I never once stopped questioning my decisions, never once stopped wondering how it would all have changed if I had made different ones, never stopped wondering how it would all end if I carried on my current path. As I walked back through Mule, trying hard to look as if I wasn’t up to anything suspicious, I began questioning everything I’d done up to that point. I could have stayed in Equestria; we could have built new lives in Canterlot. I could have stayed at Sweet Apple Acres and worked to earn enough money to help Grass Snake and maybe one day bring my family over to join me.
I could have refused Maverick's offer and walked away, or more likely have my corpse thrown to the bottom of the Horseshoe Bay. As much as I was questioning my decision then, that doubt would only grow further down the line as I got dragged further into a life I had never expected to become a part of. I stopped once I reached the market square, the same one where I had spent my last moments with Applejack, from there I glanced up at the fort, looming over the city. As I steeled my nerves and checked around to make sure I wasn’t drawing the attention of any guards, I began forward once more, this time my thoughts drifting back to my mission details.
“We need you to infiltrate Fort Mule,” Maverick had told me. “It is the headquarters of the Liberators.”
“Infiltrate?!” I repeated in shock, although I’m not sure what I had been expecting. “Why me? Surely that’s the kind of thing you’d trust to one of these pair.”
“As capable as Sufferthorn and Stranglethorn are,” Maverick continued. “We are dealing with ponies who used to be our allies; they know that both of them are working for me. If they are seen then the Liberators will know we’re taking actions against them. You on the other hand, you’re an unknown. You’ve never associated with the Rebellion before so you can waltz right into the fort and it won’t matter who sees you.”
“Am I to take it the fort is still open to the public then?” I asked cautiously.
“Mostly yes,” Maverick replied. “Obviously there will be some restricted zones, and no matter where you go you’re liable to get stopped and asked what your purpose is.”
“So what will I tell them?” I pressed. “I’m a plumber? I don’t think they’ll believe that what with these weapons I’m carrying.”
“You can leave those here in the barge, I promise they’ll be safe,” Maverick assured me. “As for your alibi… I trust you’ll come up with something convincing.”
The Defence District was easily the smallest and most open of all the districts in Mule, consisting primarily of one large square in front of the fortress gates. Back before the war, this square used to serve as a nice place to take a walk or sit with an ice cream with Sweetie Belle or my old friends, now it appeared to be used as a training ground for all the new soldiers. There were three large squads doing drills in the square when I arrived, thankfully they left a path clear to the fort gates which stood open and where even more soldiers stood guard.
I wondered if I would be questioned simply for trying to get through the gates, Maverick hadn’t mentioned it so perhaps it wouldn’t be a problem until I was inside. The guards didn’t look too bothered with what they were doing, probably resentful at being posted outside in that heavy armour in this weather, much like the two mares we saw at the broken bridge. I realised it would be stupid to stand staring at the gate for too long as that would only draw attention to me, so I began walking forward thinking about what I would do once I was there.
It didn’t take long as it turned out, in a moment of inspiration so obvious I wanted to slap myself for not thinking of it sooner, I whipped out my sketchbook and the photos from it which I held out in front of my with magic. Once I got close to the gate I made sure to stand tall and walk with even steps, making sure not to rush, all while looking over the blank pages of my book and the family photos, pretending to be occupied with something very important. As I reached the gate I had to resist the urge to smirk as I walked right in without the guards giving me a second glance.
After all, if somepony looks like they belong somewhere you usually don’t question them. Once I was safely into the large, open entrance hall I returned my book and photos to my bag. Stopping in the centre of the hall I quickly glanced about; I knew my way around this place back when I used to live in Mule, since I ran my own business I had to make regular stops into the fort being that it acted as town hall. While the room remained almost entirely as I remembered it, I could tell it had work done in it sometime recently, perhaps it needed restoring after being damaged in the war or modifications had been made along with the extension to the fort.
As I made my ways to the stairs I thought back over the task I had been sent to accomplish.
“So assuming I get inside the fort in one piece,” I began. “What am I supposed to do here? Obviously I’m not making a donation.”
“No, you’re not,” Maverick replied calmly before nodding to Sufferthorn behind me.
