//------------------------------// // Chapter 5: Quickdraw // Story: Ghosts // by Booni //------------------------------// The three Ghosts were silent on the way back to Canterlot after Speed's comment about the recovery of Switch. Quickdraw and Prisma were expecting him to elaborate, but he remained silent, instead facing straight forwards with a blank look on his face, no jokes, quips or anything. After a few minutes of waiting, Prisma finally spoke up. "So, what did you find out then?" Speed took a moment to answer. "These guys are part of an organisation called Wraith Weapons and Security, and they're working for some high paying client." Speed answered. "They, erm..." He then hesitated, thinking of how to tell them. "And?" Quickdraw prodded. "And, that client wants them to kill the Wonderbolts, kill the Princesses, and then take over Equestria." Prisma gasped, flabbergasted at the news, whereas Quickdraw, other than slightly raising his eyebrows, did not react. Speed continued before the others could interrupt him. "The client can't be stupid enough to think their army can take the Princesses on their own, which means they have to have some sort of secret super weapon that can kill them." "That certainly makes sense." Quickdraw added, "You got evidence of all this for Luna?" Speed patted his breast pocket, indicating to Quickdraw that all the evidence he had was in the camera. Quickdraw responded with a nod. Prisma kept staring ahead as the other two had their conversation. "Wow. Just... Wow," she muttered to herself. In her entire career as a Ghost, she had never been in a situation as dire as this. They were talking about a future war. Needless to say, Prisma did not feel ready for anything like this. She however kept this thought to herself. Equestria needed her and the Ghosts, whether she liked it or not, and she didn't need Quickdraw relieving her of her duty over her worries. The rest of the flight was silent - neither Speed or Prisma wanted to talk about today, and Quickdraw was too busy thinking of how to stop Wraith before they could plunge Equestria into a state of war. He was mainly thinking they should just kill everyone, but he needed clearance to do so. That, and it would probably take too long to do so. By nightfall, the three touched down at the castle, and Quickdraw sent one of the guards to find Luna and Celestia and bring them both to HQ. "Have you heard from your secret squad yet?" Celestia asked her sister as they slowly made their way to their bedrooms. "Not yet, though I suspect I will very soon. They are quick at completing their tasks, I suspect I will not have to wait long for an update, sister," Luna answered. "Good. I have to admit I'm quite worried. What do these mystery ponies want with the Wonderbolts?" Celestia pondered, briefly tapping her chin with her hoof. Luna clarified for her, "Whatever it is, I am sure it is not good." "Indeed sister. I hope your Ghosts have this under control." The two sisters were cut off as a guard kneeled in front of them. "Your majesties, Commander Quickdraw requests your presence in the Ghost HQ conference room." Celestia, confused, asked, "Me too?" "Yes, your majesty." Celestia hesitated for a moment before sighing. "Very well, you may resume your duties." The guard nodded and trotted back to his post. When he left the two's sights, Celestia and luna turned to each other. They knew that if Celestia was also involved, then there was a serious problem. She had never been involved in Luna's Ghost project; that was Luna's personal expertise. "Well sister, let's go." Celestia said to Luna. Together, Quickdraw, Prisma and Speed all sat in their respective seats in the meeting room, waiting for the Princesses. The three all agreed that since their current mission now involved preventing a war in Equestria, that Celestia should also know about the situation. Speed had his camera out on the table, and was leaning back in his seat, balancing on the back two chairlegs. He stared ahead, zoned out completely while somehow maintaining perfect balance so as to not fall over. Prisma, on the other hand, was fidgeting around, visibly nervous at this point. Although she was trying very hard to keep calm and not worry about the future, it was abundantly clear to the other two that she was panicking a little. While Prisma and Speed waited patiently, Quickdraw decided to go through the photos that had been taken at the compound they raided. He picked up Speed's camera and turned it on, looking through the pictures that were taken. There were three photos. One of the entire room, files strewn about with the board in the back, one of the pictures of the most well known Wonderbolt members on the top half of the board, and one of the 'TAKE OVER EQUESTRIA' statement underneath the pictures. Assuming he was correct about Wraith having some secret super weapons, Quickdraw knew he would need the team to be at full strength - Prisma needed to be calmed down or replaced, and Switch needed to recover soon. After what felt like hours had passed, Celestia and Luna entered the meeting room, prompting the three Ghosts to stand to attention and salute. "At ease Ghost Squad," Luna said, "Commander Quickdraw - report." Relaxing a little, Quickdraw answered, "Yes ma'am. My operatives and I raided the compound we initially saved operative Switch from in order to see if they left any information behind that would prove useful to us. What we found is rather alarming. Speed?" he