//------------------------------//
// Equus Tactics #40 
// Story: Virtue and Vice: Equestria 
// by enigmaMystere 
//------------------------------//

	Ignoring the warnings of the train conductor, the team insists on boarding the first available train for Appleloosa. Word had spread recently that the desert town was a place to be avoided, so thankfully, finding space on the train is no issue. In fact, they’re the only ones on the train at all, aside from the conductor and engineer. This gives them ample time and privacy to discuss their strategies.

‘I’m just going to say it.’ The silver fox huffs from his spot on Winter’s back, glancing at the tan pony. ‘I think those ponies don’t want to be here. They’re probably upset at us for forcing them to take us...’

Winter just shrugs; a difficult task to perform without disturbing Mercury’s balanced position. “Not like they aren’t gonna just leave as soon as we get off board. Hope we can find a way back when we’re done.”

“Hey, Sol,” Vinyl pipes up from her seat across from him, glancing at the stallion as he casts a strange look their way, “I know talking to him is your thing, or whatever, but some ponies aren’t used to it like we are.” 

The vulpine creature turns to the mare, smirking. ‘Maybe we should’ve gotten in the car with those rooms, huh? Oh, wait, this train doesn’t have that.’

For his part, Winter just shrugs again. “I think we’re already considered an insane bunch just because we’re going to Appleloosa. Like we can get any weirder in their eyes.”

She opens her mouth to respond but stops, actually considering his words. With a defeated sigh, she turns to gaze out the window, watching the landscape fly by. “Fair enough. Still don’t know what the plan is, though.”

“Neither do I. Let’s figure it out.” Winter nudges Mercury with his hoof, who quickly hops off his back to let his friend move. The stallion stands up and idly paces back and forth in front of the rest of his team as he speaks. “We all know how a diamond dog looks, and we know that their size isn’t just for show. They’re strong, and they’ll almost definitely be in groups. Probably a big one, if they managed to empty an entire town. So a head-on attack won’t do anything except get us, and possibly some of their slaves, injured or even killed.”

“Then we do a Trojan Horse maneuver.” The marble changeling leans across the aisle, sitting on the edge of her seat. “We infiltrate their compound and take them down from within.”

Winter nods at her. “Good idea, but we need a little more fleshing out. An attack from within could be just as pointless as an attack from outside unless we have something to work with. We need to get in there, and while we don’t have to earn their trust, they need to at least not see us as a threat.” He stops pacing and thinks. “...but if we have four ponies, two changelings, a griffon, and a fox randomly show up at their doorstep, they’re gonna be pretty suspicious. That number of sudden visitors wouldn’t be inconspicuous anywhere but the Grand Galloping Gala.”

“Then we split into two groups.” Dior nods. “One to go undercover, and the other to stay hidden, act as backup, just in case.”

“Good plan. Plus, once we decide to strike, having attackers from outside and inside might confuse them and force them to split their attention.” He looks around. “I’d say we try to cut the team in half. The half of us that stay hidden will hold onto our equipment. When we need it, one of us can sneak out and let the outside team know the current situation.”

Maud voices the obvious question. “Who goes in?”

“I don’t know about you guys,” Vinyl taps her chin, glancing at the sheath on her back, “but I’m not too keen on leaving my weapons behind for any amount of time.”

Winter nods. “That’s fine, Vi. I was thinking you’d be better off outside anyway. It’d be best to have a unicorn on each team, and I’m definitely going in.”

‘Then I’m going, too!’ The little fox beats a paw against his chest, grinning up at him.

The grey earth mare raises a hoof. “I volunteer to go. I can help the group not get lost in the tunnels, as well as help spot weak points in the rock if we want to use them.”

“Not to be rude,” Flick speaks up, looking at the cobalt pony in concern, “but this whole thing isn’t underground, is it? Because I don’t do well with restricted air supplies.”

Hydro makes a questioning motion with a hoof. “Exactly what will the objectives of the undercover team be? I mean, I get most of it will have to be spontaneous since we have no idea what we’ll be up against, but generally is what I want to know.”

“One question at a time,” Winter asks as he looks between everyone, finally focusing on Flick. “I assume it’s going to be entirely underground. Or maybe not underground, but...well, we won’t be seeing sunlight for a while. I’d recommend you stay up here with Vi.”

