Fairlight - The Fortress of the Four Winds

by Bluespectre

Chapter One - Arrival

Something peculiar about the stomach is that it has a rather nasty habit of continuously trying to empty itself even when there’s nothing left to bring up. No wonder the agency scouts hadn’t mentioned the risk of nausea from travelling through the portals; if I’d known beforehoof, I would have brought a pannier full of paper bags. Bloody swines, I bet they’d held this tit-bit of information back deliberately. Squeezing my eyes shut as another wave of heat rolled through me I spat out another mouthful. My poor muzzle was covered in it, my mouth and nose burning with the disgustingly acidic taste of bile. Celestia damn it all, I’d puked up everything and I was still retching! Thank the goddesses I’d arrived in an area devoid of humans, as I was about as much use as a chocolate teapot right now, and just as incapable of defending myself too. All the simulator training I’d endured hadn’t done jack to help me cope with this nightmare. The first step through the portal, the room had turned a full one-eighty and I’d fallen into a helpless heap of limbs and vomit. Now at least, despite being covered in sweat and feeling like I’d been chewed up by an ursan, the worst of it seemed to have passed and I was able to take stock of my surrounding – and myself. I was still grey at least, albeit completely devoid of fur as I’d unfortunately expected. My mane was invisible, reduced to a mere tuft on the top of my head and, as expected, no tail either. Surprisingly my ears freaked me out the most - the tiny things were bloody useless, and no matter how much I tried I couldn’t seem to move them either. The monkey-like flaps of skin stuck to the side of my head would no doubt be fantastic for hearing something come at me from the sides, but what about behind or ahead? What was I meant to do then, walk sideways like a crab? I’d just have to angle my head if I wanted to hear anything did I? I groaned quietly. Goddesses above, this was going to take some getting used to. As for the hand things, they at least were pretty useful, and excellent at manipulating objects as I’d quickly learned in the simulator. What I wasn’t especially prepared for though was the barrage of peculiar sensations that were assailing me. In the simulator you couldn’t feel the way the air played against your furless skin, the heightened sense of touch, pressure, heat, and how ‘alien’ everything was. That said, other than the general ‘weirdness’ of my body the world around me was, to a surprising extent, surprisingly ‘normal’. A nearby flight of stairs provided access to an upper area and albeit a little smaller in design than I was used to, could still comfortably accommodate a pony no problem at all. Doors, lights, windows, tables, and the large quantity of packing materials around me were all readily recognisable as such too. In fact for a moment I had to remind myself I wasn’t in Equestria, let alone my normal body any more, and had to pick myself up off all fours to get used to the ‘real feeling’ of this new human form.

I took a deep breath, inhaling the musty aroma of what appeared to be a large store room of sorts. The smells here were certainly familiar, mingling with a few others that were less so. I didn’t want to know what they were, the ones I knew were bad enough as it was. Oil, sweat, damp, and other foul odours wafted lazily through the stale air. I recognised some of it from the briefing’s description, and more disturbingly the terrible stink in the cellar of the coffee shop. My sense of smell was a hell of a lot worse in this body than I was used to, but in some respects I was glad of it. How the hell could anypony work in such a place? Money was one thing, but the overwhelming feeling of fear, hopeless and despair, permeated everything like some malevolent fog. It didn’t bode well for any captives that was for sure. I checked my gear, adjusting the straps and packs. I wasn’t sure how much time I had before things hit the fan on the other side of the site, and the agency team would most likely be engaged with the humans already. I’d arrived some ten minutes after they’d started going through the other portal to attack the weapons plant and storage area, so with any luck they would act as a distraction for the humans here, drawing them away from me. Meanwhile my target was the drug making facilities, with the secondary objective of finding any ponies being held prisoner. Furthermore I was to make use of the magical annihilation device’s in my pack, crippling or eliminating the humans’ ability to send their poison into our world. So many of us had died because of that already. So many lives lost, so many families destroyed because of nothing more than selfishness and greed. I only hoped the others would be able to- Damn it! I closed my eyes and pushed away the unbidden images of what had happened the last time I’d been part of a large operation in a warehouse. I had to stop thinking of the others and concentrate on my own tasks. They were professionals, they were trained, they had the best weapons and magic Equestria had to offer. For Celestia’s sake, this wasn’t Shire Wharf in Manehattan; it may look like it, even smell like it, but it wasn’t the same, it wasn’t even the same world for goodness sake. Damn my bloody memories! Come on Fairlight, keep it together…

Spitting the last of the vile tasting bile from my mouth I took a quick swig of water from my canteen and drew my pulse gun. The indicator lights showed it was fully charged and ready, which had been a very real concern of mine. I mean, if this world had no magic, then would magically powered weapons still work here? Had anypony tested them in this environment? I doubted it. Brandy had said that the effect of magic was reduced in the human realm, but how much was ‘reduced’? I was beginning to wish I’d brought a human weapon instead. Interestingly though, the weapon I had fitted my new appendages pretty well, or maybe that was the other way around? I shrugged, hefting the weapon in my grip. So long as it worked, that was all that mattered. I checked my foreleg and the device strapped to it. Judging by the green glow and the blinking lights, the mapping system I had was working exactly as it should. Thin lines of light and a small flashing ‘X’ indicated my position inside the room, further marking out doors, stairs, and so on. According to Brandy it would provide me with a ‘real-time update’ of my surroundings taken from the data our scouts had gathered. Bunsen and her team had certainly excelled themselves this time, and any advantage I could have here, I’d need. The last thing I wanted was to be bumbling around blind, but it was still bloody awkward. I was very much in alien territory, both figuratively and literally.

My TED crackled. “Nox, you there?” The voice was barely a whisper.

“Receiving,” I replied.

“It’s Dune,” the voice came back. “We’re in position. There’s been some resistance but we’ve neutralised it. Teams are fanning out to secure the perimeter before we set charges. The place is packed with weapons and drugs, and it’s going to make one hell of a mess when it goes up. What’s your status.”

“Just starting out now,” I said quietly. “Scouts have marked locations for drug manufacture and possible prisoner holding areas. I’m going to radio silence. Buzz me if you need me.”

“Understood. Good luck, Nox.”

Dune was a good mare, and a trusted Equus member according to Brandy. If he trusted her enough to confide in her the details of my mission, then I would too. She had gone in with the main force but had a private channel direct to me in case of emergencies – effectively Brandy’s eyes and ears on ‘the other side’. In any case protocol now was to keep our comms silent unless the shit really hit the proverbial and we had to bug out fast. Speaking of which, I’d better get my arse into gear too. True to the scout’s report the room I was in didn’t look like it wasn’t in regular use. A thin layer of dust covered everything from the boxes and crates, to the floor and even the portal itself. I can only surmise that the humans thought this particular portal between the worlds to be deactivated, hence why it was left unguarded. Had the scouts worked their own particular brand of magic here too? Who knew? I shrugged and examined the floor around me. There was no sign of any recent activity that was for sure - no hoof prints, or even ‘foot’ prints for that matter. ‘Foot’, ‘feet’, ‘hands’… good grief, this was really going to take some getting used to. Thank the goddesses I wasn’t going to be here long and would never have to be in this unnatural body ever again. And then I paused, the image of a white winged equine with glowing blue eyes standing upon a field of snow flashing through my mind like lightning, reminding me of the peculiar irony of that line of thinking.

Up ahead I could see how the flight of metal steps led to a small room from which corridors branched off as a sort of ‘feed way’ to other parts of the complex. That was probably going to be my best bet for reaching my targets, and also had the advantage of being able to provide me with a good field of vision. Dad had always told me to keep a height advantage wherever possible, and in this case I was more than happy to follow the cantankerous old bugger’s advice. Taking a deep breath, I set forth. I was relieved to that find that along with much of my clothing, my rubber stealth shoes had changed to a shape which fit my new body perfectly. I don’t know who’d come up with that idea when they’d designed these portals, but it was a stroke of genius, especially as clothing seemed to play a much more essential role in this world than it did in my own. I could see why too – it was so cold I could see my breath, and the lack of fur left my skin wide open to the elements. If I felt this uncomfortable inside, only the goddesses knew what it was like in the open air. Thankfully though, keeping myself moving generated enough warmth to keep me focussed on my task and off the very real possibility of hypothermia. One step at a time I swiftly ascended, keeping my attention locked on the topmost platform. No movement – so far, so good.

My feet never made a sound in the still air as I climbed, except for the odd creak from the gantry supports, but other than for that it was as quiet as the grave. The small room at the top was empty too. It was your typical workers hideaway, full of empty mugs, chairs, a couple of tables and what were quite clearly pornographic magazines. I resisted taking a peek. I mean, who the hell would find hairless monkeys a turn on anyway? I shivered, Luna save us all… Turning my attention to the device on my arm, the little arrow on pointed off down another of the overhead corridors which I began to walk down as quietly as possible. It wasn’t easy either, the corridor was nothing more than a thin steel box section affair that seemed to be designed to amplify sound like a blasted gramophone speaker. What was worse was that up ahead I was certain I’d already heard something. Voices? The wind maybe? Hell fire, these sodding monkey ears where next to useless! I turned my head trying to pick up on whatever it was. Had it been my imagination after all? But... there it was again… Yes, definitely voices, drifting this way from the next junction by the sound of it. Shit, I didn’t know another way around either. This could get interesting. Very interesting.

I crept closer. In the shadow of the dimly lit corridor I peeked around the corner and saw one of them for the first time. It was one of the ‘humans’, a male by the look of him. Great goddesses he was big - really big! He was talking on a headset, the same type as my TED.

“…what I damned well said, Jake. Get your fuckwits over to the weapons distribution centre, there’s something going on down there.” The human paused, listening. “No, I don’t know what it is, and if I did I wouldn’t be blasted well asking you to go and find out now would I you cock! For Christ’s sake, use your head man!”

The big guy was pacing back and forth shouting into the headset, fidgeting with a pistol resting on his hip. He was so engrossed in his animated conversation, if I could just… Damn! My unfamiliar body sent me clanging into the side of the metal corridor. it was only a slight sway, but enough to alert the being standing before me. With a shout of surprise he lunged for a firearm that was leaning against a table. It was a mistake. If he’d had any sense he’d have drawn his pistol, that way I wouldn’t have had as much reaction time as I did. My first shot hit him in the arm, sending a plume of blood and bone into the air, the second turning the gun he was trying for into a puddle of molten slag. So much for my concerns about magic not working here then, but I bet the human wished it hadn’t. He yelled in pain trying to pull his pistol out offhandedly, until I jammed my weapon into his face.

“Tell me what I want to know and you live,” I snarled. “Lie, and I’ll cremate you here and now.”

His eyes were wide, the adrenalin and shock making his pupils dilate until there was barely any other colour than black. “Shit! You’re one of them, aren’t you?” he panted. “One of those fucking horses!”

I raised an eyebrow, staring into his alien eyes. “Yeah, only I don’t like being called a horse, you hairless freaking monkey.” A mirthless smile curled the corner of my mouth. “You’re going to find out you’ve been bucking with the wrong ponies.” I snatched the pistol away from him before smashing it over his head in one fluid movement. Dazed, he didn’t put up any resistance while I tied his hands and feet together with one of the zip-ties that had been thoughtfully provided by Brandy. After shoving the side arm into my pack, I took out a small cylinder and shoved it down his jacket, tying a piece of string to the ring on the end of it. Gradually the hulking creature began to come back to his senses, winced, blinked, saw string, the tube...