motioned for Speed to take over, since he found the evidence. "Yes sir," Speed saluted. He then picked up his camera and connected it to the visualizer, showing first the photo of the entire room. "I found this office room on the third floor of the compound, full to the brim with information I could use to work out the organisation's grand plans. However, I didn't have enough time to go through all the files, and therefore had to refer to the board you see in the back of the room here," he pointed to the board for a moment, and then scrolled to the photo of the board. "As you can see here, the board contains photos of Wonderbolt icons, such as Soarin," he pointed to the picture of Soarin, "Fleetfoot," he pointed at the picture of Fleetfoot, "and Captain Spitfire," he pointed to the picture of Spitfire. "Initially I thought: what do they want with the Wonderbolts? Then I saw this statement in bold red below." Speed scrolled to the picture of the statement and turned to the Princesses. Celestia gasped, eyes opening wide, while Luna narrowed her eyes, showing little to no emotion. "My goodness! Why would they want to do that?" Celestia asked, or more accurately, whispered. "It does not matter. They will not stand a chance against us, even if they rule the rest of Equestria," Luna firmly replied. "One would think that, your majesties, however we must take into account the fact that nopony is stupid enough to attack you unless they had a means of winning the fight. Commander Quickdraw believe that this military force - by the name of Wraith Weapons and Security - must have a secret weapon that can rival your powers. If this is true, we must proceed with extreme caution and make sure they are stopped before that weapon can be used against anypony." Speed countered. Luna and Celestia both seemed lost in thought for a moment. Celestia then spoke up, sounding disheartened at first, but becoming more determined. "If what you say is true, then this marks Wraith as an enemy of not just us, but all of Equestria." Luna started after Celestia, "Commander Quickdraw." Quickdraw perked up and stood to attention beside Speed. "You and your squad hereby have clearance to eliminate the enemy using any means necessary. Once operative Switch is recovered, he will join you in battle. The nurses say that he will be ready to rejoin your force within the next few days if his recovery rate upholds." "Very well. I will bring Switch up to speed on everything, as soon as my squad and I are dismissed, ma'am." Quickdraw dutifully responded. Quickdraw, Speed and Luna then conversed some more about the task while Celestia hung back. Celestia felt very out of place with Luna and the Ghosts. She could handle the guards and Equestrian Army, but secret black ops forces (or whatever they are, she thought) was always Luna's specialty. However, Celestia also knew that she wasn't the only one feeling this. She glanced over at Prisma, who stood aside from the rest of them and kept quiet throughout the whole ordeal. She looked very uncomfortable, nervous and in definite need of some comfort. As the rest kept conversing, Celestia slowly walked over to Prisma, trying to look as calm and approachable as she could. Prisma noticed Celestia walking towards her and froze. She began panicking, her eyes darting around as she thought of what to say. She wasn't used to talking to Cekestia like she could to Luna; the two had never spoken much. Celestia picked up on this right away and stopped walking. She looked over her shoulder at the other three. They had their backs turned to her and Prisma, so Celestia thought she would quietly take the little nervewreck out of the room, where she could talk to her somewhere more private. "Prisma?" she asked quietly, trying very hard not to startle her. Prisma's eyes widened, and she muttered "oh no" under her breath as she tried to steel herself. "Prisma, it's alright, I can see how uncomfortable you are. Trust me, I know the feeling" Celestia spoke lightheartedly whilst putting her hoof on her chest, only speaking loud enough for the two to hear. "Come, let's get out of here. You can speak to me about what's on your mind." Prisma still hadn't spoke. She was still staring wide-eyed at Celestia, completely locked up. Celestia wrapped her hoof around Prisma's neck in a gentle embrace similar to that of a mother and child, symbolising that she shouldn't be afraid of her. It seemed to be working, as Celestia could feel her breathing slow down a little. After a while, Prisma merely nodded her head, and together they snuck out of the meeting room. The two walked down the halls for a little while. Celestia watched Prisma with concern; she looked like she was on the verge of a breakdown. Her suspicions were confirmed when Prisma exhaled heavily and sat down on the floor, shivering. "What now? Now all of Equestria's in danger. We could be at war. We could die. Ponies could die, lots of ponies could die." Prisma rambled on rapidly, sounding borderline insane. She then turned towards Celestia and grabbed her, "If we don't succeed, we could lose you! And Luna! What then? Wraith's client takes over? Then what'll they do? Oh God I wasn't built for this!" she waffled. "Enough, Prisma." Celstia grabbed Prisma and hugged her lightly, trying to calm her down. "You won't fail. I have faith in you. Talk to me, what's on your mind?" "I don't know. Nothing. Everything. Like the chances of one or all of us dying. Quite high, right? And how