He nods, breathing a soft sigh of relief. “Thanks, Sol.”

The team leader gives a nod and smiles a bit before turning to Hydro, tackling his question next. “The undercover team will have to get in there and do whatever we have to do in order to keep the dogs from suspecting us, even if that means getting ourselves caught as slaves. While we’re there, it’ll mostly be a recon mission. We’ll be gathering information, specifically on things like trying to memorize the layout of the tunnels and where the dogs keep their supplies. Once we think we know enough, which could take even days, we’ll let the outside team know what’s going on. Then we’ll start sabotaging the operations, take the dogs by surprise, and launch our attack with the outside team acting as both backup and a distraction. Whether we chase the dogs off or kill them doesn’t matter.”

Gilda snorts. “And how exactly do we get a message out? The dogs aren’t that stupid.”

“I’ll get it out.” Dior looks at the griffon, her eyes hard. “I can sneak out through the ground, without drawing attention from the dogs. And I can make a replica of myself to control remotely… though that will be a bit of a strain, I’ll admit.” She then turns to Winter, frowning softly. “You know the Princesses don’t look kindly upon killing.”

The stallion frowns back. “The end result of this, in the best possible scenario, will be that the diamond dogs will never bother us again and the slaves are freed. We don’t have to tell anyone why they aren’t bothering us anymore.” He sits back down. “Besides, past events involving ponies being enslaved by diamond dogs have almost always had several pony slaves dying from overexertion, or even just being plain beaten to death.” His eyes narrow a bit. “You can avoid it if you want, but if killing a dog or two becomes the best option, I’m taking it.”

Taking a surprisingly serious tone, Gilda holds up a claw. “I doubt the dogs took only ponies. I know most of you guys are all about harmony and all that stuff, but other species won’t be so forgiving after being kept like this. If we find a minotaur, griffon...heck, even an angry buffalo with enough strength, we’ll need to watch ourselves if we try to stop them getting revenge.”

‘Actually...’ Mercury pushes his nose into his friend’s saddlebag, rummaging around a bit before coming out with a couple pictures in his mouth. He turns to the others, holding them out for them to view.

Winter briefly looks distressed, only for that look to be replaced with a smirk. “Perfect. If we free them, we’ll have a lot more muscle on our side.”

“Or, if you really want these guys to disappear, why not just set these two free?” Vinyl shrugs, pushing her shades back up her nose. “That way, you don’t have their deaths on your conscience, and you technically aren’t the ones to end them.”

“Oh, they’ll be set free, trust me. But while we can count on them as powerful backup, we can’t make them do all the dirty work. The diamond dogs were able to catch them, they’ll be able to fight back. That’s why our best bet is to outnumber them.” He looks away. “And besides...another death or two on my conscience is just a few more needles of hay on the stack. I’ll just wash the blood off and begin tomorrow like normal.”

Dior stares at him, concerned. “If you’re sure… let’s just hope it doesn’t come to that.” She shakes her head, looking over the group. “I guess that’s almost everyone…”

A paw taps Winter on his shoulder, the fox on his back whispering to him. ‘Win, if we can’t have weapons or anything… how will we get my book in there?’

The unicorn looks back at Mercury before whispering back his response. “We might not be able to...it’d be pretty hard to keep hidden up until we start the sabotage...”

Vinyl leans forward, curious. “Sorry, keep what hidden?”

Winter turns quickly to her with a small glare. “Weren’t you ever taught that eavesdropping is rude?”

“It’s not eavesdropping.” She smirks at him, pulling her shades off. “It’s lip-reading.” She winks coyly before putting them back on, rolling her hoof expectantly. “Spill the beans. What could you possibly need to sneak inside the place?”

He pauses, then shrugs before answering smoothly. “Merc was just asking why we couldn’t bring our weapons in.”

“Really.” She quirks an eyebrow at him. “It looked like you were referring to a single one. So it has to be something specific, right?”

“My daggers.” Winter nods in the direction of his saddlebags containing a few items. “You know I refer to them collectively as ‘Equinox’.”

