” Twilight said. “That reminds me. I’m sorry for earlier.”
“What do you mean?”
“About limiting you. So, don’t be afraid to go all out in there.”
Raiden cracked a smile. “Thanks.”
“What are you guys talking about?” Shining Armor asked.
“Well, on the way up here, Raiden killed a yeti.”
“You took down a Yeti?”
“Yeah.” Raiden said. “Wasn’t that big of a deal.”
“It was the way you killed it that bothered me.” Twilight said.
“How did he kill it?” Shining said.
“Well, I stabbed it in the skull before slicing it up into about five pieces, and knocked it off the cliff. I guess, you get use to that, when you live the life I’ve lived.”
Shining Armor and Twilight looked at each other. Shining Armor sighed, and said. “As gruesome as your methods are, as commander of this operation, I give you full authority to whatever means necessary to save Princess Celestia.”
“I agree.” Twilight said.
Raiden didn’t say anything, he just nodded his head. Raiden found himself just staring into the flames. He mind was racing. So many questions. What kind of weaponry and tactics do these Changlings use? What were they using that train for? And just who the hell was that man in the cloak?
Raiden lost his train of thought, when Twilight spoke up. “So Raiden, tell us more about yourself.”
“Well what do you want to know?”
“Like, your childhood for example.”
Raiden suddenly had a headache as he started to remember. Pain, death, blood. “It’s not exactly something I like to talk about.”
“I’m sorry.” Twilight said with regret.
“It’s okay. I was born in the country of Liberia, I don’t even remember my parents. They were killed when I was young. And the man that killed them, sort of raised me into a soldier. I first took a life, when I was still a child.
“They say the younger someone is, the easier it is for them to retain whatever you’re teaching them. In my case, killing.
“I was a teenager when I finally escaped, and started living a normal life, in a new country. Even met a girl, who eventually became my wife. But even then, the Government and the Military still used me. Eventually turning me into the monstrosity you see before you.”
“Wow.” Shining Armor said. “Such a difficult life you’ve had.”
“Yeah. But, regardless, I managed to find some light I guess.”
“Raiden.” Twilight said. “Do you have any friends?”
Raiden thought about that question. “Not really. Just my wife and son, and I hardly ever see them. Other then that, just business partners and allies. But, I’ve never really been one to get close to anybody. Had a mentor, a soldier, but he passed away a few years ago.”
“I see.” Twilight said as she lowered her head.
“Okay, enough small talk. I need to get ready for tomorrow. Shining Armor. Tell me something, are Changlings hot or cold blooded?”
Shining was a bit surprised by that question. “Uh, cold blooded, like an insect. Why?”
Raiden stood up, and flipped his mask closed. “My mask can pick up heat signatures. Normal Ponies appear red. But if what you say is true, then a Changling should appear……blue.” Raiden saw something interesting. One of the Unicorns wandering around was giving off a blue aura.
“What is it?” Twilight asked.
“Shining Armor. Who is that Unicorn over there?” Raiden said, pointing at the grey Unicorn standing next to one of the tents.
“…I don’t know. I don’t recognize him.” Shining Armor said.
“Come on.” Raiden started walking towards it, with Shining following him.
As they approached, Shining Armor said “Soldier, state your name and rank.”
The soldier gave a salute with his hoof and said. “Sir, Private Meekins Sir.
“Meekins?” Shining said confused. “I don’t have a Meekins in this unit.”
“Uh…uh, recently transferred Sir.” The soldier said nervously.
“Okay,” Raiden said. “Then how about a quiz? What is the name of your Commanding Officer?”
“Um…S…Shining Armor sir.”
“Okay. What is the situation? Why are you here?”
“T…To assist in the rescue attempt of one Celestia, Princess. From the Changling Army Sir.”
“Wait a minute.” Shining Armor spoke up. “I told my men that the Princess has been captured. But not who the enemy was.”
“Explain yourself Private.” Raiden said.
“Uh…uh…” The soldier couldn’t find the words. Finally, he gave up, and did something no one would have expected. He burst into a green flame, and one second later, revealed the Changling spy underneath. It was about the size of a normal Pony, had a jagged horn, bug wings, and bug like eyes. Black body with it’s hooves decomposing. All similar features to their leader.