does Quickdraw handle everything without worrying about it? He doesn't show any emotions at all, like he doesn't even care. And Speed, he just jokes about everything. And then there's me and my anxiety. There's so much at stake, and it doesn't help!" Prisma rambled on again. "Prisma, calm down. Breathe. It's normal for ponies to panic in situations like this. Some express their fear through jokes like Speed does, and some through worry, like you." Celestia assured her. Prisma gave her a skeptical look, "What about Quickdraw?" "What do you mean?" "Why doesn't Quickdraw express fear?" Celestia was taken aback. "You mean you don't know?" "Well I guess not," Prisma responded, sounding a little peeved at this now. "Ask Switch, tell him I told you to, and it will help you cope with everything going on." Celestia turned and started walking down the halls again whilst motioning for Prisma to follow. Prisma made a mental note to find out what Quickdraw's deal was, and trotted up to Celestia. They carried on walking down the halls in silence for a while. Eventually, Celestia spoke up once more. "How are you feeling about what is being asked of you? Remember, take it slow, don't ramble." Prisma took a deep breath and held it in for a few seconds, before exhaling slowly. "I'm just worried about the future of Equestria, whether we succeed or fail. And I'm worried about me and my squad. My family. What if one of us took a hit and didn't recover? What if I did. I love being a Ghost, but before it felt pretty much guaranteed that we would come out of our missions in one piece. Well, other than Switch, but still." "In my entire career as a Ghost, we only had to take on a few powerful ponies that posed a threat, but now we're facing somepony with the potential firepower to take you out. Not only that, but an entire army that's working for them aswell. If they have such powerful weaponry, what's stopping them from crushing us? We're a deadly force, but I don't think even Quickdraw could take somepony with that much power alone. Bottom line is, I'm scared." "You'd be surprised with Quickdraw's capabilities," Celestia remarked. Prisma tilted her head in confusion, then furrowed her brow in annoyance. "Ok, what's the deal with Quickdraw? Is he a god like you?" She asked. "No," Celestia chuckled, "Just ask Switch. He knows all the details. It's not something I can tell you." "Quickdraw aside, you will do fine. Just stick to what you do best, and focus on saving Equestria. I know it is daunting to think that all of Equestria's fate lies in your hooves, but it can also be a tremendous motivator. Use it in that way, and believe in yourself. That will make you unstoppable. I can promise you that." Prisma stared ahead, her brain processing the wisdom that Celestia's words spouted. "Use it as a motivator... Believe in yourself... You will be unstoppable..." she repeated. She then stopped walking and smiled, putting on a determined face. "Heh... what's an army and a god-killing machine to the Ghosts anyway?" Celestia winced a little. Prisma just went from a nervous wreck to perhaps a little too confident. "I wouldn't go that far. It will still be dangerous, don't get too cocky. Too much confidence can result in your downfall too, you know." Prisma turned to Celestia. "I know! But I feel much better, thanks to you," she said cheerily, "Really, thank you." Prisma smiled widely at Celestia. "You are most welcome. Now go and ask Switch about Quickdraw. I'll tell the others where you went." Celestia smiled. Feeling a 180° turn in her mood, Prisma trotted away from Celestia and made her way to the infirmary. She just had to know Quickdraw's backstory. In fact, she was surprised she didn't know it already, considering how long they had worked together. "So the plan, summarised, is to find out who the higher powers are through the interrogation of those that we believe have valuable information. We then use that information to exploit those powers' weaknesses and take them out, thus crippling Wraith's defenses, before launching an assault at the leader's base location, once we found out where it is," Quickdraw simplified Luna's plan, showing he understands, but mainly to make it easier for Speed to understand aswell. "Yes. I give you permission to use the most vile of tactics. This is for Equestria's safety, after all," Luna replied. "Very well. We will make sure Wraith and their client will not succeed, ma'am." "Good. Make preparations tonight, and then embark on your mission tomorrow when you are ready. Return once a week to report your progress, but come back in three to four days to pick Switch up from the infirmary. I will warn Captain Spitfire and the rest of the Wonderbolts of the situation. You are dismissed." Luna started to turn around when she noticed that neither Celestia nor Prisma were present. She turned back to Quickdraw. "Do you know where Prisma and my sister went? I did not know they were absent." Quickdraw responded casually, "No, I didn't see them either. Why did they leave?" "Well, Prisma didn't look too happy. She was really quiet too, didn't say a word the entire time." Speed speculated, looking towards Quickdraw. "We're gonna have to speak to her later," Quickdraw said, but what he meant was that Speed was going to have to talk to her, and Speed knew that. All three's ears perked up when the door being opened could be heard. Looking over at the door, they watched as Celestia returned, trying not to disturb their