Captain Osgoode tried to keep focused as she stood guard over her charge, calling upon her years of training to maintain an outer appearance of complete stoicism. Such a statuesque appearance would have been enough to unsettle any prisoner, but the strange alien equine she was guarding seemed completely unconcerned by her presence. In fact, the majestic white horse with the ethereal flowing mane was even taking advantage of her time confined to her quarters to catch up on apparent mountains worth of paperwork. It seemed that politics on this planet weren’t much different from those of Earth and her colonies.
As she watched the quill dance across the myriad of papers within the pony princess’s golden magical aura, Osgoode couldn’t help but wonder whether she wasn’t severely out of her league with this “Celestia.” Indeed, it seemed to her that if not for the very literal gun being held to the head of the entire city, the regal pony would have very little trouble dispatching the Recovery Agent with a literal thought.
“Are you sure you don’t want a bite of one of my cookies?” Princess Celestia asked idly between bites from the plate on the desk beside her. “I find that a few sweets helps me get through my work easier. Who knows? Maybe they’ll help you?”
That was just the thing though: The more time Osgoode spent guarding Celestia, the more she wondered whether the princess would have been interested in hurting her at all. No. Remember Reach. The Counselor had warned her and (no doubt) her comrades not to be fooled by the cute, innocent appearance of the alien “ponies”. Not to give into the nurturing instincts inherent in any human when presented with the right stimulus; the equine aliens would use it to their advantage. He warned her that despite their appearance, these creatures were dangerous, perhaps just as much so as the Covenant.
Osgoode remembered the Great War as well as anyone. She saw first hand how brutal the myriad of aliens of the Covenant were. She remembered the pain and heartbreak of seeing her own home planet—Reach—burn as their cruisers glassed its surface. If there was even a remote possibility that these pony aliens were capable of that kind of destruction, Osgoode was determined to ensure it would never happen again. And yet….
“Spike?” the princess called out, picking up a stack of papers in that mysterious glowing aura. “Can you file these away for me? They go in the bottom drawer on the right end of that shelf.” Celestia gestured with her head to the shelf in question, and the individual called “Spike” approached her to do as he was told.
Princess Celestia had described Spike as a baby dragon, but whenever Osgoode looked at him, all she saw was a little boy. One not too different from her son. The son she’d left behind on Reach.
The boy yawned as he attended his task, and the princess smiled.
“Feel free to head to bed when you’re done, Spike,” the princess said, suppressing a yawn herself. “It is awfully late.”
Spike nodded gratefully, and after attending his task, crawled into a basket that seemed more suited to a pet than a person, rubbing his eyes and clutching a plushie resembling a white unicorn.
“G’night, Princess,” he said.
“Goodnight, Spike,” the princess replied warmly.
The baby dragon spared an uneasy glance in Osgoode’s direction before rolling over, breathing softly. Osgoode tried not to think about how many other children were sleeping in the city outside the castle’s walls. About how many would perish if the Director followed through with his threat. Remember Reach.
Groaning, Celestia stood from her desk and stretched. “I don’t know about you, but I think I’ve worked enough for one night.”
Despite Agent Wyoming’s orders for her not to engage the prisoner in conversation, Celestia frequently spoke to Captain Osgoode in friendly, pleasant tones. The princess often carried on entire conversations with her all by herself, speaking about a variety of topics even without receiving any reply. However, there was one topic that Wyoming permitted Osgoode to discuss with her prisoner.
The Freelancer suspected that Princess Celestia had somehow figured out where their inside pony hid the orbital strike beacon. Although Osgoode wasn’t sure where it was herself, whenever she broached the topic with Celestia, she’d always give the same cryptic answer.
“I think I’ll do a bit of reading before I retire for the night,” Celestia mused, moving to a bookshelf and browsing through her personal collection. “Would you like something to read? As I understand, you still have a few hours left of your shift.”
As always, Osgoode said nothing, watching the princess carefully for any sign of trickery. As always, Celestia’s intentions were as pure as they appeared, as she grabbed a book authored by someone called Starswirl off the shelf. Instead of moving back to her desk or crawling into the large opulent bed beside her, Celestia remained at the bookshelf, surveying its contents a little while longer.
“Ooh! I think I found something you might find interesting.” Celestia levitated another book off of her shelf and floated it over to where Osgoode stood vigilant.
Osgoode was surprised when she looked at the cover and read the title. Earth: A History of Man Before FTL Travel. The cover depicted three men: one wearing plate and mail, one wearing a red coat and a tricorn hat, and a third wearing military fatigues and a bulky, cumbersome looking helmet. Before she even knew what she was doing, Osgoode grabbed the book out of the air and stared at it.
“Where did you…?”
“A gift from the Director when he first visited,” Celestia answered. “I know most human literature is kept on datapads nowadays, but Dr. Church always liked the authenticity of the real thing.”
If that was true, it meant that all of the theories about the Director having been here years ago were true. Though, the way Celestia spoke made it sound like they had been friends once, and that couldn’t be true. Otherwise it would imply that the Director had broken several First Contact laws.
No. It’s an alien trick, it has to be. Remember Reach.
But as Osgoode flipped through the book’s pages, she found herself doubting that the thing in her hands was just an illusion. It had everything, from the early days of the Greek and Roman empires to the Renaissance and the many battles fought between the nations of Europe. It covered the discovery of the New World and the founding of the nations there. The World Wars, the Cold War, the Space Race, and the many conflicts in the Middle East, ending with the invention of the Shaw-Fujikawa translight engine in 2291.
As she flipped through its pages, Osgoode was amazed that a book so broad had such detailed information on so many periods of human history. She used to love history, and had once dreamed of writing a book just like the one she held in her hands now. It was only after humanity first made contact with the Covenant that Osgoode decided she wanted to make history instead.
