//------------------------------//
// Prologue- The Stench of Regret 
// Story: Tales from the Gravel Pit 
// by Darkmetroidz 
//------------------------------//

	Twilight Sparkle sat on the ledge of the BLU fort, gazing through the scope of her sniper rifle. She, along with a group of her classmates, had been offered jobs by Vice Principal Luna right after graduation.

They had taken the offer right away. The pay was decent, it offered health benefits, and offered a fair bit of travel to boot. She had wanted to save some money to pay her way through college, so she took the offer right away.

Admittedly, she should have been suspicious about the vagueness of the offer, but Twilight had never been one to question people she liked or respected, and Luna was both. Which made her all the more surprised when she had a gun pressed into her hands on her first day.

Across the river, in the RED fort, Twilight's friend, Sunset Shimmer, sat in a similar position. Sunset had been approached by Principal Celestia and made the same offer.

As it stood, seventeen people had been recruited by the sisters and turned into a mercenary team.

Well, formerly eighteen. Twilight's then boyfriend, Flash Sentry, had been recruited to RED. He had been recruited as a soldier, but had died at Rarity's hands as he had snuck onto the battlements. Until his death, the teams had managed to keep up friendships across the alliances, but the tragedy changed everything.

All letters stopped. Even Fluttershy stopped writing. The only kindness the alliances did for each other was on Twilight and Sunset's part. The two had an unspoken agreement not to kill each other or their teammates while they stayed on their side of the bridge.

Twilight let her Machina fall to the ground. She pulled a yearbook out of her backpack and began flipping through it. She stopped on a dog-eared page. The photo was taken at the fall formal.

That was the night she and Sunset finally became friends. The next page showed them, along with Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Applejack at the battle of the bands. The seven had formed a band, the Rainbooms, and taken home first place.

Twilight sighed. The competition had tried their friendship like nothing they had ever been through before, but they managed to stay together even through that. But this business...

Rarity suddenly appeared before Twilight. She had been hired as a spy, a master of espionage. Among her equipment were a cloaking device and a disguise kit that could make her look like any of the mercenaries.

Of course, anything Rarity did, she did with a touch of fabulosity and flair that was all her own. Her suit was of her own design. When they had arrived, rarity had discarded the uniform she was given and set to make herself a new one, saying that, if she was to be partaking in sabotage and skullduggery, she would be doing it in style.

"Good afternoon Twilight," she waved. Twilight ignored her. She still hadn't fully forgiven her for killing Flash Sentry. Rarity had justified her actions by claiming that Flash had murder in his eyes when he had rocket jumped onto the battlements, and looked ready to kill young Derpy.
The situation became all the more awkward when they found a birthday present for twilight on his body.

Rarity took the hint and started to walk away. Unfortunately, right at that moment, another girl, wearing overalls and a wizard hat, approached the duo.

"We have business to talk about." Trixie declared. "This team is far behind schedule, and the great and powerful engineer Trixie means to fix this."

"And how do you plan to do that?" Rarity asked, lighting a cigarette, "our last few attempts haven't exactly been successes."

"That is because you losers were planning them," Trixie snidely commented, "let Trixie lead the next assault. We'll be done here before sundown."

"An egghead like you, leading?" Rainbow dash jeered, setting her baseball bat down beside her, "let the athletes fight. You just build your little toys."

Twilight signed, "Trixie has a point. Neither your or Bulk Biceps plans have exactly worked out."

Rainbow Dash growled, "That's only because none of you were fast enough to keep up with me." She stormed off, as did Trixie.

"My, Rainbow Dash has been in a sultry mood lately," Rarity observed.

"She hasn't been the same since the accident." Twilight said.

Rainbow Dash sat down in the courtyard and opened her knapsack. Underneath a six pack of soda and her scattergun was her own senior yearbook. She removed that, and pulled a medal out from underneath.

"It's not fair..." She sobbed.

When she enlisted, she meant to stay long enough to save enough to get her started at Wondercolt University, and play soccer for the school. Try as she might, she couldn't get an athletic scholarship because her grades were so abysmal. She hoped that would be her springboard to go pro in soccer.

But the accident changed all of that.

