//------------------------------// // The Last Straw // Story: Fight As One // by Bluecatcinema //------------------------------// The morning following Consul’s arrival and the first two of his ‘tests’, the team of Project: Freedom found themselves back in the gym, having been summoned by Elite. Waiting for them was the entirety of the Taskforce and Consul waiting for them… and standing right behind them at the end of the ring was a stand holding up a bronze bell. “...That’s new.” Black mused, “What’s with the new decoration piece?” "This is the next step in your training." Elite declared, as he turned to Ballista, “Ballista, if you would.” “Okay, listen up, ladies.” Ballista declared, “Today’s training is something me and Elite picked up when we were over in Russiaddle some years back. Nothing too complicated. Get past me and all of us.” He gestured to Armory and company, “And ring this bell.” He points to the bell. “Ring a bell? Are you serious?” Fury scoffed, “That doesn’t sound hard.” "When you put it that way, yes." Incognito nodded. "However, what seems to be a sure thing in theory isn't always a sure thing in practice." Master Mind added. "Especially when Ballista's involved." Armory smirked. “Ruh-huh!” Titan added. “In case you’ve forgotten, Fury. You’re dealing with the original team right here.” Ballista bragged, “We’ve been through countless missions together, fought many battles, saved many lives, took bolts for one another. We’ve been fighting the good fight even before Black came along.” “He does have a point, guys.” Black turned to the others, “Knowing them, they’re not going to let us through without a fight.” "Please." Fury sneered. "Even if they give us that 'no powers' rule again, I'll still barely break a sweat against any of them.” "I seem to recall you saying something similar right before you took on Caboose, feathers." Sterling smirked. "And we all know how that turned out, don't we?" "I do." Caboose nodded. "He just got lucky, that's all!" Fury yelled. "None of these guys have that kind of dumb luck!" “Willing to put that to the test, birdcat?!” Incognito taunted. "Yeah, go for it, Fury." Sterling smirked. "We'd all like to see you take another fall." "Though I agree with the sentiment, I'd prefer that you do not presume to speak for me." Fletcher said bluntly. "Well, excuse me for living." Sterling scoffed. "Okay, knock it off." Black growled. "You gonna make us, fearless leader?" Fury sneered. "I'd like to see that." "Keep up the attitude, and I will." Black shot back Consul and Elite shared concerned looks. "Okay then." Elite said awkwardly. "The point of this exercise is for your team to get past the others. If any of your team ring the bell, the whole team wins. And if one of either team is pinned for three seconds or longer, they are removed from the exercise." "Sounds simple, right?" Consul smiled. “Okay. Ponies. Griffon. Diamond Dog. Take your positions.” Elite declared. The two teams did as such, as Black, Fury, Caboose, Fletcher, and Sterling took their spots on the side of the ring opposite the bell, while Ballista and his team stood in front of the bell. Every creature took battle stances, from Incognito hopping a bit in a place to Fury cricking his neck to Titan clenching his jaws... and Caboose explicit slipping eye black on his face. “Now, I’m expecting a good clean exercise.” Consul stepped up, “From all of you. The point of the exercise is to simply get past the opponents and ring the bell. This is not, technically speaking, a fight.” “Hmph, wanna bet?” Fury scoffed. “...Typical.” Sterling grunted under his breath. “With that said…” Consul began, “Begin!” “Okay, here’s what we do-” Black began. “Here I come!” Fury snarled, charging forth. “Oh, for the love of-” Black growled. Taskforce Omega simply stood there as Fury charged right at them. “Jeez, every time.” Incognito shook his head. “Titan. You know what to do.” Ballista turned to the Diamond Dog. Titan gave a knowing nod as he took a few steps forth. Fury took quick note of the Diamond Dog approaching him. "Okay, Fido, time for you to roll over and play dead..." He smirked to himself. Titan stood in place, arms held out, legs apart, not unlike a sumo wrestler. "You're goin' down, Rover!" Fury yelled. "Timber!" “Fury, wait!” Black called out to him. But it was too late. Fury charged at Titan, looking to overwhelm him with his superior speed. But, a mere second before he could land a hit, Titan suddenly clamped his arms around Fury, trapping him. "What the-?!" Fury struggled to break free in vain. "Let go!" "Ah, the old Titan bearhug." Incognito smirked. “Can’t beat the classic.” Armory mused, as he turned to the trapped griffon. “Of all the stupid-” Fury seethed, as he thrashed about in Titan’s arms, “You think this is going to be enough to stop me?!” “Oh no.” Master Mind shook his head, “That’s what his follow-up move is for.” "What are you talking abou-?" As he said this, Fury realized Titan was leaning forward. "Oh, no..." Titan dropped down on his front, pinning Fury under his weight. “Ooh.” Black and the others cringed. "Arrrgh!" Fury groaned. "Get him off! Get him off! He's crushing me!" “Stop being so dramatic.” Ballista tutted, “If Titan really wanted to, you’d be griffon pancakes. But needless to say, you won’t be ringing the bell.” “Raaaaaah!” Fury screamed, as Titan let out a happy pant. “...So, what were you going to say, Black?” Sterling turned to Black. “Well, I was going to have us move in from all sides... but since Fury got himself trapped, I got nothing.” “At least Titan is preoccupied right now.” Fletcher noted, “That ought to give us a edge.” “Somehow, I doubt it.” Sterling grimaced. “Look, all we gotta do is ring the bell. Doesn’t matter who does it.” Black growled, “I say we charge them all at once. One of us is bound to break through and hit the bell.” “Sure. Because that worked perfectly for Fury.” Sterling scoffed. “Do you have a better idea?” Fletcher glared. “...No.” Sterling admitted. “Come on, guys, we can do it!” Caboose smirked, “It’s four of them against four of us! I like those odds better than ponies not complaining about reboots!” "Then let's go for it." Black nodded. The group started running towards the Taskforce and the bell. “Okay, guys, we’re up.” Ballista smirked, “Let’s give ‘em hell.” Almost instinctively, the Taskforce charged forth to meet their adversaries. Ballista was first to meet his, as Sterling came right at him. “Here I come, old timer!” Sterling charged forward, intent on side-stepping Ballista at the last second, thereby granting him a clear shot at the bell. However, showing unprecedented reaction time, Ballista grabbed at Sterling before he could get past, and slammed him onto the mat. "Ugh!" Sterling grunted. Recovering quickly, he got back on his hooves. "Not bad for an old war horse. Guess the years haven't dulled your skills." "You have no idea, kid." Ballista grinned. Ballista lunged at Sterling, intent on pinning him. But this time, Sterling was fast enough to evade him, and delivered a kick to his side, knocking him down. "Too bad for you, I'm not such a slouch myself." Sterling smirked. "You have gotten better." Ballista stood back up with lightning speed, once again blocking Sterling's path. "But will it be enough?" "Let's find out." Sterling urged. Meanwhile, Black charged for the bell, only for Armory to get in his way. “I’m sorry about this, pal.” Black apologized. "We gotta win. Nothing personal." "I know." Armory nodded. "But don't take it easy on me for my sake. I may have a bad leg, but I can still hold my own!” “Well, if you insist.” Black nodded, continuing his charge, “I’ll try to make this quick!” “As will I!” Armory yelled, as he met Black’s charge with one of his own. Armory's greater weight allowed him to knock Black down. "Oof!" Black grunted. "No offense, pal, but you might wanna cut down on the doughnuts." "Noted." Armory grinned. "But they're coming in useful right now, aren't they?" "I wouldn't go that far." Black suddenly flung Armory off him, sending him flying across the ring. "Yikes!" Armory yelped. "You've still got it, Black." He stood back up. "But it won't be enough." "Wanna bet?" Black smiled. Black ran at Armory once more, as the Germane stallion made to stop him. But, just as they were about to collide, Black simply leapt clear over his short