The human’s eyes went wide. “Wha- What the hell are you doing? What’s… What is this?!”

“Parasprites,” I replied pleasantly. I sat back on my heels, watching him carefully. “Nasty little critters they are too. You get them riled up enough and they’ll eat their way to freedom, one tasty little bite at a time.” I smiled wickedly. “Listen… Can you hear that little chirp? They’re getting pissed at being cramped in that tube. Guess they must be hungry already, eh?”

“Bullshit,” the human spat. “A frigging horse doesn’t scare me! You’re a damned herbivore, for god’s sake. You’ve got no teeth!”

“Oh really?” I smirked and released a little of the spirit’s energy. I had no idea what was going to happen really, but it had the desired effect - the human’s eyes bulged at what he saw. I could feel my teeth itch as they lengthened, the unnatural strength of the wendigo flowing through me making my muscles ache deliciously. My goddesses, this was what life really felt like. This was what I lived for! I began to laugh, the corridor echoing with my long low rumble of joy and anger combined, of anticipation at the vengeance waiting to be unleashed, and the feast of life that was to surely come. I took off my sunglasses and turned my blue eyed stare on the human.

“Oh Jesus Christ! What the fuck are you?” he gasped.

I shrugged. “Somepony you don’t want to lie to, ‘human’.” I leaned closer, making sure he had a good view of my teeth. “Now, let’s try this again shall we? Where are the prisoners, and where are the drug making facilities?”

“Go fuck yourself, you...” For a moment he hesitated, his eyes darting around in every direction but at me. I don’t know whether he was expecting help or a way to escape his predicament, but eventually his primitive desire for survival overrode everything else. “Okay! Christ almighty I’m not paid enough for this shit!” He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “The slaves are in the cells at the far end of the site.” He pointed off down the corridor behind him. “The drugs are made in the basement block, near the water tower.”

“How many guards?” I pressed.

“Twenty,” he said shaking his head. “Maybe more, I don’t know! I only look after the warehouse, man.”

“How many in the distribution centre?”

“A few, maybe… I don’t know!” The human pulled away and stared at the floor intently.

I leaned forward and sniffed the air around his neck. I could smell his fear, it was emanating from him like a thick miasma – alien, tempting, and full of delicious allure. The spirit rumbled deep down inside my soul, watching the strange ape-like creature through my eyes. I felt myself start to drool and saw the nervous look on the human’s face as a white fog as pure as the first winter snows began pooling around his bound feet.

“H- Hey, man,” he swallowed. “You got what you wanted, right? Just… just leave me the fuck alone. Please!”

“Please...” I echoed. I smiled softly, closed my eyes, and wondered. All it would take would be a quick nip, a simple, swift movement and it would be over quicker than… I shook myself quickly and took out the spray bottle, much to the spirit’s disgust. “Just because you asked so nicely…” A quick whiff of the gas and it was lights out for the hairless alien. Good old Bunsen, she had more tricks in her panniers than a stage magician, and probably just as well for the human too considering how close he had come to satisfying my more ‘culinary’ curiousity.Still, so far so good, but I couldn’t linger here. I moved along the next corridor swiftly, checking every angle, every cover point. There was no sense getting ahead of myself and getting shot for my troubles. There was every chance the human may have lied of course, but even so, twenty was a hell of a lot of hostiles in anyponies book. As I walked, I replaced the flashbug tube back into my pack. “Parasprites!” I chuckled to myself. I’d have to remember that one for another day. Mind you, I doubted one of these going off next to your hide, fur or no fur, was going to end well. I shrugged. Results were results, regardless of the method, and nopony had been hurt either which was always a bonus. More for him than me.

The corridor ended in a set of metal steps leading down to another level, a short dimly lit corridor, and a set of double doors with two human guards who were stood to either side. They were talking to each other, but it was clear that all was not well. The one on the left had his finger on his weapon’s trigger and was talking in short rapid bursts, betraying his agitated state.

“Something’s going on, I tell you!”

The second one rolled his eyes, trying to ignore his colleague’s behaviour. “Shut up for fucks sake! I can’t hear anything if you keep jabbering all the time.”

The first one shook his head, his eyes darting this way and that. “But I’m telling you, Carter was on the radio and then it suddenly went dead, just like that! Something’s happened to him!”

“Something’s going to happen to you if you don’t shut the fuck up, you’re setting my nerves on edge just listening to you!” The bulkier human rubbed his eyes in exasperation. “Anyway, I… Wait… What the fuck’s that?”

Too late they realised what the tube rolling towards them was. “GRENADE!”

The outraged flashbug went off with a deafening bang and blinding white flare, the two guards screaming and holding their ears as they lost two of their most valuable senses. The first one lifted his weapon, “Christ!” he bellowed. “They’re here! They’re fucking here! Oh god, I can’t see a bloody thing!”

“Get a hold of yourself Vince, remember your training, damn it.” The bigger human had slipped behind a metal trolley for cover, leaving his more inexperienced comrade flailing around like a beached fish.

I let a little of the spirit flow through me, loaning its strength, exciting the wendigo within my soul. I called down the stairs, my voice icy and dripping with malice intent. “I’m coming for you, Vince… It won’t be long now. It won’t be long…”

I’m not sure if it was my words, or the glow of my eyes in the gloom, but whatever it was the effect was as immediate as it was intensely gratifying.

“NO! Oh, fuck me, NO!” Terrified, the already frightened Vince opened fire, spraying bullets in all directions and opening his colleague up like a tin of beans. His screams drowned out the dying agonies of the other guard, before a single shot removed the top of his head. I was quite impressed - despite the concerns over magic having less potency here, my weapon worked just fine.

Vince’s comrade twitched and gasped out the last of his life onto the cold concrete floor. A messy end, true, but what did I care for these creatures? They meant nothing to me. We meant nothing to them, except as a commodity in a transaction whose currency was pain and suffering. I took a breath of his escaping life energy and rolled my shoulders luxuriously. It was mostly similar to those I had taken before, if a little earthy tasting and sort of… meaty? I didn’t like it especially, but still, it hit the spot. The spirit purred in satisfaction, but was far from satiated. I knew how it felt.

Keeping to the wall I reached out to push open the door to the room beyond. It was unlocked, the room itself in complete darkness. For a moment I paused, stretching out my wendigo senses… and then I heard it - the faint yet distinct click of metal sliding against metal. Just in time I flattened myself against the wall as hail of bullets flew out to greet me, the air around them hissing like a snake on a hot skillet. Metal clattered and rattled through the metal steps behind me sending shards of metal and broken concrete spattering in all directions. Abruptly, mercifully, there was a lull as they paused to reload giving me a couple of precious seconds to take stock of my situation. From what I could tell there were at least three of them: two by a row of steel cages and one behind an upturned table at the far end. My wendigo eyes would give me some advantage here in the darkness, but not if I ended up as a sieve by diving in recklessly through the doorway. No, it was time for a change of tack, and this time courtesy of another new toy from the agency armoury. One of the cylinders on my bandoleer had a bright blue top and a ring pull denoting its use. Visually it was similar to the flashbug tubes, but with a much more ‘interesting’ surprise inside for the poor sod on the other end of it. Thankfully, that wasn’t going to be me. Sliding the tube out of its keeper I smiled to myself grimly. My mind was made up, my resolve unwavering. Theoretically the device should do the job nicely – if it worked half as well as the briefing had said it would. My heart rate was increasing by the second, the spirit’s attention fully focussed on the task at hoof. If I made it out of this madness alive I’d definitely be having a word with the trainers about providing practical demonstrations for their new toys in future instead of their bloody obsession with slide shows. Standing here with the tube sitting in my hand, another fusillade of bullets singing past me by mere inches, was one hell of a way to field test new inventions. I slipped my respirator over my head and snugged it down, pulling the straps tight. Almost immediately the horrible sensation of restraint and claustrophobia hit me, reminding me just how much I hated the things. Rubber, especially new rubber, had an aroma unlike anything else. Still, it was a necessary evil, and one I pushed from my mind as quickly as I pulled the ring from the tube. On a count of three I threw the grenade into the room, listening as it hit the ground and rolled off into the darkness. Harlequin gas truly was an amazing invention, it filled the room with a disorientating mist which contained magically charged mirror-like particles which were intended to cause confusion and allow for a quick take-down of a target. At least in theory.

I held my breath, waiting. But instead of the anticipated explosion the cylinder burst with a dull ‘thump’, almost immediately filling the air with countless particles of rainbow coloured glitter that hung in the air, floating there, spinning silently. The humans inside began to shout at one another, one of them suddenly leaping to his feet and grabbing at the air, at some… ‘illusion’ that only he could see. It was a distraction, and one I took full advantage of. There was no time to be bucking about with these guys, and time was most definitely of the essence. My muscles surged as shouts from inside the sparkling room and random gunfire drew the spirit to the fore from deep within me, salivating and baying for battle. I let its rage fill my entire being, allowing it to course through me, although still keeping enough of myself there to stay… me.

I moved quickly despite the strangeness of the alien body, doubtless aided by the spirit’s own particularly unique brand of magic. A magic that saved my life a heartbeat later. My enhanced reflexes acted almost instinctively, pulling me to one side just in time to avoid a spray of lead that tore past my head. I dropped, rolled, and brought my weapon to bear burning one, two, three holes through the first human’s chest, dropping him like a rag doll to the cold hard floor. The second human I locked onto was grasping desperately at something on his chest - buck it, a grenade! My shot took off his hand too late as the pin came free and the metal sphere landed between his legs. His shout of alarm distracted his friend who was still rubbing at his eyes furiously. It didn’t do him much good… The grenade exploded. Shrapnel and fire engulfed the human, flying pieces of clothing, equipment, bone and meat, showering the room like some macabre rain from the depths of hell. The third ones leg had been caught in the ensuing blast, and he too was now reduced to a ragged mess of blood, cloth and gore. Despite the shock and the effects of the harlequin gas, the human’s vision was finally starting to come back when he caught sight of me. Bravely he tried to lift his blood slicked weapon, driven more by adrenalin than anything else now. His arm shook, the trigger slippery with his friend viscera, and… he squeezed.

I’ll never forget the look on his face.

My sword plunged through his chest and burst out the other side, my thrust given unnatural strength by the sheer will of the wendigo spirit. I snarled in triumph before kicking him off my blade, making sure he was dead before turning my back on him. I needn’t have worried. If nothing else the wendigo’s sense of smell was especially acute, and death had a very particular scent, sickly sweet and alluring - if only to a spirit. A flick of the wrist later and the blood was free from my short sword’s blade. Replacing it in its scabbard, I soon found the light switch and blinked as the room was bathed in a bright, artificial white light. What it illuminated was what I had half expected of course, yet even so there are some things you could never truly prepare yourself for. Dear gods, It was the cellar of the coffee shop all over again, only this time there were more of them. A lot more. I rushed over to the row of cells and cages. The smaller cages were stacked up and empty, probably used only for transportation by the looks of them, but the cells behind them held… humans? Or were they? No, I already knew the answer: they were about as human as I was. Numerous pairs of eyes stared at me in absolute silence. They were all female, all different colours, sizes, and ages. Without exception, without any allowance for the tenderness of youth nor their physical condition, every single one of them showed signs of being beaten, bruised, and every one of them bore an expression that made my blood seethe with an inner fury that normally I would have found frightening. Now, it just felt right. It felt… just. I took a step towards them and nearly gagged. The smell of excrement and urine was nearly overpowering. How the hell could they endure this? How could they simply stand there, watching me as if it were I who was the one in a cage instead of themselves? What they must have endured was staggering. Despite looking like the humans, they were still treated like shit, like… animals. I shook off my emotions and took stock of what I was looking at. Out of all of them there was only one who looked more responsive than the rest - a small orange skinned child with a mop of red hair.

