Back at the RDL headquarters, Elite and the others were on the verge of panic. It had been a hour since they'd witnessed the fallout of Project: Freedom and had their kite discovered by the mysterious harpy. The moment he had discovered it, the screen suddenly went black (presumably, the mirror had been put inside his jacket) and all they could hear was what sounded like leaves rustling and wind blowing.
However, not long after, they heard what they thought to be Sterling’s voice, but judging from the cries of pain and sounds of a pony getting pummeled, the harpy made quick work of him.
"Oh, this is bad." Incognito groaned. "This is really bad..."
"Catastrophic." Master Mind agreed.
"Woof..." Titan cringed, his hearing finally restored.
"What a mess..." Ballista shook his head, “Whoever this harpy is, he’s not messing around…”
"If only the screen hadn't cut out." Armory frowned. "I hate not being able to see what's happening."
“We don’t know what even is happening now.” Elite grimaced, “Who is that harpy?”
"I don't recall seeing him before." Master Mind admitted.
Elite glanced over at Consul… and immediately noticed something off about the portly stallion. The usually friendly and easygoing pony was sitting there, sweating a little, looking as if he just saw a ghost.
“Consul?” Elite asked, a bit concerned, “Is everything alright?”
"I, er... I'm fine. Just a bit… surprised" Consul answered, obviously nervous. He was rubbing his foreleg again, "Can I be excused for a second? Think I need some air..."
"By all means." Elite nodded stiffly.
Consul quickly left the room. Elite watched him leave, his face alight with suspicion.
"What are we gonna do, Elite?" Armory fretted.
"This was not anticipated!" Master Mind declared, “Black and co. were not appropriately geared for enemy hostiles!”
“No kidding. Ignoring the fact that our ‘dead’ soldier is out there exposed, if we don’t figure out what’s going on here, forget disbandment, those guys are going to get killed!” Ballista frowned.
"Rrrooo..." Titan whined.
"Everycreature stay calm." Elite instructed. "Right now, the only thing we can do now is wait for our ‘friend’ here to take out the kite again. Armory, when that moment comes, you need to get that kite up and flying again, can you do that?"
"I’ll give it my best shot, but considering the time I had to put it together, it won’t be easy...." Armory sighed.
“The rest of you, hang tight and help Armory when needed.” Elite requested, as he turned to Ballista, “Ballista, can you come with me, please?"
“...Sure.” Ballista frowned, noting the look Elite had.
As they walked out into the corridor, Ballista turned to face Elite.
"What's going on, Elite?" Ballista asked, "Why you got that look on your face?"
“It’s this whole situation, Ballista.” Elite admitted, “That island was supposed to be deserted. Nothing but wildlife… yet a strange harpy that no one seen before picked up our mirror… doesn’t that seem odd to you?”
“Look, we don't know what exactly is going on, Elite." Ballista pointed out. "Maybe that harpy was just a explorer or something who happened to be there the same time as Black and the others."
"No… I saw the way he looked at us." Elite frowned. "I think he knew what the kite was and why it had the mirror… and considering he found it not long after the others did... I think he might have been following Black and the others, along with us."
Ballista grew concerned.
"You think he's a-" He started.
"Forefather agent?" Elite finished. "I'm not sure. But I have a suspicion Consul might know."
"Consul?" Ballista asked.
“Think about it. He was the one who suggested 'survival training'. And he was the one who picked that island." Elite noted. "Not to mention that hole the team came across, and those Alpacian landmines. Put that and the harpy together, and it all starts to sound more than just a coincidence..."
"You don't think Consul send them there on purpose, do you?" Ballista asked.
"That is what I intend to find out..." Elite said determinedly.
Back on the island, Sterling woke up, his midsection tender. Letting out a small groan, he moved a hoof to it… only for both hooves to move at once. Confused, Sterling sat up, and found his front hooves have been bound.
“...Oh no, not again…” Sterling grimaced. Looking around, he noticed the others close by, also bound and unconscious. Looking around further, he realized that they were in some sort of encampment, surrounded by a bunch of glaring ponies and creatures.
"Guys..." He said awkwardly. "Guys! Wake up!"
Caboose was the first to awake.
“Ooh, I feel like I just got sucker-punched by a midget…” Caboose grimaced, as he shook his head, sitting up.
Almost immediately, he spotted Sterling.
“Oh, hey, Sterling!” Caboose smiled, “Good to see ya!" He nudged Fletcher awake, "Hey, Fletcher, look who's back!"
“Huh, what…” Fletcher winced, as he got up. As soon as he saw Sterling, he immediately glared coldly, “Oh… you.”
“Nice to see you too, pretty boy.” Sterling grunted.
“Gah…” Fury groaned, sitting up, grimacing from the pain on the back of his head, “Okay… who the hell knocked me out?! Because I’m gonna kill him right after I kill that flappin’ she-male!”
“You’re gonna have to wait on that, feathers.” Sterling huffed, “We’re in a bit of a situation here.”
“What are you…” Fury glared at Sterling… before glancing around, noticing the other ponies and creatures staring at them, “Oh, ain’t this fan-flapping-tastic…”
"Ughhh..." Black groaned as he weakly got up, barely able to due to all the bruises he got from the fight against Pomelo. "What's going on…?"
“Lauren Faust!” Fletcher gaped.
“What the hell happened to you?” Sterling asked, openly worried by Black’s injuries.
“What didn’t happen?” Black whispered, moaning a bit in pain, “I got throttled, and throttled good. I think I might have actually exploded at one point… I dunno, I think I blacked out for part of it.”
“It certainly looks like it.” Caboose deadpanned, “I seen anime characters take less beating than you did.”
“Yeah… what happened to you guys though?” Black asked.
"I'm guessing about the same as you." Sterling declared.
"Heads up, clowns." Fury pointed toward a raised platform.
A short distance away, Broker and his followers were talking.
"Check out the chatterbox." Fury indicated Broker.
"That must be the actual leader..." Fletcher mused. "Of whatever vile operation this is."
"Wait a minute..." Caboose spoke up.
"What?" Fletcher asked.
"We're a group of surviviors." Caboose pointed out. "Bound and surrounded by a bunch of unfriendly ponies... in a camp... and someone is about to come and greet us... oh Faust, this is that one season finale from The Trotting Dead!"
"What are you talking about?" Black frowned.
“This whole situation is just like that one scene!” Caboose declared, frightened, “Some guy, the leader, is gonna come up to us, make some small talk, get some screen time, and start taunting us about how we can breath, blink, cry, and then BAM! He kills one of us with a barb-wired baseball bat named Lucille!" Caboose declared. "And makes us wait a whole summer before revealing who he killed!"
"...Sounds like a pretty crummy show." Sterling said flatly.
“Yeah, you’re not really missing much.” Caboose shrugged, “But this is bad. I mean, none of us is a red-head or South Alpacian, but I doubt that will matter to him."
"...If he’s gonna kill one of us, I really hope he kills you first." Fury glared at Caboose.
"Fury!" Black admonished him.
“Hey, it could happen.” Caboose said solemnly, “If he does, remember, guys... I'll find you." Caboose said solemnly.
“Here they come…” Sterling murmured.
Broker, flanked by Turbine and the others, approaching the prisoners. His eyes slowly took in the five, before he began sipping the glass of milk in his hoof.
"Hello, honored guests." He smiled. "So glad you could join us."
"And who might you be?" Black asked.
"You the guy in charge?" Sterling demanded.
"Also known as the guy I need to clobber?" Fury sneered.
“What is going on round here?” Fletcher frowned.
Caboose remained silent.
“What? You don’t have a question?” Broker raised a brow.
“Naw. I’m just glad you don’t have a baseball bat named ‘Lucille’.” Caboose admitted.
“...Okay.” Broker grimaced, before smiling at all of them, “However, to answer your questions, I believed some introductions are in order.” He cleared his throat, “I am Rich Broker, the head of this establishment here.” He then gestured to the others, “And these fine fellows-”
Grunt let out a ahem.
“And lady.” Broker silently growled, “Are the ones who brought you here. They are Pomelo…” Pomelo flicked his mane, “Grunt…” Grunt gave a sneer, “Turbine…” Turbine let out a huff, “And Ferdy and Dan.” Ferdy gave a happy wave while Dan sighed, “We’d all like to welcome you to our little patch of heaven here on this island."
"Heaven?" Fletcher snorted. "You call a place filled with deadly beasts, traps, and mines 'heaven'?"
“Well, to each his own, I guess.” Broker shrugged, raising the glass to his mouth.
"A psychopath's rationalisation if I ever heard one." Sterling scoffed.
Broker turned to glare at Sterling.
"Oh-ho, don't think I don't know who you are." He said coldly, lowering the glass.
"And who am I?" Sterling glared back.
“Sterling Cross.” Broker sneered, “A former Ouroboros… that is, until he became a whiny, spineless bretrayer...”
"Best decision I ever made." Sterling retorted.