“It’s quite something, isn’t it?” Celestia asked, having moved behind Osgoode to look over her shoulder. “You must understand: I’ve been around for a very long time. It’s not often I get to experience history solely through the pages of a book. May I?”
Osgoode nodded, and Celestia took the book in her magic once more. Using her magic, the princess flipped through its pages as her eyes searched for something specific.
“I think the most fascinating piece of human history to me is the second World War. Horrible and full of tragedy, of course. But fascinating. Sure, Equestria has seen its own share of conflicts throughout its own history, but nothing quite on the scale of the World Wars. And not just the battles, but the war crimes—committed by both sides. Ah, there it is.”
Having apparently found the page she was looking for, Celestia looked up from the book at Osgoode. “I’ve seen many great and terrible things in my long years, but I don’t think I’ll ever forget this photo.”
When the princess turned the book back towards Osgoode, the Recovery Agent had been expecting something… different. Victims of one of the concentration camps, or perhaps the defiled corpse of some innocent. Osgoode hadn’t expected to be looking at an ordinary photo of a smiling group of men and women.
The uniformed group was standing on a small wood bridge out in the middle of a damp field. A few of them were laughing, all of them were smiling. A man on the far right was playing an accordion. A pair of women at the front looked like they were getting ready to run for it, and Osgoode noticed it appeared to be starting to rain. They all looked blissfully carefree.
Then Osgoode looked closer and noticed the SS uniforms. That’s when she looked down and read the caption beneath the photo: Auschwitz personnel on vacation in Solahuette.
“They certainly don’t look like the kind of people capable of taking part in the murder of thousands, do they?” Celestia asked. “I’ve faced many terrible villains and monsters in my time, but if someone asked me to describe the face of evil, I think it would look something like that. It’s one thing to commit acts of evil out of malice. But for someone to be complacent in acts of evil out of banality—because they’re only doing what’s expected of them—it’s chilling, isn’t it?”
Osgoode took another look down at the photo. At a second glance, she thought one of the women pictured almost looked like her a bit.
“Something to think about.”
As the massive technicolor explosion lit up the night sky, Agent Washington wasted no time in moving to a door in the side of the tower serving as the group’s makeshift camp. “Everyone move. Quickly and quietly!” he said as he opened the door and stepped out.
Applejack was the first to follow, carrying the unconscious diamond dog on her back. Twilight was right behind her along with Simmons and Caboose. Church spared a brief moment to glance out the collapsed wall at the steadily expanding shock wave of every color in the sky above.
“Huh. Another rainbow explosion,” he muttered as he followed the others out. “Of course. What else was I expecting?”
Donut was the last to exit the ruined watchtower, and together the group ran along the wall of icy cliff towering above them to where it opened into the Emerald Pass. They moved quickly and quietly as Washington had instructed and, as they’d hoped, none of the gun-toting sellswords fired on them; too confused and disoriented by Rainbow Dash’s distraction (which Twilight referred to as the “sonic rainboom”). The entrance to the pass wasn’t far, and as the group drew closer, Church noticed Rainbow Dash fly past overhead, entering the Emerald Pass followed swiftly by a pair of pegasi and two griffons, a larger third a few seconds behind.
The return of the sounds of gunfire indicated the sellswords had reacquired them, but the group had just reached the entrance to the pass. Church picked up his pace, but the familiar whooshing sound rapidly growing closer was cause for immediate alarm. Church barely had time to warn the others of the incoming rocket before it impacted against the icy cliff behind him. Church’s HUD flashed red, indicating the resulting explosion’s close proximity, but it was just far enough away for him to avoid taking any serious damage.
Church looked over to where the shot had come from, and immediately panicked when he saw what appeared to be a large white minotaur covered in tattoos and scars wielding a familiar black M41 double-barrel rocket launcher. The minotaur appeared to be lining up for another shot with the remaining barrel, but a shot from Washington’s BR hit the imposing distant figure in the arm, sending the rocket harmlessly into the sky.
As Church regrouped with the others in the pass, Washington turned around and called out, “Did everyone make it?!”
Church looked around and did a quick headcount. The two ponies that hadn’t flown off to play decoy were present, as was Simmons and—to Church’s dismay—Caboose. There did, however, appear to be someone missing.
“Where’s Donut?” Simmons asked in a mildly alarmed tone.
Cursing, Church left the safety of the pass, remembering that the pink soldier had been right behind him. Looking back where they came from, Church saw a pink form lying in the snow several feet away. He was incredibly close to a black mark on the icy cliff wall that could only have been left by the rocket blast Church had narrowly avoided. It seemed that Donut wasn’t so lucky. Church wondered for a moment whether Donut was dead when he saw the prone pink form begin to move.
“Ow…” Donut groaned. “I haven’t felt an explosion like that since college!”
“Donut!” Church called out as he took a step toward the injured Red, but several gunshots stopped him in his tracks.
Church looked back to the forest where their attackers were hidden only to find a few dozen of the creatures had emerged from the line of snowy trees, all of them firing weapons in his direction. The white minotaur was leading the charge, abandoning his empty rocket launcher in favor of an assault rifle that he fired one-handed.
“Dammit…” Church swore, retreating back to the safety of the Emerald Pass where the others waited. “Those sellsword guys are advancing, I can’t get to him!”
“What do we do?” Twilight asked. Church noted the worried look on her face, and remembered they were still down another member of their group.
“Stick to the plan,” Washington stated coldly. “Fall back and take up defensive positions. Light up anything that enters this pass.”
