//------------------------------//
// Chapter 9 
// Story: The Pale Land 
// by OrphiusOlyandra 
//------------------------------//

	There was something so crazy about that place. Maybe it was the darkness, or how cramped it was, or the smell of old, musty books. Whatever it was though, it was messing with Dash's mind, making her see things and hear things that weren't there. It made her more skittish than Fluttershy, jumping at the slightest sound. It didn't help that that bloody horned freak was so calm about the whole thing. In fact, she looked as though she was off in her very own little fantasy world with the way books were piled all around her into a little fort.

With yet another sigh, Dash went back to pacing the room, trying her hardest to keep those infernal sounds out of her mind. It had kept her up all last night, and it was keeping her awake now, causing all sorts of disgusting nightmares to fill her as her addled mind tried to focus. Not that she was planning on sleeping anyways, considering the possibility of being stabbed at any second, but resting with her eyes closed would have been lovely. More than once Dash had been tempted to just walk out there, find the offending ponies, and break their necks, but each time she had to remind herself that horned freaks and dirt ponies were less than the ground she walked on. That they were no better than a blade of grass, and considering grass could be eaten, probably not even that.

There was a polite cough from the door and Dash whirled around, only to immediately salute at the sight of Spitfire. Instead of returning it however, she jerked her head towards the door and stepped out of sight. A quick glance over her shoulder to make sure the horned freak wasn't paying attention, and Dash slipped out without a sound.

"Here's the deal Flight Lieutenant, if you follow my next orders perfectly, you will rise in the ranks. Fail and you will die." Despite how ominous it sounded, Dash found a grin splitting her face. "That's the attitude I like. Now tell me exactly what you've found so far from our unicorn friend."

"She travels with a dragon called Spi-"

"We know that. Does she use magic at all?"

"Y- Wait, no." Dash frowned, rubbing her chin thoughtfully. "In fact, she uses a dirt pony crossbow in combat. A good marksmare, but she had both a height and surprise advantage."

"Also known. So, no magic at all, you're sure about this?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Hm..." Spitfire began pacing, a thoughtful expression on her face. "Anything interesting to report?"

"She's currently looking in alicor-"

Spitfire's ears perked up and her hoof was immediately against Dash's lips. "Never, ever say that word out loud. It's a state secret, got that?"

"Y-Yes ma'am!" replied Dash, gulping at the intense look in Spitfire's eyes. She had always shrugged off the rumors that the Wonderbolt's captain could control fire itself, but in that brief moment, Dash saw flames in those eyes.

"What does she know specifically about them?"

"Not much except for a castle she found underground." At the questioning look, Dash continued, "It was this super weird, floating castle with statues of the... er... you know, all around it, and apparently she had no idea how to get in."

"Magical barrier?"

"Magical something alright. Apparently, no matter how long you walk along the path, you never get closer."

Spitfire immediately rolled out a map from her backpack, as well as a quill. "Where?"

Dash immediately circled the cave in question. "It’s a maze down there." Without waiting for a response she began writing notes on how to get through the place. "This will lead you to a ledge. From there you'll have to drop down the cliff face. There is another path out that leads to here, but I'm unsure of the actual path that was taken, and I have no doubt this is how she travels from location to location. It seems to be connected to the diamond dog tunnels."

"We knew she used the tunnels, but are you certain they're as extensive as you say they are?"

"Even if they’re not, look at how far it took us. We went from the safe zone all the way out to the border in a couple of days. With a forced marc-"

"I know the tactical benefits of this information recruit," said Spitfire, causing Dash to shrink back.

Silence descended as the Wonderbolt went back to looking over the map, writing down notes as she went. After a couple more seconds, Spitfire rolled everything up, put it back into her bag and unfurled her wings.

"Before I forget." Spitfire tossed a badge on the ground before Dash's hooves. "Show this to any commander or high ranking official and they'll know you've got information for me."

All Dash could do was stare in awe as Spitfire flew off, waiting until she was out of sight before bursting out in a squee so loud, it masked everything else. A happy little giggle escaped as she hopped from hoof to hoof in a little dance before scooping up the badge and pinning it to the inside of her heavy jacket. Flipping the collar up to make sure it was hidden from sight, Dash zipped up her jacket before running a hoof through her mane.