“But didn’t you say joining us was a-” Caboose spoke up, before being silenced by Fletcher.
“Well, that’s one way to admit you wussed out." Broker smirked.
“Better to ‘wuss out’ than to serve a perverted cause.” Sterling snapped back.
“Wow, the self-righteousness is strong with this guy.” Turbine chided in.
"At least I know what righteousness is." Sterling growled.
"Y'know, as fascinating as all this debating philosophy is, we really must press onwards." Broker declared. "We have a busy schedule, to be honest."
“Hey, wait a minute…” Caboose spoke up, catching the others’ attention, “I remember you!”
"You do?" Fletcher frowned.
“You do?” Broker echoed, confused.
"Yeah, sure!" Caboose grinned. "You’re that insurance agent from the commercial that aired a while back. The one with the cool rap!"
"Rap?" Fury scowled.
“...Oh Faust…” Broker gaped.
"Yep, it's still stuck in my head." Caboose grinned. He then gave a faux serious face, “Hey yo, if you commit fraud, you're gonna be praying to Faust. if you fake your wreck, we're going to break your neck. Cover your tracks well, I'll use my sense of smell, and all of a sudden your permanent hotel is going to be jail!”
“Oh, yeah…” Sterling gave a snide grin, “I think I remember that too.” He then spoke in a gruff voice “Yo, we do not cover acts of Faust, I am an act of Faust! Yo, you just remember, you want fire coverage, it's a separate policy!”
Broker's minions poorly struggled to hold back laughing fits, while Black, Fletcher, and Fury looked on in confusion.
"Oh, shut your Faust damn trap, both of you!" Broker snarled, not flattered by Caboose's and Sterling’s singing in the least.
"How in Equestria did an insurance salespony become a Forefathers agent?" Fletcher frowned.
“Oh, so you all wanna know, do ya?” Broker challenged.
“Oh, flap no…” Fury and Turbine unknowingly spoke in unison, both very displeased.
“Well, it is true, I was once a very good insurance adjuster.” Broker began, letting out a sigh, “There wasn’t an insurance deal I couldn’t seal. An insurance fraud I couldn’t sniff out. I helped make my company millions. I mean, you would find my face plastered on billboards and carriages all around…”
Broker then adopted a cold glare.
“But all that changed when a bunch of wanna-be terrorists decided to blow some stuff up over in Vanhoover.” Broker growled, “The ‘Royal Defense Legion’ decided to get involved, and over the course of a few days, a bunch of buildings and carriages got destroyed. And as it turned out, pretty much all of them were covered by us. The company ended up having to pay out a lot of security premiums. Nearly bankrupted them! And here’s the kicker: they blamed me for it! And then they fired me! Me! Can you believe it?!”
"Oddly enough, yes." Black deadpanned.
"Uh-huh." Fury nodded.
"Yep." Sterling smirked.
"WIthout a doubt." Fletcher agreed.
"Makes sense to me." Caboose shrugged.
Broker's comrades were clearly as unsympathetic as the Project: Freedom members.
"Kinda pathetic if you ask me." Turbine said coldly.
"Well, I didn't ask you!" Broker snarled.
"You got fired from a job where you just sat around all day, writing." Grunt sneered. "Poor you."
"Like losing that job was really such a setback." Pomelo shook his head.
"Even I think that's nothing to get depressed over." Dan admitted.
"I'm warning you..." Broker seethed.
"Maybe you shoulda had your career insured!" Ferdy cackled.
Suddenly, Broker turned and slugged Ferdy hard in the jaw, knocking the midget minotaur down, clutching his snout. The laughing immediately ceased, as Broker shook his hoof and turned to face everyone else.
“What? Nopony find it funny anymore?” Broker challenged, “You were all laughing a second ago!”
"I believe the moment's passed." Pomelo said awkwardly.
"Please, continue..." Dan urged.
“I lost everything, all because of those self-righteous ‘good guys’ as they call them.” Broker scowled, “I swore if given the opportunity, I would join up with the individuals who would see them and everypony else brought to their knees… and before I knew it, I was approached by the Forefathers… and they saw my potential.”
“That’s debatable.” Turbine muttered.
“So, what you’re saying is you’re just another clown with yet another petty grudge to settle.” Sterling sneered, “If only I had a Bit for every weak motive I've heard, I'd have more than you lost."
“Ooh…” Caboose cooed.
“Shh!” Fletcher hissed, out of annoyance and worry for what Broker would do.
Broker glanced at Sterling, as an eyebrow twitched… however, he simply put on a obviously forced smile.
“Okay, now that I’ve told you a bit about myself… why don’t you tell me a little about you all?” Broker inquired, “What are a bunch of sorry saps like you doing in a place like this?”
The team remained silent, even Caboose.
“Silence is not an acceptable answer, you know.” Broker spoke with an edge.
“Well, if you ask me, Broker...” Turbine spoke up, as he then pulled out the kite, much to Black and the others’ surprise, “I think it has something to do with this kite I found.”
“A kite?” Broker frowned, inspecting it, “What is with this dingy thing, and why does it have a mirror?”
“Somecreature obviously jury-rigged this kite to be a surveillance drone of sorts.” Turbine deduced, “And I bet this wasn’t the first time. Do you recall those airships that have been flying over this island for past several months? The ones you said were no ‘big’ deal?”
“...Ah, I see.” Broker growled as he glared at the bounded party, “So the RDL have caught on to our little operation, and they’ve sent you here to dismantle it, correct?”
“What?!” Caboose exclaimed nervously, “No! Not at all!”
"Yeath, that's crazy." Black retorted.
“Damn straight. We don’t even know what the flap is going on here.” Fury scoffed.
"Speaking of which, what is going on around here?" Fletcher asked.
"Yeah, what's with the tower, the hole, the traps... and oh, yeah, the Alpacian minefield?!" Sterling demanded.
"My, aren't we inquisitive." Broker said gleefully. "Well, since you asked, allow me to give you the run-down…”
“Whoa, Broker, are you sure that’s a good idea?” Turbine glared incredulously, “I mean, it could just be me, but it seems a little counterintuitive to tell creatures who have no idea of our plan... about the plan!"
“What’s the issue?” Broker sneered, “They’ve been captured, and as far as I can tell, they no longer pose a problem.”
"He's got a point." Pomelo agreed.
"We got 'em all tied up, don't we?" Grunt noted.
"None of these caged birds are gonna sing!" Ferdy spoke up, still holding his bloody snout.
"Even I don't think we have anything to worry about." Dan admitted.
The other Forefather agents concur, much to Turbine's distaste.
"Well, looks like the majority rules." Broker smirked at Turbine. "Now then, onto the matter of our mission..."
Back at the Taskforce HQ, Elite and Ballista found Consul out on the shooting range, leaning on the railing. He was breathing heavily, on the verge of panic.
"This is bad." He muttered. "Really, really bad… they stumbled onto Broker's operation... What would Elite and Ballista say if they found out about this?"
"Consul?" Elite called as he and Ballista approached him.
"Why!" Consul yelped, surprised. He hastily attempted to feign normalcy. "Hey, guys, what's happening?"
"My thoughts exactly." Ballista frowned. "What's going on?"
"I, er... Don't know what you're talking about." Consul pleaded ignorance.
“Okay, let’s cut the bull crap, alright?!” Elite snapped, getting up in Consul’s face, much to his discomfort, “My agents are out there, possibly in grave danger, and I feel that you are responsible for it in some way."
"W-what makes you say that?" Consul quivered.
"A lot of things." Elite retorted. "That look on your face, the air of furtiveness, and the fact that the deserted island that you picked isn’t deserted after all! And that’s just three off the top of my head. So, are you going to tell us what’s going on or do I have to use force?”
“I’d listen to him, Oswald.” Ballista advised, “We need to know what’s going on around here!”
“Ugh… fine. Fine! You got me!” Consul grunted, “I’ll tell you all you need to know… but you best gird yourself… it’s a doozy.”
"Back on the island, Broker began his own explanation.
“You see, a long, long time ago…” Broker declared, beginning the story, “Yours truly and everypony else here on the island were picked to go on a mining expedition by Mr. Gridlock Irons, from back when he was still… well, alive. According to him, there has been talk of anti-magic minerals being found on this island, materials that could prove useful for us. So for the next ten years, we toiled, mining and excavating all over this island, far away from any civilization or a cozy bed… and what did we find?”
“Let me guess.” Black deadpanned, “Not-”
“Nothing!” Broker cut him off, clearly still irate about it, “All that time spent, and all we dug up was worthless rocks… and a uncomfortably high amount of skeletal remains.” He let out a shiver, “We could only assume that whoever was on this island before us had already mined up all there was in this forsaken rock, leaving the veins bone dry. But we weren’t going to leave this island, and have nothing to show for it! So for another year or so, we spent looking, finding something to salvage from all that time wasted… when one day… we stumbled into a minefield of all things.”
"No, really?" Fury sneered.
"Been there." Sterling declared.
"And it was a nightmare." Fletcher stated.