opponent. “Huh?!” Armory gaped, as Black continued running towards the bell, “Oh no, you don’t!” Reaching into his lab coat, Armory flung out what appeared to be a half of a cuff link, quickly latching onto Black’s right hind leg. “Hmm?!” Black glanced at his hoof, noting the new white ring on it, “What the heck is-” Immediately, Black felt himself being pulled backwards by his cuffed leg towards Armory. “Gah! What’s going on?!” Black growled, as he dug his hooves into the ground. “Magnetic cuffs.” Armory smirked, holding up another half of a cuff link, as it glowed, “One of my ‘personal’ creations. Not even Titan can pry them apart.” “Hey! That’s no fair!” Fury snarled, still pinned. He glared at Elite and Consul, “He’s breaking the rules!” “All we said is ‘no powers’.” Consul smirked, “Armory’s gadgets are fair gain.” "Would've been nice to know that at the beginning." Black muttered, a bit frustrated. "But whatever. And speaking of Armory..." He moved to face the inventor. Meanwhile, Incognito and Master Mind came face to face with Caboose and Fletcher. “Okay. I’ll handle Fletcher. You take Caboose.” Incognito stated. "Oh, sure." Master Mind rolled his eyes. "Leave me with the simpleton." "What?" Caboose frowned, stepping forth, "No, that's me." Meanwhile, Incognito and Fletcher were engaged in battle. Incognito moved fast, but Fletcher was faster, able to sidestep and leap over his opponent's attacks. "Impressive finesse, my friend." Incognito declared. "Thank you." Fletchet smiled. "One of the benefits of wearing armor during your day job." "This will almost be too easy." Master Mind smirked as he and Caboose faced off. "Your intelligence is no match for mine." "Says the guy who didn't even know who he was fighting." Caboose shot back. "Come and get me." Master Mind growled, annoyed by Caboose's ignorance. "You got it." Caboose nodded. As Caboose moved forward, Master Mind felt confident that he could outmanoeuvre any strategy Caboose had up his sleeve. But what he wasn't prepared for was Caboose moving in reverse. "What the-?!" He frowned. "What are you doing?" "Heading for the bell!" Caboose stated, turning so he was walking in a backwards circle toward the bell. "Th-that's not a strategy!" Master Mind gaped. "Get back here!" Meanwhile, Fletcher was grappling with Incognito. "That friend of yours is crazy!" Incognito declared. "I know." Fletcher smirked. "Isn't it wonderful?" With a sudden change in his centre of gravity, Fletcher flung Incognito into Master Mind, who was still staring in shock at Caboose's antics. “Go for it, Caboose!” Fletcher cheered. “You got it, Barley Jean!” Caboose hooted, as he added a little moonwalk to his strait, approaching the bell. “Not on my watch!” Ballista barked, dodging Sterling’s hoof, “Titan! Roll over!” Titan gave a ‘ruff’ in confirmation. With Fury still in his grasp, he suddenly rolled backwards and right towards Caboose. “Huh, that’s funny.” Caboose frowned, noticing Titan rolling towards him, “Did someone leave a big, brown boulder in the- OH, BUCK!” Titan slammed right into Caboose, knocking him right out of the ring. “Ohhh…” Caboose groaned. “I think I’m gonna be sick…” Fury also groaned, nauseous from Titan’s rolling. “Caboose!” Sterling and Fletcher gasped. “Big mistake, pal!” Ballista smirked, as he took advantage of Sterling’s distraction to grab him by the shoulders and threw him, slamming him down hard on the mat. He then twisted one hoof (notably his strong hoof) behind Sterling's back, and pinned him. “Gah! Let go!” Sterling struggled. With Caboose out of the ring, Fletcher fought twice as hard to avenge his friend. When Incognito lunged at him, he used the force of his charge against him, throwing him aside. "Whoa!" Incognito yelped. "Can't stay, must dash!" Fletcher ran for the bell. Seconds before reaching the bell, Fletcher was knocked aside by Master Mind. "Not so fast." Master Mind smirked. As Fletcher made to attack, his hoof was grabbed by Incognito. "Remember me?" Incognito declared. "Let... go!" Fletcher struggled. "Not today, I'm afraid." Master Mind grabbed Fletcher's other hoof, and together, they pinned him. At the same time, Black tried to fend off Armory (with his back left leg twitching due to the magnet cuff). "You may have one of my hooves locked down, but I'm still the better fighter, pal." He pointed out. "I know." Armory nodded, dodging Black's slowed attack. "I can't outfight you... but I can outthink you." As Black attacked again, Armory ducked the attack, placing the other cuff on Black’s right front hoof. "Gotcha." Armory smiled. Suddenly, Black's two cuffed hooves were drawn together. "Ahhh!" Black yelped, falling over from the sudden loss of balance. He tried to separate his hooves, but was unable to. "Oh, great..." "It seems Black is unable to stand." Consul noted. "Meaning that all of Project: Freedom are unable to fight." “And that is the end of that.” Elite announced, “Taskforce Omega wins.” Black, Sterling, and Fletcher let out a collective groan. Ballista let Sterling up, Incognito and Master Mind doing the same for Fletcher. "Sorry it had to come to this, pal." Armory stated as he unlocked Black’s cuffs. Meanwhile, Titan let Fury go. As soon as Titan’s grip slackened, Fury quickly slid out of Titan’s grasp, really upset. “Un-flapping-believable, guys!” Fury snarled, “You seriously couldn’t take a old horse, a gadget gimp, and two wimps?!” “Says the guy who spent the whole fight under a Diamond Dog.” Sterling snapped back. “Hey, that mutt was bigger than me!” Fury defended petulantly. "Excuses, excuses." Fletcher retorted. "A real warrior must accept his losses." His eyes briefly moved in Sterling's direction. "No matter how humiliating..." "Who said anything about me being a warrior?" Fury sneered. "That's for losers like you!" "Watch it, Fury." Black said firmly. "Just because you're sore about losing doesn't mean you can take it out on your teammates." "You callin' me a loser!" Fury growled. "If the shoe fits..." Sterling smirked. "Technically, we're all losers." Caboose pouted. "It's alright, Caboose." Fletcher comforted him. "There's no shame in being beaten by the best." "Yeah, keep tellin' yourself that." Fury sneered. "It won't change the humiliating loss you got served." "And nothing can wash out the stink of defeat from your feathers." Sterling sneered. "Don't you start, Sterling." Black scowled. "I'll start if I want to." Sterling retorted. "You know this clown has it coming." "I'll give you that." Black admitted. "But don't go provoking him. He's clearly got an anger-management problem." "You're the one who's gonna have a problem if you don't back off!" Fury snarled. "Watch your step, Fury." Black retorte. "There's only so much I can take..." "Ooh, scary!" Fury mocked him. "You should be scared!" Black yelled. “That’s enough, you guys.” Elite stepped in, frowning, “Do any of you know why the Taskforce was able to best all of you?” “I assume you’re going to say ‘teamwork’, right?” Sterling deadpanned. “Very good, Sterling.” Elite nodded, as he turned to the Taskforce, “Ballista and our friends have been working together for many years. Through those years, they had learned each others’ strengths and weaknesses. They all know the roles they have to play in order to win each fight. And whatever situation may present itself, they are able to adapt and coordinate their tactics so they will always come out on top.” “Really? If you ask me, they just got lucky!” Fury scowled. “Don't be jealous, Fury." Fletcher retorted, a bit miffed himself. "Just because you don't have an ounce of camaraderie in you, doesn't mean the rest of us are so afflicted." "Whatever." Fury spat. "So, does this mean we're done here?" Sterling asked. “Not exactly.” Elite answered, “We’re going to give this exercise another go.” “Again?” Black frowned. “Yes. And this time, try to work together.” Elite declared, “You’re never going to be able to get past them if all of you charge off on your own.” “Well, tell that to feathers over here!” Sterling gestured to Fury. “Shut it, Cross!” Fury growled. “Just take your places, and remember what I said.” Elite ordered, stifling a groan. The Taskforce and Project: Freedom took their places, Caboose joining Black and others after coming to. “Are you feeling alright, Caboose?” Sterling frowned, “Titan hit ya pretty hard.” “Oh sure.” Caboose