Cool, calm and collected. She needed to act as though nothing had happened, that she did not just get a badge from Spitfire that basically verified her as being a Wonderbolt recruit. It was just a piece of metal with some paint on it, that they only gave to pegasi that they had their eyes on and were totally full of pure awesomeness and ra-

"Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!" Dash's head snapped across just in time to see the book fort explode as Twilight come galloping out, slamming the book on the table as a map rolled out next to it. "I found it!"

"Found what?" Slowly, cautiously, Dash approached, muscles tensed just in case this was a setup for an ambush.

"The answer. An answer. Or rather, if you want to get specific about it, a location housing a potential answer, but it's the best lead I've found yet. " The frenzied look in Twilight's eye was enough to set Dash on edge. "According to this journal by an explorer called Daring Doo, she came across the ruins of twin temples dedicated to the sun and moon. From the way it's described, it sounds like the temple dedicated to love I explored once, and if it's the same, there's a wealth of information there just waiting to be discovered."

"Temple... to love. What." Dash's eye twitched. Who would be stupid enough to make a temple to such a stupid thing‽

"It was really small and run down, but it’s where I first found out about the term 'alicorn,' as well as a wealth of spell books." Twilight's eyes were glued to the page, the pages flipping along faster than a pony would freeze while naked. "But this definitely sounds accurate."

"Will there be anything left?" asked Dash, a hoof running along the bump where the badge was. "I mean, with raiders, it could have been stripped clean by now."

"Perhaps, but how many ponies care about books? How many ponies would dig through this just for some obscure scrap of information? Especially since she was a pegasus. I doubt any of you cared enough to actually look for it." The book slammed shut and Dash quickly took note of what it looked like. "Alright, time to go, I've got all the information I need."

"Finally," growled Dash, "I'll go grab us our transport. I'm certain Wonderbolt Captain Spitfire will love us finally getting out of here."

"What time is it? If it's night th-"

"Our cave is a five minute slow walk away. We can make it there before we freeze to death." Dash glanced over her shoulder as a low moan echoed down the tunnel. "I want to get out of here as soon as possible."

"Won’t it look weird leaving me in here with all this knowledge?"

"You're a slave, your job is to clean up," said Dash with an eye roll.

It was only once Dash was out of the room that she remembered that with their tainted magic, as soon as it touched something it would be cursed forever and there was no way to purify it. Ever.  Not even fire worked, and fire always worked. Then again, it was all books, so it's not like any of it actually mattered.

Once she was out of sight, Dash broke out into a gallop and ran to the end of the hall and began ringing the bell. It's not like that bitch would have been able to hear it anyways with that giant horn sticking out of her head. Or did horns affect sight? Whatever, it wasn't really that important.

"What?" growled a West as he blinked the sleep out of his eyes. "I had a long night writing reports, something you know absolutely nothing about."

"Hey, watch it," snapped Dash as flicked her collar and West immediately leapt to attention. "I need to talk to Spitfire."

"Yes ma'am!" With a smart salute, he shot off into the darkness and Dash let out another squee. Just giving that order, and having West leap to obey, and, by the stars! It was such a rush, almost as great as that time she faced down that pack of timberwolves with Lightning Dust.

Within seconds, Spitfire hit the ground and skidded to a stop leaving a trail of flames behind her causing Dash's jaw to drop. There was awesome, and then there was that.

"This had better be good recruit."

Dash was immediately at attention. "The horned freak found a book detailing the location of two temples relevant to the... er... you know, ma'am! It was a journal written by Daring Doo and according to her, it's got a wealth of information; there were apparently spell books in the last temple she visited."

"Well done." Spitfire placed a hoof on Dash's shoulder and it took all her willpower to not start babbling on uselessly. "Listen recruit, you didn't hear it from me, but a space may be opening up soon. Keep this up and we'll see."

Biting her bottom lip until she tasted blood, Dash simply nodded once.

"Good." Spitfire slipped off her flight goggles and raked her eyes across Dash's body, making the younger mare shiver. "Nice physique, good tone. Definitely extremely healthy. Yes, you would be a fine addition to our group, I feel."

Once again a single nod.

"Relax recruit," chuckled Spitfire, causing Dash's ears to burn. "You have permission to gush."