"I thought it was kinda fun." Caboose shrugged.
"Now tell us something we don't know." Black urged.
"Gladly." Broker grinned. "A few hours (and a couple of dead guys) later, we came across something… an underground bunker of sorts.”
“A bunker?” Black repeated, confused.
“That’s right.” Broker smirked, “As we came to learn not long after, this island was once inhabited by Alpacians at some point. Where did they go? Don’t know, don’t care. But we did find something in that bunker… that something happened to be our destiny…”
Back at the RDL Headquarters, Consul had begun his explanation.
“A couple of months back, The EBI intercepted this airship that was flying too low. The aircraft was unregistered and unaffiliated with any company, and in it’s storage bay, there was a whole bunch of gunpowder, firedust, and rocket parts. The captain and crew wouldn’t divulge where they were going and what the supplies were for. Needless to say, it got Wall interested. So, we let them off with a warning and we followed them, right to that island.”
“The same island you sent Black and the others to.” Elite realized.
“Yes. And when we learned that the island has been ‘deserted’ for several years, we decided to look further into what was going on…” Consul continued, as he reached into his jacket, and pulled out photographs, “These pictures were taken by EBI agents on undercover airships that have been making sporadic passes over the island…”
Elite and Ballista examined the photos. They were mostly aerial views of the Forefathers' camp, and images of Broker and his minions.
“Elite. It’s that harpy again.” Ballista showed Turbine’s photo.
“Forget him, I’m more interested in this.” Elite declared coldly, revealing a photo of mechanized carriage with the Forefathers’ logo emblazoned upon it. “It’s them.”
“That’s right. The island is occupied by Forefather agents.” Consul sighed.
“Oh Faust…” Ballista cursed.
“What exactly are they doing on this island?” Elite scowled, as Consul fidgeted nervously, “And don’t you dare say ‘it’s classified’.”
“Well… we did some digging, looking into the history of the island.” Consul explained, “As it turns out, this island was once home to a group of Alpacian outposts. This island was a testing grounds for weapons they were developing back in their home country. However, the outposts went defunct following a massacre that occurred back in Alpacia, where one ‘Colonel Stature’, the one heading the testings, was killed. The island has been allegedly abandoned since then…”
Then Consul glanced at them, a worried look on his face.
“However... there was a little chatter that some of the weapons they were testing still remained there, untouched.”
"And what does this have to do with my team, or the hole they found?" Elite asked.
“That… is where things get bad. Real bad.” Consul grimaced.
On the island, Broker led the group to the big hole in the camp, the five prisoners pulled by agents. As soon as they were at the edge of it, standing not far from the raised platform, Broker spoke up.
“Lights, please!” Broker ordered.
The panel workers from before climbed onto the platform and after a few flicks of switches, the surrounding floodlights that were around the hole switched on.
“What the…” Black gaped.
At the bottom of the hole, secured in place, was a gigantic missile, formed from a black metal. Towards the top of it, there was an eerie green glow...
"Whoa." Caboose gaped. "That's an obsidian missile!"
"And you know this... how, exactly?" Sterling asked.
"I know explosives." Caboose shrugged, “I was once pen pals with a dictator… until he got overthrown. Never heard from him since.”
“Okay, what the flap is an obsidian missile?!” Fury snarled.
“Hey, I’m talking here!” Broker barked, silencing them, “...As I was saying, within that bunker, we found payloads, containing compressed dark ore. I’m sure you’re all familiar with those obsidian orbs the Storm King used? Well, think those times a thousand! With just one payload, it can expel enough of that mist to petrify about half the continent! And here we found a whole bunker full of them!”
"A whole bunker..." Black whispered.
"Full of mist that turn every living thing it touches to stone." Fletcher gulped.
"That's nuts." Fury declared.
"Nuts and fruits." Caboose added.
“What… what are you going to do with this?” Sterling whispered.
“Something that has been several years in the making.” Broker declared, “We’re going to launch this baby towards Equestria. We loaded enough payload into this one that the explosion and the ensuing fallout will be more than enough to turn Equestria into a desolate wasteland, decorated with stone statues, leaving only the Forefathers to go about as they please. Father will rebuild the entire nation, and me and everypony here on this island will be hailed as heroes! We’re talking big paychecks and status as high as clouds!”
The entire camp broke into cheers, with Turbine giving a small smirk.
“You scum…” Black snarled, “You'd wipe out an entire nation, just like that?!"
"What kind of monster are you?!" Fletcher roared.
"That's just... mean!" Caboose yelled.
“Son of a draft horse… this is a part of why I left the Forefathers!” Sterling growled in fury, “Because of ponies like you! What about all those innocent lives?!”
“Cry me a river." Broker sneered, “When it comes to life, there’s winners, and there’s losers… and I’m going to become the biggest winner this world will ever know!”
“Well, I hope you’re not planning to go for a victory lap...” Fury snarked. Suddenly, his eyes went wispy, “Because I’m about to end your career right here and now!”
Suddenly, Fury created a spear to break out his bonds, and before anypony could react, Fury charged right at Broker.
“Raarrgh!” Fury roared.
“Fury!” Black gasped.
Just as Fury was moments away from clawing the still stationary Broker, the ground suddenly erupted underneath him, slamming him into the air.
"Aaaah!" He screamed, crashing downwards. "Ugh… what the flap was that?!"
The others stared, agape with shock.
"That would be these." Broker grinned snidely. He put aside his glass of milk, then removed his black gloves to reveal special gauntlets with yellow orbs in them. "They're earth-controlling gauntlets made by Forefather technicians." Sterling glared at him. "And given to me personally. I don't like to use them unless necessary, but given how you guys caused me a fair bit of stress this past week, I think you deserve a little show."
"I'll give you a show, ya-!" Fury stood back up.
"There you go interrupting again." Broker snarled.
The gauntlets lit up and with a swish of his hoof, a powerful ripple spread through the ground, knocking Fury over again. Before Fury could recover, his was sent flying again. As he neared the ground, a piece of it rose and knocked him away. The Griffon crashed down, covered in bruises.
“Ooh…” Fury groaned.
"Cuff 'im, boys." Broker sneered.
Ferdy and Dan approached the wounded Fury, and placed a magic-canceling ring around his neck.
"That should deal with those pesky powers of yours." Broker smirked, “Can’t have any more outbursts, now can we?”
“Hold on.” Turbine frowned, “Why are we bothering with cuffing him? You told them your plans, and you got in your gloating. There’s no reason to keep them alive right now!”
“But there is!” Broker revealed, as he glared at the five, “I want to see the looks on their pathetic little faces as well as this…” He picked up the kite. "...When we fire the missile they tried so hard to stop. Making sure that there’s no hope left for them… then we will kill them."
"But... that's such a stupid plan!" Turbine growled. "They could escape!"
"Not likely." Broker snorted.
"But possible." Turbine said stubbornly. "We’re just asking them to come in and ruin everything!”
“Come on, you’ve been telling me all week about how they kept losing campsites and ending up in peril every step of the way!” Broker growled, “You really think they’re going to pose a threat now?”
“Faust dammit, Broker!” Turbine roared, “We didn’t capture these assholes and brought them here just so you could rub it in their faces!”
“But you did.” Broker smirked arrogantly, “And fuss all you want, but my decision is final. Now, why don’t you go and draw in that stupid book of yours?”
"Her!" Turbine stormed off.
"That's what I thought." Broker smirked. "Draw yourself a new attitude while you're at it."
Broker took a another sip of his milk, as he turned to the other agents.
“Now then, take our guests to the brig.” He ordered.
"With pleasure." Pomelo nodded.
"As for the rest of you, we're moving up our timetable." Broker announced. "We launch the missile by the end of the day, just in case those clowns have some kind of backup waiting in the wings..."
Back at Taskforce HQ, Consul finished his intel.
"...And they appear to be arming what we believe to be particularly powerful magical ordinance." He announced. "And judging by how it looks in the pictures, they're very close to completion. Should they succeed in firing at least one of them... I fear Equestria will be done for, without a doubt..."
Elite was oddly silent.
"Are you alright?" Consul asked. "... Elite?"
Elite suddenly grabbed Consul by his collar, pushing him against the railing.
"Elite!" Ballista yelled.
"Elite, please, I know you're angry but-" Consul pleaded.
"But what?!" Elite snarled. "Right now, we've lost contact and visuals of Black and the others. There are Forefather agents on that island. And now you tell me that there's potentially a plot to devastate Equestria! What the buck is going on here?!"
"Look, when we learned about their progress on the missiles, Wall and the others began looking into options as to how to handle this crisis!" Consul explained quickly, panicking from Elite’s grip on his collar. "But they couldn't settle on one! We couldn't bomb the island, not with the missiles on there! We don’t know what they’re arming them with, but with how close Mount Aris is, it could cause a lot of destruction, causing a international incident! We couldn't wait for them to fire the missiles and try to disarm them mid-flight with Pegasi. We have no idea what kind of missiles they are and we wouldn’t have time to learn on the fly!"