“You will be looking for information,” Sufferthorn explained curtly, stepping forward and laying out a blueprint of the fort. “This is a map of the old fort, before they started construction on it. It’s the best we’ve got right now, although one of the things you’ll need to collect is an updated one that shows the layout of the extension and… any other areas they might have added.”
“A blueprint of the fort?” I repeated, looking it over. “Are you planning a siege on it?”
“We don’t know yet,” Sufferthorn replied. “But the blueprint isn’t our main concern; your objective is to uncover information on what the Liberators are constructing.”
“It’s pretty clear they’re making the fort bigger,” I pointed out a little condescendingly which earned me a glare from Sufferthorn. “It’s probably intended as a symbol of power or they need somewhere to hold their growing army.”
“Both of those things are likely,” Maverick agreed. “But we believe there is a third purpose.”
“Stone and wood aren’t the only materials that have been transported to the fort,” Sufferthorn continued. “Our agents have seen them transporting machinery in, and nothing about the extension on the fort suggest it’s being put towards that. We’ve discovered through various means that the Liberators are working on something much bigger than the fort, something top secret which we fear is something that will allow them to go to war with Equestria.”
“So you want me to find out what they’re building?” I queried. “That shouldn’t be too hard.”
“Weren’t you listening when I said it was top secret?!” Sufferthorn snapped. “You can’t just walk up to the front desk and ask to see what they’ve been working on. You’ll need to find a way into the office of one of the high ranking Liberators and see if there’s anything documenting what they’re up to.”
“So where are those offices at?” I asked, scanning over the blueprint.
“From what we’ve heard,” Sufferthorn began before slamming her hoof down on a certain point. “Third floor, left wing. Now we can tell you right now that section is most certainly restricted, the whole floor probably is.”
“And is there any pony in particular you think will have the information we’re looking for?” I asked.
“Actually,” Maverick began. “There is one pony who is almost guaranteed to have what we’re looking for…”
The second floor of the fort was all offices, but it was a public space, this was the area you were sent to if you had meetings with the various councils or departments. As I walked around I noticed that there were guards here too, although not that many, just half a dozen who patrolled up and down the halls very slowly. Some ignored me, others gave me a polite nod, and one actually stopped me and asked what my business was.
“I’m looking for the Department of Agriculture offices,” I lied, having seen the door earlier.
“It’s back this way, here I’ll take you,” they offered, leading the way back down the corridor.
Once we arrived at the door I quickly thanked them before walking up and knocking on the door, praying that the guard would leave before it was answered. To my dismay the guard stood and waited for me to get in, but neither did anypony come to the door.
“Funny,” I said frowning, while silently squealing with glee. “The lady downstairs told me to come here; I figured that meant somepony would be in.”
“Hang on,” the guard said, stepping forward and trying the door.
The door remained shut, the clicking indicating it was locked.
“Do you actually need to see somepony?” she asked, looking over at me.
“Well no I just had some files to drop off,” I replied casually, my heart racing as my mind began planning out my next steps very carefully.
The guard brought out her keychain and fished out the correct key; once the door was unlocked she opened it and led the way inside. I followed her in and made my way over to a desk at random while the guard waiting near the doorway for me to finish my business, I pulled out my book and photos a second time and began pretending to flip through them for what I looking for.
“Have you been working long today?” I asked over my shoulder.
“Not really,” the guard replied. “I’ve only been on duty since about eight this morning, although I’m not due to finish until ten at night.”
“Wow, that’s rough,” I commented. “I bet you’ll be glad to get back to the barracks, hang that armour up and get some rest.”
“I would, but we have to keep our armour in the armoury,” the guard explained. “It’s such a hassle, once we’re off duty we have to go all the way over the eastern block to leave our equipment back before traipsing all the way over to the western block to get some sleep.”
“You’d think they’d keep the two closer together,” I pointed out, glad she couldn’t see my smile with my back turned.
“They used to be, but then they started working on this extension,” the guard explained as I ripped out a page I had scribbled a load of nonsense over, left on the desk and made my way back over to the door. “But nothing about it is in any way practical, you have to wonder what the ponies in charge were thinking when they authorised all this.”
“I’d never have the patience for that,” I said as we walked outside the office and the guard locked back up again. “I’m just glad I only have to deal with this lot.”