"That wouldn't b-be profess-profe-pro- Bloody fucking buck yeah! You hear that Lightning Dust? Dash is kicking your flank!" Her cheer was loud enough that the echo back hurt her very ears. Clearing her throat, Dash immediately straightened up and stood once more at attention. "Thank you for your compliment ma'am, I will show you that your faith is not misplaced."

"See to it, recruit, or I will be most displeased." The sudden spark in Spitfire's eyes made Dash gulp. "Then again, if you fail, I can think of some truly interesting punishments, and I think you could handle them. Maybe."

"M-Ma'am?"

"Dismissed!" yelled Spitfire and Dash scrambled away as fast as she could, not stopping until she was back in the room with that horned freak.

Was it just her, or were all the Wonderbolt's insane? Hot, but totally insane.

"You're back." Somehow she managed to sound annoyed despite being completely monotone. "I take it our ride is here?"

"Yep." Dash smiled sheepishly, hoof automatically moving up to her collar to make sure the badge was hidden. "I can't wait to get out of here."

"Well I've got my notes Master, time to leave." Twilight swung the bag onto her back.

"So where are these temples anyways?" She felt a cold sweat start breaking out when she saw the unicorn frown.

"Why so interested?"

"Hey, I gotta know if we're travelling in the same direction," said Dash with what she hoped was a natural and easy going smile.

"Of course," snorted Twilight, "because you're not travelling with us, merely in the same direction as us."

"Exactly, and don't you forget it," said Dash.

"Whatever you say." Twilight brushed past only to be yanked back by Rainbow. "At any rate, I'm not going to tell you. After all, you might tell the pegasi, and I am afraid I cannot allow that to happen."

Dash smirked, but kept it hidden behind a lock of mane. A little something she had learned from Fluttershy a long time ago, but never got around to using. That horned freak thought she was so smart, but little did she know, Dash had already gone ahead and told Spitfire. It didn't matter how fast they travelled, the pegasi were always faster. Just more proof of their superiority.

"You ready?" asked West as they exited the musty old room.

"Yep." Dash climbed onto his back while the other pegasus merely grabbed the unicorn and lifted her off the ground. Once again, Dash felt that grin creep onto her face at that freak’s gulp of fear. A second later she felt that familiar rush of air through her mane as they took off. If she closed her eyes and spread her wings, she could almost pretend to be flying. Almost. It wasn't the same, but it eased that itch on the back of her neck. All too soon, they reached the exit.

As Dash turned to leave, a bag was tossed at her feet.

"A parting gift," said West. "Some clothes, and a bit of food for wherever it is you're going. Good luck, Dash, and try not to get hit by lightning again."

"Oh go fuck yourself," chuckled Dash as she threw the new bag on her back. "And thanks. Try not blow up the bathroom again."

West cleared his throat, an obvious blush staining his cheeks.

Laughing at his reaction, Dash walked off with a lax salute, something he returned waaaaay too seriously. Within seconds, the entrance was lost in a field of white and the two shivered in the biting cold night. They had less than ten minutes to get to shelter, but that was more than enough time to get to where they needed to be. Scrambling up the snow mound, they slid down the other side only to freeze. The cliff wall was there before them, but the tunnel was nowhere in sight. All that could be seen was a wall of white.

"Oh f-fuck," swore Dash as her teeth clattered uncontrollably.

"I knew this was a bad idea," groaned Twilight as she began running forward. "Spike!Spiiiiiiiike!"

A burst of flame narrowed missed Dash's face, causing her to drop to the ground while muttering profanities. Three more blasts quickly followed the first and soon the cave entrance was open, letting them scramble in.

"Are you crazy? It's the middle of the fucking night, you could have frozen out there!" screamed Spike.

"B-B-But we di-did-didn't." Dash scrambled in, trying to rub warmth into her limbs as she pressed up against the sleeping Fluttershy. Stupid unicorn and her stupid idea, last time Dash trusted a mare with a bone sticking out of her head. 

"A-And I f-found it Spike!" How that mare could sound so lively was beyond Dash. "We found the last two temples. Three alicorns, three temples, one castle beneath the world. We found it."

"Really!?" All anger and frustration was gone from Spike's face as he perked up. "Where?"