“Then what?!” Elite snapped.
Consul let out a sigh, his panic fading.
“...One idea that did come to mind was to send in a strike team, and have them take out all the hostiles and secure the missiles..." Consul revealed.
"...And why didn't they go with that?" Elite asked.
"It was too risky." Consul answered. "Aside from the aerial pics, we had no idea as to the layout of the island or or just how many Forefathers agents were on there. For all we knew, the whole island could had been swarming with them. Wall didn't want to send men in unless we could guarantee their safety..."
"But what how does..." Ballista paused, as he and Elite reached the same conclusion. Elite's glare hardened, as Ballista was shocked. "...No... Consul, you didn't."
"I'm sorry." Consul lowered his head. "Wall sent me here two weeks ago to analyze your team. That was still true. However, rather than check with her at the end of the two weeks, she had me checking in every night after all of you went to sleep. She made me keep her privy of how the team was turning out. She knew the team wasn't measuring up, and that they were at odds with one another. And as you can imagine, she was less than impressed."
"Shocker." Elite snarled.
"I'm sorry, Elite, but she's my boss." Consul sighed. "I couldn't lie to her to save my soul. But as I told her more and more about how poorly the team was doing, she began to get that look in her eyes. You know, that 'look'..."
"Dear Faust..." Ballista shook his head.
"Wall had considered following through on disbanding the team, like she said she would... but she also knew you would fight her every step of the way on it." Consul continued. "Heck, I was half-tempted to do so myself. But with the impending threat of the missiles, and the question as to Project: Freedom's fate... she decided to kill two birds with one stone."
"So, you suggesting 'survival training'..." Elite frowned.
"Was all part of Wall's plan." Consul confessed. "All I needed to do, as Wall put it, was ‘drop the suggestion’ when you were at your most desperate... which unfortunately happened not long after, what with that fight in the lounge..."
"Son of a..." Elite shook his head, disgusted.
"It was a well thought-out plan: we would send Black and the others into the island, with Armory using that 'drone' to keep tabs on him, knowing that he would, and have them explore the island. With the footage we got from the drone, we would have eliminated the unknown element from the island." Consul summarized. "And should they manage to locate the agents and dispatch them... well, that would be less paperwork to file."
"Except, essentially, they're the mining canaries." Elite growled. "Wall sent my team there to die so that her men wouldn't!"
"Hey, for your information, I was hoping they wouldn't find the agents!" Consul retorted. "I felt bad enough sending them in there blind. But Wall told me it was a 'trial by fire'. If your team was going to ever amount to anything, they needed to prove that they could save Equestria... or die trying."
"I can't believe what I'm hearing!" Elite growled, dropping Consul on his flanks.
"Me neither." Ballista shook his head. "I knew Wall can be pretty ruthless… but this?!”
“I’m really sorry, you guys.” Consul declared as he got up, his voice sorrowful, “I had no choice…”
"Maybe we should get the team together to go after them?" Ballista suggested.
"My thoughts exactly." Elite nodded, still glaring at Consul “Now that we know what we’re up against, we’ll put an end to this madness lickedy-split.”
“You can’t.” Consul spoke up.
“And why not?!” Elite challenged.
“Elite, think about it.” Consul urged, “How you think it’s going to look to Wall when the team that was supposed to ‘fight battles that we couldn’t’, your words, not ours, needed bailing out by another team that she already finds frivolous? She'd disband the team on the spot!”
“...He’s right, Elite.” Ballista grimaced.
“Ballista!” Elite glared.
“Look, it’s a crappy thing she did. I’m not arguing that!” Ballista glared back, “But if we intervene now, we’re only proving her right. That this team can’t cut it.”
“So, what? It’s either leaving them to die or have them dissolved?” Elite demanded.
“...Yeah, pretty much.” Ballista grimaced.
"I'm sorry, Elite." Consul apologized. "I never wanted this to happen-"
“You better hope they make it out of this alive.” Elite threatened, cutting Consul off. “Because if they don’t… I will be holding both you and Wall responsible. You got that?”
“...Yes.” Consul nodded weakly.
“Come on, Ballista. Let’s see if Armory got visuals back.” Elite scowled.
“Right behind you.” Ballista agreed, giving one solemn look at the regretful Consul as the two headed back to the operations room.
When the two returned to the operations room, they immediately noticed the screen wasn’t black anymore, showing what appeared to be clear sky and a forest.
“Hey, we got back visuals!” Ballista smirked.
“Yeah, it happened while you guys were out.” Incognito explained.
“That harpy from earlier pulled it out of his jacket or something.” Master Mind continued, “And it turns out he has friends.”
“...Really.” Elite grimaced knowingly, “Who?”
Before anypony could answer, the image on the screen blurred, then stopped, as the kite was now being held by Broker, glancing at the mirror in a bored manner.
"What was I thinking?" He muttered, rubbing his bald head. "Maybe I should consider growing an afro..."
“Grr…” Titan growled.
“Some guy we don’t know.” Incognito grimaced, “We think there were others, but they kept shifting the mirror back and forth. It’s hard to tell how many there are.”
“And we got no visuals of Black and the others. For all we know, they might be dead.”
"Great, some guy we don't know." Incognito frowned.
"For all we know, Black and the others might be dead." Master Mind declared.
"I refuse to believe that." Elite declared, though with a look of concern on his face, “They may not be cutting it as a team, but there’s no way they would die, just like that…”
“Yeah… Elite?” Armory spoke up, as Elite faced him, “I know this isn’t the best time, but I wanted to ask about what you were saying to Black and the others before you got cut off. When you said you had ‘no choice’... you weren’t going to give up on them, were you?”
“Yeah. I mean, I don’t like Fury or Sterling, but you never struck me as a guy to call it quits on somepony.” Incognito frowned.
“Well, that because he wasn’t.” Ballista smirked.
“But Elite said…” Master Mind began.
“I said I had no choice.” Elite cut him off, “...No choice but to leave them on that island, and leave them there till they learn to be the team I knew they can be.”
“Really?” Armory gasped, “...But what about Wall?”
“What about her?” Elite scowled, “I had to put up with that damn mare ever since I became director. Time and time again, she tried to intervene with the ways I did things. She may be the secretary of defense now, but Project: Freedom is my team. Our team. And no matter what, I’m not going to give up on them… not even now…”
Back at the island, the team were taken to a ramshackle building, and placed in metal, cage-like cells. There were only four cells available (clearly they didn’t expect to have anycreature to imprison).
Fury and Sterling shared one cell (staying as far away from each other as possible), while the others all had one each. The five sat their cells, contemplating their dismal situation.
“Well… this is quite the mess we got ourselves into.” Black deadpanned.
“No, you think?” Fury spat.
“What’s going to happen to us?” Fletcher asked.
“Well, I think they made it quite obvious.” Sterling growled, “They’re going to make us watch them fire the missile, and then they’re going to kill us.”
“Yeah, and once that missile hits Equestria, the Forefathers will be able to come in and take over without a problem.” Black grimaced, “We gotta do something!”
“Like what? What can we do?” Sterling frowned.”
“Well, someone better think of something and think of it fast.” Fury grunted, “I got a list of asses I gotta kick out there.”
"And, on a slightly more pressing matter, we have to save Equestria." Fletcher deadpanned.
"How are we gonna stop these guys?" Sterling asked.
"More importantly, how are we gonna escape?" Fury added.
"How is Broker still drinking that glass of milk?" Caboose suddenly asked.
"...What?" Black gaped through the gaps in his cell.
“That glass of milk he was drinking.” Caboose pointed out, “The whole time he was talking to us, he kept drinking and drinking, but there’s always the same amount of milk!” He then tilted his head, “And now that I’m thinking about it, why does he even have a glass of milk? I mean, with no electricity, any milk they had here would spoil, and there doesn’t seem to be a cow around… unless it’s teat milk… but the only woman there was was the griffon…” He turned to Fury, “Hey, Fury, do hens make milk?!”
“Oh my…” Fury fought the urge to vomit from the thought of Grunt, “Faust dammit, Caboose! Of all the things to think about, you focused on that asshole’s stupid drink?!”
“Hey, leave him alone!" Fletcher yelled.
"Or what?!" Fury sneered. "In case you've forgotten, we're trapped here! Captured by these flappers!"
"You know, I've been meaning to ask: what the buck happened with you guys?" Black spoke up. "You four were supposed to stay put at that ridge! How did they find you?!"
"Take a guess." Fletcher glared at Fury.
"Hey, for your information, I had that overgrown dodo beat!" Fury scowled. "But that stupid wanna-be bird in the jacket jumped me!"
"Well, if you wouldn't keep rushing in with reckless abandon, maybe you wouldn't get caught off-guard like that!" Sterling pointed out. "Just like you did minutes ago when Broker laid you out like a doormat!"
"At least I did something!" Fury shot back. "While I was beating that griffon to a pulp, Fletcher was continuing to be useless, Caboose was quacking, and you weren't even around!"
