Snake ran as fast as he could, trying to escape the collapsing staircase. Everything around him was collapsing, the ceiling, the stairs themselves, the walls, it was all caving in. Soon, the door to what he assumed was the old and abandoned part of the castle was in view. However, the collapsing stairs were gaining on him. He decided to make a leap of faith and try to jump to the platform where the door stood, however, he was just a bit short. The mercenary ended up grabbing onto the ledge of the platform with one hand, trying his hardest not to lose his grip. However, the ceiling above him caved in, and he plummeted down into the deepest depth of the castle.
Snake fell right down into the security room of the castle, where the guards were currently holding a meeting. He landed right onto the table that the changelings all sat at. The fall had knocked him unconscious, however. The changelings were shocked to see his body, and immediately imprisoned him. They dragged his body to the abandoned part of the castle where the worst cells were, waiting to simply cave in on all that they imprisoned.
When Big Boss regained consciousness, he discovered he was placed in a cell right across from Luna's. His mission was made much easier by this error in the guard's judgement. However, there was one obstacle left, and that was the guard that guarded his cell and Luna's. He sat in his cell and thought about all the possible ways he could go about escaping his cell. There was the loud and easy way of just breaking out of the cell with what he had on him, there was the sly way of trying to convince the guard to let him go, and there was the sneaky way where he could try to climb out of his cell and quietly knock out the guard. As he contemplated his options, Big Boss rested a little and took a nap in his cell. It was during this nap that Princess Luna used all of the strength she could muster up in order to communicate with the man who intended to free her.
It took all of her strength in order to penetrate the solid mind of the soldier who was sent to rescue her. It was as if his mind was encased in multiple layers of steel, not allowing his mind to be easily entered. She knew that this man was strong willed, and would be the one who would finally free her from her imprisonment.
After forcing her way into her rescuer's mind, she entered his dream. Big Boss was dreaming about his mentor, The Boss, and herself, who was always The Boss' favorite. Big Boss was recalling a past memory, from before the Virtuous Mission. The year was 1963. The Boss had received interesting orders from the highest person in the chain of command. It was an unusual mission, one she had never taken before. She was to go to another world and rescue Princess Luna. It was a mission very similar to the one Snake was assigned to right now. Princess Luna had been taken hostage, and The Boss was their last resort. But, there was a big difference between the missions, and that was not only the captors, but the time. The mission took place 12 years ago in the human world, yet it took place 1000 years ago in the Equestrian world. Due to the peculiarity of the mission, The Boss had asked Snake to accompany her on her mission. She knew that he could learn valuable things about infiltration and surviving in an unknown environment.
However, Big Boss' mind soon skipped from the assignment, to all the way after the mission was completed, when he, The Boss, and Luna were all in Canterlot, safe and sound. The actual Princess Luna was witnessing this recollection, and she soon realized that her rescuer today was the very same one all those years ago. He looked so different to her, so much more banged up, so much more damaged and worn down. He was even missing an eye. The Snake she saw today was much different than the one she had met a thousand years ago.
Regardless, she soon stopped the dream to speak to Snake. She had important advice to give.
Big Boss was confused as to what was going on. Everything in his dream had paused, and then had been washed away. What replaced the landscape of the dream was nothing but empty white space. It was as if Snake was in purgatory. It was a phenomenon that he had never experienced before, as people in the human world could not manipulate dreams.
"Hello Jack, that is your name, correct?" The mystical princess of the night had said as she appeared in front of Snake.
"I am a man of many names, call me whatever you wish. Names, are not important. What is important is that I am here to rescue you, and I will find a way to accomplish that mission." The cold mercenary replied.
"Then I shall refer to you as Jack, for that was the name I was given to call you a thousand years ago. All issues with names aside, you have a point. You are here to rescue me. I am very glad to see you accepted such an unusual mission. Before you continue, however, I must warn you of two things. One, these creatures are not the same that captured me a thousand years ago. No, these are changelings. From their name, I believe you can already assume their special ability. They possess the power to change into anyone they please. This is something you must be wary of. Should they know of your past, I believe they could take the image of someone who was close to you." Luna was beginning to decrease in strength after every word said. It took most of her energy to enter the steel mind of Big Boss in the first place.
"If you're referring to The Boss, I share no sentiments for her any longer. She means nothing to me anymore. Now continue with your warnings, if you insist." Snake replied as if he was a robot. He was cold, solid, and to the point. He did not waste anytime.
"I can sense some discord within you when you mentioned her name, obviously, although you try not to show it, you do have feelings for her, which are the source of the chaos within your heart." Luna was treading on thin ice.
"That is irrelevant to this mission. Princess Luna, if you have anything important to say to me, say it now, or stop wasting my time." Snake replied, to silence the weak moon princess.
"Very well then. I shall not speak to you the second warning, since you may pass it off as unimportant or irrelevant. Best of luck to you. I no longer have the strength to continue speaking to you in your dream. I managed to muster enough strength for this conversation, however, my body is weak, ergo my mind has been weakened. I will no longer be of any assistance to you. I recommend however, that you play mind games with the guard. There were talks of the Queen having an important visitor. I believe you can piece the rest of this puzzle together. I place all my faith, and my life, in your hands, Jack." With those words, she disappeared from Big Boss' dream and all returned back to normal.
Not long afterwards, Snake then woke up, recalling the events of his dream. He pieced everything together, and proceeded to get on with the mission. He was lacking all of his equipment, but had a strong belief that the guard knew where he could locate it. He proceeded to call the guard over to his cell to try to manipulate and trick the guard, just how Princess Luna had suggested. "Hey, guard, come over here. There's something important I need to talk to you about."
"I'm not allowed to speak to prisoners, now be quiet." The changeling replied.
"But I'm not a prisoner! I am the Queen's important visitor, and because I was not escorted, I got lost trying to find my way around the castle. I demand to be handed my items back and to be released from this cell at once!" Big Boss was assertive, demanding, and intimidating. The guard was frightened and easily fooled, believing every single word the clever soldier said.
"I-I-I'm sorry sir! I'll get you out right away! If you'll just kindly come with me to the outpost nearby, I can give you your things back! Please don't tell the queen!"