“Hello. What’s your name, young miss?” I asked quietly, kneeling down to her level.

Large eyes looked up at me curiously. “I’m Scootaloo. Are you with the humans?”

I shook my head. “Nope. I’m with the CBI. My name’s Agent Nox. I’m Equestrian, just like you.”

The tension popped like a soap bubble and the rest of the ponies began shifting nervously, talking quickly between themselves and watching me with a combination of hope and nervousness.

“You look funny,” the young foal chirped. “You sure you’re a pony?”

“Yes!” I smiled pleasantly. I looked over my shoulder, noting the doorway and felt the hair on the back of my neck start to itch. This was taking too long already, but I could see how distrustful the young foal was of me. Gods, I couldn’t blame her either. I turned back to Scootaloo. “Look, I’m here to get you out of this place and bring all of you back home. See?”

I showed the little foal my identification card which she read painfully slowly. “Celestian… Bu… Bureau… of In… vesti… gation.” She scratched her head, screwing up her face in thought. “I’ve never heard of you. You like the Watch or something?”

I face hoofed. “Yes, something like that. We work for Celestia and Luna.”

She foal clopped her hands together. “That so cool!”

I nodded, slipping the card back into my pocket. My instincts were screaming at me to get out of there as quickly as possible, but I couldn’t blow this now. One wrong move and it would be like trying to herd cats. The small orange foal was the key to this situation, and one way or another I had to get her on side. Where she went, the rest would likely follow. “Look Scootaloo,” I said calmly. “I need you to come with me so we get these ponies to safety, okay? The portal’s not far from here, but we have to hurry. Can you convince them to come too?”

She thought for a moment before nodded enthusiastically. “I guess so. Hang on mister” She trotted to the back of the cell and spoke to the ponies gathered there who pressed in around her, casting worried glances at me.

One of them stepped forward and coughed into her hand, her eyes bearing dark shadows that spoke volumes about what she had endured here. “You’re with the agency?” she asked. “Please sir, they have more of us in that room beyond that door. It’s where they take us to meet their…” she swallowed. “Their ‘clients’. There’s foals in there too. For Celestia’s sake, please, please help them.”

Foals… I took a deep breath and nodded. “I will. But first we need to get you out of here.” I readied my pulse rifle and waved the captives out of the way. “Stand back, ladies.” A couple of shots later the cell locks were nothing more than molten gobbets of steel, glowing white hot, dripping to the floor like so much molten candle wax. I dragged the doors open one by one, standing back to give the females room. As expected, Scootaloo was the first to venture out. Emboldened by the little one’s example the rest followed, cautiously at first, and then in a sudden surge, pouring into the centre of the room. I gave silent thanks to the goddess they were free, but there was that constant niggling voice at the back of my mind reminding me that the hard part was still to come. Moving a large group of mares, fillies and foals, some of whom were injured and weak, was going to be a logistical nightmare at the best of times. With just myself, I had to think quickly. I grabbed the weapons from the fallen humans and held them out. “Anypony know how these work?”

To my surprise, four of the mares stepped up and took them. “We’ve seen them using them,” one of them said levelly. She glowered at the gory mess that had been one of their captors and narrowed her eyes. “I think we can handle them.”

I nodded my understanding. “Good. Now, one of you up front with me while the other three take the rear, and for Celestia’s sake no shooting unless you have to. The priority is to move as quickly as we can, the strong helping the weak.” I took a breath, making sure they all understood. “Ready?”

The four nodded, the rest looking at each other nervously. They would take strength from our numbers, and would keep together, of that I had no doubt. That primal herding instinct was still there deep down, and I was pleased to see how they kept the youngsters in the middle, flanking them from danger. Now it was merely a case of retracing my steps, and praying that the humans were too distracted by the agency team in their midst to be bothered with us. Wasting no more time we headed off back the way I had come, swiftly yet carefully, and surprisingly quiet too for ponies in such a weakened state. Another interesting fact I noted: human ‘feet’ don’t make much noise when running, other than for a faint pattering sound. I suppose that was a useful trick, although they were very soft underneath and I certainly wouldn’t fancy standing on anything hard with those things.

Our little convoy soon reached the small gantry office, pausing to recover one of the mares who had decided to kick the unconscious human half to death before we’d dragged her off him. Lucky for him she had feet and not hooves, but he’d still wake up with one hell of a headache in the morning all the same. Better that than dead. But now the portal was just below us. I could feel it in my bones, sensing the magic even without a horn. I moved closer to the edge of the gantry, keeping low, keeping quiet... and my blood ran cold. Several of those damned humans were peering at the recently activated portal as if expecting an attack at any moment. They were right to, just from the opposite direction. No doubt somepony in charge had remembered they had more than one portal in this place and had taken the precaution of dispatching these guys to watch out for any additional incursions. Fortunately for me, they were a little late to the party. Still, I couldn’t risk shooting and damaging the portal in a firefight. Harlequin gas wasn’t an option either, it was far too risky in such an open room where its particles would be less concentrated. And so my old favourite the flashbugs were the order of the day. The first one I pitched a little far, but the other landed right amongst them like a dream. The combined detonations sent the humans in all directions, shouting and trying to get into cover, bumping into boxes and tripping over their own feet in their confused rush to do so. And that was another thing I’d found during the fight at the warehouse: wooden crates offered buck-all protection from weapons fire.

The first few shots from my beam weapon took out the human in front of the portal, his face disappearing in a crimson mist. The second, facing my attack from the wrong direction, took two more shots in the back. He never even made a sound as he fell backwards onto the dusty floor. The third human, a big fellow with a, what was it… a ‘shotgun’? opened fire on me. He was still disorientated, but with a wide area weapon like the one he was wielding, accuracy was less important. Pellets chewed into the door frame making the mares cry out in fright.

“Scootaloo! Keep them back!” I shouted.

Buck me, their curiosity could get them killed, and we were so close! Suddenly firing erupted from behind the mares, and dangerously close. I couldn’t tell if it was them or us, but I didn’t have time to find out in any case. I pulled out my sword and dove into the room below, vaulting the stair railing and landing on a pile of boxes before cleaving the big brutish human’s head clean from shoulders. The spirit rumbled happily, revelling in the mayhem and the taste of the escaping life energy. I grinned with it, feeling my muscles burning, my senses keening. This was more like it! What a shame there weren’t more of- Unexpectedly another came at me from the shadows, still half blinded from the effects of the flashbug and waving a large combat knife. Despite my initial surprise that I must have missed him, his attack was laughable. I dodged his thrust with ease and danced away.

“That all you have, human?” I hissed.

“Fuck you!” he spat, taking another swing at me. “I’ll gut you like a fish, you damned horse!” He coughed and let out a heavy final breath, my sword withdrawing from his ribcage with a smart twist.

“Scootaloo!” I shouted, “Get those ponies out of there!”

“Okay, Mister!” the squeaky voice called back.

They came in a rush down the stairs, running headlong through the portal and onward to the promise of the safety that lay just beyond that ethereal silvery surface. I didn’t waste time checking to see if they were all through, but considering the way they’d completely ignored the bodies we’d passed on the way back, getting in their way would have been like trying to stop a charging ursan with nothing more than good intentions. A few bounds later and I was back in the office heading towards the gunfire. Bullets rattled around me like hailstones, pinging off the metal structure and leaving round shining dents where they had impacted. Two of the mares had been hit, one of them badly - she needed a medic, and fast. More humans had joined their fellows now, stepping over the bodies of their fallen and firing on us from the other end of the corridor. They’d brought up something heavier to deal with us too, the deeper thudding sound announcing the arrival of larger calibre bullets that began punching holes through the light grade steel with alarming ease.

“Keep them off us as long as you can,” I said to the two still firing.

Quickly, I leaned over and lifted the most seriously wounded mare, pulling her close. A little more roughly than I intended I clamped my mouth over hers, drawing on the spirit’s power and began to drip a steady stream of my own silvery life energy into her. For once the spirit didn’t resist. Already satiated from its gorging on the escaping energies of the humans, as far as it was concerned all this did was make room for more. And for the spirit, there was always room for more. Moments later the wounds of the mare started to knit, hissing and smoking until I saw the bullets that had entered her forced from the entry holes and roll out of the repaired flesh to clink onto the metal floor.

Slowly she opened her eyes and looked at me in disbelief. “How…?”

“No time,” I said quickly, “we need to move.” I pointed back the way I’d come. “Down the corridor, down the stairs, and through the portal. Move!”

I dragged the other mares from their positions and sent them on their way whilst I covered their escape. Fortunately there was no way they could get lost but Scootaloo had unexpectedly reappeared along with one of the armed mares to help guide them anyway. She was a good kid, and brave too. She’d make one hell of a good watch pony some day. If there was any watch left to join, and who knew what was going to happen there after that disaster in Manehattan. A bullet zinged past my muzzle, reminding me to keep focussed. The girls were gone, but that didn’t mean my job was done. There was the little matter of the drug plant to deal with, not to mention the missing foals, and right then I had to reload. A few crystals later and the beam gun was recharged nicely, the indicator lights burning brightly. Taking a deep breath to steady myself, I returned fire. Immediately a storm of bullets answered me, whizzing past my ear by mere inches. The noise echoing in the steel corridor was deafening, and for once I was grateful I didn’t have my equestrian level of hearing or else I’d likely be stone deaf by now. Damn it all, I couldn’t bug out and leave these guys here. One of the mares had told me there were foals being held somewhere, but from the direction she’d pointed it was right through the middle of this lot. Looking over my shoulder I noticed the unconscious human I’d tied up was now, sadly, no longer unconscious… not with that many holes in him. The holes in the steel beside him matched those in his back. Ironic how it had been his own friends who had finished him. I frowned in thought; if I played this well, he could still be useful to me even now. Carefully, I crawled over to him and fished out a couple of my more interesting toys and a length of string. Ha! The Pony Scouts would have been proud of me.

I shouted out into the corridor, “Please Mister, don’t hurt us! We give up… Please!”

One of the humans let out a laugh and shouted to his colleagues, one of them however, apparently more cautious than the rest, hung back.

“It’s a trap,” he rumbled. “Gotta be.”

“Yeah?” one of the sniffed. “You pussy, you’ve been fucking horses too long. That lot are scared shitless of their own shadow.”

“Scared shitless?” the first retorted. “I can’t raise half the guys on the radio! How do you explain that, smartarse?”

The reply was simple. “Radio’s fucked”

“Oh!” the first laughed sarcastically. “That makes sense doesn’t it, brainiac. Tell you what, you go first and see what’s happening, okay?”

The second one spat on the floor, his bravado disappearing with the challenge from his colleage. “Fucking pussy. Krebs, Bagwell, you’re with me.”