Dior taps his side. “If you really need those, I could carry four of them in my legs. Since, you know,” she waves a foreleg demonstratively, “stone.”

Winter smiles. “Thanks. That’d be helpful.” Levitating over his saddlebags, he starts to dig through them. “Let me pick out the best ones to take in...if I can find them in here...”

As he does this, his little friend pipes up once more. ‘You could have someone else carry the other two. And the book, too.’

He nods. Getting an idea, the unicorn looks at a certain griffon. “Hey, Gilda. Think you can fit some things under your wings?”

She nods. “I might have to burry them in my feathers if they get nosy, but yeah. Not gonna shove anything weird under them, are you?” She adds that last part with a raised eyebrow.

“Thought maybe you could hide my other two daggers. I’d wrap them in cloth so they wouldn’t jab you, so don’t worry about that.” He finally begins pulling out some of the blades, each one slightly different from the others in some way.

“So… that would be four - five, sorry, Mercury - on the inside, and three on the outside.” The nymph taps her chin, thoughtful. “Is that correct, Sol?”

Winter nods, briefly looking up from his searching. “It may not be perfect halves, but it’s the best we can get. We need to remain inconspicuous, but still have enough ability on both sides. This seems like the best arrangement.” He looks back to his bags, five daggers currently on the seat beside him. “Come on, Viper, where are you...”

The griffon among them smirks, commenting wryly. “Have you considered naming that one Virginity? You’d never lose it then.”

Instead of a glare or otherwise hostile response, Winter just laughs a bit as he finally pulls out the dagger in question. “How fitting it’d be the poison one. I’ll make anyone I stick it into get sick.”

‘That’s just your negativity again, Win.’ He huffs, twin tails swishing idly behind him. ‘You really need to reign that in, right now… especially with lives on the line.’ He nudges his hoof. ‘Including a certain someone I’m sure you’ve been thinking of, this whole time.’

As he turns to lay the blade with the others, Winter takes the opportunity to reply quietly. “Making me think about them is just gonna distract me more, you know.” He takes out a couple of cloths, which he wraps two of the knives in separately. “Alright, Gilda. You’re in charge of Vision and Vendetta. Given the circumstances, they’ll probably be the ones I want closest to me at all times, so don’t wander too far from me once we get in there.”

“I might not have a choice, you know,” she says as she grabs the two parcels. “As much as I’d like to claw their eyes out when they do it, we’ll have to be all submissive and meek and all that other crap.”

Winter passes the other four knives to Dior. “Well, this train ride’s been a couple hours long. You could’ve just slept. If you can’t be calm and submissive, just be groggy, and it’ll have the same effect.”

Mercury smirks, eyes narrowed at the hybrid. 'Or get laid. That might work, too.'

“Fine, I’ll tone it down to ‘slightly ornery’.” She smirks. “Still gotta be me after all.”

“Whatever works for you,” Winter answers the griffon as he moves his hoof to put over the kitsune’s mouth. The fox’s response is to lick the hoof, to which Winter rolls his eyes but smiles.

“Hey, Solstice…” Flick calls back from his seat near the the front of the car. “When was that picture of Appleloosa taken?”

The blue stallion blinks and looks over. “You mean the one in the file? About three days ago, maybe four. Why?”

“Because I think we may need to proceed with caution.” He turns to the others, pointing out the window he’s at. 

Off in the distance is the city they want, but it has definitely seen better days. Parts of the buildings are crumbling to the dirt, and what’s left looks like a fire had broken out and was left unchecked. Some structures have been entirely destroyed, reduced to smoldering ashes with just a few blackened pieces of wood to signify that something had once been there.

“...well.” Winter blinks at this sight, his eyes wide but his face showing no major emotion change. “Guess somepony let their smoking habit get out of control.”





As the train pulls back out of the station, eager to be on its way out of the area, the wind blows around the eight figures left standing on the platform. ‘Ghost town’ is an entirely accurate description of the land before them. Not a single living soul is seen among the ruins of the once bustling town, only ashes and debris.

The lone griffon of the group walks forward a few steps, sharp eyes scanning the area with a surprising amount of emotion. “Never thought I’d see a sight that reminded me of Gramp’s old war stories… never wanted to.”