"He's right, you know!" Fletcher agreed. "The moment Fury attacked the griffon, you decided to desert us! And assuming how that Turbine fellow knocked Fury out with your sword, you didn't get very far!"
"Wait, you left them, Sterling?!" Black frowned.
"Hey, I wasn't going to sit around and wait to get captured!" Sterling defended himself. "I mean, look at you! You got beaten by that other pretty boy. He was barely half your size!"
"That 'pretty boy' was no boy." Black declared. "He was a buckin' Nightcrawler who could turn into this horrible beast! I was no match for him!"
"Well, Caboose and I didn't fare too well either." Fletcher admitted. "Those two minotaur twins got the drop on us before we could do anything."
“...Do minotaurs make milk?” Caboose pondered, unaware of the conversation, “Naw, that can’t be. They’re boys… the only way you could get milk if the milk was…”
Caboose’s eyes slowly widen…
"Faust damn it, how did things get this bucked up?!" Black groaned. "This was supposed to be survival training!"
"It's all Elite's fault, you know." Sterling scowled. "He dropped us on this island and had us wandering blind into hostile territory!"
"Again with blaming Elite!" Black snarled. "Elite wouldn't do that to us! He couldn't have known about all this, and knowingly drop us here unaware and unprepared!"
"Listen to yourself." Sterling sneered. "Always so ready to believe Elite, blindly following him, no matter. That's the same kind of blind loyalty the Forefathers expect!"
"Guys..." Caboose muttered.
"And you love your precious Forefathers, don't you?" Fletcher sneered.
"No, I don't!" Sterling snarled.
"Then why do you keep bringing them up?" Fletcher smirked. "Sounds suspicious to me..."
"Of course it does." Sterling growled. "Oh, wait, no it doesn't. Because you're only saying that because you're jealous of Caboose making other friends!"
"I am not!" Fletcher roared.
"I don't blame for feeling so insecure, pal." Fury sniggered. "Considering how useless you are, I'm surprised Napoleon still stuck by you."
"Shut up, you feathered hooligan!" Fletcher spat.
“And you, Cross.” Fury snarled, “You’re just pathetic. All that talk about wanting to change, yet again, the moment things get tough for you, you just run away! I can hardly believe you used to be those assholes’ boss!”
“Well, as least I’m not a cold-hearted psycho like you!” Sterling shot back.
"That's debatable." Fletcher sneered. "It's hard to tell who's worse!"
“Oh, flap you, Academy boy!" Fury snarled.
“You stay out of this! You already do that just by being here!” Sterling snapped.
"Guys?" Caboose said weakly.
"Knock it off, all of you!" Black yelled. "That's an order!"
"Order all you want." Sterling said coldly. "I only listen to real leaders."
"You have no authority over me." Fletcher sneered. "Because you have none in your voice!"
"No, sir, flap you, sir!" Fury growled.
"Oh, that is it!" Black roared. "I have had it with all of you! Acting like a bunch of bucking children! One stuck-up, one rebelliousness, and one who just doesn't listen!"
"Wonder who the 'stuck-up' one is?" Sterling sneered.
"Shut up, you backstabbing filth!" Fletcher growled.
"Both of you flappin' shut up!" Fury yelled out.
Caboose glanced back and forth as he watched the four argue, yell, and curse at one another.
"You are impossible!" Fletcher yelled at Fury.
"And you're an uptight flapping snob!" Fury retorted.
"Says the feathered thug!" Sterling snarled.
Caboose’s face contorted in misery and anger, as he tried to cover his ears. His head twitched back and forth, trying to block out the noise…
However, whether it was the situation they were in, the fighting, or just because the writers asked for it… Caboose had finally had enough.
“SHUT! UP!” Caboose suddenly roared.
The four froze, shocked to hear Caboose' voice, as they stared at them, panting with rage.
"Caboose?" Fletcher gaped.
"What the..." Black frowned.
"I... I have had enough of all this... this bullcrap!" Caboose yelled. "When we got dropped on this island, at first, I thought, when did I get a forest in my room? Secondly, I thought, oh, cool, a camping trip with my teammates! What better way to bond with my best buddies than roughing it in the wilderness?! But no! No, no, no! All four of you had to go and ruin it with all the stupid bickering and fighting! It's like listening to mommy and daddy fighting, except both of them are daddies, and there's four of them, and I'm the buckin' adopted kid in this scenario!"
"Oh, so it's our fault that we're in this mess?!" Fury scowled. "We probably would've never stumble upon these assholes if you hadn't pissed on that cragadile, gave us those stupid berries, and killed that roc!"
"Yes, and I'm a moron!" Caboose admitted. "I make dumb mistakes, and I do crazy things all the time! But that’s who I am! Everypony else, and the readers expects that from me! What are you guys' excuses for being assholes to one another?!"
"Hey, I can't help it if the others all hate me!" Sterling protested.
"Is it my fault you guys are all useless?" Fury snarled.
"I tried to give you all guidance, but you won't listen!" Black declared.
“You are way off base here, Caboose! I've done nothing!” Fletcher snapped.
“Oh, is that right?” Caboose sneered, “Well, sit back and shut up, because I'm about to school you in how each of you are wrong! Starting with you!” Caboose pointed to Black.
“Me?” Black winced, not liking the look in Caboose’s eyes.
“Yes, you!” Caboose growled, “Now, when I think of a leader of a team, I should be thinking of you! Out of all of us, you have been through hell and back, almost died, twice, and fought the Forefathers whenever they reared their ugly heads! How the hell is it that you haven’t been like that with us for the past month, huh?!”
"Hey, I've been trying!" Black snarled, legitimately angered by that remark. "Every day, I've been trying my best to be a good leader!"
“And I get that, Black.” Caboose glared, calming down a bit, “I know you’re trying your best to be a good leader, and honestly, I respect that. But the problem is, you talk and act like you’re leading, but when I look at you, I don’t see a leader. I see a janitor who thinks he’s nothing but a janitor, while everyone thinks he’s a five-star performer!”
“...What?” Black murmured, understandably lost.
“Bear with me.” Caboose grunted, “My point is, you think that because of all the screw-ups you made back then, you aren’t capable of being a leader. You try to sweep it all under the rug, and try to be the perfect leader you think you should be. Well, news flash, asshole, no one’s perfect! And no one’s asking for it! So for the love of Faust, admit that you were a warmongering jerk back then, and get over it, because we need the hero Black Elite recruited way back when!”
Black remained silent… but he bowed his head, silently acknowledging the truth.
"Dude..." Sterling gaped.
"Whoa." Fury muttered.
"Caboose..." Fletcher mumbled.
“Now, Fletcher!” Caboose turned to him, his anger reignited.
“Wha-?!” Fletcher gasped.
“I get that you have been under a lot of stress lately!” Caboose frowned, “We were dropped on a island, had a few run-ins with the wildlife, nearly died, and you’re having a existential crisis-”
“Existential crisis?” Fletcher sputtered, “That’s not-”
“But that is no reason for you to be a jerk to Sterling!” Caboose finished. “And as your best buddy, I can’t help but be disappointed!”
“But, Caboose, he-” Fletcher growled.
“-Was a Forefather, I know! Everypony know! Even the readers know!” Caboose snarled, “He did a lot of bad things! Why do you gotta bring it up every single time?!”
"Don't put this all on me!" Fletcher snarled. "We had a promise, and you broke it! All this time, I've been trying my best to protect you!"
“Protect me?” Caboose scoffed, “I appreciate the thought, Fletch, but I don’t need protecting, let alone you forcing your way between us and keeping us apart like some jealous coltfriend! I mean, I’m flattered, but it’s uncalled for! Especially you nearly killing him because you couldn't take five seconds to see I was in no danger! I can take care of myself and I can make my own decisions! If I want to be friends with Sterling, I will be friends with him! If I want to hang out with him, I will hang out with him! If I want him to buck me-"
"Huh?" Sterling frowned.
"Hug me, he can hug me!" Caboose corrected himself. "The choice is mine! Not yours! Me! Not you! Whose choice is it?!"
"Caboose-" Fletcher tried to speak.
"Whose choice is it?!" Caboose snapped.
"...Yours..." Fletcher declared dejectedly.
“That’s right!” Caboose huffed, “And don’t you ever try to tell me otherwise!”
“Hmph, about time, Caboose...” Sterling scoffed with a bit of satisfaction.
“And you, Sterling...” Caboose growled.
“Oh, buck.” Sterling grimaced, the satisfaction gone.
“I’ll admit it, I dropped the ball.” Caboose nodded solemnly, “I shouldn't've let Fletcher get between us as long as he had. You were my friend too, and I apologize for that…”
But then Caboose’s brow furrowed.
“However, that doesn’t give you the right to just up and leave us! Regardless of how some of us have acted, we are your teammates! Teammates don’t abandon one another!” Caboose declared fiercely.
“Oh, so now I’m your teammate?” Sterling challenged, “First time I’m hearing of this!”