I backed away quickly, waiting in silence as several of the humans cautiously reached the corner. They quickly spotted their downed colleague. “Hey, it’s Carter!” One of them barked. “He’s been hit! For Christ’s sake, give us a hand here. You two go round up those damned horses.”

I wondered whether the humans had an afterlife. Maybe they had some sort of magical monkey land full of sparkly moody monkey clerks being dicks like Aethel from the eternal herd. Carter would know, and… well, these three would on their way there any second now too. Goddesses forgive me, I couldn’t help but chuckle at their plight. I pulled the string, popping the ring pulls from inferno grenades and, three seconds later, concentrated dragon fire incinerated the hapless creatures. The furious green light flare briefly, and then all was silent once more except for the clanking of the metal walkway cooling down. They hadn’t even had time to scream.

“Oh….!”

I whirled round to see a wide eyed Scootaloo watching the scene and my heart froze. “Come away now little one,” I said quickly shepherding her to one side. “You shouldn’t see this.” The little foal was shaking, her eyes wide with fright. Seeing the carnage in the room where she had been held captive had been one thing, but seeing dragon fire burning the humans to ash and bone in the blink of an eye had been too much for her. Suddenly my ears picked up on something, as if the whole place was waking up from a deep slumber. There was more shouting from the remaining humans now too, their shocked silence turning to one that probably involved bloody vengeance upon the one who had torched their friends. I didn’t wait to find out. Scooping the foal up in my arms I ran from the sickening stench of burning flesh and death, the child remaining silent as we raced down the stairs to the portal. The room was empty except for one of the mares had stayed behind, her weapon trained on us. Thank the gods she lowered it when she did or else our adventure in the world of humans could have been cut a damned sight shorter than originally planned. She looked at me and the foal in surprise as I pushed Scootaloo into her arms, shoving them towards the ramp.

“Go!” I shouted. The mare hesitated, her mouth opening to say something. “I’ll save the foals. Just go, girl. Now!”

She nodded, diving through the portal as the far door opened and more humans poured in. Unlike the others I’d encountered these didn’t pause for breath, the first few kneeling and taking aim whilst those behind sought cover. Better armed, better equipped and trained, these humans were a different altogether from their brethren and I threw myself to one side as the expected firestorm erupted. Countless bullets tore past me, slamming into the portal and sending sparks, chucks of metal and stone through the air. Gathering my energy despite not knowing what the hell would happen, I aimed a blast of magic at my attackers more on instinct than anything else. Nothing happened. No horn, no magic, eh? Damn it all! Plan B it was then. Dodging behind a heavy looking piece of machinery of some kind I fire blindly, the humans returning fire in kind. The noise was deafening, the air thick with bullets, pinning me down and keeping me from reaching the stairs. And then a thought struck me: had the assault on the factory failed, freeing up these humans to come here and mop up the last of the Equestrians? Perhaps the assault been a success and they’d already left, leaving me behind. Or had we simply underestimated the number of humans here? Dear goddesses, maybe I was the only one left! Suddenly I caught the glint of a grenade whirling towards me through the air, and with a speed which surprised myself I leapt and kicked the thing right back at the humans. The ensuing blast sent body parts, hands, fingers and blood showering across the floor together with no small amount of wooden splinters from the shredded crates. One of the humans staggered out of the smoking carnage, his face blackened and torn, one of his arms hanging uselessly by his side. Using him as interim cover I charged forward, plunging my sword into his chest as I used him as a springboard to land amongst the others. They tried to dodge, to strike, to shoot, but they hadn’t expected an attack at such close quarters and I used that confusion to my advantage. Magic or not the spirit was in its element here, and I gave it full rein. My mind freed, my body became a lethal blur of steel and unleashed wrath. I barely even felt the resistance to the blade as it carved through clothing, flesh and bone in a seemingly endless dance of death. Warm blood slicked my hand and face, stinging my eyes, the taste of iron sharp against my tongue. But I didn’t have it all my own way. One of them, quicker than the rest, managed to land a blow to the side of my head with the butt of his gun - before I removed his throat in one deft stroke. The final human broke, making a run for the freedom of the open doorway before my blade, cart-wheeling through the air, took him squarely in the back bringing him down will all the grace of a felled tree. It was the last of them. For now.

The spirit purred happily, filled with the life energy that rose like geysers from the fallen. There was no time to waste here though, if the humans didn’t know they were under attack before then they sure as hell did now, and the foals could be in mortal danger as a result. Possible scenarios raced through my mind as I ran: they could be taken hostage, used as living shields, played like a bargaining chip, or even killed in a blood crazed moment of desperation. Speculation however would do nothing to help them, only decisive action. I narrowed my eyes, passing the smouldering remains of the dead. Speed, surprise and aggression may be the only options here, but adaptability was key, and something I had been trained in from the moment I’d first set hoof in the training academy. All those years of training would be put to the test today, that was for damned sure.

I burst into the now empty cell area, the heavy steel door one of the mares had indicated to me earlier just as solid and ominous as it had appeared the first time I’d clapped eyes on it. This was my next obstacle to face, and as I’d expected the damned thing was securely bolted from the other side with no visible way to open it. Save for a small hatch, again opening from the other side, the door itself was featureless. Almost instinctively my hoof reached for the bell, but somehow I doubted those inside were expecting a pizza, especially with all the noise we’d been making earlier. There was however, something I could try…

I sat cross legged in front of the door and tried to focus my mind, a task which I can attest was a hell of a lot easier said than done. My heart was racing like a runaway train, the blood singing in my ears as my muscles ached from the exertion I was putting this peculiar body through, but letting the spirit flow through me I felt a wash of calm that was as welcome as a cool shower on a hot day. Closing my eyes I pictured the cold of the north wind, the way it swirled the top layer of loose fresh snow, the way it tingled against your hide. To many the grey mountains, the white peaks and plains of unbroken snow was a potentially deadly environment. To me, or at least a part of me, it was home. It was my birthright. Even thinking about it, here in this unforgiving and alien place of misery, suffering and death, I longed for the blue skies and sun high above me. All of a sudden a shiver ran through me. I felt… alone, so horribly alone. I wanted to go back, I wanted to get away from here, I had to… I had to get home! I threw back my head, feeling the tears rolling down my cheeks and howled out my anger and fury at the universe. Magic flowed out of me, filling the room as it had with the Withers, dropping the temperature to an unnatural level. It released more, letting my grief for my home and the emptiness fuel the tempest, until finally, slowly, I took a deep breath and opened my eyes. The room, that terrible, stench filled room, was a glittering, sparkling hall of the most beautiful ice. The ceiling was festooned with icicles, the bodies of the dead humans buried beneath a sheen of frost that made them look more like an artist’s flight of fancy than the bringers of such misery. But it was the goal before me that drew my blue eyed gaze. The door…

I may have no horn in this world, but I still had the magic within my soul, and the ever needful hunger of the spirit. Both us sat in silence, watching as the thick white mist flowed around my legs, bathing the door, listening as the structure of the metal began to play a symphony of its own. It barely audible, almost impossible to detect, but there it was – the staccato ringing, the cracking and tinkling of the molecules within its core, waiting for what was to come.

We smiled. It was time.

Taking one of the red topped inferno grenades from my pack, I wedged it up against the door and moved a safe distance away. Carefully, I aimed my beam gun at it and took a long, slow, steadying breath… and squeezed. One shot was all it took. In an instant the door exploded in a fantastic fireball of green light, flames and ice, the molten steel fragments that had been blocking my progress dropping all around me like hail. A smile slowly spread across my face, and I chuckled low in my throat. I had seen magic at work before, but this was something that rang with me on some deeper level. The raw nature of magic, the power of the wendigo and the explosive magic in the grenade was a truly impressive sight to behold. And the spirit agreed. It howled through me, screaming with unbridled delight at the destruction of the barrier that held me… us… back. But now its impatience was coming to the fore. The spirit was anxious, displaying its frustration at the lack of killing when there was so much more work left to do. Saliva dripped from its maw, and I could taste the iron on my tongue. It wanted, it needed to kill, to feed the incessant hunger that burned within. It was so hungry now, and it could sense what was to come.

My eyes narrowed. Keeping control over the spirit was difficult, but not impossible. I’d found through experience that it was more a case of channelling its desires into actions, rather than fighting them head on. When I’d tried to confront the spirit all it had lead to was a war of wills, a battle for control between it and myself, a battle that had done nothing but tire us both to the point of exhaustion and promote even more disharmony. Pewter had been right on the money about that too; I had to become master of both it and myself, so that we could work together as one instead of pulling ourselves apart. And together now we entered a room that had my jaw hanging open in wide eyed amazement. Had I passed through another portal and not even realised it? Dear gods, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Completely alien to the rest of the site I’d seen so far, the stark, functional metal and concrete of the factory had been replaced with a decadent swathe of the most magnificent surroundings I had ever laid eyes on. I wouldn’t be exaggerating when I said it wouldn’t have looked out of place in the grand marble halls of Canterlot Palace itself either. Deep scarlet velvet lined the walls, the floor, and even the large comfortable looking chairs and sofas of this immense room. Huge crystal and gold chandeliers hung from the ceiling adding a soft light to the scene whilst soft music, a gentle classical style, filled the air together with occasional muffled whimpers belying the true nature of the extravagant surroundings. This was what I was here for: to clean house, to ‘sweep and clear’ as the briefing document had so plainly outlined. The spirit stirred. It knew what was coming. Oh Brandy… Brandy, Brandy, Brandy…you were missing out on this weren’t you? Poor little pony. I laughed aloud, drawing my sword and moved quickly between the tables, checking them one by one.

I didn’t have to look far.

The mares were hiding beneath them, warily peering out at me as I approached. To their eyes I probably looked like just another human, the beasts that had torn them from their home and brutalised them here in this velvet lined cage, but the odd one would look at me askance as if detecting something beyond my outward physical appearance. I couldn’t face them. I had to look away and close my eyes, trying to hold back my rising fury at the kind of sights I never dreamt I would ever see, either in this world or my own. Dear gods, it was like a dagger through my heart. We had failed them. We were supposed to protect our people, the people I had sworn to serve and defend with my very life if necessary. And yet here they were, the playthings of these… these beasts. I took a deep breath, steadying myself. I hadn’t come here with any illusions about what I would find of course, but to see it close up, to actually see it with your own eyes what was truly happening, was something no briefing document could ever prepare you for. Celestia have mercy, some of them were little more than fillies, and some… some were even younger still. Every single one of them showed signs of rough treatment, from bruises and swollen lips, to grazes and cuts that had been inexpertly smeared with make-up to try and conceal the worst of the humans’ atrocities. The ‘merchandise’ had to look its best after all.

My teeth began to itch, my hand squeezing the hilt of the old sword so tightly that the wire bound leather started to cut into my skin. I didn’t feel a thing. I couldn’t feel, or else… or else I don’t know what I’d do. The death of innocence was here, here all around me in this beautiful room on a world on the other side of the mirror. Hiding beneath the tables, crying, shaking, or simply waiting for whatever fate held in store for them, they watched me. But far from the stinking, filth covered wretches in the cells, these had been cleaned, washed, and clothed in flimsy garments that left little to the imagination. The first I coaxed from her hiding place I fixed with a stern gaze, my blue eyes reflecting in her big eyes.