“HISSS!” It hissed at Raiden, before trying to fly away. All of the nearby guards were so surprised and shocked, that they couldn’t react fast enough.
The Changling flew strait for the hole in the rock wall, attempting to escape.
“Your not getting away!” Raiden shouted as he ran after it. As he ran he reached under his arm, and pulled out a small throwing knife. He threw it, and it clipped the Changling’s wing before sticking into the wall. The HF knife was vibrating so fast it actually melted the rock around it.
The Changling fell to the ground in pain, as Raiden walked over to it. Raiden picked it up by the neck, as he got his first good look at a Changling.
“Where do you think your going?” Raiden said. “Now, I have a few more questions for you; Where are they keeping Princess Celestia?”
“Forget it. I’ll never betray the Queen.” The Changling said.
Raiden punched the creature in the head. “Care to try again?”
“Okay, okay. The castle runs about a mile underground. Bottom level dungeon.”
“Good, what about the train? What are you using it for?”
“Like I would tell you that.” It said with a smug smile.
A little annoyed, Raiden said. “Start talking, or I’ll cut off the other wing.”
“Never.”
Raiden reached over his shoulder, and pulled out the small, seven inch, knife he kept next to his sword.
“Your bluffing.” The Changling said.”
“Am I?” Raiden moved the knife a little closer.
“Stop.”
“Three.”
“Don’t.”
“Two.”
“Please!”
“One.”
“OKAY OKAY! I’LL TALK!”
Raiden stopped short only a centimeter from the base of the Changling’s wing. The Changling could actually feel the heat coming off it.
“The Queen…ordered us to transport Unicorns to the castle. The village is full of them. I don’t know what she’s using them for.”
“Really?” Raiden threatened with the knife again.
“I SWEAR I DON’T!” The Changling started crying in fear.
Raiden decided to let that one go. “Alright, there was a man, he stood as tall as your Queen, and walked like I do. He was wearing a red coat. Who is he?”
“I don’t know what your talking about.”
“You must not like your wing huh?”
“I DON’T KNOW! I swear!” His voice was shaking. “But…”
“But?”
“But, there have been rumors, among the hive.”
“Go on.”
“The Queen, has been talking with someone lately, but we’ve never seen him.”
“What were they talking about?”
“I don’t know. Please, put the knife away.”
“Raiden…” Twilight had walked up behind them, and placed her hoof lightly on his leg. “I think that’s all your going to get out of him.” She had a sorry look in her eyes. “He’s had enough.”
Raiden thought about it. He turned around, and saw the faces of Shining Armor and the guards, they had the look of fear in there eyes. Raiden sighed, and put the knife away.
“Your right, Twilight. Sorry I got carried away.” Raiden walked toward Shining Armor. “Sorry you had to see that. Lock him up, and if you can, see if you can get more out of him.”
The Changling passed out before he was placed on Shining Armor’s back. “I will Raiden. Get some rest for tomorrow.” Shining Armor looked around at his unit, and saw they were still in a daze. “Show’s over Ponies. Back to your posts.” They all quietly obeyed.
Raiden sat at the fire, letting everything he learned roll around in his head. The missing Unicorns, the Man in the Red Coat, Princess Celestia being kidnapped. It all was connected somehow. But how? His train of thought was broken when Shining Armor and Twilight walked up, and sat next to him.
“How’s the prisoner?” Raiden asked.
“He’s sleeping,” Twilight said. “Under close guard. We’re going to see what else we can get out of him…but we are going to do it our way.”
Raiden stared at the fire for a few minutes, thinking about what Twilight just said.
“Sorry, I got carried away.”
“Well.” Shining Armor said. “Your method did get us some valuable information.”
“That’s right.” Raiden said. “I now have a general idea of where they’re keeping her. But what I can’t figure out is, why do they need additional Unicorns?”
Twilight thought about it, and shook her head. “I can’t think of anything off hoof. But it must all be connected somehow.”
“I guess I’ll find out tomorrow.” Raiden said, before opening the panel on his left arm. He pulled out two more Codec headsets. “I’m going to need you guys to back me up.”
“What are those?” Shining Armor asked.
“Isn’t that the same device you gave Princess Luna?” Twilight said.