“Well, you are!” Caboose growled, “And I’m sorry that we haven’t act like it, but you aren’t any better! Especially with the way you’ve been badmouthing Elite!”
“Hey, he’s the one who lied to me!” Sterling snarled, pressing against the wall of his cell that was towards Caboose, “He promised me he would help Loveless, but he then went behind my back and-”
“And what? Look at his stuff?” Caboose deadpanned, “Look, I don’t know what’s going on there, but where in any of that did you get that Elite is going to not do what he promised? That he’s not going to help your ‘friend’?”
“Well…” Sterling began, struggling to find a rebuttal, before scowling, “I just know, okay! I’ve spend a good portion of my life believing in a lie, and being used to carry out some sort of agenda! What reason do I have to believe that Elite won’t do away with me once the Forefathers are gone?! That he would live up to his part of the bargain?!”
“I don’t know, maybe the fact that Elite took you in, a high-ranking orobbyrus with a history of ‘turning coats’ and running away, offer you a new, more noble purpose, and a place on this team, when he could've just threw you in jail like the others?!” Caboose challenged, “Did any of that cross your mind?!”
"Well, not..." Sterling tried to rebut… only to silently realize that Caboose might have a point.
“You wanna know your problem, Sterling?” Caboose declared, “You don’t trust us. You don’t trust ‘anyone’. Not entirely your fault, I know, but if you don’t want to be alone anymore, you gotta have to trust someone!” He then gestured to Black and co., “So what if the others never like you? It doesn’t change the fact that for the foreseeable future, they’re all you got! We’re all you got! Do you understand?”
“I…” Sterling trailed off, unable to come up with a response.
“Are you done yet?” Fury spoke up, having kept silent the whole time, “Because while this is entertaining, all you’re doing is blowing hot air.”
“Oh, Fury…” Caboose shook his head, “...You’re just a dick.”
“...Really? You had long-winded speeches for the others, and all you can come up for me is, ‘I’m a dick’?” Fury scoffed.
“Hey, I was going off the top of my head for them.” Caboose defended, “I just don’t know about you. I don’t know the who, what, when, how, or why you’re a dick, but all I can say is that I feel sorry for you. I don’t know why you would rather be alone, and why you want others to hate you… but it’s just sad.”
Incensed, Fury opened his beak to give Caboose a good tongue lashing… but nothing came out.
“And that is why you’re all assholes!” Caboose finished, seeing all four of them standing in silence, still taken aback by his words, “You all brought nothing but discord to this team, and considering how I’m friend with the guy of the same name, that’s saying something!”
"Caboose..." Fletcher muttered weakly.
“Ugh, I am so mad, I can’t even look at you guys!” Caboose snapped, “I’m going for a walk!”
In a huff, Caboose marched to the door of his cell… and opened it.
The moment he did, the other teammates snapped out of their stupor, as Caboose walked out and slammed the door behind him, giving a fierce ‘hmph!’ as he marched out of the building.
Black, Fletcher, Sterling, and especially Fury stood slack-jawed.
"Did he just..." Black gaped.
“He did.” Fletcher murmured.
“Motherflapper…” Fury was too dumbfounded to be angry.
Seconds later, Caboose darted back inside, his anger immediately gone.
“Ohmyfaust! Ohmyfaust!” Caboose rapidly panicked, “Guys! I’m out! I’m out!”
“How?!” Fury demanded, “These cell doors were locked tight!
“Maybe the cells all have defective locks.” Fletcher mused.
Black tried to open his door, but failed.
"So much for that theory." He frowned.
“You know, now I think about it, this is the second time that happened.” Caboose pondered.
“Second?” Fury repeated.
“It’s a long story.” Caboose grimaced, as he started getting jumpy once more, “But still, ohmyfaust! What do I do? What do I do?!”
“Calm down, Caboose!” Black urged, “Or else the goons out there will hear you!”
“Right, right…” Caboose panted, “I gotta get you guys out of there! Just give me five minutes and I have these locks blown off!”
"There's no time." Black declared. "They’re going to be launching that missile anytime now. You need to try and get some help. These guys must have a radio or something to order supplies to their encampment, something that isn't bogged down by that tower. Find it and call Elite and the others for backup."
"But what about you guys?!" Caboose asked, “I don’t want to leave you here!”
“Don’t worry about us.” Black assured, giving a weak smile, “We’ll find a way out. You focus on getting help and saving Equestria. You hear me?”
“Yeah, but…” Caboose murmured.
“Then go.” Black ordered, “You got this, Napoleon.”
“Okay…” Caboose said hesitantly, looking at all his friends, “Off I go, then…”
Without another word, Caboose left the building, casting a glance back at his team.
Soon, it was now just the four of the Project: Freedom members, standing in their cells.
“So… you were serious about finding a way out, were you, Black?” Sterling asked.
"...Caboose wouldn't have left if I told him otherwise." Black sighed.
"Hold on, so you're putting our fate and the worlds' in the hooves of Caboose?!" Fury gaped.
"Yes, Fury, I am!" Black said fiercely. "Because believe it or not, he's the only one who can actually do something right now!"
"Oh, damn it all!" Fury scowled. "Well, we're all screwed now!"
"No, we're not!" Fletcher yelled. "Caboose may not be the sharpest arrow in the quiver, but when it comes down to it, Caboose comes through! ...He always does..."
"Yeah, he does." Sterling agreed.
"So what do we do until then, huh?" Fury scowled. "Count the number of bars in our cells?"
Black felt a pang of guilt for his inability to be a good leader. Remembering what Caboose had said before about talking (and the fact that they could still die), he came to a decision.
“...Hey, guys?” Black spoke up, as the others face him, “I would like to say something.”
“What now?” Fury grimaced.
“Look, with how bad things are looking and, no offense, Caboose being the only one able to do something, I want to say a few last words, just in case he…” Black explained.
“Are you sure we ought to be talking like this?” Fletcher frowned.
"Why not?" Sterling shrugged. "It's a free dungeon. Not technically, but you get my point."
“Well, make it quick. I don’t want your ‘woe is me’ garbage to be the thing I hear.” Fury scowled.
“Right…” Black murmured, “The thing is… Caboose was right.”
“And already I’m not liking this.” Fury deadpanned.
“Tough, because it’s the truth.” Black grunted, “When Elite told me how I was going to be the team leader of Project: Freedom… I felt scared… and unworthy. It had only been a few years since the Crystal Sun incident, and despite everything I did… or almost did, I didn’t think Elite would give me such an important role. But he did… and I guess, in my attempt to try and forget my failures, I tried to be the perfect leader, someone who hadn’t almost took over Equestria or done horrible things… but I failed. And for that, I’m sorry, everyone.”
“...You have nothing to be sorry for, Black.” Fletcher shook his head, “Despite what you may think, I thought you were a good leader. Despite your failings, you continued to protect Equestria, even though you didn’t deserve to. It’s qualities like that I admire.”
"For all the good that did." Sterling said scathingly.
"I must apologize to you too, Sterling." Black declared. "We've both been through a lot, and maybe I should've been more sympathetic to your struggles. I don't hate you for what you did in the past. If I was being honest, I held respect for you. Aside from Pike, you are the only pony I knew that turned his back on the Forefathers, damned be the consequences… but I was worried, also. That your lingering feelings for your old organization would cause you to falter, and that when things get tough…”
“Let me stop you there.” Sterling glared, “I don’t know how many times I can say this: I don’t care about the Forefathers anymore. That ship sailed with Titanfall. But I do care about the ponies I left behind!”
“Like Solomon?” Fletcher challenged.
“No.” Sterling glared, “Despite what you think, for every monster like Solomon, Gridlock, and Nailk, there were good ponies I’ve come to know… but none of them were as good as Loveless.”
“Again with that Loveless guy. What’s so special about him?” Fury scoffed.
"What's so special about him?" Sterling repeated. "Loveless was there for me from the very beginning: he broke me out of juvie when I had nothing left to lose, he taught me just about everything he knew, he stood by me through thick and thin…” He let out a small sniff, “...he was the kind of father my own father never was..."
"...That does sound special." Fletcher admitted.
“Yeah, it does… and what did I do to repay such kindness?” Sterling said weakly, as with a snarl, he slammed his cell door, much to the others’ shock, “I LEFT HIM! Left him back there with all the monsters, so I could make my little brother proud! So I could face Echo and Sunset again! But by doing so, I turned my back on everypony I've come to know in the Forefathers! My friends, my comrades, my dog! And here I am now, with the guys that want to destroy them, some of whom hates my guts for things I did or didn’t do, and… and…”
Sterling slumped to the ground, shaking his head dejectedly.
“...I don’t even know if I will ever see Loveless again. The last time we spoke, he told me to just forget about him, and move on with my life.” Sterling revealed, “But I don’t want to. Because if I lose him… I'll really be alone. So... alone."