“Wait by the door,” I instructed firmly. “Any ponies I send your way, keep them together until I can get you out. Do you understand?” She nodded silently, staring at me as if in a daze. I just shrugged and smiled, “Won’t be long…”

The first male I came to was a pathetic weedy little character, casually clothed in jeans and a loose fitting shirt, and undoubtedly human. His beady eyes stared at me with undisguised terror, but he didn’t resist. I think he knew already, and if he didn’t, it wouldn’t have mattered. In this world we may look like them, we could act like them, we could even be covered in the stench of our own shit and piss, and I could still smell them. Corruption. Suffering. Greed. I could see it in their eyes and in the vile aura that hung around them like some sickening miasma. The human swallowed, nervously looking past me at the emerging females, but I felt nothing for the creature… only contempt. He was a gangly specimen too, unlike the burly warriors I had encountered so far. He looked like the kind who would use others to do the work he was incapable of doing himself, while he would skulk in the shadows, indulging his warped fantasies with those who were too afraid or otherwise unable to resist. I’d seen what happened to those who did. It was a sight I would never be able to forget.

Abruptly the sickening little weasel tried to pull away, yanking his arm until I grabbed him by the leg and dragged him out from from under the table he had scrambled under. He even tried begging for his life. “Please!” the weasel squealed. “I have money! For fucks sake man, what do you want? What do you want?!”

I smashed a fist across his face and took him to the floor, placing the point of my sword to his chest. I could feel and hear his heart beating rapidly beneath me. “What do I want?” I hissed at him coldly, “Let’s see now…”

I leaned on the hilt and pushed the sword slowly and steadily into his chest. Inch by inch, past the cotton, the skin, the yielding muscle, until his heart finally ruptured and stopped. His thrashing and gasping had only heightened my desire, the song of the wendigo ringing through my mind. I had to take up its refrain, I had to answer the call, it was so… so… demanding. I licked my lips, breathing in the escaping life energy and added it to my own as I lifted my eyes. Unusual it may be, but it was what it was. It was the force of life, the energy of the body as the soul left on its final journey to the afterlife. And it was sheer ecstasy. But it wasn’t enough. There had to more. There had to be! I snuffed the air, taking in the sounds, the aromas, the sense of fear. I wasn’t disappointed. Shouts of fear and panic rang out around the room and I let myself go, joining with the spirit as one, letting the sword take the lead in our dance with death. It was right. It was as it had always meant to be. I leaped and span in time with the song, dancing through them all, singing and laughing as I moved as gracefully as a swift on a summer’s day. My blade thrust, slashed and hacked its way amongst the panicked humans, their desire to rape and torture quenched in their feverish desperation to escape. Crimson splashed the magnificent velvet, blending into the plush upholstery and hiding the artist’s pallet of colour flashing the through the air. One after the other like wheat before the scythe they fell, their screams a fine accompaniment to the song from a world long since lost to history. But not from memory. Not from mine. I swept through the humans effortlessly, without pause, without hesitation. Some tried to fight back of course, one with a short pistol which punched a neat hole through my side. I grabbed his neck and thrust my sword through his mouth, watching the back of his skull erupt in fragments that spattered the wall with gore. He would feed me well. I drew in a long pull of his energy, filling my spirit’s desire and repairing the wound as if it had simply never been. And then, almost painfully, I realised there were simply no more humans. None alive anyway.

The mares huddled timidly together around the first pony I had sent to the door. As one they backed away when I approached and I sheathed my sword, relinquishing my grip on the spirit’s power. “You don’t have to say it ladies,” I said casually. “‘Demon’. It gets very old, very fast.”

The first mare spoke up, ignoring my remark. “Who are you? You’re not human are you?” It wasn’t a question.

“No.” I tried a smile, but managed little more than a grimace. “I’m here to get you home.” I looked around at milling females. “Is this all of you?”

The mare shook her head. “They have one more. A foal, she’s…” She swallowed nervously. “She’s popular with the human male who runs this place.”

‘Popular’… I grabbed her more roughly than I meant to. “Where?” I growled.

Eyes widening she pointed to the far door. “Through there. There’s a long corridor, and a big office at the far end. He… He takes her there sometimes.”

I nodded my understanding and addressed the mares. “There’s not much time. Follow me if you want to get out of here alive and back to Equestria. Don’t stop for anything, and don’t look back. Understand?”

They didn’t need to reply. Desperate to escape their prison, survival instincts took over and added speed to their flight. In silence we ran from the room and back to the portal, and the promise of freedom from this world of unimaginable cruelty. There no more humans here now, only the dead, and the mares ignored them all. We ignored them all. They were nothing. They had always been nothing. I counted the mares through that shimmering pool of silvery light - every one, every single one. As they plunged through the portal each bruise, every black eye and scar, branded its unique image into my memory with frightening clarity, until finally the last mare was through. Thank the gods… I turned to head back to the stairs when a shot rang out from the upper corridor window. Whether it was a fluke or a damned good shot I couldn’t tell, but the result was all too apparent. The bullet had struck the control for the portal, and with a flickering ‘pop’, my way home vanished. I was dumbstruck. What the buck was I going to do now? I doubted the agency would send a rescue party for me, but.. of course, the second portal! Yes… Yes, if I could reach it that would be my best, and probably only hope to get home. But first that foal needed rescue before I needed a way home. Checking my pulse gun I set up a MAD on the portal and set it to ‘remote’ - a little surprise in case some of the monkey buckers tried to get it going again. Better warn Dune too...

I tapped my headset. “Dune? Nox. You there?”

A barrage of gunfire crackled over the TED, “Nox! Dear Celestia, I thought you’d bought it!” Another rattle of automatic fire. “Damn it, there’s millions of the bastards.” A pause. “We’ve taken some casualties but we’re holding our for now. Engineers have rigged the place to blow, and we’re bugging out any minute. What’s your situation?”

“Not good,” I replied. “The portal’s down and there’s one foal left to pick up. Can you hold on for us before you bail?”

“Celestia, Nox!” Dune huffed. “Damn it… Okay, we’ll do what we can here, but you’re not supposed to be part of this mission, remember? Right, look, I’ve got an idea, so just get your mangy arse here as quick as you can, okay? Move flank, Agent!”

She didn’t have to tell me twice. Hefting my weapon I threw caution to the wind and leaped up the stairs looking for the shooter. My heart was in my throat as I dived around the corner, but whoever had taken that last shot had already vanished, taking to their heels with only a solitary empty shell casing to show where they’d been. Had they been aiming for me or the portal? If it was yours truly then they were one hell of a bad shot. Lucky for me. Luckier for them. Either way I didn’t pause, charging off once again through the facility, keeping an eye out for any sign of humans. The now familiar corridors raced by, but of my foe there was little sign, only the distant thump and rattle of gunfire. Intentional or not, the agency ponies were acting as the perfect distraction, so long as I could get past the humans surrounding them in one piece of course. Still, I could cross that bridge when I came to it. Hopefully.

In the plush room I halted to catch a breath and take a drink of water as well as to check my gear was still in order. The prisoners had been recovered and would no doubt be back in Equestria receiving the care they so desperately needed, but one still remained, and I would be damned if I’d leave anypony, let alone a child, in the clutches of these sadistically vile beasts. As far as I was concerned the less time I had to spend here the better… for both of us. Themap screen showed me the corridor ahead picked out in faint green lines with what had to be the office the mare had told me about at the end of it, before turning off to the right and vanishing into the unknown bowels of the complex. Half way down was another of my objectives, but one that was of secondary concern to me now. No, I had to concentrate on the office, save the foal, and then it was a simple a matter of getting past the ‘millions’ of humans Dune had mentioned and a gut wrenching portal journey home. Yeah… ‘simple’. I set off down the corridor, listening for anything that might indicate a threat, but the only one I was picking up on was the unimaginably foul stench that was getting worse with every step I took. Should I use the gas mask? My hand instinctively reached for it and paused half way. No… The thing restricted vision horribly and moving quickly in it restricted my breathing. I needed to keep all my senses alive here if I was to free the child from her captors and get her home alive. So instead I carefully unwrapped a cloth from one of my packs, dampened it with some water from my canteen, and wrapped it around my face. It didn’t help much, but it was better than nothing. My eyes were beginning to water now, and my nose wrinkled up in disgust at the sheer intensity of whatever was filling the corridor. Dear gods, how could the humans stand it here? For once I was glad I didn’t have my normal sense of smell or it probably would have floored me. I’d encountered it before of course, but never to this degree. It was ‘breeze’, the powerful narcotic that had an unmistakably acrid aroma quite unlike anything else I had ever encountered. And one I’d hoped, in vain, I never would again. More so even that the guns, this cruel export from the human world destroyed lives indiscriminately. It didn’t care about age, sex, innocence, or guilt. I had seen first hoof the damage this evil drug inflicted; the images of Warlock’s niece, the vacant, empty staring eyes...

In crude painted letters the word ‘Lab’ had been daubed on the metal door from where the smell was emanating. I couldn’t read much of their language, but I recognised this one from the briefing alright. According to the map this was the drug making area where I was meant to set up one of the MAD’s, but I was all too aware that I was fast running out of time. If I didn’t get that foal out of here before the team pulled out we’d both be sunk, and the thought of being trapped forever in this nightmare world was beyond unthinkable. I readied myself to move on but something tickled at the back of my mind - it was a whimper, a tiny sob, coming from behind the lab door. Was it the foal? I closed my eyes and took a breath. Maybe she’d been moved? Damn it! I had to be sure...

Thank the gods my watch training took over. Normally I would have had ponies either side of me in a situation like this, watching for any unpleasant surprises on the other side and covering as many angles as possible. Today, there was only me. Pressing myself against the wall I reached for the handle and carefully pushed the door open. Surprisingly for something so heavy it swung open effortlessly, bright light spilling out into the corridor revealing the well lit interior. I wiped my eyes and peered around the door frame, and... the scene inside was… Dear Celestia. It was breeze. I had no idea… Why hadn’t anypony told me?! My face must have been a picture as I stood there staring wide eyed into the raw guts of the hell that was the laboratory. A long table ran the length of the room with an assortment of bottles, pipes and tubes all bubbling away with the final product being dried and packaged at the far end. There was no ambiguity about the origin of that acrid smell now – cardboard boxes of the stuff were piled everywhere from floor to ceiling. There must have been dozens, no, hundreds of pounds of that evil powder. By my reckoning there was enough Breeze here to kill half of Equestria - after one hell of a trip though. But it was what languished in the overcrowded metal baskets at the other end of the table that really caught my attention: small multi-coloured fairy-like creatures that I had only ever seen once during their migration through Ponyville. They were noisy, irritating little things that the foals adored, but as an angsty teenager dragged there against my will I’d been more interested in the fillies, ice cream, and getting home as soon as possible to pay them much attention. But once seen, you’d never forget them. They were ‘Breezies’, tiny winged creatures that had a culture, language and behaviour that was utterly unique amongst all the races I’d ever encountered. Perhaps even more so than the wendigo, and that was saying something. They were frail, powerless things too, and about as dangerous as the marshmallows that were given out during the migration festival to the onlookers. Oh goddesses, now the name made sense, it was bloody obvious when you looked at the setup here but… the crusher, the cutting blocks, the tiny pieces of discarded life. Oh Celestia, where are you when your people need you?