discussion that she didn't know had just ended. She flinched when she saw all eyes on her, before clearing her throat and explaining that she took Prisma away to calm her down. "If Prisma isn't ready, she doesn't have to come with us. We have others that can serve." Quickdraw suggested. "There is no need. I can assure you, Prisma is ready," Celestia insisted, to which Quickdraw agreed. He didn't really care, to be honest. As long as we can complete the mission, he thought to himself. "Sister, we are done here. Let's go," Luna said, "Quickdraw, Speed, you are again dismissed." The two sisters left the two Ghosts alone in the meeting room. Quickdraw turned to Speed with a stern face. "So you can be serious for more than ten minutes? That's good to know," he 'commended' Speed. Or at least, that's how Speed took it. "I know right? I can be a jokester, and I can be all 'Quickdraw' serious! Great combo!" He bragged, putting on a gruff voice when he said Quickdraw's name. Quickdraw sighed. "'Quickdraw' serious, really..." "Uh huh!" Quickdraw turned towards the door to leave, assuming Speed would follow, which he did. They left the meeting room and walked down the halls. "So, where are we going?" Speed asked. "I'm going to the canteen to get some food," Quickdraw said monotonously, "I'm hungry." Switch lay in his bed, throwing a ball at the wall and catching it in his wing as it bounced back. He had been doing this for three hours now. Eventually he lobbed the ball at almost full power in a bored rage fit, which proved to be a mistake as the ball ricocheted off the wall directly back into his face with an almighty SLAP. "For fuck sake!" he shouted, and a nurse came rushing into his room, assuming he hurt himself. "Switch, what did you do now?" the nurse queried. "Nothing, just launched the ball and it hit my face," Switch grumbled, looking away. "SNRK! Uh, ahem, be careful next time please. We don't need you hurting yourself any more than you normally do." The nurse was trying really hard not to laugh at the red mark on Switch's forehead accompanied with his miserable face. Switch looked down at his hooves, noticing the nurse trying not to laugh as his cheeks flushed red, although his facial expression remained annoyed. "It's not funny." "Sorry, what was that?" "It's not funny! I was just... umm..." Switch's face made a full colour change from whitish-pink to a deeper red. His sudden outburst seemed to make the nurse try even harder not to laugh, which was extremely embarrassing. "I'm going to go," she giggled, "Just don't hurt yourself- oh! And you have a visitor." Switch looked up, expecting Quickdraw, Speed or both to enter. However he was surprised when Prisma came into view. "Hey, wasn't expecting you to come visit. Welcome to my humble abode! It makes me want to die," he greeted her in a frustrated tone. "Nice. You and me both then, kind of. The shit we found out today, heh..." Over the next hour, Prisma explained how Speed 'pulled off a Switch move' (as she called it) and went from infiltrating the compound building to getting knocked out and needing to be rescued from twenty to thirty odd enemy soldiers. She then explained how they were told by Luna that they were pretty much at war now, and how Celestia had to pull her out of the meeting room to calm her down. "...And that's where we are now." "Huh. That's... a lot to take in," Switch murmured. "Oh! Quickdraw! Can you tell me about him?" Prisma suddenly asked. Switch tilted his head, acting confused. "What do you mean 'can you tell me about him'?" "You know what I mean. Celestia told me to ask," Prisma clarified aggressively. Switch sighed, and remained silent for a while. Eventually, he spoke up. "Fine. You want to know why Quickdraw just in general 'doens't seem to give a shit'?" "Yeah." "It's because he doesn't. He doesn't care about anypony or anything. He doesn't show any emotions because he doesn’t have any. The shit that made him this way, the shit he's been through? I don't blame him. I saw it all happen..." Quickdraw had been missing for months. Switch had no idea where he went or what happened to him. He was there one day, playing games with Switch after school while their parents watched and conversed each other, and the next day, he was nowhere to be seen. But now they had a lead. Quickdraw's older unicorn brother, Live Wire, had found out that somepony had taken him. Live Wire was Princess Luna's protégé for a special military force that was currently under production. It was supposed to be so deadly that it only needed four operatives, and together they could take down an entire empire in one or two nights. They were still looking for other members, and the force didn't have a name yet. Live Wire was given permission from Luna to find and save his younger brother, no matter the cost. Luna saw it as more of a test to see if he was worthy, but for Live Wire, it was much more personal. It didn't matter what Luna said to him anyway; he would have gone whether she let him or not. Switch and Live Wire were headed to what they assumed was where Quickdraw was being kept. However, as they went, their surroundings became more rural; more bare. What was a town had turned into a forest. Eventually they found what they thought they were looking for: a bunker hidden between two large trees. "Switch, stay here. I'm going in to take a look," Live Wire spoke, but Switch wasn't having it. He didn't come all this way for nothing. "I'm not gonna just sit around