“Yes.” Raiden answered. “As I told her, it’s a communication device. We can use these to keep in touch during the mission.”
“The right ear, right?” Twilight said as she used her magic to lift it up to her ear. Shining Armor did the same as his sister.
“Okay.” Raiden said, “Let me open a four way channel.”
Raiden touched his ear, and the Codec’s on both Unicorns activated, projecting a screen in front of each of their faces.
“Oh thank goodness.” Princess Luna said “I was getting worried. Did you make it to the camp?”
“Yeah.” Raiden said “We’ve been here a while. The mission starts first thing in the morning. I just gave Twilight and Shining Armor a Codec as well. Can everyone hear and see me okay?”
“Just fine.” Twilight said
“Loud and clear.” Shining Armor said
“Perfectly.” Luna said.
“Okay, I’m going to need each of you to help me with the mission.” Raiden said, “I don’t know this world as well as you do?”
“Of course.” Twilight said.
“Okay. Shining Armor, as the one leading this op., I will need you to guide me.”
“Roger.” Shining Armor said.
“Twilight. You will be my source of knowledge. This world functions differently from mine, and there is much I don’t know.”
“Got it.” Twilight said.
“And Princess Luna, I’m sure you know things that even Twilight doesn’t. I hope I can count on your support.”
“O…Of course Raiden.” Luna said. “Please, use whatever methods necessary to bring my sister back to me.”
“I will…Now let me tell you guys how to work these things…”
Raiden went on to explain how the Codec’s work, before cutting the transmission off.
“These will definitely come in handy.” Shining Armor said.
“I know.” Twilight said. “Shining Armor, could you bring me that crystal from earlier?”
“Sure.” Shining Armor trotted off, into the large tent. When he came out, he was carrying the crystal with his magic. He placed the crystal between Twilight and Raiden.
“Okay Raiden, just hold still.” She said. Her horn began to glow, it then shot a slow moving wave of magic. It hit Raiden, causing him to have a maroon aura around him. The aura flew off of the Cyborg, and went into the crystal. The Crystal then showed the map of the Badlands. But at the top of the cliff was a small Yellow dot.
“This way, we can track you.” Twilight said. “And once your in the Castle, the crystal will update automatically. Anywhere you go in the castle, we will be able to see.”
“Nice.” Raiden said with a smile.
“I’d better go back to the library,” Twilight said “see what I can find about the Changlings. Are you going to be alright on your own.”
“I’ll manage.” Raiden said.
“Good luck tomorrow.” Twilight nodded, before activating her horn, and teleporting away.
The next morning, Raiden stood at the edge of the cliff, over looking the Badlands. He could see the castle in the distance, and the long train ride there. The morning sun was blocked by the dark red clouds. What light there was, gave off a blood red glow over the whole valley.
Shining Armor stood behind him. “I hope you know what your doing. A lot is at stake here.”
“I know, if she’s alive, I promise to bring her back.”
“It’s going to be a hard battle.”
Raiden turned around and smiled. “No doubt.” He tightened the plaid scarf Twilight gave him, before jumping off the cliff. As he fell, he grabbed the side of the rock wall with the claw-like nails on his hand, and slowed his decent. He landed in a back ally of the village. He pulled out his sword, and closed the visor on his mask.
“Mission Start.”
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Man in a red coat? reminds me of Sundowner. No clue, though. Hmm. Maybe Solidus from MGS3?
I thoroughly enjoy MGS. Which is why I was so quick to favourite and read this....and the pacing is a bit fast, but then again, so was Metal Gear Rising. The pacing actually fits the game it's based off of in my opinion.
5500440 I'll give you a hint. I'm bringing back an old G1 MLP villain, and re-imagining him in G4. But that's all i'm going to say. ;)
5501907 ahhhh hahahahaaaaa! I know who it is but I'm not saying xD
5501907 tirek?
5501907
You son of a bitch.
Chrysalis: I’ve been moderating your Twitch for months! And you haven’t told me you had a girlfriend.
Hooded figure: Who are you?
Chrysalis: Oh my Celestia. He spook to me.
*…Hooded figure cracks-*
Raiden: Jesus fucking Christ!
Shining Armor: Raiden, watch out. That figure is live on Twi-
Raiden: Stop it.