smiled, “I think I no longer know math, but math is overrated anyways.” “Well, if you’re sure.” Sterling shrugged. “How about you worry about yourself, Cross?” Fletcher glared, “I’ll worry about Caboose.” “Hey, what happened to having ‘camaraderie’?” Sterling grunted. “There are exceptions.” Fletcher snapped. “Knock it off, guys.” Black growled, “If we are going to win this, we have to suck it up and come up with an actual plan this time…” He cast glances at his teammates, “...Any suggestions?” “Well, Titan is clearly the toughest of the lot.” Fletcher spoke up, “If him hugging and falling on you all it took to take Fury out, he’s probably going to be dealt with first.” “What about Armory?” Sterling added, “He may have that bad leg, but his gadgets are no joke.” “And then there’s the rest of the motley crew.” Fury scowled, “Oldie, skinny, and geeky.” “Oh come now.” Caboose frowned, “Ballista’s not that thin, Incognito looks alright for a stallion, and Master is still in his prime.” “...Idiot.” Fury hissed silently. “...Okay, I think I got it.” Black declared firmly, “Caboose, I don’t know how you’ll do it, but I want you to take care of Titan. Think you can manage that?” “You got it, Black.” Caboose nodded, “That doggie's going to the pound! ...Or to get a flea dip. They hate that..." “As for us three.” Black gestured to himself, Sterling, and Fletcher, “I’ll deal with Ballista. Fletcher takes on Incognito again. Sterling will deal with Master-” “Actually, I believe I should be the one to take on Ballista.” Fletcher added. “What? Why?” Sterling scoffed. “Because Ballista already fought and defeated you, and he knows how Black fights. He and I hadn’t fought yet.” Fletcher reasoned, “I could stand the best chance of defeating him.” "Hate to say it, but he's got a point." Sterling admitted. "Maybe..." Black mused. "But why are you so eager to take on Ballista?" "Oh... No reason." Fletcher said shiftily. "Just seems like good strategy." "Sure it does." Sterling snorted. "Nothing suspicious about that reasoning..." “Look, it doesn’t really matter.” Black shook his head, “We’ll take on then, and keep them busy.” ‘Hey, what about me? What do I do?!” Fury hissed. “You will hang back.” Black revealed, giving a glare. “What?! And leave me out of the action?!” Fury scowled. “You are going to be our bell-ringer.” Black explained, “When the others are distracted, we need you to get in quick and hit that bell.” “Well, that doesn’t sound like much fun.” Fury grumbled. “I mean it, Fury.” Black hissed, “The moment you see an opening, you go for it. Not before. Not after. Think you can manage that?” Fury glowered at the red stallion… and let out a huff. “Fine. If it quits your whinin’, I’ll wait.” Fury shook his head. “Okay then.” Black nodded, as he glanced at the others, “Get ready, you guys. We’re going to show them what we’re all about.” Soon, both teams had taken their places once more at opposite sides of the ring. “Okay, same rules as before.” Consul declared, “Remember, clean match! Go!” “Alright, let’s do this!” Black roared, as he, Fletcher, Sterling, and Caboose charged forth. “Another charge?” Master Mind grimaced, “You’d think Black would know better…” “But why is Fury hanging back?” Ballista asked, noting the griffon standing petulantly in the back. He turned to Armory, “Armory, you stick behind us. We’ll give these blokes another lesson in slobber-knocking!” Armory gave a nod as Ballista and co. charged forth to meet their fellow comrades once more. “Okay, here they come. Caboose, do your thing!” Black ordered. “Right-o!” Caboose smirked, as he ran ahead. “Titan, get Caboose!” Ballista barked. Titan gave a bark of his own, as he lunged right at Caboose. “Ooh, this oughta be good…” Fury smirked from afar. Titan swung his fists at Caboose, only to miss. "Woo-hoo!" Caboose whooped. Growling, Titan threw another punch, which Caboose leapt away from. "Nya-ha-ha-ha-ha!" Caboose laughed an irritating, high-pitched laugh. "Grrr!" Titan snarled, infuriated. Fury watched the scene, a bit perplussed. “Flap… how is that idiot doing that?” Fury grunted, secretly disappointed that Titan wasn’t clobbering him. “RRRR!” Titan slammed both his fists down, frustrated. However, as soon as he lifted them, Caboose wasn’t there. “Ruh?” Titan glanced left and right, looking for the odd stallion, “Ruff? Ruff!” “Ruff-ruff!” Titan immediately froze, as he glanced up… Sure enough, Caboose was on atop on him. Before Titan could react, Caboose began scratching a spot behind Titan’s left ear. “Rrrooo…” Titan suddenly drooped, whining with pleasure. "Aw, Who's a good boy?" Caboose cooed. "Who's a good boy?" "Rrrr…” Titan purred. "Yeah, you’re a good boy." Caboose smiled. "Oh, you've gotta be kidding me!" Fury seethed. “What the- Titan?!” Ballista gaped, actually surprised, “What are you-” “Hey, eyes forward!” Ballista quickly turned to see Fletcher charging right at him. Ballista made to receive his attack… only for Fletcher to throw himself sideways. Fletcher dashed toward Ballista, then threw himself sideways. "Ah, a classic feint." Ballista smiled. "Not bad, but against an opponent with some speed..." Ballista almost instantly moved to block Fletcher. Fletcher responded by diving between his opponents' hooves. But Ballista swiftly flipped over him, once again blocking the bell. "They sure taught you well at that academy." Ballista admitted. "But skill means nothing compared to years of actual battle experience." "We'll see about that." Fletcher declared. Fletcher made another move meant to catch Ballista off-guard, moving forward, then diving around Ballista, only for Ballista to grab him mid-leap and slam him to the floor. "Ahh!" Fletcher yelped. “Master Mind, get Caboose off of Titan!” Ballista yelled, as he pinned Fletcher, “I got my hooves full!” “Affirmative!” Master Mind declared, as he tried dashing towards Titan… only to get blocked by Black. “Sorry, Master.” Black stepped forth menacingly, “Can’t let you do that… I’ll make this as easy as I can.” "As will I." Master Mind retorted. Just before Black could strike, Master Mind struck a certain muscle by his left hoof. "Gah!" Black yelped, as his hoof went limb. "What the-?!" "Pressure point strike." Master Mind smirked. "Your hoof will be incapable of movement for the next minute or so. Want a replay?" Master Mind jabbed again, but Black made sure to dodge it, dragging his limp hoof. “No, I think I got it.” Black admitted, “Where did you even learn this stuff?” "From studying Tibrayten texts." Master Mind answered. “Hmph, should have known.” Black shook his head… before he swung his working right hoof into him, blasting him back a few inches, “But it isn’t going to help you.” “We’ll see about that!” Master Mind yelled, as he charged at him. Meanwhile, Sterling soon came face to face with Incognito, who made to block his way to the bell. “Going somewhere?” Incognito sneered, giving quite an unnerving glare. “I was, until somepony got in my way.” Sterling snarked, admitting perturbed by the hateful look in his eyes, “...I don’t suppose I could ask you nicely to move?” “Not a chance.” Incognito grunted, “I’ve been looking forward to this…” "Oh, really?" Sterling asked, as they began circling each other, "Didn't think I mattered that much to you. Kinda flattering, I must say." “You know, Sterling, there’s been something I was wondering about you…” Incognito hissed, “Just how much like your Forefathers buddies are you? Have you ever killed before?” “Well, to answer your first question, every Forefather agent is different. Wouldn’t say we’re all buddies. And the second question… I think you know the answer.” Sterling rebutted, “Why you ask?” “Hmph… I just remember this one Forefather agent that the Taskforce faced a while back. A pony by the name of ‘Reaper Foyet’.” Incognito recalled mockingly, glaring at Sterling, “Ever hear of him?" “Reaper Foyet…” Sterling mused… before shaking his head, “Nope. Doesn’t ring a bell. I assume he was a low-rank agent? Where you’re going with this?” "Reaper was a Black Sheep. A group of psychopaths and murderers employed by the Forefathers.” Incognito retorted, “He murdered someone close to me. Shadow Slinker. He was my teacher My friend. Slaughtered without a shred of remorse. Have you ever done that, Sterling? Ever killed somepony's close friend or family, just for the heck of it?" “...I