One of the more animated creatures clung to the bars of its depressingly temporary home, squeaking at me in a manner that was more reminiscent of a novelty bath toy than anything coherent. Needless to say I couldn’t understand a word it said. I rubbed my ears, trying to make the bloody useless things work a little better. More likely than my poor human hearing however, was that the seemingly random squeaks and peeps emanating from the breezie was a language all their own, and one I couldn’t speak a single word of.

“I can’t understand you,” I said in exasperation. “Do any of you speak Equestrian?”

A green one with a missing antenna and a short white beard stepped forward, pushing his fellows out of the way. “I do.” He peered up at me with eyes that seemed far too large for such a small head. “Are you going to help us pony?”

I blinked in surprise. More than being able to speak my tongue, he knew straight away what I was! “You know I’m Equestrian?” I asked in amazement.

“Of course,” the thing replied with a shrug. “The humans do not trouble themselves with such trivialities as discourse with their prey. They feed us, they give us water, but only so we remain fresh for processing. Polite conversation?” It smiled bitterly. “No.” The breezie motioned towards the table before fixing me with an oddly resigned expression. “So, you will help us?”

I could barely tear my eyes from the table. “Yes… Yes, of course,” I stammered trying to get my head back in the game. I looked around at the boxes, the containers, or any other options I had for getting them out of here. Everything I looked at was far from ideal, but what choice did I have? “it’s not going to be a comfy ride guys,” I said levelly.

There was a short, squeaky, and decidedly heated discussion. “We need to ride the currents to fly from here, pony. You must flap your wings and-”

Flap my wings?! I stomped a foot angrily. “Do I look like a bloody pegasus?” I snapped. “I’m in a human’s body in case you hadn’t noticed!” I held up a hand and closed my eyes, trying not to lose the plot completely with these creatures. They’d already been subjected to horrors that were beyond comprehension, they didn’t need me yelling at them too. I took a breath, calming my racing heart. “Please, just stop messing about and get your people together, okay?”

But it wasn’t okay. Not at all. Far from being as keen to escape as the mares, the breezies seemed to be more content with shouting at each other as loudly as possible, as more and more arguments began to erupt amongst the occupants of the cages, spreading like wildfire until the whole room resounded with their deafening, squeaky chatter. I face palmed in resigned exasperation. Dear gods, this was madness, absolute madness! I had to wrest control back from them, and quickly. The direction the situation was heading in right then wasn’t going to end well for any of us, and I didn’t have any more time to waste bucking about with these infuriating creatures. I turned away from the cages, shoved a hand in my pack, and got on with one of the tasks I had originally thought I’d have to avoid. Nimbly, I began attaching the MAD to the underside of the lab’s table.

“What is that?” the green Breezie asked me.

“It’s an M.A.D,” I replied levelly. I used to tape to stick it in place, out of sight from the casual observer. “I’m going to blow this place off the map. In a few minutes this place will be going up, whether you’re here or not.” Brushing myself off, I stood up and faced them. “I’m not waiting here any longer, so either you get in the sack or stay here and die.” I shook out the large sack I’d found amongst the detritus of the lab. It wasn’t what I would have liked, but if it was either that or death… “It’s your choice.”

There was a pause, and then without another word, or squeak, all but two of the breezies obediently climbed into the hessian sack I held open for them. The little creatures were frighteningly frail as it was, and already weakened by only gods knew what treatment at the hands of their captors, but what other choice did I have? And you know, for a moment, I actually thought I’d managed to pull it off too. At least, until the last two decided to sit down with their arms folded and glare up at me defiantly. Without waiting another second I reached in and grabbed them, stuffing the protesting fairy things into the bag with their fellows. They could complain all they wanted later. Slinging my living cargo over my shoulder, I nearly ran straight into the human coming out from a back room to investigate the noise. He was fast too, but thankfully was just as surprised as I was. It was the only thing that saved my hide that day. Firing his pistol at point blank range I felt the burn of the muzzle flash, the hiss of air beneath my arm and the ear ringing bang. His bullet had missed its mark, instead sending shards of glass up from the table behind me, including a glass phial that ejected a huge plume of white powder that engulfed both of us. I managed to get my own shot off at the human before the powder entered my lungs, but… it was too late. One sniff. One single exhalation. It was all it took. And it was like nothing I’d ever experienced before in my life.

The room suddenly swayed sickeningly, throwing me around deliriously. It was like being on a ship in the midst of a raging storm without a rudder, and with nothing to hang on to either. My legs were weak, weak as rubber bands, but… but the colours! Such wonderful colours! And those sounds, the sounds of the sirens themselves, calling me to joyful ruination upon the rocks of their water home. Everything was so vivid, so… alive! I felt sick, happy, sad, and yet oddly at peace all at once. A voice called to me, trying in vain to grab onto my wavering consciousness, but all I could do was laugh. Laugh, and laugh and laugh. I staggered down the corridor towards the main office, or at least, I think I did. I kept taking big breaths to try and relieve the symptoms, but nothing worked. And did I really care anyway? Who knew! Dear gods, I felt as high as a bucking kite.

Two, or was it four? Ha! I didn’t know! Humans, however many of them there were, emerged from the room in front of me and with an arm under each of mine, carried me laughing hysterically into a massive office come bedroom. At the far end a naked girl wept as a big burly gorilla of a human climbed off her, dealing the helpless female a vicious slap which sent her tumbling across the enormous bed. Blood flying from her mouth spattered a stark line of crimson upon the once white sheets that she weakly clung to as the only modesty she had left in her shattered world.

“Fucking little bitch! You show me some god-damned respect.” The big human turned to face the newcomers, tying the cord on his robes.

The two goons who had hold of yours truly kept me propped up between them. One of them gave me a shake. “Got one of the nags who’ve been causing all the commotion, boss.”

“Commotion?” the large human repeated incredulously. “They’ve cost me fucking MONEY!” he advanced on my captors, making them back up a step. I just giggled. The colours on this guy! Orange, purple… it was all so… far out...

He reached up and grabbed my jaw. “Look at the state of him, he’s been shooting the fucking breeze. Some god-damned hero we got here. Couldn’t keep your pretty little muzzle out of it, could you, horsey?”

One of the humans punched me in the stomach, but I barely flinched. “Want us to teach him some respect, Boss?”

The ‘boss’ shook his head. “Nah, it’s pointless, he’s so messed up he’d never feel it. Wonder why he’s not with the rest of his mob, though?” He shrugged.

“Dunno, Boss,” one of the thugs replied. “We found ‘im in the lab. ‘E was the only one there.”

The boss sniffed loudly. “Doesn’t matter I s’pose, we’ve got ‘em cornered anyway. Just a little bump in the road that a few rounds’ll smooth out. Right boys?” The others chuckled. Suddenly the human span, back-handing me across the face with a meaty slap that made my ears ring. The boss’s equally meaty face leered at me menacingly as a thought entered his warped mind. “Hey horsey hero, wanna see a show?” Eye’s, dark as night and as cruel as the oceans depths, stared into mine. “Yeah… Yeah, of course you do. A little ‘dressage’ perhaps?” Abruptly he turned away, waving a hand towards a painting on the wall I couldn’t make out in my drug infused state. “My daughter’s pony. Loves ‘em she does. Keeps ‘em clean, well fed, watered, and costs me a pile of cash to keep the damned things from going to the glue factory. If I had my way, that’s where I’d send the bloody lot of ‘em. But I don’t, and why? Because my daughter likes them. And she’s not the only one. You see, in this world humans ownhorses, Equestrian. We break them, we control their will, control their spirit, moulding them into pliable, controllable beasts that do what they’re bloody well told. Only here they look like what they are – horses, right?” He motioned to his underlings who nodded obediently as he continued. “Four legs, long face, tail, shit everywhere.” He smirked. “But when your people come ‘ere, well, you already know the rest, don’t you? And you know the best part? We like to ride them too.” He licked his chubby lips. “There’s some good money in horse flesh, horsey, and our clients pay well for a taste of the exotic. Very well indeed.” He stretched and walked over to the mantelpiece to take down a glass of wine. The burly thug knocked the drink back in one slug and threw the glass into the fireplace before walking back over to me, a smug expression on his face. “I’ve made a lot of money serving the ‘needs’ of others over the years, my equine friend. So when one of your own wandered in here one day to offer me a way to make even more, I was hardly going to turn them down now, was I? Ha! You can’t imagine how surprised I was to discover just how keen your own people were to sell one another off for drugs and guns. God almighty, I could barely keep up with the demand! Still, that’s what I’m in the business of: supplying quality goods to willing, paying, customers. Goods we’re only too happy to provide. After all, money is money wherever you are, or ‘whatever’ you are. Anyway, it’s all academic for you now isn’t it?” He took a step back to allow me to have a good view of the foal on the bed. She was pale, pale as milk with soft two tone purple hair. The human watched my expression and chuckled menacingly, “Cute isn’t she? You’re going to see now… ‘Equestrian’…”

No.

“…Just how powerless…”

NO!

“…you really are…”

The human took off his robe, letting it slip to the floor before grabbing the shrieking foal by the ankle. Colours and sounds raged through my head as I tried desperately to grab my spirit’s energy. Goddesses, it was happening again! Gates, Melon Patch, Meadow… How many more had to suffer? How many?! My head was still ringing, my eyesight swirling, but I had to do something, anything! I couldn’t just let this happen! My guards laughed, watching the show with brutal smiles, never relinquishing their firm grip despite my struggles. Terrified, the foal cried and scratched at the hairy thug pulling at her legs, but it only made the vile animal all the keener. Drool spilled from his mouth like a hungry dog, his hands grabbing, pulling her ever nearer… There was nothing I could do. Absolute nothing...

Enough of this.

The voice inside me, the voice from the sea, it rolled through me, pushing my senses aside and reconnecting nerves, control, and impulse.

Give me your will, Fairlight. Give it over to me. Yes, that’s the way… Yes! YES!

I don’t remember much of what happened next, it was all a boiling fog of white cloud, screams, and incoherent voices pleading... begging. My body moved without any direct input from myself, dancing to an otherworldy symphony played by an orchestra where I was merely one of the audience. The voice was the conductor, the guide of the magic, the wielder of the spirit. When I finally picked myself up off the floor I retched over and over again like some penitent drunkard on a Saturday morning. Still, at least my head was gradually clearing, even if I did feeling like I’d been hit with a sledgehammer. Shaking, I reached over to where the thugs had dumped my gear and took out a flask of life energy, downing the sparkling fluid greedily. The effect was near instantaneous. I was like being plunged into freezing water, my senses bursting back into life with the shock, my headache already forgotten in the sizzling wave of intense, raw magic. What the hell had happened? I had an idea of course, this wasn’t the first time I’d ‘lost myself’ but… I closed my eyes and sighed. Since when had I become so immune to such sights? Once I would have been sickened, frightened out of my wits, but now… now this sort of thing was beginning to look almost normal. Perhaps to a wendigo it was. I sat up, examining the ice laden room with its shimmering walls, the icicles, the frozen blood, the mangled pieces of what had once been alive. And then I saw her. The foal was sat huddled in the middle of the bed with a blanket wrapped around her, shivering, staring out at… not me, but… Dear goddesses, the hairy human, the ‘boss’, was hanging from the wall above the fireplace, nails of ice driven through his limbs transfixing him to the wall. The other two were frozen mid scream in pillars of ice amidst piles of their own insides. It was the stuff of nightmares. To the foal, maybe I was too. With a sigh I stood up and approached her with as gentle a smile as I could muster. Large eyes peered up at me, but she only emerged from her bedding cocoon once I handed over her clothes. They were old, dirty and ripped, but they’d do for getting her out of here. Her hand brushed mine briefly, and I nearly jumped in surprise. The poor girl was freezing cold. But she was alive. We both were. And I intended to keep us that way. I barely heard the whisper behind me as we turned for the door. I looked over my shoulder. His eyes were closed but his lips were moving, each word painfully laboured, every syllable a strain beyond endurance...