here while my best friend and his brother are in danger! Let me come with you!" Switch argued, his high pitched shouting not sounding very convincing. "You're just a colt. I can't put you in danger. What will your parents think?" Live Wire countered. "I don' care! I'm going in with you! I want to help!" Live Wire gave in. If there was anypony as stubborn as him, it was either Quickdraw, or little Switch. After all, who was Live Wire to stop him? He would do the exact same thing. He was doing the exact same thing. "Fine, but stay behind me, and stay very close." Together they crept in, looking for clues. The bunker was almost pitch black, the only light coming from the entrance. Live Wire emitted some light from his horn and looked around. The bunker looked abandoned - the only things around were broken furniture that somepony must have dumped here, and rubble on the ground from the cracked walls and ceiling. Other than that, the bunker was empty. "There's nothing here. Come on, let's go," Live Wire seethed, stopping himself from bucking the wall at full power. They were about to leave when they heard two voices coming from nearby, but... below them? They couldn't make out what was being said, but one glance at each other confirmed that neither Switch nor Live Wire were hallucinating. "There's somepony below," Switch stated confidently, "this must be where they're keeping Quickdraw!" Live Wire whispered warily, "Yes, but keep your voice down. They might hear us, and if they do, I have no doubt they will hurt him, or worse." "Let's move that old couch over there," Switch suggested, pointing at a damp red couch in the back left corner of the bunker, "They might have put it there to hide the entrance to their secret lair." Live Wire chuckled a little at the innocent 'secret lair' comment. They moved the couch to the side as quietly as possible, and found just what Switch thought: a trap door that led to an underground hallway that was lit up and clean, a complete contrast to where they were now. Switch and Live Wire slowly and vigilantly snuck down the hallway, watching out for anypony that would see them. The hallway was dimly lit, and the walls were a clean blue colour. It looked more like a hotel than an underground bunker if Live Wire was being honest with himself. As they turned the corner, a blue unicorn stallion walked out of a room and stood outside, smoking a cigarette. He had his back turned to the two, and Live Wire took the opportunity presented to him. "Switch stay here. When you hear a crack or a shlick or something, come to me, okay?" "Okay." Switch watched as Live Wire crawled silently behind the stallion with a knife ready in his hooves. Switch stayed behind, watching as Live Wire grabbed the unicorn's mouth, silencing his shouts before he stabbed the pony's spine, the stallion going limp in his hooves. Switch didn't hear any crack or shlick, but he wasn't stupid - he cantered up to Live Wire, trying to ignore the blood on the floor, walls and Wire's hooves, and the fact that he just witnessed his best friend's brother kill somepony. The two entered the room that the now dead stallion had come out of. What they saw, they wouldn't wish their worst enemies to see. Switch wouldn't anyway. There were seven other fillies and four colts, all hanging from the ceilings by their hooves and beaten badly, bruises, cuts and blood all over their bodies. The sight made Switch puke, while Live Wire became enraged. If that pony he just killed was the one beating them, he regretted killing him. He wished he could have kept him alive and tore each and every bone out of his body while the pony remained conscious, screaming in excruciating pain. The fillies and colts all had their mouths taped shut and were looking toward Live Wire with pleading eyes, silently begging him to release them. One in particular was excited to see him. "Quickdraw. Fuck, what happened to you man?" Wire mumbled as he rushed to his long lost brother and set him free. Once Quickdraw could move, he hugged Wire at tightly as he could, sobbing into his chest. "Get me out of here Wire! I don't want to be here anymore! Please!" Quickdraw begged desperately. He was so weak - everything ached. He hadn't moved on his own for weeks before now, and the sudden burst of movement nearly knocked him out straight away. Live Wire hugged his little brother back, taking care to avoid all the visible bruises and cuts to make sure he didn't hurt him. Switch walked over after heaving out his lunch out, asking what he should do. "Get the rest of these fillies and colts free. We can't leave them here to suffer. And make sure they stay quiet, we don't want to attract anypony here." Wire ordered, still hugging Quickdraw. As Switch turned to do as he was told, Wire whispered softly into Quickdraw's ear, "Listen little bro, I'm here. You're safe now. I need you to stay as quiet as a mouse, okay?" Quickdraw nodded and Wire gently placed him on his back with his magic, Quickdraw holding onto his neck for dear life once he was settled. Wire joined Switch in setting the rest of the foals free. Once the last colt was free, Wire ordered them to stay close and Switch to make sure they're okay. They were about to leave the room, when another voice called out, slowly getting louder, suggesting that he was walking towards the room. "Hey, Valiant, where are you? You were supposed to deliver that brown pegasus colt to the boss, remember? Or are you too busy beating him