fail to see how that’s any of your business.” Sterling shot back, adopting a bitter scowl in remembrance of that infamous group, namely their leader Scalphunter… as well as something else... "Now, are we doing this, or what?" "Oh, we're doing this, alright!" Incognito tackled Sterling. Sterling was bowled over by Incognito's sudden charge, but recovered quickly, throwing his opponent off him. “Look, I have little to no interactions with these Black Sheep.” Sterling scowled, as he followed up with a one-two punch, “I am not responsible for what they did to you or anyone else!” "I beg to differ." Incognito replied, blocking the strikes. "You were one of the Father’s flunkies. You let them and your fellow scums do as they pleased, letting them hurt everypony that got in their way!” He gave a few jabs, as Sterling dodged them, “Even if you hadn’t done it yourself, your inaction had hurt a lot of ponies!” He swung a few more times, as Sterling reared back to avoid them, “...And personally speaking, I don’t care what Elite thinks. I’m not going to stand having an unrepentant murderer around here!” Sterling paused for a moment, taken a bit aback by Incognito’s harsh words… but he adopted a firm glare. “Well, I’m sorry about your teacher.” Sterling began, “But here’s the thing… you can say that I’m unrepentant all you want… but you cannot be further from the the truth. And even if I was, it doesn’t really matter what you think, does it?” “What is that supposed to mean?” Incognito challenged. “You’re not the boss. Elite is. And Elite wanted me on this team. And while you may call me Father’s flunky, you’re just as much as a flunky of Elite’s. So don’t go thinking you’re better than me, because I’m sure Shadow Slinker didn’t teach you to be some whiny-ass twit.” “...You son of a-!” Incognito roared. Incensed, Incognito charged at Sterling again. "Gotcha." Sterling smirked. Taking advantage of Incognito's blind Fury, Sterling used the force of his attack against him, throwing him out of the ring. Sterling gave a cocky smirk. “And that’s the end of- GAH!” Almost immediately, Incognito got back up and charged Sterling from behind, tackling him to the ground. "Don't! You! Ever! Mention! Shadow Slinker's! Name! Ever! Again!" He punched Sterling over and over. "Get... Off... Me!" Sterling struggled to escape the beating. Caboose immediately noted Sterling’s plight. “Sterling!” Caboose gasped. “Caboose!” Caboose turned the other way, as Fletcher was struggling to get Ballista off of him. “Caboose, a little help here!” Fletcher grimaced, thrashing underneath him. “Come on, don’t make this harder!” Ballista grunted. “Uhhh…” Caboose moaned uncertainly, as he glanced at Fletcher… then at Sterling… then at Fletcher once more, “Oh, shoot…” Suddenly, Caboose hopped off of Titan… and darted towards Sterling. “Caboose?!” Fletcher gaped. “Caboose?!” Black echoed, realizing he got off Titan, “What are you doing?! You gotta keep Titan-” “Heads up!” Black turned to face Master again… only for him to jab the muscle in his right hoof, rending it limp. “Aw, crap!” Black fell face first to the ground, his front hooves unable to keep him up. Caboose grabbed Incognito from behind, and threw him across the ring. "Ugh!" Incognito grunted as he landed hard. "You okay?" Caboose asked as he helped Black up. "A little bruised, but good." Sterling answered. "Thanks for the assist." "No problem." Caboose smiled. "Now, I should get back before Titan-" A shadow loomed over them. Caboose and Sterling hesitantly looked up to see Titan standing them, baring his teeth and punching his fists together. “...Oh, no.” Caboose and Sterling meeped in unison. Titan threw out both fists at once, knocking both stallions out. “Dammit…” Black growled in frustration, still on the ground. “Caboose…” Fletcher murmured, hiding the hurt in his eyes. Meanwhile, Fury watched all of it unfold from his position, having grown rather tired of waiting while his teammates got the crap beat out of them. “Oh, to hell with this.” Fury growled, “If you want something done right…” Fury charged forward, rushing past his fallen teammates, and evading the enemy attacks. "Fury, stop!" Black yelled. Fury ignored Black, pressing on. He was getting close to the bell, when suddenly, something stuck onto his back with a big ‘plop!’. “Huh? What is...” Fury paused, as he looked behind him. On his back between his wings was something that looked like a mix of a really small plunger and a toy dart, with a black thread attached to it, leading it all the way back to… “What? You think it was gonna be that simple?” Armory sneered. The thread lead up to a hoof bracer on Armory’s hoof. It looked oddly similar to the ‘Homer’, “I designed a friend-friendly version of the Homer, replacing the arrow tip with a ‘high’-suction cup. I call it the ‘Homser’ (Hoof-Mounted Suction-Cup Ropedart). Observe.” With a clench of his ‘Homser’ hoof, Fury felt himself being pulled back. “Oh flap! Your stupid toy ain’t gonna stop me!” Fury snarled. Fury put his all into charging for the bell, determined to secure the win. He flapped his wings as hard as he could, sank his claws into the floor in order to drag himself forward... ...However, despite all that, Fury remained where he was. The pull on Armory’s invention counteracted all of Fury’s strength, leaving the irate griffon clawing in place, reaching for the bell. “Almost got it…” Fury groaned. “Eesh, this is tough to watch.” Armory frowned, as he continued reeling. “Do you want to call it, Consul?” Elite sighed. “I think it would be best.” Consul admitted, as he then declared, “The Taskforce wins again!” Each member of Project: Freedom emitted a groan, as Fury, realizing the folly of his endeavors, dropped to the ground, exhausted. “Well… that happened.” Elite stepped forth, as Titan let go of Caboose and Sterling, Ballista released Fletcher, and Black regained feeling in his two front hooves, “You all still haven’t fully grasped the lesson of this exercise… but on the upside, you did better than last time.” “There’s no need to sugar-coat it, Elite.” Black grimaced, “We blew it…” “Aw…” Caboose shook his head, “I’m real sorry, Black. I know ya told me to keep Titan busy, but I didn’t want Sterling to get his handsome face ruined.” “Well, maybe you should have let him.” Fletcher growled, “After all, Sterling was the one who riled him up.” “Fletcher is right. We might have stand a chance if you hadn’t gone and done that, Sterling.” Black glared at Sterling. “Hey, he started it!” Sterling snapped, as he glanced at Incogntio, storming off the ring in a tuff, not even bothering to look at him, “Talking about whether or not I'm some heartless murderer..." “Shadow Slinker was my friend too, Sterling.” Black frowned, “Did you really have to bring him into it?” “...No, I guess not.” Sterling begrudgingly admitted, “But still, I wasn’t going to just take that from him.” “Just think before you speak next time.” Black grunted, “The last thing you need is more enemies…” He then glared at Fury, as the griffon got back up, “As for him…” Fury was clearly livid, as his eyes stared daggers at Armory. “You have five seconds to get your stupid gadget off me.” Fury threatened. “Hey, take it easy, Fury.” Armory soothed, tapping his bracer, causing the suction-cup to pop off, as he reeled it back in, “It was just an exercise.” “A real stupid one if you ask me!” Fury snarled, “If you didn’t have these tinker toys on you, I would had wiped the floor with you and we would had won!” “No, we would have won if you had stuck to the plan!” Black stepped in, “You were supposed to wait till there was an opening!” “There was never going to be an opening.” Fury scoffed, “You four were all getting clobbered, because Caboose was a moron, Sterling is a good-for-nothing, and Fletcher was just plain trash! Even you couldn’t do your job right!” "Oh, like you did so well?" Sterling sneered."You were pinned by Titan for most of the first round!" "I only lost because I was out-numbered!" Fletcher yelled. "You were stopped in your tracks by a little gadget!" "A cool gadget." Caboose added. "Don't act like you did any better than us, Fury." Black growled. "Just rushing in without a plan is nothing to be proud of." "At least I tried something!" Fury shot back. "Something stupid." Sterling snorted. "Like getting your opponent angry?" Fletcher taunted