“Yeah, I miss those days,” the guard said forlornly. “Anyway, will that be all?”
“Yes, thank you,” I replied in a tone more grateful than she knew. “Hopefully I’ll hear back from them soon, I’ll just see myself out now.”
The guard nodded and made to return to her post while I navigated back towards the stairs, returning to the entrance hall and making a beeline for the eastern wing of the fort. This was one of the new sections of the fort, although it wasn’t clear from the look of it, if only because they built it mainly from stolen materials. I noticed that the corridors I was walking down were getting considerably less crowded, sure that I was entering a restricted zone I began to creep forwards. Luckily the halls were lined with wide pillars that were perfect for hiding behind when any guards walked past.
After sneaking about for a short while, I came across a set of heavy double doors flanked by two guards. This I guessed was the armoury; it was after all the only actual room I had come across in the entire block. The fact that it was mostly corridors set out in a very particular pattern, most of which lead nowhere really should have alerted me sooner that something was wrong. Now I was faced with the problem of the two guards, these pair definitely looked more alert than most of the ones I had encountered previously, it made sense that they would put their best outside one of their most important locations.
I could always have walked up and bluffed my way through, claiming to be a new recruit, but I couldn’t be sure there wasn’t some sort of pass phrase. If there was and I didn’t know it, it could end very badly for me, so instead I opted for a distraction. Making sure I was concealed in the shadow of a pillar, I used my magic to pull out my pocket knife from my bag. Keeping it steady I peeked out from behind the pillar, waiting for the perfect opportunity to act. My blue aura stood out too much in these dark corridors, if I tried to move the knife at the wrong moment it would almost certainly be spotted and I would be caught out.
I’m not sure how long I waited, but eventually my moment came when both guards glanced off in the same direction, allowing me to fly the knife as fast as possible down one of the opposite corridors. Now that it was far away from me it didn’t matter if the guards spotted it, indeed that’s what I was aiming for. Using my magic I threw the knife back down the corridor, straight into the body of one of the guards. Of course it glanced off his breastplate, but the damage was done.
Both guards snapped into action, drawing their weapons and charging down the corridor I had thrown the knife from, their shields rose to protect them from any more projectiles. With them now running off in the opposite direction, my path was clear to the armoury door. Rushing forward I tested it only to find it locked, but I had been prepared for that which was why I had pre-emptively stolen the keys from the guard upstairs. Quick as I could I began testing one key after another, it hadn’t occurred to me that that guard might not even have a key to the armoury, but before I had time to panic over that possibility I got lucky with the fifth key I tested.
Once unlocked I darted inside and closed the door behind me, the armoury was very spacious, packed full of racks of armour and shelves of weapons. When I thought about how much was in this one room alone, and then how much was already being worn out and about, it really made me worry about the strength of the Liberators. It also made me realise just how strong the Rebellion had once been if the Liberators and the other factions had spawned from it, united it made sense that they had the power to challenge Equestria during the civil war.
I didn’t take a lifetime deciding what to wear like I was shopping for a dress for a high class function in Arclight, I just began grabbing pieces of armour and strapping them on. Luckily it was bulky enough that I could keep the rest of my clothes and bags on underneath, a decision I would regret much later on when the suit of armour became like an oven. Lastly I took a small mace and a helmet that would accommodate my horn, although the main feature of it was that it obscured almost all of my face, leaving only a narrow slip for me too peer out through.
Once I was suited up I turned and made my way back to the door, I could hear talking outside it so I knew the guards had returned. Taking a breath and making sure I appeared relaxed and in no way nervous or out of place, I strode forward and opened to door.
“Where the heck did you come from?” one of the gaurds questioned.
“From there,” I pointed out, gesturing at the armoury behind me. “Quite obviously.”
“I meant how did you get in there?” the guard specified.
“Well you two weren’t here when I came around,” I stated with a small shrug that barely showed what with my bulky armour. “I’m going to be late enough for my shift, I wasn’t about to wait for you two to dawdle back.”
“We were investigating a possible threat,” the guard retorted indignantly before shrinking slightly. “Although if you don’t mention to anypony that we left the door unguarded then we won’t tell anypony that you went in alone.”