up?" Live Wire had to kill him to get past. He tried to keep cool, knowing that the pony was talking about Quickdraw. He waited for the stallion to walk up close to the corpse before performing the same move on him, instead stabbing him in the back of the neck. With the second stallion now dead, the coast seemed clear for the moment. Live Wire and the rest of the foals snuck back up the hallway and around the corner. There was another pony, this time an orange pegasus, coming out of a room to the left side of the hallway. Wire put his hoof up at the foals, signalling them to stay put. He however kept Quickdraw on his back, needing to speak with him in private about what was going on so as to not make too much noise with the other foals. The orange pegasus was a good distance down the hall, which granted Wire the opportunity to speak without being heard, assuming nopony else was around. "Quick, what were they doing to you all? This doesn't seem like no pony trafficking system to me," he whispered. "They were doing some experiments on us with some weird machinery and spells, trying to turn us into some sort of 'super ponies' and make us work for them. They told us that we were special and had the potential to be more than just ponies. They also said that we needed to be tortured for the thingys inside us to activate. I don't know what its called," Quickdraw explained grimly, "We weren't awake for most of it. But it hurt a lot all over every time I woke up. They used me for their experiments more than anypony else," So not only did these cretins take his little brother, but they tortured him more than the rest of them? That was it. When his force was fully operational, Live Wire decided that every pony associated with this abhorrent business was going to die a slow, gruesome death. Live Wire discerned afterwards, more rationally this time, that the ponies taking these foals were using them to build up an army of physically enhanced ponies for some reason. He would have to report this to Luna. With gritted teeth and a temper that was extremely close to being lost, Wire set Quickdraw down and wrapped his hooves around the orange pegasus' neck in a chokehold, causing the pegasus to steadily and painfully suffocate. The pegasus tried to fight back and throw Wire off, but his lack of oxygen was preventing him from having the strength to do so. As his consciousness faded, Wire whispered in his ear, "Have fun in hell." Live Wire grabbed the back of the stallion's head and smashed it against the wall before he snapped the pony's neck and dropped him on the floor, spitting on his corpse. He turned back to Quickdraw and quietly called for him to signal the others to catch up. Soon they were following behind Wire again, and were making their way back up the stairs and out of the bunker. They were home free. However, what they didn't know was that a large grey pegasus with a green fiery-shaped mane was watching from afar after being called out to handle the situation. He was watching Live Wire and Switch lead the foals out of the bunker and into safety. More importantly, he was keeping his eyes on Quickdraw - his prize test subject. With an immaculate amount of speed, the pegasus launched himself towards the group, specifically towards their only defender, Live Wire, who didn't see him coming until it was too late. He threw his right shoulder into Wire's chest, sending him backwards a few feet, before throwing a left hook at his face, knocking him out cold. The group of foals couldn't believe what they just saw. That happened way too quickly. Quickdraw and Switch especially couldn't believe it. Live Wire, a special forces commander and exceptional fighter, was knocked out in a single blow. Quickdraw tried to formulate a plan in his head, but the stallion whipped his head around and stared into Quickdraw's eyes, breaking his concentration completely. Quickdraw panicked - he was being targeted. "Quickdraw, my favourite test subject. We're not done with you yet. We're not done with any of you." The stallion said in a crazed tone, walking towards him. "Now your brother went and got himself into a heap of trouble after making me come all the way out here. We're gonna make sure somepony pays for the trouble that I had to get involved in." Quickdraw was shivering in fear, stepping away from the stallion as he walked slowly towards him. His lifeless brown eyes stared menacingly into Quickdraw and drew out every ounce of fear, every ounce of panic, his large muscles making Quickdraw imagine his body being beaten to a bloody mess before being further experimented on. The other foals cowered away, but the stallion wasn't interested in them at all. He had his eyes squarely on Quickdraw. As a result, he didn't see Switch flying towards him from behind with a hoof pulled back from the side after he somehow snuck away. He also didn't need to. In the blink of an eye, he snapped his head towards Switch and grabbed him by the throat as he got close. "ACK! HHRGH!" He stared into Switch's eyes with a completely deranged look, before smiling widely, from ear to ear. "What do we have here? You're a fearless one. My name is Zenith, and as you can see, you're no match for me." he spoke sinisterly, gripping Switch's throat harder and restricting his airflow almost completely. He kept just enough pressure for Switch to stay conscious and feel the pain of suffocating. "HHHHHHHhhhrrrr..." Switch tried to breathe, but all that came were occasional