“...Sterling.” Black said sadly, “...I don’t know if this means anything, but I know how you feel. When I carried out Reinadh and became a ‘traitor’, I had to turn my back on everypony I cared about too… especially my younger brother. If it weren’t for Elite and the others… I probably wouldn’t had been able to cope all these years.”
“Well, I guess you were lucky.” Sterling admitted.
“So are you.” Black smiled, “You got Caboose. And you got us.”
“Us?” Fury repeated.
“Yes, us.” Black nodded firmly, “Because like it or not, you’re a member of this team, and no matter where it is we’ve come from, we should have each others’ backs.”
“Black…” Sterling murmured.
"Really? Even if those backs are in danger of being stabbed?" Fletcher growled.
Black let out a small grunt of frustration.
“Okay, enough is enough.” Sterling huffed, glaring at Fletcher, “What is your deal? What did I ever do to you? Because I’m starting to think this is more than me being a former Forefather or the deal with Caboose. What? Is it because I broke your nose back during Titanfall? Because I’ve done a lot worse to other ponies before.”
“As always, you see things the wrong way.” Fletcher frowned.
“Then enlighten me, Fletcher.” Sterling demanded, “Chances are we might not make it through the end of the day. Might as well get it all out there!”
“Very well.” Fletcher shook his head in anger, “You know, when I first graduated from my academy back in Norhay, being a soldier used to mean something to me: doing the right thing, serve my country, uphold the law… when I met Caboose, member of a notorious crime family, I started to see that following the law didn't as ironclad as I thought. It was the same when I met Black. My viewpoint was changed yet again... but then you came along.” He added with a glare, “A former criminal who had done some horrible things, gets to fight alongside us, without suffering any repercussions or have even done the work that others have to get where they were!”
“...And?” Sterling asked, “What’s the issue? Because you just about described Caboose just now.”
“Yeah, he has a point.” Black agreed, “What makes Caboose so different from Sterling?”
“Because Caboose didn’t make me feel WORTHLESS!” Fletcher roared.
"Wait, what?" Black gaped.
"Seriously?" Sterling asked, genuinely shocked by such a statement.
“Ever since I was a colt, all I wanted to be was a soldier.” Fletcher grunted, unable to hide the anguish in his eyes, “And so I worked day and night, learning how to fight, studying up on military tactics, how to keep your armor clean! All of it so I could be the best soldier anypony could ask for…”
He then glanced at Sterling.
“But within the past month, you proceeded to outdo me in everything: you’re a better fighter, a better soldier… even Caboose enjoys being around you more than me…” Then he glanced at Black and Fury, “I mean, I already had no hope of comparing to you two, but to be outshined by the kind of pony I was trained to oppose… I’m… I’m…”
Fletcher let out a sniff, blinking his eyes to hide the wetness.
“...I’m just meaningless.” Fletcher sighed, “Being a soldier was the one thing I was the best at. But next to you guys… I’m obsolete. You all give something to the team, and what do I got? A bow and arrow!” He shook his head, “I don’t know why Elite even keeps me around when it’s clear I’m no good to anyone…”
“...You’re wrong, Fletcher.”
“Beg pardon?” Fletcher looked at Sterling, confused.
“Look, you may be a lot of things, pretty boy, but useless isn’t one of them.” Sterling said firmly, “A useless pony wouldn’t be here with us right now.”
“...But I am here.” Fletcher frowned.
“Exactly.” Sterling nodded, “You think you haven’t been measuring up compared to us… but the thing is, you’ve been keeping pace with us every step of the way. And for a guy who doesn’t have a strong hoof and a sword, years of battle experience, dark magic, and whatever Caboose is packing, that’s something to be commended.”
"Oh, really?" Fletcher said skeptically.
“It’s true.” Black agreed, “When Elite first heard about you and Caboose, he wanted both of you for this team, rather than just Caboose. And knowing Elite all these years, that means he sees potential in you.”
“Is that right?” Fletcher murmured.
“Damn straight.” Sterling agreed, “...And in regards to Caboose… he’s lucky to have somepony like you for a friend. I mean, sure, you went overboard, but the willingness to go to such lengths to defend his friend is something I can only dream of.”
"You may not be the best, that's fine." Black smiled. "Nocreature's perfect. It just gives you something to thrive for.”
“And say what you will about your ‘bow and arrow’, but it’s something that sets you apart from your average pony.” Sterling declared, “You’re no exception, Fletcher.”
“I… um…” Fletcher gave another sniff… only to bow his head with a smile, humbled, “Thank you… both of you. I don’t deserve such kind words.”
“Heh, neither do we, but I guess that’s why we’re here.” Sterling smiled.
“Yeah.” Fletcher nodded, as he faced the former Forefather agent, “Sterling, I… I’m sorry. For everything I did up till now. Especially about what I said to you about your brothers, back in the lounge. It was wrong of me to say such a thing, especially after what happened to Crystal.”
“Well, I’m sorry, too.” Sterling sighed, “For making you feel like you meant nothing.” He then turned to Black, “And for all the things I said to you guys. Regardless of how you all felt, you took me in, and all I did is be a jerk to you all. Especially Elite…”
“Hey, don’t worry about Elite.” Black said with determination, “You’ll be able to tell him sorry yourself when we get out of here.”
“Yeah… if we get out.” Sterling murmured.
Fury had watched the whole conversation silently, rolling his eyes at the melodrama and sappy talk. At one point, he thought he stumbled into one of crappy family films.
However, he noticed the others had started looking expectedly at him, Fletcher and Black eyeing him from their cells.
“...What?” Fury asked.
“Fury. Don’t you have anything you would like to say?” Black questioned, “Something to get off your chest?”
“...No.” Fury spoke bluntly and simply, “I have nothing to say to any of you.”
"Seriously?" Sterling gaped. "After everything you just heard, you’re just going to continue to play the ‘lone wolf’ card?"
“That’s right. Got a problem with that?” Fury scowled.
“Fury, this could your last chance.” Fletcher insisted, “Do you really want to die without making peace? Without a clear conscience?”
“No amount of talking is going to clear the conscience I have.” Fury said adamantly, “Besides, why would I apologize to you idiots?”
“Faust dammit, I don't think I'll ever understand how somegriff like you could be this cold." Black shook his head. "How you can just shove everycreature away."
"I didn't ask you to understand." Fury sneered.
"Yet you still seem to hate us for it." Fletcher noted.
"So you're a hypocrite on top of everything else." Sterling glared. "So where do you get off talking down to us?"
“I’m not talking down. I’m just talking.” Fury scowled, “And I’m talking about not wanting anything to do with you guys!”
"Really?" Fletcher raised an eyebrow.
"Yes, really." Fury said defensively.
"I'm no psychologist, but I think you're trying to hide something." Sterling declared.
"I'm not." Fury growled.
"There must be some reason why you're so against getting close to others." Black declared. "Some reason why you choose to be an insufferable jerk who pushes everycreature away."
Black then stared coldly at Fury.
“So tell us, Fury. What the hell is wrong with you?”
"You know what?! I didn't ask for this!" Fury growled, shoving Sterling aside and pressing against his cell wall, “I didn't ask to get saddled with you guys! It was all Barbossa's idea! For over twenty years, I've been fine on my own! I didn't need anyone! But no! Barbossa can't get it through his head that I don't want friends! What are they good for? You’re an overbearing tyrant! Cross really ruffles my feathers! Ulysses is an uptight, smug know-it-all! And Napoleon, he’s an annoying idiot! Yet, despite all that, I’ve let all of you get closer to me than I’ve let anycreature for the longest time!”
“Closer?” Sterling grimaced.
“Take what you get, Sterling, because that is as far as any of you will go.” Fury snarled, “Because that’s the problem with friends. You let them get close. You let them warm up to you. You let yourself warm up to them. And you start to care about them… and after all that, they just DIE!”
The others' anger faded as they saw anguish in his eyes, as Fury let out a pant.
"And... leave you with this... pain..." Fury trailed off, clenching his talons.
"What... what are you talking about?" Black asked. "What pain?”
“I’m talking about losing everyone around you...” Fury snarled, his eyes misty, “...In the beginning, it was only me and my sister, Dawn. We were penniless, homeless, and we had nogriff else... it was a rough life…” Fury’s beak curled into a smile for a brief moment, “...but we still had each other. And that was good enough for her…" The smile soon faded, “But it wasn’t for me. I only wanted better for both of us, and because of one lousy Faust-awful choice…” He closed his eyes, trembling, “...I ended up losing her. Left her unhatched son with a brute, and I got saddled with the stigma of being one of the few Nightcrawlers among Griffinkind. And my rough life just became flappin’ hell.”
Fury opened his eyes, facing the three.
“It wasn’t long to hit rock bottom after that. I became what would call a vagrant.” Fury explained, “I was back where I started, only this time, I was alone. I’ve tried my hardest to move on, forgetting what I did and why my sister was no longer alive… but the losses didn’t end there.” He gave a hateful glare at Black and Sterling, “You two go on and on about how you lost your ‘brother’ or your ‘friend’... well, everycreature I’ve met after I lost Dawn either died or betrayed me. Sometimes both. And every time I lost someone, the pain… the same pain I felt when my sister died, would come back. And it would make me hurt. Hurt in ways weapons or otherwise couldn’t.”