“Kill… kill me… don’t… don’t leave me... like this...”

Instinctively I put my hand to my sword but stopped short, gazing up into the boss’s meaty face. All it would take would be a second, a flick of the wrist, one little slice and- I looked down at the slight pressure, staying my hand. The little foal had taken my arm, tears welling in her gentle eyes. Slowly, she shook her head. I nodded. I understood. Silently the two of us left the room, the MAD my parting gift, jammed into the hairy bastard’s mouth. I would grant his wish, I just didn’t say when. Closing the door behind us, I glanced down at my young charge. The foal stared off into the distance, her face a blank mask devoid of emotion. I could only pray to the goddesses she would recover, children were generally a lot more resilient than adults gave the credit for, but this? I didn’t know. She was unnaturally quiet too, not surprising considering the hellish ordeal she’d been subjected to, but thankfully she was more than capable of keeping up with me as I took to my heels. Together we raced along corridor after corridor, passing a myriad of rooms and junctions, every one of them devoid of life. On my forearm the map whirled around dizzyingly in an attempt to keep up with our headlong flight, its glowing arrow showing us the route we had to follow to reach Dune, and more importantly, safety. One of the rooms, a secondary objective, flashed up red on the display. It was one of the weapons manufacturing rooms on the way to Dune’s position, but I had a foal with me now, she had to take priority. Only… if I didn’t stop this… damn it all!

“Dune? How you holding up?”

The agency mare’s voice crackled back through my headset. “We’re hanging on, Nox. Wounded have been evacced but the team leaders are beginning to ask questions. We’ll need to bail soon, the humans look like they getting ready to launch another assault - a big one.”

I tapped the communicator. “Understood. I’ve got the last foal with me now, Dune. We’re not far from your position, so hold on as long as you can.”

“Received. Good luck, Nox.”

The foal stumbled suddenly, but with a quick flick I had her up on my back clinging onto me like a limpet as we continued our race through the empty halls of the facility. One wary eye on the map, I took the next junction to where a roughly painted sign pointed down a short side corridor to a door marked “Manufacturing”. The map confirmed it too. This was one of the secondary objectives, yet another manufacturing facility within the main plant that made the kinds of weapons I’d seen flooding into Manehattan. Whether the ones produced here were intended for the human market or my world, I couldn’t say, but either way the damned things had been responsible for the deaths of who knew how many innocent lives. Or more specifically, the ones pulling the trigger had been. I took a breath. Should I do this? Should I take the chance when I had the child with me? I knew the answer of course, but… Sensing my hesitation the foal suddenly jumped down to stare at me with those big bright eyes of hers. Without a word she reached out her hand and placed it on the pack containing the last of the MAD’s, and nodded. I think she knew, or at the very least understood what I intended to do.

“Stay close, and keep quiet,” I told her. “This won’t take long.”

I didn’t have long either. Dune was waiting, and sooner or later the humans would go in there with everything they had to retake their facility. I had to be quick. Steeling myself I pushed open the door and was hit by a wall of deafening sound. The factory was absolutely vast: conveyor belts, forges, all manner of machines clanking, banging and rattling amidst a dark sea of smoke and heat. Here and there humans worked, tending the hungry machines, and completely oblivious to our approach and the chaos in the rest of the facility. One well placed MAD here would set their operation back months, if not years. Right then, I thought to myself. Fortune favours the bold… Brazenly I walked in, looking at all the different weapon types in the racks as If I owned the place. I picked one up and looked closely at it. I’ll say this, the monkey-like creatures certainly knew their craft - it was very well made indeed.

“Hey! Put that that down!” A voice yelled over the din. “Who are you? What are you doing in here?”

I almost went for my pulse gun, but this time… yeah, I’d play the game. “Nice bit of kit that,” I said eyeing the firearm. “Got any spares going?”

The big fellow in the apron wiped his hand one a filthy rag that only seemed to make them worse. He stared at me curiously. “No I haven’t. Now, I’ll ask again, who are you and what are you doing in here? You one of the new guys?”

“S’pose so,” I shrugged dismissively. “Boss wants to know what’s happened to Carter. He’s been trying to get him on the radio and thought he might be skiving off in here.”

That seemed to work. The well built human nodded knowingly. “Carter? Nah, haven’t seen him for hours. Don’t get many visitors in here. Too noisy see?” It was too, the noise was absolutely deafening and I had to shout to get myself heard. The human bobbed his head towards the foal. “What’re you doing with that kid? She one of the horses?”

I felt the spirit shift within me, but kept my demeanour as nonchalant as possible. “Yeah, I’m taking this one to meet with one of our clients. Boss has had his fun for the day. Guess he likes to share, eh?”

The human let out a bellicose laugh that made his large gut shake. “Yeah, I bet!”

I turned to leave, “Hey, nearly forgot, boss says to give you this.”

The sweaty human took the small object from my outstretched hand. “What is it?”

“How the fuck should I know?” I replied, emulating the humans’ course language. “Looks expensive though, I’d keep it safe if I were you.”

He held it up to the light and grinned greedily. “Oh, hell yeah! It looks like one of them Fabergé eggs! Is he nuts? These go for an absolute bomb!”

As I walked out of the workshop, I muttered under my breath, “You can say that again.”

The door closed behind me, mercifully cutting off the deafening noise. I taken a chance, a gamble that had put both our lives at risk, but the task had been completed. Now, we had to save ourselves. The child clinging to my back, I gunned all my energy into running once more. Even without the map it was impossible to take a wrong turning now, the rattle of gunfire reverberating between the buildings was so loud it was making the very floors and windows shake.

In response the little foal squeezed my neck even tighter and I reached up to pat her hand. “Nearly there little one,” I breathed. “We’ll get you home soon.”

As if in answer to my words a beam of light up ahead of us appeared as a door swung open to the outside world. It was like an oasis in a desert to a stallion dying of thirst. It was the promise of freedom, salvation, and life itself. My heart was beating so hard now my ears were ringing, but even so, throwing myself through that opening to the outside might be a one way ticket to turning us both into jam. Instead, I slammed myself up against the wall, and peered outside. The building the agency ponies were inside was impossible to miss. Beams of light shot from broken windows towards where the humans were taking cover, returning fire with their projectile weapons. Between myself and sanctuary was a gap of some fifty feet or so, and one that was looking increasingly likely to be my final resting place. How the hell were we going to manage this?!

I tapped my communicator. “Dune? You there?”

“Nox!” The mare sounded desperate. “Gods almighty, stallion, where the hell are you?!”

“Right outside,” I said quickly. “For the goddess’s sake, tell your ponies to watch their fire!”

Dune paused. “There’s a side door near some large red pipes. There aren’t many humans there, and I’ll lay down as much covering fire as I can.”

I leaned round the doorway, spotting a large array of large diameter red pipework that disappeared into the building. “I can see the pipes, Dune.”

“Then shift flank, Nox. And keep your head down!”

Dune didn’t need to tell me twice. Foal in tow, I slipped out of the door, keeping to the wall and as much cover as I could find. Fortunately the place was a dumping ground of bins, containers and bricks that provided at least some protection from stray shots, as well as keeping us from sight as we moved ever closer. One short dash at a time, shrinking into corners, hiding behind the detritus of this alien world, we were only a few short steps from escaping this mad house when I saw them. There two of them, humans, peering up at a window and readying what was clearly a grenade. The ponies inside didn’t seem to have spotted them, and, thankfully, they hadn’t seen me either. Two rapid shots from my beam gun settled the matter, taking them down in smoking heaps of mangled flesh.

A face appeared at the window. “Hey! Is he one of ours?”

“He’s got a foal with him, check your fire!” Another shouted.

A snap of gunfire fizzed overhead, cracking against the brickwork mere inches away.

“Here they come!”

“Keep their heads down.”

“Nox! Move your arse, stallion! Covering fire!”

Under a withering barrage of covering fire from the agents I made a charge for the side door and barrelled through it without stopping, nearly managing to run head first into a support beam in the process. Thankfully one of the more quicker witted agents managed to grab me whilst another slammed the door shut behind us with a clang of steel that was like a balm for my soul right then. Dear gods, my heart was beating so fast my head was spinning! I passed my canteen up to the foal who spilt more over me than she got in her mouth, but she needed it more than me. The poor kid must have been parched. Fear does that to you. Personally I was looking forward to a shower, a wash, a clean bed, and as much wheat beer as I could pour down my throat.

A tall female with sand coloured hair walked over to us as I gratefully took a draught of water from her own profferred canteen. I closed my eyes, wiping a dampened cloth across my face. “Bloody hell, Nox, you cut that fine.” Dune nodded to the others. “Come on, we have to go. Glance, take charge of that foal, we’re clocking up some serious over time here already.”

Following Dune’s orders one of the mares walked up to us and tried to take the foal from my back. She wasn’t exactly rough with her, but the child resolutely refused to budge and even aimed a kick at the poor mare who dodged out of the way just in time. I sighed inwardly. Whether I liked it or not the tenacious creature was sticking to my back like a barnacle on a ship’s hull, and was showing little sign of releasing me any time soon. The mare looked at me in exasperation, but I just shrugged it off with a smile. “It’s alright,” I said pleasantly. “I think she’s become rather attached to me.”

Around us orders were quickly passed along and suddenly large pops began to detonate around the exterior of the building. I recognised the sound immediately - Flash bugs. We were pulling out.

Dune stood up tall, waving her arms and indicating the glowing portal. “Come on! Move it! Move it!”

Her order was followed with more enthusiasm than I think I’ve ever seen before in my entire career. One by one the team began to withdraw until only Dune and I remained to pass through the shimmering silver pool, and home. There was a crash of glass as a bullet blew out one of the few remaining windows, sending a shower of shards onto the concrete floor. The humans were still firing sporadically at the building, probably momentarily stunned by the flashbugs, but I was in no doubt they would rally soon enough and would be on us in a rush when they realised nopony was firing back.

The agency mare handed me a detonator. “It’s set for ten seconds. You want to do the honours?”

I nodded, taking out my own detonator for the other MAD’s. It too I set for ten seconds and placed them both on a packing crate, hands poised over them.

“Ready?” Dune asked.

I nodded. “Ready!” And by the gods, was I ever!

I clicked both detonators simultaneously and ran like the wind for the portal, just as the warehouse doors were blown in by the assaulting humans. Dune, myself and the little foal lunged through the active portal, landing in a heap on the other side. Suddenly I felt a warning from the spirit. Both of us knew what was coming next. I grabbed Dune and dragged us both clear as a wave of searing heat flashed out over us a moment before the swirling silvery portal collapsed in on itself. Bloody hell, so much for ten seconds, that was more like three! Still, other than the smell of singed fur, we looked to be pretty much in one piece. And more importantly, with all my legs where nature intended them. Unfortunately, my stomach didn’t agree.

