//------------------------------//
// Level 2: Alliances 
// Story: Resident Pon-Evil (Mission II) - Operation: Phoenix Fire 
// by Delta 727 
//------------------------------//

After a new character showed up at the door of Harmony's Elements, they discover that the Infection Quarantine has been sabotaged, and the infection has escaped across Equestria. With the Elements left to wallow in the nightmare they had thought they had defeated, they are left to team up with this new stranger, and make plans to venture back into the heart of the unknown.


*Begin Transmission*


"So let me get this straight," Blade said. "You want to team up with us and help against this sabotaged outbreak?" Harmony's Elements had awoken the next morning, and had met with Itzel over their cottage table. Blade was staring her down with a gaze of suspicion. "Why would you want to help us?"

"Well, I..." Itzel started. "I thought it would be great to help a few ponies as famous as you?"

"You aren't in this for publicity," Chainlink said. "Cough it up. Why are you really here?"

Itzel sighed. "I'm an Ex-SpecOps Assassin for Harrow's End. They would hire me to kill anypony they didn't exactly trust. I found guns not enough fun. I turned to bows and blades for my talent." She flipped open a small sideflap from her pack, rolling down to reveal rows of knives and blades. "Harrow heard of me, and decided I 'had some value', they said." She looked away, breifly shivering, and returned her gaze. "I suppose you wanna know why I'm here?"

X-Ray nodded. "Go on..."

"Well, then," Itzel said. "After I'd done some contracts for Harrow, I started realizing they were giving me the raw end of the deal. I demanded more pay. They threw me out and said that if I ever came back, they would cut up TrailBlaze like a cake. I had no choice..." She turned her head to the small head peeking from her pack. "Losing TrailBlaze isn't worth any amount of bits."

"And where'd y'all go from there?" Marigold asked.

"We took to the streets, keeping refuge among the citizens. Then..." She sighed. "Then came the Outbreak. We were left to fend for ourselves, and keeping TrailBlaze alive was my priority. They were somehow attracted to our magic. It seemed like we had nowhere to run and nowere to hide." Her face turned stern. "Then, as we turned to refuge on a rooftop, a representative of Harrow's End offered us refuge for my old job back."

"And how... Did you repay this offer...?" X-Ray asked, his blue eyes examining the Alicorn closely.

Itzel grinned. "I stabbed him right through his spine. He was paralyzed from the neck down, and I rolled him off of the building as a midnight snack for the Infected."

"Sounds pretty far-fetched for somepony who hates Harrow," Marigold said. "Have y'all heard of the evil they've done?"

"Anypony who threatens TrailBlaze is a dead pony to me," Itzel responded. "I don't care how much I look like them, as long as I'm not one of them..."

"Then how did you discover of the sabotage on the containment zone?" Blade asked.

"I was taking refuge on an abandoned hospital building when I saw a group of ponies in armour similar to his-" Itzel pointed her hoof torward Chainlink, "-were setting blinking devices on the containment fences. The light attracted infected, and I thought they were messing with them for fun. That was when the devices exploded, and the infected lumbered out." She looked away. "It was a whole horde of them flooding out... Equestria never stood a chance..."

"Wait..." Chainlink stopped her. "You said, 'Abandoned hospital'." Itzel nodded. "Did you happen to take the elevator down?" Itzel nodded again. "Did it stop on a certain floor?"

"Yeah..." Itzel said. "3rd Floor: Morgue." The team remained silent. "I saw several dead doctors, and the room was bloodstained."

"Did you... See a type of... Message anywhere...?" X-Ray asked.

Itzel slowly nodded. "Yeah..." She said. "It was faded, but I think it said, 'Celestia Save Us'..." X-Ray lowered his head.

"That message... Was written by Acid's filly... In her own blood when Harrow's End... Left her for dead..."

"You mean that the statue of 'A Soldier and Her Filly' was her?" X-Ray nodded. "And the mare was your colleague killed by Dmitri? X-Ray... I'm sorry..."

"Save your pity..." X-Ray said. "It will... Fix nothing..."

"We'll need to make a plan on what our next move is," Blade said. "The more we wait, the more the Infection spreads."

Itzel shook her head. "Wait... Does this mean you guys want me on your team?"

Marigold nudged her with one hoof. "Well, 'course! They'd always needed a new teammate! A Service-mare like me ain't enough to fix into a team. Besides, they say y'all remind them of-"

"Marigold!" Chainlink said.

"I remind you of her?" Itzel said to Chainlink.

"No, nothing," the armoured stallion went on. "Yes, you're part of the team. Now can we please get to the plans?"

"Chainlink is right..." X-Ray said. "We are... Wasting time..."

"Excellent!" Marigold said. "Here's what we've rounded up so far..."


*Transmission Ended*