She was leading an attack on RED to steal their intelligence, and as usual, no one could keep up with her. She sprinted into the base headlong, and without knowing it, walked straight into a sticky bomb trap. Pinkie Pie was smarter than she looked. She buried them in dirt and in boxes of party decorations she brought from home. Rainbow Dash never saw it coming.

Luckily, Bulk Biceps and Derpy were right behind her. They carried her out and brought her to Shining Armor, their medic.

Rainbow Dash was on deaths doorstep. Her leg had been totally severed, and had lost a ton of blood. Shining Armor had his Medigun handy, but the relief came too late.

Rainbow felt the stiffness in her leg.

Her muscles had never been quite the same after the accident. To a casual onlooker, she looked fine, possibly in the best shape of her life.

But it was a sham. True, she could run faster than ever, but her footwork, once so perfect, had gotten clumsy. Shining armor's theory was that when her muscles were severed, most of the intricate motion she'd learned was lost.

The accident had totally altered Rainbow Dash. In one afternoon, she went from being the most liked and dependable member of the team to a sullen, angry loner.

"I hate all of them." She had found reasons to blame almost everyone for the accident. Rarity had been too busy picking out an outfit to scope out the other base for traps. Shining armor was a horrible medic for not fixing her completely. He was better at using his Vaccinator to protect against harm than to cure it. Twilight had passed up on countless chances to kill Pinkie Pie from the sniper tower.

And then there was Pinkie. The thought of her put Rainbow's blood to a boil. It was her bombs that had crushed her dreams.

Pinkie Pie had been a flamboyant character as long as she could remember, but she'd become even more annoying about it since they'd arrived at the gravel pit. Between the eyepatch, fake mutton chops, and cheesy Scottish accent she'd put on, Rainbow Dash wouldn't need much convincing to bash her with her bat, even disregarding their previous incident.

Rainbow Dash had lost all hope. Barring a miracle, her leg would never be as nimble as it once was. In her depression, she had forsaken the strict diet that she had worked so hard to keep up during school. Vitamin water and nutrition bars had quickly turned to Bonk! Atomic Punch, and donuts. Rainbow Dash wept to herself. Her dream of competing before thousands of fans at the world championships, or even the Olympics, were shot. 

She had enlisted to earn money, but now, she stayed for one reason. Rainbow Dash wanted revenge. She decided to find her way to the commons room. Trixie's crackpot plan might just allow her the opportunity she so desperately wanted. 

Trixie had set up a holographic display of the 2fort complex. Everyone sat before her, on the locker room benches, to see her plan. Trixie proudly stood before her plan. Rainbow Dash grimaced. She stood the same way the day of the accident. 

"The great and powerful Trixie will set up a base in the sewers under RED's base. Twilight and Bulk Biceps will come with Trixie and provide support fire while she sets up her  teleportation device. Then the rest of you will come through."

Rarity interrupted, "Hold on, who will be protecting our intelligence if we all go at once? I do not intend on losing that briefcase again."

The interruption annoyed Trixie, but she remained composed, and even pleasant. "Trixie will leave a Sentry gun to guard the intelligence room, along with Vinyl Scratch." Vinyl, the Pyro, waved at the mention of her name. Since she had joined the team, Rarity had a tough time gauging her. Vinyl never removed her mask and goggles. Although she rarely spoke in school, Vinyl had stopped speaking entirely, only communicating through noises and mumbles. Rarity had theorized that she was inside her own little world inside that mask. Twilight reckoned the fumes from her flamethrower had gotten to her head. 

"Once Trixie finishes her base, Hagity will scout the RED base to make sure there are no ambushes waiting for us. If you see anyone on RED who looks vulnerable, take them down like you did that last weakling." Rarity ground her teeth at the remark. "Rainbow Dash, you will go with Derpy and Shining Armor to retrieve the briefcase. Any questions?" 

No one raised their hand. Twilight was particularly surprised how much this plan relied on the entire team. 

"Then you may all leave." Trixie dismissed. The team filed out, back to their spots while they awaited the next morning. 

Twilight cautiously approached Trixie. "I thought your plan is brilliant. It's just that I, well... uh..." Twilight stammered.