And so, retching and sweating like a drunk on a Friday night, I lay there panting for breath whilst the medics dashed around tending to the more seriously injured. But we’d done it. We were home! At last, at long, long last… It was over.

Most of the teams had cleared out by the time I pulled myself back to my hooves. A steady stream of ponies, weary but jubilant, were heading off to a well deserved shower. The wounded had already been taken to the medical wing, whilst yours truly had been left to his own devices with a damp cloth, a mug of water, and a bucket of something especially unpleasant. It had all gone very quiet. I wasn’t sure what to make of that really. There I was, risking my neck to save ponies, and they all sod off and leave me there with my muzzle stuck in a bloody bucket. So much for being ‘one of the gang’! I sat on my haunches and nursed my thumping head, my jubilant mood souring by the second. But behind the last group to leave I saw something that was like a burst of sunlight through gathering storm clouds. Until I realised who it was. It was a large orange unicorn, staring at me with undisguised contempt. Warlock. I locked eyes with him, the two of us watching each other until another agent walked between us and he vanished, melting back into the throng like the odious little prick he was.

A hoof on my shoulder reminded me that I wasn’t quite as alone as I’d originally thought. “Nox? Come on, you can’t stay here.” Dune reached down and helped haul me up. It was quite a struggle too, and then I realised why - the little foal was still suck fast to my back.

“Is she…?” I asked, catching my breath.

Dune nodded. “Yeah, she’s okay, Nox. You did good, fella. Real good.”

I smiled wearily, and together we walked towards the door after the others.

“Feels funny doesn’t it?” Dune said, shaking her mane.

I huffed. “You’re not kidding. Could have done without puking up when I got back of course, but at least I’m not naked any more. Miss the hands though, those ‘thumb’ bits were quite useful really.”

She laughed, her ears twitching. “I know what you mean, a load of us emptied our guts when we arrived too. Fortunately enough of us were unaffected and we were able to clear a path for the rest.”

“Clear a path?” I asked curiously.

Dune nodded solemnly. “We were ambushed. At least, I believe we were…”

“Dear Luna…” I breathed.

Dune shrugged it off. “It’s just a feeling, Nox, that’s all. It may be nothing more than a coincidence, but I’ll guarantee you I won’t be the only one who’s thinking that those bastards knew we were coming.” She raised an eyebrow. “If I were you, I’d keep alert and keep your head down. Report anything to Brandy or myself, okay?”

She didn’t say what, but didn’t have to. I nodded. “Sure.” Goddesses above, was there a mole in the agency? If so, who? Warlock maybe? I’d never liked the guy and he sure as hell hadn’t made any secret of the fact he thought the same way about me, but the way he’d stared at me back there had sent a shiver down my spine. I’d be watching him in future alright, and keeping a pistol close to hoof too. I caught Dune’s attention. “Will you excuse me? I want to go and check on the mares and foals we got out. Do you know where they’ve be taken?”

Dune nodded. “They’ll be in the second accommodation block annex. Brandy arranged for medical facilities, drink, food and clean clothes. Normally the mistress keeps it for visitors, so it’s rarely used and, best of all, quiet.”

An irate squeaking and chirruping made us both stop and look towards its source - the brown sack on my back behind the foal. It was moving.

“What the hell’s in there?!” Dune sputtered, stepping back suddenly.

“Oh bollocks, the breezies! Hell fire, I nearly forgot… Here.” I untied the writhing sack, lay it on the ground and one by one the tiny creatures began to drag themselves out, battered and bruised, but mercifully alive. Not a few of the ungrateful little swines waved their minute fists at me. “Ah, I um... may have pissed them off a bit there, Dune. But at least they’re not getting snorted any time soon, right?”

“What?!” Dune looked shocked, “Oh goddesses, are you saying what I think you’re saying?”

So she didn’t know either, eh? “Oh yes,” I replied casually. “Breeze is Breezies, alright. Ground up into powder and taken straight up the old hooter. Surprised nopony realised it sooner.”

Dune shook her head in disbelief. “Leave them with me, I’ll find somepony to help care for them before they get stepped on. Bloody hell, I don’t believe this...”

I clopped her on the shoulder. “Thanks Dune, I’d better get this one back to her friends.” I motioned towards the tired foal.

The sandy coated agent smiled warmly and stroked the little foal’s mane before we trotted off through the facility towards the accommodation annex. The sooner I got my passenger delivered the better – my back was killing me! Reaching the building, I surprised to find the door blocked by two ponies who looked pretty annoyed to see me for some reason.

“Hey! Look who it is - the crazy lady’s pal. Where’s the nutcase today, Nox. Bucked any more agents in the face lately?”

Ah, that explained the black eye then. I shrugged. “Should work on those reflexes agent, she’s given me a few thumps more than once.” She had too, but I wasn’t going to tell him she’d done it in her sleep.

The grumbling pony opened the door, his friend sniggering behind her hoof and flashing me a cheeky wink as I went through. My hoof instinctively went to my cheek, feeling for any signs of the bruise the rampaging pegasus had put there a few nights ago. Tingles was an absolute nightmare in bed, the way she fidgeted in her sleep kept me up half the night - and those wings! I tried putting a foreleg over her to stop them flapping around, only to get whacked right on the muzzle. After that I’d insisted on her sleeping under the covers, and with her back to me too. If it had kept up the way it was I’d have ended up having to sleep on the settee, and somehow I couldn’t see her agreeing with that at all. One of these days I’d get my own bed back…

Brandy was already in the annexe's specious lobby with several of the senior agents whilst a bevy of medics, nurses, and assorted assistants distributed drinks, food and blankets to their weary patients. Mares, fillies and foals sat around looking absolutely exhausted, but mercifully in one piece. It was disturbingly quiet too, and no wonder. The mental scars they bore would be something that would take much longer to heal than any mere injury, and that was something I could sympathise with entirely. After all, who would believe their story? How could they explain where they’d been all this time to the families? Dear gods, they’d put them away in a nuthouse!

Pushing her way through the mass of ponies, a familiar squealing orange pegasus foal barrelled into us, leaping up at the one still clinging to my back. “Sweetie Belle! You’re safe! Oh thank Celestia!”

The little foal clambered down off my back and rushed into the open forelegs of her friend, the most animated I had seen her since finding her in the clutches of that evil monster in the human world. It was a heart-warming scene to be sure, and one that hadn’t gone unnoticed by the mares who observed the young ones in respectful silence. The two girls clung to one another without a word, and then a heartbeat later the orange one began excitedly rushing around her friend in a circle before the ivory coated one stopped in her tracks. Scootaloo, still lost in the joy of being rejoined with her friend, paused. Noticing Sweetie Belle’s expression, she moved closer, her face full of concern.

“Sweetie?”

Sweetie Belle looked up at me. “Mummy used to say there weren’t really monsters, Mister Nox,” she said gravely. “But there are, aren’t there? That… that human... He hurt me… He tried to… to…”

Tears welled in her eyes and I knelt down, a hoof outstretched. She backed away for a second before allowing me to pull her into a hug. Dear goddesses, she was so frail, so innocent. How could anypony, or any ‘human’ hurt something so precious? “There are monsters, Sweetie,” I said gently. “But there are many good ponies out there as well, maybe even good humans too. But it’s over now, you’re safe, and we’ll get you home to your family as soon as we can.”

She clung to me, sobbing silently until a nurse arrived with a plate of cupcakes and juice. “Would you girls like some cake and drinks?”

Scootaloo jumped up suddenly and managed to down one of the treats in one go, almost instantly breaking out in loud hiccups. The scene made me chuckle, despite the weight of my heart. Watching her friend, Sweetie Belle couldn’t contain it either, and before long we were all laughing at the stricken foal while the nurse rubbed the stricken creature’s back.

Brandy appeared a few moments later. “Nox! Thank bu- Celestia you’re alright. What happened over there? The mares and foals came through saying you were right behind them, and then the portal went dead.”

I shook my head. “Plan B.”

“There was a plan B?” Brandy asked in surprise.

I grinned. “There’s always a plan B, Brandy. Improvise. Adapt. Remember?”

He shook his head, looking around at the mass of females. “Is this all of them?”

I nodded. “So far as I know. The girls didn’t mention anypony else. Sweetie Belle was the last one.”

“Hang on!” Brandy near shouted, grabbing me suddenly. “Did you say ‘Sweetie Belle’? Shit! Do you know who she is?”

I shrugged. “Nope. Never saw her before. Not so far as I know anyway.”

“Damn it…” Brandy rubbed his eyes wearily. “Nox, she’s the daughter of one of the top noble families in Equestria. Haven’t you heard of Rarity? The Carousel Company?”

Racking my brains I remembered the fashion shop in Ponyville, the white unicorn with the purple mane who usually hung around with…Yes... Yes! She was the one who bumped into me, quite literally, in Manehattan when I was waiting for the informant! She was friends with those young mares and the crazy pink one.

Brandy searched my face and nodded. “Remember now? She’s one of the bearers of the elements, and a personal friend of Celestia herself.” He took me to one side. “We’re going to have to mind wipe all the ponies anyway, but this is going to be delicate, Nox. I want you to take her back to Ponyville to her sister’s place. We’ll come up with some cock and bull story to cover it first of course. Oh, and take Tingles with you too, the doc’s due to see her today and should be able to clear her for flight duties.” He paused. “That her friend?”

“Scootaloo?” I asked. “Yeah, guess so.”

“Looks like you’ve got your work cut out for you then,” Brandy pointed out helpfully. “Take as much time as you need, Nox. The goddesses know you deserve it. And don’t worry about your debriefing either, we’ll sort it out later when you’ve had time to tidy up. In the meantime I’ll let the mistress know.” I looked up as he clopped me on the shoulder. “And Nox? Thanks. You’ve done more than anypony could have ever asked of you. I mean that.”

“Thanks, Brandy.” I tried to smile, but I was so tired all I wanted right then was to get my gear off, clean up, and collapse somewhere quiet. But dear gods, Ponyville? Why did it have to be Ponyville of all places? It was the place where it had all begun in a sense, where I had first met Meadow, where I’d had my first assignment as a young officer of the watch. It was also where the princess’s rising star and protégé Twilight Sparklelived too. To think that the criminal underworld would have the sheer audacity to kidnap a child from a place like that, from right under the nose of one of the most adept magic users in Equestria, was beyond brazen. Not only that, but the foal in question was from of one of the most influential families in the land too. But in all honesty, I doubted they cared about that. They probably just saw a young, pretty foal that would fetch a good price. I sat back and took a long, slow, deep breath. I definitely had some mixed feelings about it all, but getting Sweetie Belle home was a lot more important than my emotional discomfort. Besides, it might be just the break I needed to recharge the old batteries. I watched the little foal playing with Scootaloo and some of the others, and my heart ached for them. Despite the exuberance of their play there was a hesitance in Sweetie’s movements which spoke volumes of the ordeal she’d lived through, and the horrors she’d seen. I suppose the memory alteration would be a goddess send for them, taking away all the sights and experiences no foal, no pony, should every have had to face. Damn those bucking humans, I hoped the MAD’s left nothing but ash.

It was the least I could do for them.