Reluctantly, the group did exactly that, retreating a few feet where the pass began to turn and taking up positions of cover behind several large icy boulders. After a few seconds, the sellswords started to pour forth into the pass, but Church and the others were ready for them. Twilight launched a few concussive blasts of magic to disorient the sellswords while the humans unleashed a torrent of bullets in their direction. Ponies, griffons and diamond dogs fell in droves as they continued to pour into the pass. It was only after a dozen of the sellswords were gunned down when what Church could only assume was the white minotaur shouted for them to fall back.
It was after a few tense seconds that Twilight asked, “Are they gone?”
Her question was answered by the deep beat of flapping wings and the sound of something large landing behind them. Church whirled around with the rest of their group and raised his sniper rifle alongside Agent Washington at the large, imposing griffon now standing in the middle of the pass behind them.
“I wouldn’t, if I were you,” the griffon warned in a deep rasp.
He was large, much larger than the other griffons Church had seen so far. His coat was such a dark gray that it almost looked black, and his eagle-like head was comprised of white feathers tipped with purple. A scar ran down the left side of his face and through his eye, which was covered with an eyepatch.
“Yar! It be their captain!” Caboose exclaimed. Evidently, he was still talking like a pirate, and the big griffon’s eyepatch probably didn’t help. “Give us yer booty!”
If the griffon was at all confused by Caboose’s odd statement, he didn’t show it. “Although queerly stated, your comrade has one thing right. My name is Godfrey Graywing, commander-in-chief of the Whitewater Military Company’s Equestria branch.”
“Well, commander, tell us why we shouldn’t just shoot you now, because at this moment I’m not seeing any downsides,” Washington stated.
“Because I have a hostage.”
On cue, the sound of another set of wings filled the pass as a second griffon landed beside Commander Graywing. This one was smaller, with a brown coat and similarly white purple-tipped feathers on her head. But what caught Church’s attention was the squirming rainbow-maned pony in her claws.
“Rainbow!” Applejack called out.
Twilight, on the other hand, seemed to have forced her concern aside as she studied the newly arrived griffon through squinting eyes.
“So you have a hostage, huh? Funny coincidence…” Church turned and pointed his rifle at the diamond dog lying unconscious on Applejack’s back. “So do we!”
“That runt?” Graywing scoffed. “You’d probably be doing his pack a favor.”
“What do you assholes want with us, anyway?” Simmons asked.
“Your surrender,” Graywing stated. “My company was hired to take three of you alive. I would prefer to do so without any unnecessary bloodshed…” Graywing gave a meaningful glance past the group to the small pile of bodies that had accumulated at the entrance to the pass. “But since you’re all so determined to make this difficult, I may be forced to kill all but the three I need. Starting with this one.”
Graywing jerked his head to Rainbow Dash as the griffon holding her tightened her grip and pulled out a pistol. Twilight gave a horrified gasp while Applejack lowered her brow and gave the griffons a death glare.
Washington, however, kept his rifle level and his demeanor calm as he said, “Okay… then what?”
This caused the griffon to tilt his head as Washington continued, “We still hold the tactical advantage right now, and once you kill the pegasus, there will be nothing stopping me from gunning you down.”
Slowly, Twilight looked over at the Freelancer with growing uncertainty. “Wash…?”
“That pony isn’t a vital part of our operation. While her loss would be unfortunate, the completion of our mission is what’s most important,” Washington stated coldly.
“WHAT?!” the pony in question shouted as her struggling increased tenfold.
“Have you lost yer marbles?!” Applejack exclaimed.
To Church’s surprise, even the griffon holding Rainbow Dash looked surprised, and a little nervous. Graywing, on the other hand, merely grinned.
“It sounds like your comrades aren’t on the same page.”
“That may be, but they aren’t calling the shots,” Washington said, keeping his rifle trained on the big griffon. “So you see, commander? I’m still not seeing any downsides.”
Godfrey Graywing frowned. Church and the others had lowered their weapons, but Washington remained firm, his rifle aimed right at the head of the one-eyed griffon.
“Hmph. Very well. You leave us no choice….” Graywing spread his wings, “but to retreat… for now. If you change your mind, come find us, and we’ll work something out where no one has to die.” Graywing then turned and addressed the griffon holding Rainbow Dash with a stern, personal tone. “Come, Gilda.”
“Yes sir,” the other griffon answered, and together the two of them took off and flew straight up, their hostage in tow.
“HIYAAAAAAAAAAAA!” Sarge screamed as he kicked in the wooden door, performed a combat roll into the room and landed on one knee with his shotgun raised.
The dim gloom of Canterlot Castle’s lower levels were a stark contrast to the opulent main floors where the princesses held court. Drab gray brick made up the walls, with only a few torches mounted on sconces in each room. The chamber Sarge violently burst into appeared to be a wine cellar, with rows of barrels lining the walls. The room’s only occupant—a lone serving mare—stood frozen in place, staring at the Red sergeant with a shocked expression, making no sound but a terrified whimper.
“Do you have to do that with every door?” Tucker asked as he stepped into the room after Sarge, followed by the rest of the rag-tag group of ponies and humans.
“Of course! It’s basic infiltration tactics, Blue!”
“Are your ‘basic infiltration tactics’ meant to be loud enough for the entire castle to hear?” Rarity deadpanned as she followed behind Tucker.
“Of course not! I expertly moderate my volume so it’s just loud enough to startle any enemies in the immediate vicinity, giving us ample time to dispatch them while they’re stunned.” Sarge clicked his tongue and indicated to the petrified serving mare. “See?”
“Yo no creo que sea un enemigo (I don’t think that’s an enemy),” Lopez stated as he and Grif entered behind them.