wheezes. He grabbed and pulled Zenith's hoof, trying desperately to escape, which pleased Zenith immensely in a sick, twisted way. He then turned to Quickdraw with the same look he gave the young white pegasus in his hoof, breaking whatever willpower Quickdraw had left in an instant. "He a friend of yours? He certainly has heart, another prize test subject for me. You two will be my best pieces of work." Zenith threw Switch over his back, launching him past the still unconscious Live Wire, and started walking towards Quickdraw once again. Every step Zenith took made Quickdraw want to throw up. Every stomp that echoed from his hooves made Quickdraw almost pass out from fear. Quickdraw had nowhere to go, and he thought his life was going to end real soon. He backed up into a tree, his eyes full of tears and his breath escaping him. Soon Zenith was right in front of him and grabbing him by the throat the same way he did to Switch. "You will survive my experiments. I want to see you in the worst pain imaginable. I want to see you break, not in the way you have now, but physically and mentally, like me!" Zenith's eyes snapped wide open as he finished his sentence. Quickdraw didn't have a clue what Zenith meant, but he wasn't at all eager to ask for an elaboration. Just the thought made him wish he was dead instead. "Hey, about the breaking thing..." a voice called out behind them. Zenith looked back at where he heard the voice, but there was nopony around. "What...?" Zenith kept looking in the direction of the voice, trying to find whatever it was that spoke. He didn't notice that Live Wire's still body was no longer where he left it. "Over here buddy!" The voice came this time from his left. Zenith whipped his head around to look, only to be pulverized with a metal rod Wire picked up from inside the bunker. Zenith was sent backwards a few steps, dropping Quickdraw on the ground, and Live Wire attacked. He threw punch after punch at Zenith's face, each one connecting and sending him back a few steps each, further disorientating him. Live Wire couldn't believe how many punches he was taking, and how hard his face was. It felt like punching a brick wall. He threw a haymaker, and Zenith was launched backwards, landing on his back. "Ow..." Wire winced. His hooves felt broken after throwing so many punches. He decided not to let up, and dived at Zenith for another round before he could recover. Unfortunately for Wire, it was already too late. Zenith recovered much quicker than he anticipated. He stood up straight, facing Wire as he flew towards him. As Wire aimed a left hook, Zenith rolled under it, grabbing Wire's hoof and face at the same time, pulling him back first towards him. Zenith held him there for a few moments and whispered into his ear, "So much effort, yielding so little success." "I'm not finished yet!" Wire shouted back, before pushing himself backwards with both his back legs and his telekinesis, the two falling to the ground. They both got back up at the same time and started trading punch for punch repeatedly and rapidly, each and every strike hitting its mark. Quickdraw watched his brother hold his ground against the mad pony. His willpower was slowly coming back with each second he watched the fight, and he soon found himself heading towards the two to join in the battle, fighting for both his and Wire's life. Quickdraw thought he was crazy, but he remembered once telling his older brother that he would do anything with him as brothers for life. This was no exception. As Zenith turned his back on Quickdraw, he jumped on his back, grabbing his neck and pulling as hard backwards as he could with a ferocious war cry. His efforts, however, were useless against Zenith. The only thing it did was distract him briefly, allowing Wire to uppercut him. Zenith was unaffected by the uppercut and grabbed Wire's hoof as he threw another, tossing him to the side with ease. That left just Quickdraw and Zenith to fight. The fight ended as abruptly as it started, as Zenith grabbed Quickdraw from his back and punched him straight in the face, breaking his snout. "Impudent little BASTARD!" he shouted, before turning to Wire and throwing Quickdraw at him with as much power as he could muster. As Live Wire looked up, he saw Quickdraw careening towards him. With amazing reflexes, Wire grabbed Quickdraw before the two could collide, the two turning their backs towards Zenith. He then noticed how bent Quickdraw's snout was. "Shit, Quickdraw, that was stupid! Are you okay?!" Wire scolded him. Quickdraw nodded, but clearly was in excruciating pain. "Stay put and let me fight hi-" Wire was cut off as he was grabbed from behind by Zenith and put in a full choke hold. "Aah!" he shouted, trying to get free. But he couldn't fight back from his position - all he could do was pray. Quickdraw could see it too. There was nothing anypony could do. With teary eyes, Quickdraw and Live Wire looked at each other for one last time. Zenith snapped his neck with a loud crack. Quickdraw's breath caught in his throat as he watched his brother fall to the ground, all light leaving his eyes. He couldn't see anything else. Zenith had disappeared, his surroundings had disappeared, everything was gone from his vision. All he could see was his big brother, Live Wire, now taken brutally from him. He stared at his body for what felt like hours, maybe even days, his mind going completely blank, failing to register anything around him. His mind had