Trixie raised an eyebrow, "Are you surprised the all-knowing Trixie would put so much faith in you idiots?"

"Yeah." Twilight nodded.

Trixie moaned, "As much as Trixie thinks you are all incompetent losers, she understands that if we ever want to get out of here, we will have to work together."

Twilight nodded, "Good luck tomorrow." As she left, she saw a framed photograph on the wall. It had been taken the first day the group had arrived in the dustbowl. Everyone looked so much younger, happier. Rainbow Dash's eyes still burned with passion and hope. Rarity looked simply stunning in her hand-stitched tuxedo, her curled purple hair hanging delicately over the red carnation she wore on her lapel. Twilight looked so much younger. Her hair still had a clean shine to it, her purple eyes still shone with youth, even behind her new aviator sunglasses. 

She looked in the mirror  besides the picture. It must have been put there to depress the mercs, because all Twilight saw in her reflection was regret. Her eyes had gotten dull, and more bags than she cared to count had formed beneath them. She had almost forgotten the cigar in her mouth. Most of the group had taken to drinking, smoking, or both, since Flash Sentry's death. Her hair was a mess. Little bits stuck out from under her hat every which way, and any semblance of her graduation haircut had been lost to the last few unkempt months. Rarity was the only one who still looked halfway civilized, but even her anal approach to hygiene had not been able to stop innumerable snags and stains on her suits, and her hair had long ago lost its battle with growth. Twilight sighed, "We really do look like a bunch of crazed gunmen." She pushed the thought, as well as that of her old friends, from her mind. She had to make ready for tomorrow. 

By eight PM, all traces of sunlight had totally faded from the southern landscape. Rarity sat by herself, looking up at the moon. She, like Twilight, had taken to smoking, but preferred cigarettes to the cigars preferred by the rest of her team. Twilight was on guard duty. She was snoozing in the roofed section of the balcony, at the platform's center. Rarity sat beside her, "It's a lovely night, isn't it?"

Twilight nodded. Rarity noticed she looked unusually gloomy. 

"Is something the matter Twilight?" She asked, hoping the answer did not have anything to do with Flash Sentry. 

"I saw that photo of us, from the first day we were here." Twilight sadly answered. "Is this worth it Rarity?"

"What do you mean? These jobs?"

Twilight nodded, "Yeah. These jobs."

Rarity sighed, taking a long draw on her cigarette. "No. Nothing is worth this."

Tears had begun welling up in Twilight's eyes, "We were all such good friends before we came here. But Fluttershy, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Sunset Shimmer, they're supposed to be enemies now."

"Not to mention what it has cost us as individuals," Rarity sighed, "Poor Rainbow Dash had her dreams crushed before her eyes. Nothing is worth your entire future."

Twilight peeked through her sniper scope. It seemed Sunset Shimmer and Fluttershy were having a similar conversation over on RED's side of the river. "What do you think will happen tomorrow?"

Rarity shrugged. "Who knows for sure? I just hope no one else gets seriously hurt."	

"Rarity, I have a confession I need to make." Twilight whimpered.

"What is it dear?"

Twilight took a deep breath and pushed her hat back, "I'm going to retire after tomorrow. I can't take it anymore."

"I understand," Rarity smiled, a hint of the kindness that had endeared Rarity to Twilight many years ago, "And if it's any consolation, I will resign alongside you." 

Twilight embraced Rarity, "Thank you. You are a true friend." The pendants they wore around their necks began to glow as the two wrapped their arms around each other.

"What is this?" Rarity held up the purple gem-shaped stone, which now gleamed with a bright light.

"I don't know!" Twilight exclaimed, "Our Harmony necklaces haven't reacted like this since we came here!"

"Perhaps it's a sign." Rarity closed her hand around the stone. "We have to do what is right for our friendship."

Twilight held the pink starburst in her hand, "We need to get in touch with the girls on RED. I think we should all leave. Soon."

Rarity gazed nervously down to the water below. She knew that in a few hours, the team would be using the sewer tunnels underneath the bridge to cross into RED's base. She shuddered. Tomorrow's battle would be the most intense action either of them had seen yet.