“Deal,” I said before striding forward. “Now if you don’t mind the captain is going to get his nark on if I’m late for drills.”
That line had been completely improvised and I wanted to kick myself for it, I had no clue whether any of that information was falsifiable or not, like they might not even use that ranking system or even if they did the captain might not take drills. Luckily they didn’t bat an eyelid at my lie, appearing to take it at face value, so before I could do anything else that might screw myself over I carried on down the corridor. Once I had found my way back to the entrance hall, the corridors only just starting to bother me ever so slightly, I made my way up to the second floor once more.
On my first trip around here I had passed by the staircases that led to the third floor, but they all had a few guards standing at the top, looking very vigilant. I only hoped they wouldn’t question a fellow guard walking brazenly up the stairs, just like the guards at the gates hadn’t questioned a mare strutting into the fort while reviewing some ‘important documents’. As I reached the third floor landing, the guards glanced at me but didn’t say anything as I carried on my way down the hall, trying to figure out if I was in the left or right wing.
It didn’t take a genius to figure out a way to do so, using my magic I pulled out my compass from underneath my armour and held it in my hoof. Once it settled on north I was quickly able to deduce the correct way to go from what I remembered of the blueprint, right and left were a matter of perspective, and in this case the left wing was only on the left if you were facing the direction of the city, rather than the facing the fort itself, hence I knew it was on the eastern side of the fort. I knew roughly where the office I was looking for was, but as I entered the vague area I had to start reading the plaques on the door to narrow it down.
One by one I passed, until finally I reached my destination, the golden plaque emblazoned with the name…
“Typhoon,” Maverick said in a bitter voice. “Once one of my closest friends and associates, together along with our mutual friend we formed the Rebellion, growing it from three ponies in a university room in Arclight to a country wide movement.”
“He was a leader of the rebellion?” I repeated, quickly seeing where this was going. “So that now makes him…”
“Yes,” Maverick confirmed, nodding slowly. “Typhoon was the one who split away when we refused to join his mission in madness to conquer Equestria, he led the bulk of the Rebellion army astray and formed the Liberators, which he is now the leader of.”
“It is unquestionable that anything the Liberators are working on,” Sufferthorn picked up. “He will be managing personally; he was always one for micromanaging so we highly suspect that the most valuable information will be found in his office. We know the general area where his office will be, though we aren’t sure which room it is specifically. Getting to it and inside will be your concern however.”
“What if he’s inside the office?” I questioned. “He’ll hardly be alright with me coming and snooping through his desk.”
“If he is in the office,” Maverick began. “You’ll need to lure him out with a distraction or something, or convince him to go somewhere else if you’re feeling particularly brave.”
Now that I stood before Typhoon’s office, the moment of truth was upon me. If he was in his office I could present myself as a guard and weave some lie to get him to leave, and if he wasn’t in his office… I really doubt that guard was carrying a key to the leader of Liberators' office. Taking a deep breath, both to calm my nerves and to get some oxygen in my lungs as I was nearly suffocating in the stupid helmet, I reached up and rapped loudly on the door.
“Enter!” a voice called out, causing me to sigh with relief just before I entered.
Typhoon was reddish brown pegasus, with greying mane, wearing a full military uniform covered in medals. His office was small in floor space, but unusually tall, rising up at least one other floor. I knew the fort was four stories tall, although the first floor was very tall on its own, so that suggested that somewhere on the fourth floor there was no room because this one extended right up into it. Typhoon had been writing when I entered but now he had his quill down and was staring at me with cold eyes.
“What is it soldier?” he asked in a deep voice.
“Apologies sir,” I began, wondering if I should be saluting him or something. “But there’s a problem outside, two of the drill sergeants have got into a fight over the right way to exercise the units. One says to do it the usual way while the other wants to change things up a bit.”
“Change things up a bit?!” Typhoon bellowed, standing up and slamming his hooves down on the table. “What sort of puffed up pony thinks they know better drills than me? I did not spend days perfecting them so somepony else could walk in and change things behind my back.”