snapped. "Now, Quickdraw, where were we?" Quickdraw's vision snapped back to reality and he looked back at Zenith. However, the Quickdraw that now looked at him was not the same colt that cowered in his presence earlier. Zenith's smile faltered. This new Quickdraw had no facial expressions to show. His bent snout and bloody body only made him that much more intimidating as he stood perfectly calm and still, and stared into Zenith's eyes with no light, no life behind them. Zenith's smile was now wiped from his face. He had succeeded, to his demise. He had created a monster. And in an instant Quickdraw was gone, as if he had teleported. Before Zenith could fathom what just happened, his head snapped backwards, followed by his entire body. He careened through the air, tumbling uncontrollably, before landing hard on his stomach a good fifteen meters behind where he stood just a moment ago. There was also an immense pain that spread across his face. No amount of damage, not even Live Wire's assault, had caused him so much pain. Zenith looked up at Quickdraw. That was when he felt something he had never felt before. Fear. Zenith was afraid. He just made a severe mistake, and he knew it. He could no longer fight this battle. Quickdraw stood still in the same spot that Zenith previously occupied. He watched as Zenith's demeanor completely crumpled, while his own upheld. To the rest of the foals, it looked as though the two had swapped minds. Like Zenith plucked all life out of Quickdraw and placed it within himself. Zenith got up, spread his wings and took off, his body reducing into a blur in seconds. Quickdraw watched him leave with no reaction. Switch stared at his best friend, and at the same time, wondered where he had gone. This was no longer the Quickdraw that he knew and loved like family. "Q-Quickdraw?" Switch asked timidly. In truth, he was afraid of him. "Quickdraw, I'm sorry about your-" "We should get out of here before anypony else shows up," Quickdraw interrupted him with a muffled monotonous voice, his bent snout not affecting him in the slightest. Switch flinched, not sure what else to say. "What... what about your brother?" "He's dead. Nothing we can do for him now. Come on, let's go home." Quickdraw started walking away, leaving Switch and the other foals behind. Switch gave Live Wire's body one last melancholy look, and gathered the foals before following behind Quickdraw. Live Wire wasn't the only good pony that died that day. "And then after that, Quickdraw went rampant when he fully recovered and killed a lot of ponies looking for Zenith. He was eventually stopped by Luna, who instead of punishing him, took him in, trained him and, well, 'tamed' him. She saw him as the perfect new candidate for her Ghost program, as long as he was under control. I followed behind Quickdraw without a second thought. Even though the Quickdraw I previously knew was long gone, this was still my best friend. Without Luna, he would be completely unhinged, killing everypony in sight just to get his way. And that, Prisma, is why Quickdraw doesn't give a shit." An hour had passed since Switch had started telling Prisma the whole story, and she was shocked. No, horrified, at what happened. How could somepony go through something so tragic? She stared at her hooves for minutes, trying and failing to fathom how Quickdraw was still functioning. When she looked back up at Switch, she was stopped before she could even begin to speak. "The worst thing you can do is care about what happened to Quickdraw. Take it from me, he doesn't care at all. He cares about nothing, not you, not Speed, not Equestria, not even me, his life long friend. Treat him the same way you always have, and pretend you still don't know about everything. He may be the brains behind our squad, but he is still a full blown psychopath, and with the super enhancement he has from those experiments, he is unbelievable. He needs us not to care about him like family, but to keep him in check." "Without us, and without Luna, he would be feral. There's no other way to put it. There are no emotions or morals driving him to do what he would do. Nothing but the fact that he wants to do it. If he wanted to destroy an entire civilisation to get his way, he would. Nothing would stop him. You don't realise, but because of us, it wouldn't benefit him in any way to do such a thing, mainly because the minute he tries, Luna is going to put him in Tartarus, so instead he sticks to killing his enemies out on the field. He might tell you that he wants to complete the mission no matter the cost, but what he really wants is for the enemy to die." Prisma listened intently. As much as she wanted to hug Quickdraw to death, she realised that it would probably only annoy him. Wow. She thought Quickdraw was just extremely well disciplined, not borderline insane. In hindsight, after all the time they knew each other, they were still pretty much strangers. A knock on the door followed by said door smashing against the wall snapped Prisma out of her thoughts. She looked up and saw Speed bouncing in, shouting his usual nonsense, shortly followed by Quickdraw walking in, looking around for Switch. Prisma wondered if Speed knew. If he did, he was probably too stupid to understand it. "Switch, how long til you're out of the bed?" Quickdraw asked, getting straight to the point. "Should be out in about three days, why?" Switch answered. "Because we've got work to do, and we need your help."