“Uh, I’m pretty sure that pony isn’t an enemy,” Grif said.
“Psh. You don’ know that, Grif.” Sarge then turned to Lopez. “Yer right, Lopez. Grif did say something stupid. Ya sure know how to call ‘em!”
“Literalmente dijo lo mismo (We literally said the same thing)!”
As Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy entered, the serving mare (a brown unicorn wearing a black and white maid’s uniform) finally regained her senses enough to open her mouth. “U-uh… are you guys with those aliens upstairs? Because if so, I’m so sorry for sneaking down here. I-I was just looking to get some wine, I swear!” the mare crouched low to the floor and her ears pressed against her head. “I don’t know anything about a secret passage, honest! Please don’t shoot me with your zappy guns! I’m too young to be probulated!”
“Uh… we’re not those kind of aliens,” Grif said.
“Yeah, we’re American!” Tucker added.
“Eso significa que sólo tomarán su país y destruir su cultura (That means they’ll only take your country and destroy your culture).”
Seeing that these explanations weren’t helping calm the other mare, Fluttershy stepped forward and gently patted her. “There, there, it’s okay. We’re not here to hurt you. We’re here to stop the bad guys.” Fluttershy gave the mare a moment to calm down before asking, “Can you show us the most discreet way upstairs?”
With a nod, the mare pointed to a door down the nearest row of wine barrels and said, “Left down the hallway, there’s a servant’s passage a few feet down on the right.”
After thanking her, Fluttershy told her to stay there and keep hidden before the group headed for the door to the hallway.
“HIYAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!” Pinkie Pie bucked down the door and dove into the hallway, performing a single combat roll before landing in a crouched position with a large, bright baby blue cannon suddenly in her hooves. After surveying the similarly gloomy basement hallway and discerning it was clear of enemies, Pinkie looked back at the group staring at her dumbfounded. “What? It looked like fun!”
“Heh heh. We’ll make an infiltration specialist out of you, yet!” Sarge chuckled, ruffling the pink pony’s mane.
Pinkie then looked down the hallway and gasped loudly as her eyes widened. Alarmed, the others followed her gaze and were similarly startled as they caught a fleeting glimpse of a dark, ethereal figure disappear around a corner down the hall on their left.
“W-what was that?” Fluttershy asked, getting behind Grif.
“It looked like a spooky ghoooooost!” Pinkie said, holding a flashlight under her face for dramatic effect.
“A ghost?” Tucker asked. “Aw crap. Every ghost I know is either an asshole or…” Tucker paused. “Wait a minute….”
Tucker ran down the hall in the direction the spectral figure disappeared to, and the others followed. He passed the servant’s passage leading up to the castle’s main floors and turned a corner, finding a flight of stairs that led further down into the castle’s depths. It took about a minute for the group to descend the stairs and run down the hallway at the bottom before they came to a much larger and sturdier looking iron door. Sarge and Pinkie Pie pressed against the wall on either side of the door, and after exchanging a nod, burst through before any of the more level-headed members of the group could act.
“HIYAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!”
The pair landed with their weapons drawn, face-to-face with a pair of stunned looking gray-clad Freelancer soldiers. There was a beat before simultaneous blasts from the shotgun and party cannon eliminated the threats. Tucker and the others quickly entered after them.
“That… should not have worked as well as it did,” Tucker said.
“Sarge, don’t think for a moment this validates any of your stupid plans,” Grif added.
“Well, how about I validate yer face!” Sarge retorted.
“¿Y eso que significa? (What does that even mean?)”
It was then that Tucker actually looked around at the room and noticed what made it so important. Holographic images of rooms and hallways throughout the castle floated all around them, projected by gems set into the walls. Some of them showed rooms that resembled the dark gloomy dungeons the group had traversed thus far. Most of them displayed a brighter, more decadent castle that was more in line with what Tucker had initially expected. Some of the rooms and hallways had moving figures in them: serving ponies went about their tasks quietly and nervously while Project Freelancer soldiers patrolled the halls.
“What… is this place?” Fluttershy asked. “I’m… pretty sure we’ve never been in this part of the castle before.”
Rarity tapped her chin. “I recall Twilight mentioned something about a security system in the castle Celestia had installed after the Royal Wedding. Maybe this is it?”
The others nodded, agreeing with the fashionista’s explanation. One thing didn’t add up to Tucker, however.
“Wait a minute, if they can monitor the whole castle from here, why didn’t they see us coming?”
“That would be my doing,” a new voice spoke up. The dark spectre appeared before them again, taking a familiar shape. “One of the perks of being an M.I.: You’re pretty much made to mess around with spell matrices like this one.”
“Tex?!” the entire group exclaimed at once.
“Huh. I feel like we do that a lot when you show up,” Tucker added for good measure.
“What can I say? I like making a good entrance.”
“Wait, where did you come from?” Rarity asked. “Last time anyone saw you was in Ponyville, when you were still with that Sunny Side mare.”
“I was with you guys the whole time. I just thought I’d take a more backseat approach this time around.” The black armored figure then folded her arms and gave the group an unimpressed look. “That being said, I did say I would step in if you idiots botch things again, and well, entering a castle without dealing with the security system is a pretty big botch. I had to work pretty fast once you guys got close enough for me to jump into the spell matrix.”
“Okay, now when you say you were ‘with us the whole time’, do you mean you were in one of our heads? And if so, were you in mine?” Tucker asked, sounding nervous. “Because I can explain!”
Tex gave a derisive huff. “Don’t worry, Tucker. It’s easier for me to mask my presence when I’m with someone I’ve already been inside before.”
Tucker had to clamp his lips shut to keep himself from saying the thing he really wanted to say. The possibility of a simultaneous beating from Tex and Rarity was what ultimately kept him quiet.