"The only place no ponies dare venture of course, the Crystal Forest at the center of the land." Twilight snorted and rolled out her map, pointing dead center of the continent, just below the Canterlot Mountain. "Almost clichéd when you think about it, but I suppose there is no better place to hide such valuable ruins."

"There's insane and then there's this," said Dash as she walked over. "That was pegasus territory, but the unicorns have moved in and set up a base of operations near there. We let them have it since it's on the border and useless, and it offers no real tactical benefit considering all the monsters roaming around in there."

"And yet they wanted it so badly," mused Twilight. "Those temples contain a wealth of information, if they know about it-"

"And they probably do," added Spike.

"Then that could be disastrous," finished Dash with a nod. "So where was the temple?"

"The journal was unclear, but Daring Doo entered from the north, using the frozen river to stay on track. But the third day into her journey, she was forced to abandon the river when she ran into a pack of timberwolves and a manticore having a territorial dispute." Twilight closed her eyes and frowned. "From there she lost her way, but eventually found a deep chasm where she was forced to seek shelter in a cave where she found stories carved into the wall. Inscriptions, words, symbols.Things that she did not understand, nor had she ever seen before. Some were copied into her diary, and they are exactly the same ones as we found in the other temple."

"Hm... a chasm? That sounds like the tail end of Ghastly Gorge." Dash pored over the map, humming softly to herself. "The easiest way may be to swing south into earth pony territory , then shift north, using the gorge as a landmark."

"What's gotten you so interested all of a sudden?" There was no malice in Spike’s words.

"There's information there. Magical spells, powerful spells. The pegasi are winning, but if unicorns manage to get this information?" Dash shook her head. "I cannot allow that to happen. I will do anything it takes to prevent pegasi from dying."

Spike gazed at her curiously, but stayed silent.

"That won't work. We'd spend too much time circling the area." Twilight took a deep breath. "Here’s what we do. We stop by our base to restock on supplies then we do what Daring did. We strike straight down the middle, using the river and Canterlot Mountain as a guide. With three fliers, we should be able to spot the gorge from above and get in easily enough."

"That's stupid, with a plan like that you'll get us killed," growled Dash.

"We can't go around. That'd add at least three days travel to get there and we don't even know where “there” is!"

"And your plan would have us wander around blindly in the most dangerous place ever! It could take days before we find the damned place. If you're so eager to get there quickly, we should go around. Who knows, we might just survive as well!"

Both sets of eyes fell on Spike while simply stared back blankly. "Oh no. No, no, no, no, no." He darted out into the frozen night air. "I am not getting involved in this one. I'll be back in the morning, and I'll follow whoever's alive."

"Traitor," snarled Twilight.

"Survival instincts," he shot back before vanishing into the night.

"So..." Twilight stood up and stepped back. "Will I need to beat you into a pulp again?"

Dash grit her teeth and stood up. As much as she wanted to slam that horned freak’s face in, as much as she wanted to keep pummeling until all that was left was a bloody mess, she restrained herself. Her legs shook and a bare contained growl rumbled in the back of her throat, but Dash managed to stop herself despite every fiber of her body screaming at her. After all, she had orders from Spitfire,  and as long as those did not change, Dash was not about to do anything stupid.

Then again, a couple bruises here and there weren't against the rules.

"Sounds you forgot how I totally kicked your flank last time," said Dash,eyeing the cut along Twilight's side. "You won't be able to fight with that."

The freak feinted to the right and Dash's head moved to follow, only for a bolt of pain to make her wince. "And you can't fight with that," smirked Twilight.

Instead of replying with words, Dash merely snarled.

"It looks like we're at an impasse, so why don't you just listen to me and do as I say before I blow you up with magic."

No surprises there, how else could a horned freak win an honorable duel? 

"There's just one problem with that, you can't use magic." A small grin formed on Dash's face as she caught that slight flicker in Twilight's eyes. "If you could, you would use it to flip pages. If you could, you would use a unicorn bow rather than an earth pony crossbow. If you could, you would have used when we fought. So just admit it, you can't use magic, can you? What'd you do? Helped some dirty pony? Refused to spread your legs for some high ranking official? Com' on, we both know you did something to end up out here by yourself. No doubt that also made them cut off your magic. Quite frankly, I'm sur-"

"Shut. Up." Dash blinked in surprise at the pure venom in Twilight's voice. "Shut up or I will rip those wings off your back and force you to eat them." 