Winter walks up beside her, a surprised expression on his face that mostly vanishes when he sighs sadly. “At least they had the courtesy to kidnap the inhabitants before tearing the place down. Trust me, you don’t want to see a place like this littered with bodies.”

“Yeah…” She shakes her head before puffing out her feathers and striding ahead. “Well, no time to sit around, gotta see what we can find.”

The rest of the group quietly and reluctantly agrees, slowly peeling off to look around the area. None of them are sure exactly what they’re looking for; clues? Supplies? A pony or two that was caught in the disaster after all?

Vinyl cautiously picks up a fallen door, peeking underneath the charred wood a moment before lowering it back down. "This is just... so surreal..." She wanders up ahead, violet eyes forlornly gazing over the razed buildings. "Who knew that diamond dogs, of all creatures, could cause this much destruction?"

"They can't," the goldenrod drone calls down from above, head turning this way and that. "Or at least, they couldn't. Not to this degree." 

Things go silent as everyone goes their separate ways, yet within calling distance just in case. Then, as the blue stallion peers inside a melted window, his friend speaks up. 'He's right, you know. The diamond dogs didn't do this.' He sniffs at the ground, moving along a scorched section of dirt. 'Not alone, anyways.'

Winter looks at the little fox and nods, though he still looks slightly confused. “Any clue what could have, then?”

'Yes, I do.' He pats the blackened earth, frowning solemnly. 'Just look at this. What does the shape tell you?'

The stallion looks at the odd triangular shape. “Well...clearly whatever started the fire wasn’t doing so right at the building. They were a distance away...” He follows the shape along the ground until he reaches the dull point of the triangle. In the ground at that spot are small indents. “...probably right here. But I don’t know of any way a diamond dog could leave these kinds of indents or shoot flames from this far away.”

'They can't. That's the point.' Mercury nudges his bag, hoping to help his thought process. 'Think about it a second.' He approaches the spots, turning and standing with legs spread beside them, facing the house. 'This far away, and shooting fire...'

“Likely from their mouth...” Winter continues his friend’s train of thought as he nods slowly. “They must be working with some other...creature. A small one, but one that can unleash devastating amounts of fire...”

'Exactly.' He huffs, turning around and pointing at a spot about a meter away. 'And look - two paw prints, right over there. What dog would stand that close?'

“I’d say a dumb one, but that doesn’t narrow it down very well.” Winter chuckles despite the situation. “One who trusts, or is even controlling, the creature breathing fire...maybe it’s a slave, even.” He blinks, then his eyes slowly widen. “...or...”

'Bingo.' He nods, approaching his friend. 'There are more out there, after all. Now, what are we gonna do, if it's true? We've seen their power.' He gestures to the remains of the clock tower.

“Honestly...I’m not sure...” The unicorn sighs. “This kind of made the whole thing a lot more complicated.”

'Not so.' He paws at his saddlebag once more, smirking slyly. 'We just need to sneak that inside.'

“Are you sure?” Winter asks, though he doesn’t sound like he disagrees with the idea. “If this thing breathes fire...well, the book is made of paper. Do the math.” He leans in and takes the book out, as if showing it off will enforce his point about what the materials used to create it are.

'I understand that.' His eyes fall upon the blue cover, concern flashing across his face momentarily before his expression hardens. 'But without it, we might not win this battle...'

Winter opens his mouth to reply, but pauses when he hears frantic hoofsteps getting increasingly louder. At this point, Dior runs around the corner, breathing heavily before holding up a hoof, upon which hangs a brown hat. "We found... where they took them at..."

The stallion shuts his mouth as his expression hardens, but he doesn’t move or speak for a few seconds. Finally, with a deep breath, his body relaxes to how it was before and he briefly closes his eyes. “...alright...nothing we didn’t already know.” He opens his eyes once more and makes his way over to Dior. “Thanks. I’ll hold onto that for now.”

She nods, turning to the side and, distracted, places it upon his head. "Come on, we should hurry over there."

A little puzzled, but eventually letting his face shift to a look of amusement, Winter adjusts the hat to a more comfortable position and nods. “Right. I don’t think we’ll find much else around here, might as well meet up again...”