“...Fury…” Black mumbled.
“...It wasn’t till I met Barbossa that things actually changed.” Fury revealed, “Unlike everyone else, Barbossa didn’t go away. Aside from Dawn, he became the only good thing in my life. I thought that by meeting him, my luck had finally changed, that maybe I wouldn’t lose any more ponies or creatures. That the pain would finally go away. But… it didn’t.”
“What do you mean?” Sterling frowned.
“Well, when those two Germane senators hired Frankensteed, otherwise known as Nero, and his squad to start killing Nightcrawlers, Barbossa had me team up with another Nightcrawler, Quicksilver, to keep tabs on them. I was undercover as Nero’s right hand griffon, while Quicksilver tried to help Barbossa compile evidence against the Hubris and their co-conspirators.” Fury revealed, “Barbossa introduced the two of us not long before, and we actually became good friends. Something I never had for more than a month… but then…”
“Wait… I think I remember him.” Sterling mused, “...Quicksilver was once one of the Shadow Stalkers, wasn’t he? The ones Echo and Sunset helped?”
“Yeah...” Fury nodded, “And that’s how Nero found him. After tracking him down, Nero and his guys captured him…” Fury grit his beak, “And I had to watch, while Nero used him as a pin-cushion. I couldn’t stop him, not without blowing my covers and ruining Barbossa’s plans. As he kept stabbing him over and over, Quicksilver just looked at me, giving me that look saying that it wasn’t my fault… that it wasn’t-”
Fury couldn’t finish, let out a anguished growl.
"Oh, jeez..." Sterling cringed.
"I had no idea..." Fletcher shook his head.
“Fury… I-” Black wasn’t sure how to respond.
“And that’s why I don’t let anycreature in anymore.” Fury scowled, sadness in his voice, “The only way that pain will go away if I don’t care about the ones I lose. That’s how I keep myself going…”
“...And how does being a thug figure into that plan?” Fletcher frowned.
“It’s to keep you guys from mourning for me.” Fury huffed, “Would you care about someone you hate?”
"What?! But what about Eclipse?" Sterling asked, “He’s your nephew!”
"He won't miss someone who doesn't want to be a part of his life." Fury said sadly, “What you guys don’t get is you can’t miss someone and grieve for them if you never cared about them. No one should have to deal with that pain. Especially over someone like me...”
“...Fury, that is the stupidest thing I have ever heard!” Black snarled.
“Black!” Fletcher and Sterling gasped.
Fury furrowed his brows.
“Fury, I’m sorry about what you had to go through. Really, I am.” Black declared, only to glare fiercely, “But I can tell you that being a cold, unfeeling griffon is the worst thing you could do!”
“And why is that?” Fury challenged.
“Because I’ve been there!” Black snapped, “After I lost my brother, I pushed everypony away. I became angry, selfish, and cold… before I knew it, I brutalized a bunch of changelings, got stuck under a mansion for ten years, blew up said mansion, and almost took over Equestria! It was a miracle that I was able to come back from that! I almost didn’t! By insisting on being alone, yes, you won’t hurt anyone. But instead, you’re only hurting yourself. And deep down, you know that.”
"You don't know what you're talking about." Fury grunted.
“I think he does, Fury.” Sterling pointed out, “Because I once felt the same way as well. That I hurt everypony around me. And from experience, I can say you’re not fooling me.”
“Fooling you? About what?” Fury grimaced.
“About not caring about anyone.” Sterling explained, “You care about Barbossa, don’t you? And Eclipse?”
“Well, of course, but you missin’ the-” Fury began.
“And I might be wrong, but why would you still be here with us if you didn’t care about us?” Sterling pointed out, “You could had easily left us the first chance you got, but you didn’t.”
"Cross is right." Fletcher agreed. "And you wouldn’t have saved Caboose back at the bridge. I bet somewhere, deep down inside, there's a part of you that really does value our association, isn't there?"
"This... This isn't the time for that kind of talk." Fury said awkwardly.
"I think it's actually a good time." Black retorted.
"Says you." Fury avoided eye contact.
"Come on, Fury." Black urged. "Sterling asked you a question."
"I know he asked me a flappin' question." Fury snarled.
"Then answer his question." Black insisted.
"No." Fury refused.
"Answer it." Black said firmly. "Do you really value our association?"
“Alright, fine, I admit it!” Fury said angrily, “After my first week with you numbskulls, the thought of letting you all die makes me sick to my stomach. Which makes the fact we’re going to die soon hurts even more, because I can’t do a thing to stop it! There, ya happy?!”
"Maybe not 'happy'." Black admitted. "More... Enlightened."
"I had no idea you felt that way." Fletcher admitted.
"Yeah." Sterling nodded. "Guess you're not such a callous thug after all."
"So, what of it?" Fury said.
"It's no shame to feel like that." Black declared. "I know we've had our problems lately, but we never would have made it this far if we didn't have at least some level of camaraderie toward each other. So yeah, we all feel just as badly about this."
"I know I do." Sterling nodded.
"As do I." Fletcher smiled. "One more thing to connect us."
"Really?" Fury asked.
"Really." Black nodded.
The four sat in place for a moment.
"...Huh, was that it?" Sterling frowned, “Did we just have that talk Caboose was talking about the first night?”
“...Yeah, I guess it was." Black shrugged.
"Damn." Fletcher hook his head in disbelief. "To think it was so easy...."
"...Guess Caboose wasn't as much a moron as I thought." Fury admitted.
"He's never as much a moron as anycreature thinks." Fletcher smiled.
"You got that right." Sterling nodded.
“Hmm…” Fury frowned, “I guess I owe that goofball an apology.”
"Not just him." Fletcher declared. "I'm still not pleased about the things you said to me back in the fields."
“Same here.” Sterling glared, “And not just for this week, but for being an ass for the past month.”
“...Yeah, I know.” Fury accepted their anger, “I don’t expect you to forgive me for that..." he approached Sterling. "Or for what I'm about to do."
“Fury?” Black gaped.
"...What are-" Sterling started.
Fury shot his claws forward at Sterling.
There was a yell, catching a prison guard's attention as he rushed in. He was shocked to find Sterling on the floor of his and Fury’s cell, blood around his neck, and Fury having blood on his talons.
"What the hell?!" The guard gaped.
"He killed him! He killed Sterling!" Black yelled.
"You monster!" Fletcher snarled.
"Oh, shut up! It's his fault that we're in this mess!" Fury retorted. "If any of us was going to die first, it'd be him!"
“Oh, Faust…” The guard groaned, as he quickly ran to the cell, opening it. He held up his crossbow, “Back against the wall, scum!”
Fury huffed as he did as he was told. The guard walked in and kneeled down to inspect Sterling’s body.
“Great… just great.” The guard grumbled, “Broker wanted all of you alive and now I’ll have to explain why one of them is-”
He trailed off as he glanced up, and noticed something was missing...
"Wait... weren't there five of-" Suddenly, Fury grabbed him by the midsection, throwing aside his crossbow, “Gah! What the-?!”
"He's all yours, Sterling!" Fury declared.
Sterling got up, the blood having been smeared on him, the cut on his shoulder reopened. He gave the guard a snide smirk.
“Time to check out.” Sterling sneered. With a swing of his strong hoof, he knocked the guard right out of Fury’s grip, sending him to the ground unconscious.
“Ooh. That had to hurt.” Fury chuckled.
Sterling quickly nabbed the cell keys from the guard pony, and made his way out of the now open cell, Fury right behind him. He triumphantly walked over to Black and Fletcher's cells.
"Ready to check outta here, boss?" Sterling smirked.
"You know it." Black smiled.
Sterling opened Black and Fletcher's cells in quick succession.
"I have to give you credit, Fury." Fletcher admitted. "Faking Sterling's death was a stroke of genius."
"Yeah, really smart thinking." Black agreed.
"I wished you'd warned me before scratching like that." Sterling grumbled, rubbing his shoulder.
"I had to make it look real." Fury shrugged, “Besides, I barely nicked ya. Fletcher already gave me a good spot to get blood.”
“Again, sorry about that.” Fletcher apologized.
“Alright, guys, listen up.” Black spoke up as he stood in front of them, “I know I might not be the best leader, and I know we might not be the best team, but right now, Equestria needs us to put a stop to that perpetual milk-drinking stallion's plan! And we're gonna do it or die trying! Are you with me?"
"Yes, sir." Fletcher nodded.
"Count me in." Sterling smiled.
"As if I'd let you guys have all the fun." Fury smirked.
"Then let's get to work." Black beamed.
With that, the quartet made their way out of their prison. They didn’t know how they were going to overcome their enemies, or even if they could pull it off… but success or failure, they’re going to try… as a team.