The pegasus merely smirked as she backed down. That was one piece of valuable information at least, and something Dash would have to bring up next time she saw Spitfire. If this freak did have some sort of run in with the unicorns, then it'd be a nice simple way to get rid of her without having to deal with any mess. Sure, she'd be tossed somewhere, probably executed, maybe thrown into the breeding pens, but she was just dirt, so why did that matter? It's not like it bugged Dash or anything. 

"Whatever," spat Dash. "I still say doing it your way is a death sentence. Going around is safer."

"Sometime you need to take a risk to survive," replied Twilight.

"I'm all for risks, but this is suicide. I led an entire fucking complex of pegasi, I know what I'm talking about."

"And I've lived out here for years! I know how to move, how to survive and how to fight. Trust me, when I sa-"

"But I have no reason to trust you!" The two were mere inches from each other. "I have no fucking reason to trust you."

"Then leave. You can leave now, you can leave whenever. You can go around and do things that way. Why are you so concerned with me? Where's that racism? That 'pegasi are so much better than you' attitude?" Twilight's eyes narrowed. "You're working for Spitfire aren't you? I'm not surprised."

Dash snorted in amusement. "You wish. It's like I said before, ifIf there's knowledge there, knowledge that could help the unicorns win this war, I'm not going to let them have it. Even if it means working with shit like you, I'll do it. I'll do anything to keep my pegasi safe."

"Your pegasi? Don't make me laugh."

"Yes, my pegasi," growled Dash causing that horned freak to blink in surprise. "If saving them meant being branded as a traitor and put to work as a breeding slave, I'd happily do it. If being tortured for the rest of my life meant not a single pegasus would ever have to suffer ever again, I'd do it. Because unlike you, my race actually means something to me.Loyalty means something. Not that you'd ever understand that."

"You're loyal to them, but are they loyal to you?" Typical unicorn, playing mind games. "There's a filly I know called Scootaloo. You should talk to her sometime."

"Why would I care what some filthy horned freak has to say?"

"There we go, there's the racism I had missed so much." Twilight chuckled softly and shook her head. "Scoot's is a pegasus, tough as ice and just as brittle."

"Probably brainwashed then." 

"One day your convictions will shatter, leaving you with nothing." Twilight turned away, walking back to her map. "Regardless, I am going straight through the forest whether you want to or not. Either follow or go around, it matters not, but in the end we both know what your decision will be."

"Fuck you too." Jaw clenched, Dash sat down and peered at the map. "We come in from the north and use the river. Spike will have to scout since a pegasus in the air would cause alarms, and we'll have to do the whole snow tunnel thing to survive. Since there are so many blank spots, we'll probably want to use some of that timberwolf crap to mask our scent, if it works like timberwolf urine." Dash paused. "Actually... I wonder how well dragon urine works."

Twilight made a gagging noise. "I am not letting Spike piss on me."

"Hey, it'd stop animals from jumping us."

"If it works, it works. You can thank Fluttershy for figuring that one out. Ever seen timberwolves being milked for their piss? Not. Pretty." A hoof on the page, Dash traced the Ghastly Gorge. "With how dense things are, I doubt we'll be able to see anything from the air, but it's worth a shot. And then there's the unicorns. The most probable base they can set up is along this ridge on the north-eastern side. It's  close to the frozen river, it's got a cave system, and while it's rather deep in the forest, it's defensible enough."

"Personal experience?"

"Mmhm. I was part of the group that scouted it out to see if it could be us-" Dash shook her head at how close she came to giving away important information. "It’s viable as long as there's a constant stream of supplies coming in, if extremely dangerous. Hm... if we could somehow disrupt that supply line, it could give us an opening to slip in."

"I can organize that," said Twilight. 
For such a smart pony, she sure was an idiot.

"Okay, so they strike at the supply line, cut off those unicorns so they can all starve and be eaten by monsters. That should hopefully give us some extra time to get in and get out." Dash sighed and rubbed her temples. There was so much here that Spitfire needed to know, but there was no way she could get the information out. Damn. "Assuming of course you can find the damned place, get in and then get out again without getting found."

"We cut off the supply line and then wait two days before going  in. If they're all dead it won't matter."