With that he walked around his desk and stormed out of his office, I made sure to keep close behind him until we were out into the corridor again. He seemed far too focused on what was allegedly happening outside that he was paying no attention to me, so as he thundered off down the hallway, I drifted back until I was outside his office once more. It was lucky Maverick had mentioned how he liked to micromanage, I had been thinking up that lie for a while after I saw the squads outside. Now that I was inside Typhoon’s office alone, I hurried about searching for something that could tell me what he was up to.
My first stop was the desk and all the papers that covered the top of it, I flitted through it all, scanning each item for a few seconds before discarding them and moving onto the next one. Everything on the desk seemed to be relating to the economy and trade with foreign nations, needless to say Port Mule wasn’t doing much trade with Equestria these days, or with the rest of Panchea, but they had increased exporting and importing goods with the southern countries, resulting in a massive influx of exotic products that had taken Mule by storm.
All interesting in their own rights, certainly shining a new light on how Mule was doing so well in the wake of the war, but nothing that related to what I had been asked to look into. There was nothing relating to the fort’s extensions or any sort of secret project, there wasn’t even anything that mentioned war with Equestria, not on the desk or in its drawers. I had already wasted so much time searching the desk, I was worried that Typhoon had already found out I was lying and would now be rushing back here to confront me about it.
In my panic I knocked an hourglass off the desk which hit the floor and smashed, my head snapped up as fear flooded my body. I had shut the door after myself which appeared to have blocked out the sound, but still I wasn’t going to be able to fix it before Typhoon returned. As I began to panic, my eyes started sweeping around the room for anything that might be able to fix my problem, when I noticed something on the desk that hadn’t been there before. It was a small, circular hole in the corner of the desk, within which was an even smaller red button.
For a moment I was curious how I missed it during my search before, but then it dawned on me that the hourglass had been concealing the hole. Without many options left to me, I used my magic to press the button and then braced myself should an alarm be set off or something that would equally ruin my mission. Instead I heard a hissing noise behind me, glancing around I saw a square section of tiled floor in the corner of the room had lifted up slightly, and was now rising along with the black cube beneath it.
My jaw dropped as whatever mechanism that caused it to rise ceased and the safe was left revealed. Wasting no time I hurried over and tugged the door open, thankful it didn’t require any combination or key. Inside was a positive goldmine of documents, the very first one I picked up being exactly what I was looking for when the words ‘war’ and ‘Equestria’ popped out at me. I read over several random documents quickly, the nature of the Liberators secret project becoming very clear to me. Taking all the information that appeared vital, as well as the updated blueprints Sufferthorn had hoped for, I stuffed the lot down my breast plate, slammed the safe shut and stood up.
If I’d had time I would have forged copies of the information so Typhoon wouldn’t know somepony had stolen from him, but the broke hourglass was already proof that I couldn’t fix in time. So I pressed the button a second time and as the safe lowered back into the ground I walked quickly to the door, opened and peeked out to make sure nopony was about before darting into the hallway and returning to the staircase down. As I walked through the second floor I subtly tossed the keys I had stolen behind an urn, if the guard found them again she would hopefully presume she had just dropped them.
It wasn’t until I was walking through the entrance hall, perhaps a little quicker than was wise, that things began to change. I saw a few guards running over to others; they would quickly explain something and suddenly all the guards would become more alert. Luckily… now that I think about it, pretty much every success I had during that mission was due to luck. Anyway, luckily I was able to get beyond the gates before any of the guards approached me, the last thing I needed was to be confined within the fort on actual guard duty. Once outside I made my way around the squads who had stopped their drilling while their commanding officers stood off to one side arguing amongst themselves.
I didn’t stop walking until I was beyond the square and back into the narrow streets of the Merchant District. Drifting into an alley I leant up against the wall and breathed a huge sigh of relief, levitating my helmet off so I could breathe properly. All the documents were safely stored underneath my armour, and once I ditched it somewhere I would put them in my bag and take them to Maverick. It was quite a nice feeling to think that my first mission had gone so successfully, particularly considering how risky it had all been.
As I was congratulating myself however, something caught my eye further down the alleyway. Glancing to my left I saw a figure step out the back door of a building, turn the collar of his white and blue coat up and begin walking down the alley in the direction away from myself. Everything about the stallion was so shifty, as if he were trying very hard not to be noticed or identified, but I had noticed him, and I also identified him before he was able to leave my sight.
“Feather Duster?”