The nymph looks to him, nodding briefly. "Better do it soon. We don't know when they'll figure out we're here."

“Got it.” He nods to Mercury as he starts walking along, who hops onto his back for the ride. “I think we’re just about ready anyway.”

Dior looks over at him as they walk, clearing her throat. "So, how long have you... fancied the farmer?"

He coughs, nearly jostling the hat from its position on his head. “E-Excuse me?”

"You forget we can sense emotions." She rolls her eyes. "Being stone doesn't change that. I could feel your love and horror, when you looked at her picture... but, more importantly," she stops, placing a hoof on his shoulder, "I also felt your guilt on the train, when talking about, ahem, putting down the diamond dogs."

Winter raises an eyebrow as he speaks in a deadpanned voice. “Guilt? For wanting to kill those guys?” He shakes his head. “If somepony, someone, or something wrongs me or the nation I protect in any way, I’ll ‘put them down’ with glee if that’s what they deserve. And they deserve this if they don’t surrender.”

"But that's the thing. No one can truly feel guilt for something they haven't done yet." She turns to him, gazing intensely in his eyes. "It wasn't for them. It was for something you've done before." The marble changeling sighs, shaking her head. "I'm not going to judge you, Sol, but I want to know what weighs so heavily on your shoulders."

The unicorn retains a neutral expression. “If you think I’m going to go into some kind of sob story, think again. The only thing that weighs heavily on my shoulders is this guy after he’s eaten.” He motions to Mercury on his back. “But if you want a story? I’ll keep it short. Before I joined the Tactics team, I was in the royal guard. You know what that’s like, being a former general yourself for the changelings, I assume.”

She nods, silently waiting for him to continue.

“Then let me present to you a hypothetical scenario.” He turns his body to face her fully. “On your left, you have a burning building that has been set on fire by an infamous serial killer, with a good dozen innocent beings inside. On your right, the killer that has taken hundreds of lives and will go on to take more, is making his getaway. You can only choose one.” He narrows his eyes. “What would you do?”

Dior stands there for a moment, considering his words carefully. "Were I still a general, I'd have killed him where he stood." She shakes her head, turning to him fully. "Now, though, I'd save those in the building. Better to save the few in need before the many that may be."

“Fair enough. Now, let me ask you a second question.” He shuts his eyes. “What if the only way for you to stop the killer, is for you to start the fire yourself?”

She blinks, staring at him blankly. "I... I honestly don't know."

“Really?” His eyes open again, and he looks almost annoyed. “So you’d let someone go on and continue their murdering spree, because you can’t handle the blood of a few ponies on your hooves?” He shakes his head. “It sounds like there’s no good choice. And there isn’t. So you have to go with the lesser of two evils.”

She grabs his cheeks, forcing him to look at her. "There is always another option. Just because you don't see it doesn't mean it's not there." She huffs, the gears visibly turning in her head. "If I really only had those choices, though, I'd try to keep the flames contained to where he was. Happy?"

“Apparently my metaphor has been taken a little literally-”

She shoves a hoof in his mouth. "I get it. You had to make a tough call. I've had millions to make when I was in the corps."

“And you felt guilty for having to make them?” Winter asks, pulling her hoof out of his mouth.

"In the end... it didn't really matter." She turns away, eyes closing as memories come unbidden. "There would've been blood on my hooves, either way. All I could do... was hope the innocent are able to forgive me. Hope they understood why I did what I did."

The stallion nods. “I understand what you mean. I wasn’t in the guard nearly as long as you were in your own military, but I made my fair share of those decisions too.” He sighs. “But you said you sensed my guilt. That’s the problem.”

Her frown softens slightly. "It's not for them, is it?"

“No. It isn’t.” He looks away. “I don’t feel guilt for killing those who didn’t deserve it, directly or indirectly, because it’s easy...and that’s why I feel guilty.”

She stays silent a moment, reaching out to him a second before stopping and letting her hoof fall back to the dirt. "I... I'm sorry I brought it up... but you'll never have to make those decisions again. You have us... to help open up those solutions that don't seem to be available, at first."

He doesn’t respond, just standing still for a moment. Eventually, he adjusts his hat again. “Let’s get back to the others.”