Bile rose in Dash's throat, and for a brief moment she entertained the idea of killing the unicorn right then and there. Her wing was certainly in range, and she could certainly move faster than that fat unicorn, but what if that caused them to lose the war? What if that monster had information that would prove to be the decisive blow the pegasi had been looking for ever since they took out Fort Vanguard.

But... if that meant working with such a monster...

Dash's entire body shook as she just stared at the oblivious mare before her. War was one thing, but that? To starve them out, let them freeze to death, to be eaten by the creatures in the forest. That was not how war was meant to waged.  That was not how wars were meant to be won. Even in this sun forsaken land, that monster did not deserve to live. She should not live. And yet here she was, looking over the map as Dash's wings shook uncontrollably.

"Alright, that'll be our course of action. We grab some support then hit their supply  base." That freak rolled the map up and stored it in her bag. "We'll want to get an early start tomorrow to sneak past the base without getting spotted."

Did Spitfire know how insane this unicorn was? How dangerous she was? She couldn't. If she did, there was no way she'd tolerate even being in the same room as that freak. That was another piece of information Dash needed to get out there. Maybe once she did, she could finally get rid of that monster once and for all.

For now though, she'd trust Spitfire. After all, she was a war hero, she took on an entire battalion of unicorns by herself, single hoofedly took down Outpost Far Sight, and was secondly only to High Commander Hurricane. If Spitfire said it was fine, then it was fine. For now, that freak would live.

For now at least.













The caravan bounced along and Pinkamina glanced over at the others. All were silent, all were in collars, and all had cuffs around their legs. A small smile touched Pinkie's lips, expertly hidden behind her mane as a guard trotted past. As the carriage rolled to a stop and the door was thrown open, the stallion beside her began trembling uncontrollably. As long as he didn't start wetting himself, everything would be fine.

"Alight you fucking pieces of shit, start moving!" screamed the guard before grabbing Lyra by the horn and dragging her away. "Not you, we reserve a special place in the guard barracks for traitors like you. The guards  sure got a work out chasing you down, and now you're gonna provide them with some relief, whether you like it or not."

Out the corner of her eye, Pinkie watched Blossom tense up, but all it took was a small shake of her head and the pegasus backed down. As the hoof connected with Blossom's stomach, the fire never left her eyes. If anything, it burned brighter than before, and with each resounding crack, it only grew. Play with fire and you get burned, and none burned quite as hot as she did. All around them unicorn guards swarmed, picking out the unicorns for whatever special punishment they had reserved. The earth ponies were herded together, while the pegasi were kicked and beaten before being tossed aside.

"Alright, alright, that's enough," called the captain. "Let's get this fresh batch inside and someone contact General Shining Armor, I'm sure he'll be most pleased." Trotting over, he grabbed Pinkie's mane and jerked it upwards, causing pain to dance along her entire body. The cool touch of metal against her throat brought her back reality though and the stallion leaned close, whispering in her ear, "To think I caught the Pink Menace. Who knew a frail thing like you gave Trixie such problems. Ha! It's laughable, that's what it is."

Without waiting for a reply, he flung Pinkie onto the ground, knocking the wind out of her. And to think she had a perfect comeback as well. Ah well, some other time then.

"Get up bitch," snarled a guard as hoof connected with her unprotected stomach.

Biting back a yelp of pain, she rolled with the momentum and crawled shakily onto her hooves. Sure it hurt, and every breath sent bolts of pain through her body, but it was still better than that one time she got a hook through her shoulder. Just remember, eyes downcast, body slack, nice and meek. Try to look broken, try to look tired, try to look as though living is pointless. The familiar warmth of a teleport enveloped her, and after a bright flash of green light, she found herself underground with cells and cages on all sides.

Bingo.

Rearing onto her hind legs, Pinkie’s elbow slammed into the captain’s stomach. A quick pivot and she was behind him with the chains wrapped snugly around his throat. Beside her, one of the guards spun around, killing another guard before any magic could be cast. Tossing the dead weight to the side, Pinkie shoved that scared  stallion out of the way, a blast of magic narrowly missing them both. Quick lunge forward, two strikes to distract, and he dropped dead from a bolt to the back of the head. All around them fights broke out, but with guards killing guards, it was over in the blink of an eye.