“That being said, it’s gonna take me a long time to get the feeling of cotton candy and frosting out of my code,” Tex continued. “Now, we’re gonna need a plan if we’re gonna find this orbital strike transmitter. Any thoughts?”
Tucker couldn’t help but wonder why Tex was asking for their opinions instead of taking charge like she usually did.
“Maybe we could ask one of them Freelancer fellas where it is?” Sarge suggested. “I’m sure we can get ‘em to talk if given the proper incentive!”
“Actually, that could work,” Tex said, pulling up one of the floating images for the rest of the group to see. It showed a soldier wearing gray armor with red detail step out of an important looking room through a large, sun-encrusted door as another took their place. “One of their captains is just getting off their shift. Looks like she’s the second in command to Wyoming. If you wanted to ambush her, now would be the perfect time.”
“Right. If you can be our eyes and ears, Tex, we should find her in no time,” Rarity said before turning to the whole group. “Anyone have any questions?”
Pinkie’s hoof immediately shot up. “Why’s Tex gonna be our eyes and ears? We already have two of each!”
The room just looked at Pinkie, trying not to facepalm.
The ice caves of the Emerald Pass were very appropriately named. The floor, walls and ceiling of the tunnels were comprised entirely of ice, given a slightly green tint by the emeralds buried within them. Twilight had read that the relatively rapid rate at which the ice caves would melt and refreeze caused their layout to change every few years. This worked to the group’s advantage, as it seemed unlikely the sellswords hunting them would have any knowledge of how to navigate them. It also made their chosen hideout very dangerous, as Twilight had read one too many accounts of explorers who got lost in the caves and ended up drowning in freezing water. The thought made Twilight shiver, and she and likely Applejack both wished they hadn’t left their warm cloaks at the tower during their escape.
However, Twilight and the others were much more concerned about the recent encounter with the commander of Whitewater, and more importantly, the way it was handled by their resident Freelancer. It felt as though the man in gray had kicked a dog when he so casually disregarded Rainbow Dash’s life, and now he was doing so again much more literally.
“P-pleases! No more, humans! N-not in the faces!” the bloodied diamond dog cried as he hugged an icy wall, flinching in anticipation of another blow from the tall dark Freelancer.
As soon as the diamond dog awoke, Washington had wasted no time in administering his special brand of interrogation. “If you want me to stop, then tell us what we want to know.”
“I-I already told you, I don’t know anythings about who hireds us!” the diamond dog exclaimed. Twilight wasn’t sure whether his habit of pluralising unnecessarily started before or after Washington began interrogating him. “I just knows that she’s a unicorn ponies. Like that one!” he continued, pointing a paw at Twilight.
“Well, why the hell didn’t you mention that the first time he asked you?” Church asked, folding his arms.
“I didn’t?” the diamond dog asked, tilting his head.
“Do you know anything else about her? Maybe a name?” Washington asked.
“No names. Just saw her and the others with her.” The diamond dog gestured to Washington. “Looks like you. Tall, two legs, weird armors. Same color, evens!”
“Hmph. Like I thought. It’s Project Freelancer. What did they hire you to do? That Graywing griffon mentioned something about capturing three of us.”
The diamond dog nodded earnestly. “Y-yes. Unicorn pony told us to capture three of yous.” He then pointed at Church. “Blues one….”
“Hey! He’s not blue, I’m blue!” Caboose complained. “Do you think just because we’re both Blues means we look the same? Why you gotta get down on us?”
“Caboose, I think the reason they want to capture me is because of the whole Alpha thing,” Church stated.
“C’mon, Church! We need to fight the powers that be! The white man has kept our people down for too long!”
“A) That guy is neither white nor a man, B) your armor color has nothing to do with your race, and C) shut the fuck up, Caboose!”
“And who are the other two you were ordered to capture?” Washington continued his interrogation pretending Church and Caboose didn’t exist.
“We were also sent to capture unicorn ponies,” the diamond dog answered, pointing at Twilight. “They sent me in to try and grab her while sleepings.” He then returned his attention to Washington. “And lastly, you, Mr. Scary Humans.”
“Me?” Washington asked, sounding genuinely surprised for what Twilight could only assume was the first time in his life.
“Alright, we know what they’re after,” Applejack interjected, approaching the cowering diamond dog herself. “Now, where are ya keepin’ Rainbow?”
“Yeah, and what about Donut?” Simmons added.
Since no trace of Donut had been found after the sellswords withdrew, the group had assumed he had been taken along with Rainbow Dash.
“Took them back to camps in canyon to the easts. Here, can show you on maps….”
“Don’t bother,” Washington said.
Applejack looked up at him. “Why? You already know where that is?”
“No. We won’t be needing their camp’s location because we won’t be going there.”
For a moment, the sound of dripping water was all that prevailed in the cave.
“Now hold on there, pardner. Are you suggestin’ we leave them behind?”
“I said so before: The completion of our mission is what’s most important.”
“What’s gotten into you, Wash? I thought you were on our side here!” Twilight exclaimed.
“I am on your side, but we need to be practical,” Washington retorted. “Getting to the center of an entire contingent of mercenaries would be suicide.”
“Yeah, as sick as I am of suicide missions, I gotta agree with the ponies on this one,” Church said. “You’ve been kind of a dick since those guys attacked us. Y’know… more than usual.”
“Look, right now it’s a race to the Forerunner ruins and every second counts. We don’t have time to waste on a rescue op!”
“Still seems like kind of a dick move to just leave them behind,” Simmons said.