Sterling. "Back off, Ulysses." Sterling scowled. "At least it took two to beat me." Fletcher said smugly. "None of you can say the same." "Two of the wimpiest guys on the Taskforce." Fury sneered. "Knock it off, Fury!" Black snarled. "Is that an order, 'boss'?" Fury spat. "'Cause I know where you can stick it..." Caboose didn't join in on the argument, only watching in discomfort. “Okay, guys, that will do!” Elite sighed, “Clearly, we still have a lot of work to do. But that’s okay. We have plenty of time. For now, you five should take a nice long break. Despite the losses, you’ve earned it.” “Well, if you say so…” Black shrugged, as he began to leave. “Hey, Caboose…” Sterling approached him as they went to leave, “Thanks for having my back back there. I know it cost us the exercise…” “Think nothin’ of it, pal.” Caboose smiled, “You’d do the same for me, right?” “Of course I would. You’re my-” Sterling smirked. Suddenly, Fletcher got between them, giving a nasty look at Sterling. “Come along, Caboose.” Fletcher declared tersely, “Time for a well-deserved break.” “Um, actually, I was hoping me and Sterling would-” Caboose began. “Now.” Fletcher glared back at him. “...Okay.” Caboose murmured, giving Sterling an apologetic look, “See ya.” “Yeah… see ya.” Sterling frowned, as the two walked off. “Well, I could go for a shower.” Fury grumbled, “After spending all that time under that mutt, I smell like dog.” "Too bad you can't wash out the stink of defeat." Sterling smirked. "You're lucky I'm not in the mood, Cross." Fury spat, stomping past him. ’Seeing him get his butt kicked almost makes up for today.’ Sterling thought as he departed also. Soon, it was just Ballista, Elite, and Consul, as Ballista left the ring. “I don’t know about you guys, but I kinda think that could have gone better.” Ballista admitted. “You can say that again.” Consul grimaced, "They were squabbling like hydra heads over a piece of meat. Not to mention they couldn’t complete the exercise.” “Look, it’s still early.” Elite defended, “We still have the rest of the two weeks. I bet you that they will become the team I know they can be by the time we through!” “I really hope so, Elite.” Consul shook his head, as he left the gym, “I really do…” “...You really believe that, Elite?” Ballista turned to Elite. “I am a bit concerned.” Elite admitted, “But I have faith in them. You saw them, they were working together for a bit. If we can get them to do that more, Wall should leave us alone.” “Well, you don’t have to worry about that.” Ballista chuckled, “I already have the others thinking up exercises for the following two weeks. By the time we’re through, it will be like having two Taskforce Omegas.” “I’ll settle just for them being able to make nice.” Elite declared, “Small steps.” And thus Project: Freedom had begun their rigorous special training as a team that would be counted to defend Equestria. Under the watchful eyes of Consul and Elite, the team underwent many exercises, devised from each member of the Taskforce. While many of the exercises were simple and to the point, such as trust falls, there were a few training exercises that proved to be rather… difficult. One exercise was one devised by Master Mind, with the five being placed in a ‘escape the room’ scenario set up in one of the bases’ hangar, the team needing to put their head together to solve puzzles and find their way out. However… Black, Fury, Sterling and Fletcher went around the room, trying to find a way out. "Hah!" Fury struck one of the walls hard, but it didn't yield. "Flap." "Nice try, Fury." Sterling snorted. "If there's a way out, it'll be through some kind of secret switch. We should check every nook and cranny." "Oh, please." Fletcher scoffed. "Nothing so simple. The true way out will involve a series of cryptic clues." Fury hit another wall. "Stop it, Fury." "You smart guys think too much." Black retorted. "I don't think it'll be as complicated as that, Fletcher. It'll probably be something hidden in plain sight." Fury hit another wall. "Fury, I swear, if you don't stop that..." "Hey, this my process!" Fury yelled. "Typical: punch your way out of a problem." Fletcher sneered. "You're hardly any better than Cross." "At least I don't think being smart makes me better than anypony else!" Sterling yelled. "Oh, knock it off!" Black growled. "I know what I'd like to 'knock off' right now." Fury spat. On a shelf was a rather innocuous teddy bear… with a small camera right in it’s bowtie, feeding to outside the room, where they were being observed by Elite, Consul, and Master Mind. “Jeez. It’s a good thing we’re not that Jigsaw character, or those guys would be screwed.” Consul cringed. “Come on, I didn’t even make this room that hard.” Master Mind growled, “Even our rookie agents would be out of this room by now.” “Really? If you ask me, this looks a lot like one of those ‘Manehatten Escapes’ rooms.” Elite grunted. “What? You think I can’t think up a competent ‘escape room’ of my own?” Master Mind glared. Elite simply stared at him. “...Okay, maybe a little!” Master Mind grunted, “I didn’t really have enough time to devise a ‘Saw-quality’ escape room, so I had to make do! My point still stands though.” “Well, it’s not all bad. Only four of them are arguing. Caboose seems to be staying out of it.” Consul observed. “Wait a minute…” Master Mind glanced at the video, noting the absence of the mafioso stallion, “Where is Caboose? I don’t see him anywhere!” “Did he maybe not go in with the others?” Consul suggested. “No. I’ve seen all of them go in myself. Caboose was with them.” Elite shook his head, “Did he maybe got out?” “That’s impossible.” Master Mind scoffed, “If these four couldn’t figure it out, I doubt Caboose could-” Suddenly, there was a sound of a toilet flushing. A door nearby opened, as Caboose came in, straightening his suit jacket. “Sorry, guys. Had to answer nature’s call. She was pretty angry.” Caboose shrugged. “Caboose, how did you…” Master Mind began. Back in the room, Fletcher spoke up. "I think I figured out what we need to do!" He announced. "The position of the furniture, coupled with the angles of the wallpaper, means that we should check under the-" At that moment, Caboose entered the escape room through a secret passage behind a mural of Earth Ponies, Unicorns and Pegasi. “Okay, team, where are we on getting us out of here?” Caboose smiled. The four blanched at the stallion… as Fury then hit his head on a wall in annoyance. Elite, Consul, and Master were just as perplussed. “...Okay, we really need to discuss this whole thing with Caboose.” Master Mind grimaced. “Let it go, Master…” Elite sighed. Finally, near the end of the two weeks, the team were tasked with another exercise, this time headed by Armory. Having made one for such an occasion, Armory decided to pit the five (who were allowed to bring their weapons (armor in Black’s case)) against a self-moving wooden machine, shaped like a giant minotaur, with many appendages wielding swords and axes, being swung automatically like it was alive. Armory was counting on them to use teamwork to take it down. In practice, it didn't quite work that way. The group were having serious difficulties taking it down. As the machine stomped toward them, Fletcher fired some arrows, which bounced right off it. "What kin of wood is he?" He frowned. "The kind that's a big meanie!" Caboose yelled. He fired his crossbow, but the bolts were deflected also. He was so intent on firing it, he didn't notice it was closing in. "Uh-oh..." He gulped, as the machine swung its arm at him. "Not so fast!" Sterling stepped in, cutting off a wooden arm with his sword. The machine stumbled back, unbalanced by the loss of a limb. Black took advantage by ramming into its leg, temporarily toppling it. "Thanks, Sterling!" Caboose smiled. "You really saved my hay bacon!" "Anytime, pal." Sterling smiled back. Fletcher scowled, annoyed at Sterling's interference. "Heads up, guys." Black urged. "We still need to finish this thing-" Fury suddenly charged at the recovering machine, tackling it against the wall. "Now for some real fun!" He roared. Fury struck the robot over and over again, but his constant strikes were unable to make it go down. “Gotta say, Armory. This machine isn’t half-bad for training.” Elite mused as he, Armory and Consul watched from the sidelines. “Oh, thank you.” Armory smiled, “The thing was just collecting dust back in my workshop. But you gotta thank Pike too. He helped did the carving.” “Um, I know it’s a little late asking, but is it safe?” Consul grimaced, wincing as Black blocked a swing from the ax, “My analysis won’t be any good if they’re all dead.” “You worry too much, Oswald.” Elite shook his head, “These guys can handle whatever Armory throws at ‘em… even if it originated from the mind of a Forefather technician..." Sterling paused, overhearing that tidbit. ’What the hell does he mean by that?’ Sterling grimaced. “Cross, heads up!” Fury roared. Sterling quickly turned and narrowly avoided getting hit by an ax. “Argh, that is it!” Fury stomped his feet, “I lost to a gimp, a mutt, and Caboose in these past two weeks already, I am not losing to a FLAPPIN’ machine!” Fury stood on his hind legs, throwing his talons forward. “Blackjack Technique Go!” Suddenly, a salvo of spears fired from thin air, slamming into the machine en masse. With each blow, the automaton was ripped apart, the spears hitting it with enough force to break pieces of it, reducing it to scraps and sawdust, ending with one final blow to the head, knocking it clean off. The team watched on in shock, as Fury got back down on all fours, letting out a huff. “There. It’s done.” Fury growled, as he glared at his teammates, “Thanks for nothing.” “Lauren Faust, Fury, did you have to destroy it?” Black grimaced. “Aw…” Armory groaned, “So much for reusing that.” “Hey, at least I beat it. That’s what counts, right?” Fury grunted. “Yes… I’d rather it had been a team effort, but beggars can’t be choosers, I guess.” Elite shrugged, “What do you think, Consul?” “I think I am thankful that was a machine, and not a equine being.” Consul winced, “Barbossa wasn’t kidding about your powers.” “Whatever.” Fury scoffed, “Are we done now?” “For now, yes.” Elite nodded, “You five did a good job today. Take some rest and we’ll be ready to start again tomorrow. Rest assured, it won’t be as strenuous as today. If you excuse me, I have business elsewhere to attend to.” “Me too.” Consul declared, as he and Elite turned to leave. “Well, I gotta go and see somepony about cleaning all this up.” Armory sighed, joining the other two. As soon as they left the room, Black drooped, falling down on his flanks. “Oh, Faust…” Black grumbled, “I don’t know how much more of this I can take.” “What’s the matter? Becomin’ old like Elite and Ballista?” Fury taunted. “Stow it, Fury.” Black growled, “We’ve been at these ‘team-building exercises’ non-stop. I’m exhausted.” “Yeah, me too.” Sterling grimaced, “What exactly is Elite hoping to accomplish by putting us through the grinder?” “He’s trying to make us a better team.” Fletcher said firmly, “I know it’s a foreign concept to you, but we need to be the best of the best if we are to face the Forefathers.” “I think we’re doing great if you ask me.” Caboose smirked, “I mean, you don’t hear Mr. Consul complainin’, do you?” “I don’t know.” Sterling shook his head, “I mean, we hadn’t exactly been doing the best in the exercises.” “Yeah, but we hadn’t been doing the worst.” Caboose smirked, “That’s good, isn’t it?” “Caboose’s right.” Black shook his head, as he got back up, “We’ve been doin’ our best. As long as we keep putting in the effort, Consul will be on his way, and it’ll be business as usual.” "And we won't have to deal with any more of this nonsense." Fletcher added. "You sure about that?" Sterling frowned. "What if there's more to come?" "Whatever." Fury scoffed. "I'm outta here. Need some private time." "I could do with a rest." Sterling admitted. "Let's go get some ice cream, Fletcher!" Caboose offered. "That does sound good." Fletcher smiled. "Yeah, you all have fun." Black sighed. "Some of us should..." Later, Sterling was walking down the corridors, heading for his quarters to get some sleep. “Come on, Sterling… you’re being paranoid.” Sterling spoke to himself, “Elite gave you his words that he would help Loveless. He’s been treating you like one of his own men.” He scoffed, “I mean, what reason do I have to believe that he do something so-” Suddenly, he heard some familiar voices nearby. “Uh?” Sterling frowned, as he turned towards the nearest door. To his surprise, it was the door to Elite’s office, “What is going on in there…” Sterling leaned in against the door, making sure he stayed out of sight. As he listened, he recognized two voices… “So, Armory, how did the clean-up go?” Elite’s voice asked. “It went quickly. It was courteous of Fury to have my invention smashed into small, carryable pieces.” Armory’s voice deadpanned. “You’d think it’ll ever run again?” Elite frowned. “It’ll never play the violin again, but give me a few weeks, and it might be battle-ready again.” Armory shrugged. “Well, while you’re doing that, I would like a update on how the research been going.” Elite declared. ’Research?’ Sterling frowned. “Oh, it’s been going smoothly.” Armory replied, “I gotta say, I was floored by the design of the DAMP generator on Sterling’s sword. On top of being one of the only pony-made inventions capable of disabling dark magic, I don’t think I ever saw a AMP generator this small.” Sterling instinctively glanced at the sword on his back. “Now, now, don’t get all ‘fanboy’ on me, Armory.” Elite chuckled, “Or else you gonna take forever looking at the other devices that Sterling’s ‘friend’ had created.” “...Loveless.” Sterling whispered. “Yeah, you’re right.” Armory nodded, “I’m still looking through some of the weaponry we recovered from Applewood. And then there’s the stuff coming from Manehattan." “Anything you could potentially use?” Elite asked. “Not necessarily.” Armory admitted, “I only wished I got a look at that Iron Arachnid from Titanfall. You know I’ve never been able to get that iron stallion suit Obadiah Stable had running again. So I have no idea how that thing works...” “Well, I suggest you keep looking.” Elite frowned, “It’s my hope that with time, your research could allow us to make use of those weapons so that we can fight the Forefathers more… efficiently.” “Yeah…” Armory murmured, “Sir, don’t you think we should inform Sterling about what we’re doing? I don’t know if he would like us lookin’ into his friend’s works like this. Maybe he could help us.” “Not likely. Sterling doesn’t seem to be the most knowledgeable when it comes to Loveless’s works. Besides, he should be focused on integrating with the team.” “Elite…” Armory frowned. “We’ll tell him when it’s necessary.” Elite said firmly, “But it’s important that we don’t distract him. Especially with Wall of all ponies on our backs…” “I just hope this is worth it.” Armory shook his head, “It’s odd to think that one of the Forefathers' own weapons could very well lead to their downfall." Sterling stepped away from the door, shocked. ’...Armory… he’s looking at Loveless’s inventions? His works? Is that why he wanted to look at my sword so bad?’ He thought. He scowled, ’That son of a draft horse. He’s going to steal my best friend’s weapons so he use to destroy the Forefathers… to destroy…’ He glared at the door, ’And here I thought Elite was on the up-and-up. But here he is, going behind my back...' Sterling stormed off to his quarters, and after washing up, he got into his bed, falling into an uneasy sleep. Sterling opened his eyes, and found himself on a desolate, frozen wasteland, one strewn with the charred remains of presumably Forefather agents. "What is this?" Sterling frowned. "What's going on?" "What's going on is that you've served your purpose." Sterling turned to see Elite approaching him. “Oh, buck me, this again?” Sterling groaned, “Where are we?!” “Well, we are currently standing in the mountain range where the Forefathers have been hiding…” Elite revealed. “Mountain range? You’re joking, right? It looks like we’re out in the middle of the frozen north.” Sterling grimaced. “It would look that way. Especially after dropping a big nuke on the place…” Elite sneered. “Wait, a nuke? You nuked the Forefathers?!” Sterling gaped. “You can thank your old friend Loveless for that.” Elite chuckled darkly, “Turns out he’s been working on one for a while. Lucky for us, Armory was able to take his notes and do us one better. With just one bomb, we leveled the whole place, leaving little to no traces of them.” "So… you