"Alright, I want all those injured in the center, Squad One, start breaking out the slaves. Unicorns, remove those filthy things, I don't want you to be attacked by accident." The unicorn at Pinkie's hooves groaned weakly and that earned him a stomp, crushing his windpipe.  "Squad Two, make sure all the guards are down, I do not want to be backstabbed. Mirage, you got the weapons?"

"Right here General," yelled a yellow unicorn as she tossed down swords, bows, gauntlets, wingblades, and even Pinkie's own weapons.

"Alright everypony, suit up!" Slipping on her personal gauntlets, she flicked them, shivering at the sound of the blades sliding out. "Remember, get the slaves, get our crew, get out."

"General, the floor two pens are completely empty!" yelled a voice from above.

"As are the floor three pens!"

"Ditto on floor four!"

Silence.

"Fuck!" Pinkie stabbed a blade through the dead unicorn before her and that wimpy stallion threw up. "Alright, change of plans, we kill everything. If they're not one of us, they die. They want to fuck with us? Fine, let's see if they can handle us then. Sergeant Mirage, get me a map!"

"Ma'am!"

And just like that a map was before her.

"Sergeant Eclipse, front and center, we need three strike teams. One to hit their supplies and raid what we can, a second to hit the barracks and remove all reinforcements, and a third to remove their communications." Pinkamina grinned up at them. "I'll lead a forth into the heart of the compound, where all the fun is. It's been a while since I've hosted a party this big, I hope they're ready for me."

"No one is ever ready for you," he replied flatly.

"What about the other unicorns? The rest of our sq-"

"They knew what they were volunteering for," snapped Pinkie, glaring at Mirage. "Their sacrifice will not be in vain, but I will not lose what precious few ponies we have on a suicide mission."

"Don't they mean anything to you!?"

"Sentimentalities once we’re off the field. Emotions cloud judgments, and that gets ponies killed." Pinkie stood up. "Sergeant Eclipse?"

"Squad One with me, Two with Mirage, Three with Apple Seed, and Four with General Pinkamina. Squad Five, I want you to secure this location as a temporary base of options. All other ponies not part of this operation can either stay here or get lost. Remember, this is a raid so gather supplies, kill unicorns, and get out."

Ponies leapt into action, scrambling to do everything, and to Pinkie's surprise, that weak stallion actually picked up a  crossbow.

"You know how to use that?"

"The sharp end goes into the enemy," he said flatly as he slipped a quiver over a shoulder.

"You're not suited for war." Her eyes raked over his thin and broken body. "Stay here and help the medics."

"No. It's about time I got some revenge. I don't care that you work with pegasi, I don't care that you work with unicorns, they aren't the ones who took everything from me. But these horned freaks? The ones who live here and breathe this foul air? They're dead." The crossbow was strapped to his leg and he saluted Pinkie. "Orange Slice, reporting for duty."

"That's better than nothing I suppose," sighed Pinkie. "Quill! Quill, get over here and teach this idiot how to fire the damn thing!"

A blue and white pegasus glided over and landed. Though anger flashed in the eyes of the earth pony, he didn't say a word as Quill began the giving a quick explanation of how everything worked. Though Orange Slice leaned away from every touch and more than visibly recoiled, he listened to what was said, nodding every so often.

"New recruit?" whispered Eclipse.

"Maybe. He's not exactly harmonious, but he's not yelling, screaming, swearing, or attacking just yet." Pinkie shrugged and brushed a lock of mane out of her eyes. "We'll see. I'm not convinced, but getting rid of racist ponies is easy, finding recruits is hard. I'm willing to give it a shot, but I want a pony on him at all times ."

"Got  it."

"Anything  to report?"

"We believe  the slaves were recently moved out. The bedding was still out, bowls of water were still present, and we even found some half eaten hay on the ground, so  they must be close by."

"Unless the reports on long range teleportation were true, in which case they could be on the other side of the territory by now. I'm more concerned about this spy though. I swear, if I find out who it is, I'll make them sing." A small chuckle escaped. "I may not play the lyre, but I can play the pony better than anyone ."

"I recall," he replied. 

"Why are all my captains so downy-frowny all the time?" she huffed. "Come on! Smile for once."

"I'll have to keep that in mind the next time I'm killing some poor fool."