“They knew the risks when they came along, and with a mission like this, losses are only inevitable. Like it or not, you guys are all soldiers now, which means accepting that fact,” Washington sighed ruefully. “Look, I’m not saying I disagree with what any of you are saying. I’m just stating the reality of the situation.” Washington then turned and looked down at the diamond dog, who the others had almost forgotten about. “You can go now. We’re done with you.”
Looking around unsurely for a moment, the bruised and bloodied diamond dog cautiously took a step towards the exit, and once he was certain Washington wouldn’t hit him again just to be mean, the bipedal canine made a full run for it. Washington watched him the entire time, looking like he wanted to be sure the creature didn’t linger any longer than he had to.
“Well, I’m not finished with you yet, Agent Washington!” Twilight declared, taking a step toward the Freelancer. “The fact is, Rainbow Dash is my friend, and I’m going to save her and Donut regardless of what you think!”
“Okay,” Washington calmly said, turning to face the little unicorn after he was sure the diamond dog was gone. “Let’s figure out a plan.”
“I don’t care if you disagree with me, I’m doing this with or without….” Twilight paused as she realized what exactly the Freelancer just said. “Wait… what did you just say?”
“We can’t just leave your friends at the mercy of those sellswords, so let’s make a plan to get them back.”
The cave was silent for another poignant second before Simmons said, “Uh, that completely contradicts the argument you just made twelve seconds ago.”
“I said what I had to,” Washington said, glancing back at the exit to the ice caves. “Now, that diamond dog is going to regroup with his comrades thinking that our intention is to press on to the Forerunner ruins….”
Washington let the sentence hang there, and Twilight figured out what his intentions had been all along. “So they won’t expect us to go back for Rainbow and Donut.”
“That’s great and all, but how are we supposed to find their camp when we didn’t ask for its location?” Church asked, giving Washington a careful look.
“I have the equipment and training to track targets through any kind of terrain,” Washington replied. “It won’t be hard to follow that diamond dog back to their camp.”
“Right, ‘an are we jus’ supposed to forget the fact that you were ready to sacrifice Rainbow Dash back there?” Applejack asked, giving the Freelancer a cold stare.
“I called Graywing’s bluff. There was no way he could’ve killed her right there with all of our weapons trained on him.”
“You don’ know that!”
“Yes I do! Not only was your friend the only thing keeping him alive, but I saw the look on the griffon’s face holding her. I don’t think she had it in her to follow through.” Washington looked over at Twilight. “And I saw the way you looked at her, too. You know her, don’t you?”
Twilight nodded. “It was Gilda.”
“Gilda?” Applejack turned to Twilight, looking genuinely shocked. “I remember hearin’ about a griffon with that name makin’ a scene at one of Pinkie Pie’s parties a couple years back. Wasn’t she Rainbow Dash’s old friend?”
“Hmm… if that’s the case, maybe we can use that to our advantage,” Washington mused.
“With another stunt like the one you just pulled? Yeah, no thanks,” Church said sourly. “I don’t really feel like being a pawn in another one of your devious schemes anytime soon.”
“Never thought I’d say this, but I agree with Church,” Applejack said. “How’re we supposed to trust you after what happened?”
Seeing that both Twilight and Applejack were still looking at him with uncertainty, Washington lowered himself to one knee so he was at their level, and addressed the whole cave. “Listen, I know I haven’t done much to earn your trust, but I’m not heartless. I don’t want any more innocent people to die because of what my program is doing here.” Washington stood, surveying the group with confidence. “Now, should we make a plan?”
As the rest of the cave silently studied Washington with looks of apprehension, Twilight decided to speak up. “Look, Washington has one thing right: we need to stop bickering and act!” Twilight briefly regarded Washington with a stern look before continuing, “I don’t agree with his recent actions and would really prefer if he at least warned us the next time he tries something like that, but we can’t keep fighting amongst ourselves like this. If we do, we’re just going to invite more Windigoes to….”
Twilight trailed off, and her eyes grew distant as a grin slowly spread across her face.
“Uh, Twilight? You okay, there?” Simmons asked. “You’re doing a really creepy, but oddly spot-on Grinch impression.”
“I’m fine, Simmons,” Twilight said, the grin still firm on her face. “I just gave myself an idea….”
“Hey… Rainbow Dash… Rainbow Dash! Wake up!”
“Buh… huh?” Rainbow Dash snorted, her eyes fluttering open. The first thing she noticed was that she was tied to a wooden post. After giving a token struggle to confirm she was not going anywhere, Rainbow looked around.
She was surrounded on all sides by identical, efficiently set up tents. Several cook fires tended by small groups of sellswords dotted the camp around her, illuminating the darkness. Realizing the pain in her right wing was brought down to a dull throb, Rainbow glanced down to find that it had a fresh set of bandages on it. Sensing movement, Rainbow craned her neck to look behind her and saw that Donut of all people was tied to the same post that she was.
“Oh great. I have to share a post with you,” Rainbow groaned.
Donut, on the other hand, just sighed with relief. “Oh, thank God! I thought you were dead!”
“Nope. Just thought I’d take a little nap.” Rainbow Dash had decided to fall asleep during the flight to wherever the sellswords had made their camp. It was in part because she was still relatively tired after being so rudely awakened by their wanton gunfire, and partly because she figured going full ragdoll in her carrier’s grasp as they flew would annoy her. Rainbow spared another questioning look over towards Donut as she realized something. “Wait, if you thought I was dead, why did you think they tied me up?”
“Um, in case you turned into a zombie?”
Rainbow was about to open her mouth to say how stupid that was when she remembered the wight they encountered the other day. “Point,” she said, deciding to just drop the issue.