wiped out the Forefathers. And killed Loveless" Sterling shook his head. "Just like last time... But worse." “Oh, who’s gonna miss them? They needed to be stopped. And we did.” Elite smirked. “And now you’re gonna kill me, like last time?” Sterling glared. “Well, it’s not like we have any other use for you.” Elite scoffed. “Very well…” Sterling seethed, “But if you think I’m going to let you get away with it, you are sorely mis-” A bolt tore through Sterling’s shoulder, the agonized stallion falling to the ground. “AUGH!” Sterling screeched, clutching his bloody shoulder. “It is a shame things had to end this way. For all it’s worth, Caboose really took a shine to you…” Elite tutted as he threw aside his crossbow. "...W-What are you doing now?!" Sterling tried to get up. "Finishing this." Elite placed his hoof on Sterling's chest, and pressed down hard. "Ugh, no, I won’t let you..." Sterling tried to remove Elite's hoof, but couldn't, even with his strong hoof. As he struggled, he suddenly noticed Ballista standing nearby, a flamethrower at the ready. "Wait... What's he doing here?" "He's just here to make sure some alien that possesses dead bodies doesn't bring you back." Elite announced, increasing the pressure, “You never know what could come out of a nuclear fallout.” "That.. Makes... No... Sense..." Sterling groaned, the pressure getting to him. "It's your dream." Elite shrugged. "Take it up with your subconscious." As Elite continued pressing his hoof down, Sterling felt his rib cage start to give way. "Urrrgh..." Sterling groaned. Moments later, Sterling felt even deeper agony, as his heart burst like a ripe tomato. "It's not like you were using it much anyway..." He heard Elite's voice taunting him as darkness filled his vision. Sterling woke up in his quarters, sweat dripping off his face. “...Okay, that was crazy.” He panted, “Especially the part about the body-possessing alien." He snorted amusedly. "Like there'd even be aliens like that." He wiped the sweat off his brow. "Still, it doesn't change the fact that Elite is going behind my back… I need to find out what he’s doing with those weapons..." The whole day went by in a flash for everypony that day. As Elite promised, the only team-building exercise that happened was simply leading the blind through a obstacle course. It went alright, although as with the rest of the exercise, it exemplified the issues the team had, as Fury lead Fletcher astray, running him into walls and into obstacles (by accident, he claimed), and Caboose giving very confusing directions to them. In-between these events, Sterling slipped away to attend to some private business, returning in time for the next exercise. Later, Sterling made his way to the lounge. Black, Fury, Caboose and Fletcher were already there. Fury was in a corner, sharpening a spear, Caboose and Fletcher were watching a movie, and Black was drinking some juice at the bar. “Hey, Sterling, where you’ve been?” Caboose waved. “Oh, I had to drop my sword off at my room.” Sterling shrugged. “For an hour?” Fletcher glanced at him warily, while still watching the movie. “Yeah, I noticed some scratches on my blade, and decided to buff them out a little. Gotta take proper care of your weapon.” Sterling smirked, as he glanced at Fury, “Feathers here knows what I’m talking about.” “Flap off.” “You too, pal.” Sterling gave a snide smile, as he glanced at the tv, “What are you watching?” "From Russiaddle with Love." Caboose answered. "Fletcher’s choice. Care to join us? There’s room for one more." “Heh, sure, I-” Sterling began. "I'd prefer he not, Caboose." Fletcher frowned. "What? Why not?" Caboose asked. "Yeah, why not?" Sterling glared. "You stay out of this!" Fletcher told Sterling. “How can I when I’m the one you have a beef with?!” Sterling shot back. “Oh Faust, not this again…” Fury hissed under his breath. Black let out a sigh, silently sharing his sentiment. "Fletch, why are you getting so mean about this?" Caboose asked. "Because I told you to keep your distance from him!" Fletcher told Caboose, “You promised you wouldn’t, yet here you are, acting chum with him!” “What does it matter to you?” Sterling glared, “For a guy who’s married, you’re acting very possessive of him. What are you, his secret coltfriend?” “Well, I’m not really into stallions, but if it was Fletcher, I would totally-” Caboose began. “It matters because Caboose is my best friend, and I don’t trust you around him.” Fletcher seethed. “But I do.” Caboose cut in with a frown, “Yes, I did promised you that I wouldn’t do anything with him… until we have ascertained his loyalties. Well, I can ‘as-certainly’ tell you he’s one of us. Why haven’t you?” “He has a point, Fletcher.” Black frowned, setting down his glass, “You have been rather hostile towards Sterling from the moment he got here. Not to say it isn’t entirely warranted, but it’s odd.” “Gee, thanks for the support, Black.” Sterling scoffed. “What’s odd about not trusting him?” Fletcher said coldly, “He’s an ex-Forefather agent, the definition of untrustworthy!” "So you think I'm less trustworthy than the Griffon?" Sterling spat, gesturing to Fury, “The asshole can’t even follow simple instructions!” “Hey, leave me out of this, Cross!” Fury scowled, “If anypony’s not worth trusting, try Mr. Idiot over there!” He pointed to Caboose. Caboose glanced around… and frowned. “...Um, Fury, I don’t think Mr. Idiot is here today. He must be off on break.” Caboose mused. “You see?!” Fury hissed. “Oh, please, you’re just mad that you lost to him.” Fletcher retorted, “For all that big bravado and lone-wolf talk, you can’t even beat the likes of Titan and Armory in a fight.” “Oh, like you could do any better, soldier boy?!” Fury roared. "Okay, that's enough!" Black stood up. "You're acting like children!" "Then why don't you reign us in, 'boss'?" Fury jeered. "Oh, yeah, it's because you're not fit to lead a parade!" “Well, I’m more fit than you, Fury!” Black growled, “Elite is counting on me to lead this team, and I’m not letting him down!” “Yeah, because when I think leader, I think the guy who got himself possessed by Sombra and nearly took over Equestria.” Sterling rolled his eyes, “Then again, Elite might not be the right stallion to listen to...” “...What did you just say?” Black glared. “How dare you!” Fletcher scowled, “You should know that Black has been fighting your organization for years! If anypony’s fit to be leader, it would be him. Even I, Captain of the Canterlot Royal Guard sees that. “You see, there’s a flaw with that logic.” Sterling sneered, “For all that training you got at that fancy academy, you’ve been trailing behind us. All of us. Face it, you're nothing but a second-rate wannabe." Fletcher stepped back, visibly stricken by those words… he then regained his poise, his eyes adopting a very cold gleam to them, as he got in close to Sterling. “...At least I can be counted on to protect Equestria.” Fletcher said coldly, “You couldn’t even protect your brothers.” The room went dead silent, along with Sterling, who stood there, a flash of grief across his face… “Holy flap.” Fury gaped. “Fletcher…” Caboose frowned. Almost immediately, Sterling’s grief was soon replaced with rage, as he then punched Fletcher right in the face. “Gah!” Fletcher staggered back, prompting a gasp from the others. Fletcher felt his snout, feeling blood trickling out… And in retaliation, Fletcher, with a snarl, slugged Sterling back. “GRR!” Sterling clenched his jaw, “That does it!” “Sterling, don’t!” Caboose gasped. Sterling tackled Fletcher, slamming him against the TV, destroying it. "Gah! Get off me, you scum!" Fletcher kicked Sterling off. As Sterling went flying, he crashed into Fury, who didn’t have time to get out the way. “Ow!” Fury grunted. “Get the hell outta my way, feathers!” Sterling shoved Fury hard. “Oh, now you’ve gone and made me mad!” Fury roared, as he slugged Sterling right into Fletcher. “Oof! You damn oaf!” Fletcher pushed Sterling off him. “Oh, you want some too?!” Fury snarled, “Well, here I come!” “Hey, knock it off!” Black grabbed Fury, trying to stop him from launching another attack, “All of you!” "Get off me!" Fury elbowed Black, causing a nosebleed. “Ugh!” Black clutched his snout… before letting a growl, “You know what, buck this! You’re gonna be sorry!” Before Fury could charge at Sterling and Fletcher (who were grappling with one another), Black rammed into Fury, sending them into the two. At that moment, all four of them were brawling amongst themselves. "Oh, I've been waiting for this for so long." Sterling punched Fletcher. "Didn't take long for me to get sick of his fancy garbage!" "The feeling is mutual!" Fletcher returned the blow. "You have been nothing but an insubordinate troublemaker since this team began!" Black had Fury in a headlock. "Never listens, never follows orders..." "It hasn't been easy for me either!" Fury shot back. "You, always acting like you're the boss of me... you ain't the boss of me!" "Come on, guys, stop!" Caboose tried to stop them. He threw whatever he could find at them, hoping it would cease the fighting. But one of the objects he threw was a rolling pin, which Sterling caught and used to hit Fletcher. "Whoops." Caboose gulped. "Hey, you!" Fury grabbed Caboose's hoof with his tail. "You're not getting out of this!" "Yikes!" Caboose yelped, as Fury dragged him into the fight. Meanwhile, outside the lounge, Elite and Ballista were walking by, deep in conversation. “Come on, Elite, you’re being paranoid.” Ballista rolled his eyes. “I can’t help it, Ballista. I feel the team haven’t been getting on as well as I would had hoped by now.” Elite admitted. “So the team's still having some issues. It’s no big deal.” Ballista shrugged, “I remember it taking us months to turn the Taskforce into the team it is today.” “But that was different. We all came from military background. Black and Fletcher aside, they’re all from different walks of life.” Elite frowned, “And I can’t help but feel like they’re one frayed line from coming apart.” “Look, we just gotta give it time. Consul got all the info he needs, and it should be good enough to tide Wall over.” Ballista smirked, “Besides, I believe the team has been doing much better today. I can bet you that they’re becoming buddies right-” Suddenly, the door to the lounge burst open, as a battered Caboose was shucked out. “AUGH!” Caboose landed in front of the two, stupefied. Quickly, he got back up and ran back in, “Come on, guys, let’s talk this out!” Immediately concerned, Elite and Ballista rushed into the lounge, and to their horror, the place was a complete wreck: The furniture was in shambles, and food and drink had been scattered everywhere. The members of Project: Freedom were covered in bruises, still fighting with each other - with the exception of Caboose, who was still tugging on Fury. “This. Isn’t. Helping. Is. It?!” Caboose groaned with each pull. “What the- what did you do to the lounge?!” Ballista yelled. “What is going on here?!” Elite gasped, horrified, “Stop this! Stop this right now!” Elite and Ballista waded into the mess, dragging the fighters apart. “Somepony. Explain. Now!” Elite demanded fiercely. “He started it!” Sterling pointed at Fletcher. "I did no such thing!" Fletcher yelled. “I tried to stop them!” Black defended himself, glaring at Fury, “But this asshole wasn’t helping!” “You want some more, Black?!” Fury threatened. "Thank Faust, you got here!” Caboose sighed in relief, “I ran out of things to throw!” “I don’t care who started it or who tried to stop it or who threw stuff!” Elite yelled, “All of you, report to your quarters, now!” The group grudgingly obeyed, taking care not to so much as look at each other as they departed… except Caboose, who was exaggeratedly drooping his head low. “...Faust damn it…” Elite groaned, “Look at this…” “I know… this is about as bad as when Titan accidentally ate those pot brownies.” Ballista grimaced, “Minus all the bite marks.” “This is bad, Ballista.” Elite shook his head, “If Consul finds out about this-” “Kinda late for that.” Elite and Ballista glanced at the door, where Consul was standing… with an rather disappointed frown. “Aw, buck.” Elite cursed. “I’m guessing you saw what happened?” Ballista deadpanned. “I saw enough.” Consul shook his head, “Look at this place… what a disaster…” "Oswald. It's not as bad as it seems." Elite protested. "Really, Elite?" Consul scoffed, as he walked in, stepping around the broken furniture, "This is supposed to be the team meant to defend Equestria against the likes of the Forefathers... instead, they were beating the crap out of each other!" “Okay, granted, they aren't getting along as well as we would have hoped, but this is just a minor setback." Ballista assured him. "Come on, even you two must see that this team is anything but." Consul countered. "Trust me, I've been observing them for the past two weeks. They clearly want nothing to do with one another." "That's not true. What about Caboose?" Elite asked. "Only a mere exception, and even then, Fury hates him." Consul pointed out. "There are some very bad blood between some of them. And I fear that we may putting them through all these exercises until we're old and grey, and they'll still won’t warm up to each other." "But they will." Elite said stubbornly, "If you just give us and the team a little more time, me and Ballista could double down on team-building exercises and-" "I can't give you more time." Consul shook his head. "I promised Wall I would give her my findings after two weeks, and I hate to tell you this, but this little spat of theirs isn't going to reflect too kindly on them or you." "Consul, come on." Elite pleaded. "These are good ponies and a griffon. You've seen what they could do." "I don't doubt that." Consul admitted. "But Project: Freedom just might not be the right thing for any of them or for RDL." "Oh, so I suppose Wall could do any better?" Elite snarled contemptuously. "You know she's been out to get me ever since I became director." "Oh, but I do." Consul nodded. "I do know that you and Wall always had your differences." Elite scowled in response. "And I know Wall isn't your favorite pony." Consul continued. "But she knows how to run a tight ship. Maybe if you gave her a chance... who knows, maybe she could whip up a better team." "Yeah, and I can move to the Dragon Lands, and get a job as a clown at hatchlings' birthday parties." Elite retorted. "Doesn't mean she can. This team can work. You just gotta give us a chance to prove it..." "Elite, I know where you're going with this." Consul sighed. "You're my friend, but Wall is my boss. Are you really going to make me choose?" “Look, just tell me and Ballista what we gotta do, and we’ll do it.” Elite urged. “We will?” Ballista blanched. “Elite, you remember what happened the last time I went behind Wall’s back, right?” Consul recalled, “She had me cleaning her office for three months!” “I know, but just tell us what we need to do to prove to you that Project: Freedom can work, and we'll do it, no questions asked." Elite pledged. “Hmm…” Consul hissed, before pondering for a moment… with a defeated sigh, he continued, “Well, I might have one idea.” "Well, don't leave us in suspense." Ballista urged. "What is it?" "Survival training, Ballista" Consul declared. "We take the five and dump them onto an island somewhere. They'll have no choice but to work together. If we give them a week, they oughta be a true team by then." “Survival training?” Elite frowned, “That’s a little extreme, isn’t it?” “You said ‘anything’, director.” Consul huffed. “I didn’t say ‘no’.” Elite glared, “I’m just a little concerned, is all.” "But what about Wall?" Ballista asked Consul. "Isn't she expecting some kind of report from you soon?" "I'll tell Wall I need an extra week to 'compile all the data'." Consul said shrewdly. "That should keep her pacified till the week is out. If those five are actually working together better afterwards, then I'll strike this little incident from my analysis." "...Thank you, my friend." Elite smiled gratefully. "You won't regret this." "I sure hope so." Consul frowned, as he turned to leave. As soon as he left, Elite turned to Ballista. “Ballista, get the others. Inform them of the plan.” Elite ordered. “...Are you sure about this, mate?” Ballista murmured. “It’s extreme, I know, but we don’t really have much choice.” Elite growled, “Desperate times usually call for desperate measures, and with Project: Freedom hanging in the balance, I say this is desperate as it comes." “I guess so. I just hope clowns don't wind up getting themselves killed." Ballista scoffed. "There's only one way to find out..." Elite declared seriously.