"That's the spirit! Remember, the more you kill, the better place you're making the world. Plus, smiling unnervesthem and it keeps you nice and bouncy on your hooves, and you know that that meeeeeaaaaaaans~!"

"Bouncy hooves make for quick reflexes," he quoted dutifully.

"Yeeeeepperino!"

Eclipse rolled his eyes and sighed before immediately perking up. "Ah, the squads are set and armed. Time to roll out I believe."

"Party pooper."

"Merely doing my duty, ma'am."

"Don't you ‘ma'am’ me! I'm younger than you!"

That got her a flat look. "You're two years older than me."

"Details." With a wave of her hoof to dismiss the claim, Pinkie bounced along to her squad. "Alright everypony, time to get moving! I want archers at front for a clear volley. Unicorns get a shield ready in case of return fire. Pegasi and earth ponies, with me. We’re going after the commander’s office, apparently there’s important information in there, so no magic once we’re in. Also, try not to kill him. Hurt him, maybe make him sing, but I want him alive. Got that? Good. Now let's give them a time of their lives!"

"A pleasure," replied Blaze as the familiar tingling and warmth spread through Pinkie's hooves. "Hang on everyuni-pony, this may be a bit rough."

There was a stretch, squish, then snap, and Pinkie found herself popping into existence in a tunnel. Translucent shields immediately appeared before her and though some stumbled, the majority of archers were at the front with their bows drawn. As the seconds slowly ticked past with only silence keeping them company, the shields dropped down one by one. Pinkie signaled them to stand down as she began inching forward, both blades drawn and a smile on her face.

If they wanted to play hide and seek, let them play. It was just a shame Pinkie was the current ruling champion though. Forty-three consecutive grand champion at that. Every year they held the competition, and every year Pinkie dominated. They could hide, but not for long, and most certainly not forever.

And yet, with each step they took, with each corner they turned, with each door that was thrown open, all they ever found was empty air. No slaves, no unicorns, and most certainly no fun.

"Do you hear that?" asked a pegasus.

"Hear wha-" A low rumbling echoed through the hall and Pinkie's tail went into overdrive. "Shields, above us!"

Diving to the side, a boulder crashed where she had been standing. The first shield went up only to immediately shatter under the weight of the roof caving in. There was no time to think, Pinkie did as her body told her, skipping from side to side, weaving through the tunnel and shoving ponies to safety.

"Help!"

Head snapping back, Pinkie's eyes narrowed. One pony trapped under rubble, a second trying to help her out. Loose rock littered the floor, and the shield above them threatening to buckle. Ten seconds to get in then out, optimal path undetermined, Pinkie Sense working overdrive. Sure, there wasn't any blood, music, or cries of ecstasy, but this? This would be fun.

Leaping forward, her hooves connected with the wall and bounced off it. With a flip and twist, she landed next to the couple with a blade drawn.

"Leg or life."

"What?"

"Leg or life!" yelled Pinkie as her eyes darted up to the flickering shield.

"L-Le-" A scream was torn from her throat as Pinkie's blade sliced through the limb. A small smile touched her lips as she felt the warm blood splatter all over her face. Reaching down, Pinkie swung that useless stallion onto her back began racing back to the rest of the group. The pebbles made it impossible to the run, and beside her, the other stallion stumbled. A pegasus immediately darted forward and dragged him to safety just as the shield collapsed.

"Blaze, I need you do the whole fire thing to clean and close the wound."

Once more the screams came, except this time sobs were mixed in, and all that did was set Pinkie's heart alight. This was the price they paid for freedom, this was what they were willing to give up. Life, limbs, love. None of that mattered if meanness and monsters won.

"It was a trap. We need to fall back and regroup."

She ignored the groans of pain as she walked past those with broken bones, cracked skulls, and lame limbs. As far as she was concerned, they were alive, and as long as they were alive, they could still function. Once they got back to base, they could rest, but until then, every second that passed was another second for the enemy to get closer. For another trap to be set, another death just waiting to occur.

So somepony thought they could ambush her? Threaten her ponies, harm them, and cause them this suffering and pain? Cause those tears they cried? Well then, they better pray to the sun and moon and stars and sky, because once she got her hooves on them, they were going to sing the most glorious of songs. Once that happened, they'd be playing her game, and the only way to win that was to die.

Good thing Pinkie rarely let them win.