The sound of raised voices suddenly caught her attention, and Rainbow Dash looked over toward one of the cook fires and realized she recognized the people sitting around it. The large dark griffon with the eyepatch that had introduced himself as Godfrey Graywing was eating some sort of red meat with her sitting beside him. Across from the fire, raising her voice at the griffon, was a very familiar unicorn mare whose fiery mane and tail Rainbow knew she’d seen before. Additionally, standing next to her was a human in gray armor identical to those worn by the soldiers they encountered at the Freelancer Command Center back on Repertum. The only thing setting him apart from the rank and file Recovery Agents was the blue detail on his helmet and shoulders. The unicorn mare looked ready to tear Godfrey a new one.
“...I don’t know what the pink one looks like to you, but he sure doesn’t look like a Freelancer or an A.I.! And the pegasus… I’m sure we ponies all look the same to you, so let me help make your job easier,” the mare gestured to her own head. “Horn…” she then pointed over at Rainbow Dash. “Wings. See the difference?”
Godfrey Graywing said nothing, simply making a show of taking a bite of his meat while glaring steadily at the mare through his one good eye. It was a classic griffon intimidation ploy, especially when dealing with herbivores, but the mare’s face showed nothing but impatience.
“There’s no need to patronize me, Miss Shimmer…” he started.
“Then how is it you managed to be beaten back by a small group of idiots and failed to capture any of the priority targets?” Sunset Shimmer asked.
Rainbow’s eyes went wide as she suddenly realized where exactly she remembered that mare from.
“The targets refused to surrender, and they were in a position where I couldn’t take them alive without significant losses,” Godfrey said, raising a claw to preemptively shut down the smarmy suggestion on Sunset’s lips. “And no, I’m not going to senselessly throw away my troops’ lives when there are better alternatives.”
“Oh sure, because returning with two of the wrong hostages is so much better!”
“Do you fish, Miss Shimmer?”
Sunset Shimmer scowled. “What?”
“I didn’t think so. Most ponies don’t unless it’s catch and release.” Godfrey set his meat down and stared across the flames at her. “So why do you insist on telling a fisherman how to fish?”
With a roll of her eyes, Sunset said, “Commander Graywing, I don’t see what fishing has to do with any of this.”
“Again, I didn’t think you would, so let me make it simple for you.” The commander then glanced at Rainbow Dash before he said, “Any fisherman will tell you it takes good bait to make a good catch.”
Sunset Shimmer just sighed and rubbed the bridge of her snout. “You could have just said you were going to use them as bait from the start and saved us a lot of trouble.”
“We wouldn’t have had any trouble at all if you knew your place.”
“Excuse me?”
Godfrey Graying finished off his meal. “Your only job while you’re here is to fulfill your part of our bargain and leave the acquisition of the targets to us.”
It was at that moment that a white, tattooed minotaur appeared and raised his head at Godfrey. Nodding, the large griffon stood. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have my own bargain to fulfill.”
With that, Godfrey walked away with the white minotaur, Sunset Shimmer glaring after him.
“So, you guys are just going to hold us prisoner and use us as bait?” Donut asked, giving an indignant huff as he tried to cross his arms but failed due to the constriction of the rope holding him to the post. This outburst caught the attention of Sunset, the Recovery Agent, and her.
“Well, I have to say that is just typical!” Donut continued. “If more writers didn’t treat female characters as plot devices, this wouldn’t happen!”
“What are you talking about?” Rainbow Dash asked incredulously.
“We’re damsels in distress, Rainbow! And it’s all the patriarchy’s fault!”
“What?! I’m not a damsel!” Rainbow looked at her three captors, who were merely looking at them in mild confusion. “Don’t listen to him. This idiot does not speak for me!”
Apparently unsure of how to respond to that, the Recovery Agent just sighed and looked over at Sunset. “I’ll update the Director on our status.”
“Thank you, Donovan,” Sunset said as the soldier left to do just that.
“And don’t think you’ll get away with this, Shimmer!” Rainbow warned as the mare in question made to leave next. “When my friends get here, we’re gonna kick your flank from here to Canterlot!”
Sunset stopped to turn back to Rainbow Dash, looking at her the way a pony might appraise an ant. “Do I know you from somewhere?” After studying Rainbow with mild curiosity for a few moments, Sunset Shimmer’s ears pointed up in realization. “Wait, didn’t I help you and your friends with an M.I. problem a while back? Right… I made that construct based on you and everything.” Sunset grinned. “This must be quite the surprise for you.”
“Nope. I knew you were bad the whole time!” Rainbow smiled, looking very pleased with herself. “I guess Rarity owes me ten bits!”
“Congratulations. I’m sure you’ll be able to brag to your friends once you’re all my prisoners,” Sunset said, turning to leave. “Now on that note, I have some preparations to make.”
Just like that, Sunset Shimmer was gone and now the only other enemy left in the immediate area was the griffon that captured Rainbow Dash in the first place.
“Is there a reason you’re still here?” Rainbow asked impatiently.
Gilda scowled. “Hey, dweebface. I was just going to freakin’ check if you needed anything. I mean, we did used to be friends.”
“Yeah, there’s a reason for the ‘used to be’ part.”
“Ooh, are you Gilda?” Donut suddenly asked.
Gilda looked at the man in pink armor curiously. “Yeah, how’d you…?”
“Rainbow Dash’s told me all about you!” Donut cheerfully exclaimed. “About how you were best friends, but then you acted like a jerk, and things fell apart….”
“Oh really? Is that what she told you?” Gilda asked, staring distastefully at Rainbow. “Because the way I remember it, she was the one who abandoned me for her lame pony friends!”
“Oh, so now I’m the problem?” Rainbow Dash sneered. “That’s rich, considering you’re the one who’s been sending apology letters for months on end!”
The pair went quiet, and for a moment, the only voices on the air were those of the sellswords in the rest of the camp.
“Wait… you’ve been getting my letters?” Gilda asked, and suddenly the wind was out of her sails.
“Y’know, you have a lot of nerve trying to talk to me again after what you did.”
“Aw, Gilda’s tsun-tsun!” Donut cooed.
The griffon in question just gave him a puzzled look. “I’m what?”
“Rainbow Dash is your waifu,” Donut continued as if it made perfect sense. “That’s so kawaii!”
Gilda gave Rainbow Dash a look of utter befuddlement. “Is that even a real language? Is he speaking alien, or something?”
“Why are you asking me?” Rainbow asked, glaring over her shoulder. “Hey, Donut? Be quiet. The grown-ups are talking.”
Twilight and Rarity sometimes used that expression when dealing with her. It felt weird to Rainbow Dash to say it herself, but the situation certainly warranted it.
“Anyway, we’ve been friends our whole lives,” Gilda said, unusually quiet. “I just thought it was stupid to throw all that away after one fight.”
“Yeah? Capturing me and holding a gun to my head is a great way to show that you want to make up,” Rainbow grumbled.
Gilda just looked away. “Look, I didn’t want to do that, okay? But I can’t exactly disobey the commander’s orders... especially when he’s also my father.”
“No way, that big guy with the eyepatch is your dad?” Rainbow asked, genuinely surprised. “You never mentioned your dad was a big mean sellsword.”
“Well, he wasn’t exactly a big part of my life growing up….”
Rainbow rolled her eyes. “Oh c’mon, Gilda. You’re not gonna get me to accept you again with some ‘daddy didn’t love me’ sob story.”
Gilda frowned and said bitterly, “You sure? That touchy-feely crap seems to be the norm for your new, lame pony friends.”
Rainbow Dash turned away, unable to look at the griffoness anymore. “Maybe. But that’s why they’re the ones who are there when I need them. Not you.”
The sound of what was apparently a noisemaker jolted Captain Osgoode awake. The castle’s guard barracks that served as her quarters was pitch black, but the sight of several unfamiliar figures standing over her made the Recovery Agent immediately spring into action. She reached for her sidearm only to be stopped by the click of a weapon as one of the mysterious figures held a shotgun to her head.
“You jus’ sit tight there, missy, and don’ even think about shoutin’,” the man said in a gruff southern drawl. As her eyes adjusted to the dark, she noticed he was wearing the standard issue red armor of Project Freelancer’s own simulation troopers.
Another man beside him stood wearing some kind of aqua-marine armor. “Normally when I’ve got a chick in bed, that’s when the night gets fun, but right now, we’re in a hurry!”
A white pony with a stylish purple mane then approached her with a stern look on her well made-up face. “The transmitter. The one guiding your ship’s weapons. We need to know where it is. Now,” she demanded in a sophisticated posh voice.
Once she started to realize what was going on, Osgoode scanned the dark room for any avenues of escape. Her makeshift officers’ quarters were empty save for herself and the interlopers, with a couple more in orange and brown armor standing guard by the door. There were two other ponies in the room as well, one pink and the other yellow.
“Well?” the stylish pony continued. “Are you going to tell us where it is, or will we have to be harder on you?”
“Heh heh. Hard on,” the aqua soldier giggled immaturely.
Osgoode knew she couldn’t give up what little she knew on the matter. Wyoming and her superiors at Project Freelancer would see her court-martialed.
“I don’t have to tell you anything,” Osgoode stated calmly. “You were right when you said you’re in a hurry. It’s only a matter of time before one of the other officers comes in here. How long do you think you’ll be able to remain undetected?”
She saw the white pony’s face change and the two sim troopers behind her exchange a glance. The seeds of doubt had been planted, but Osgoode didn’t feel any better. For some reason, she imagined herself back in the princess’s personal chambers.
“Very well,” the pink pony said in a comically high-pitched voice as she stepped closer to Osgoode. “I didn’t want to do this, but you give me no choice….”
The poofy-maned pony reached behind herself and pulled out… a balloon animal. Osgoode had to admit, it was very well made. It resembled another pony, and looked like it was crafted from many different colored balloons. The real pony then pulled out a sharp pin and held it to the balloon pony’s throat.
“Tell us where the transmitter is, or Terry gets popped!”
Osgoode had no words, save for one. “What?”
“That’s right! I have a sharp object and I’m off my meds!”
The aqua sim trooper just rubbed his visor and sighed. “Just ignore her. She’s crazy.”
“Yeah! I’m crazy! So you know I’m not joking when I say I’ll do it!” the pink pony shouted, doing a stabbing motion towards the balloon animal with the pin in her hoof.
“Ugh. Pinkie. Please stop,” the white pony said, pinching the bridge of her snout.
“I’ve already gone too far to stop now, Rarity!” Pinkie said seriously, gesticulating wildly with the hoof holding the pin. “But it’s still not too late for you! Get out of here and have a good life! They won’t take me alive! Attica! Attica!”
Pinkie was interrupted by a loud bang as an explosion of air reduced her balloon hostage to a sad little flap of rubber. Osgoode couldn’t say whether this was because it was overinflated, Pinkie gripped it too tightly, or the thing had actually become sentient and wanted to end its existence before the situation could get any more absurd.
Tears suddenly started to build in the pink pony’s eyes. “Nooooooo! Terry! What have I done?! I never wanted it to end this way! You still had so many parties to experience… so many foals to entertain!”
The yellow pony was by her side in an instant, reassuring her with comforting words (though, at one point she asked what “Attica” meant). A glowing, holographic figure wearing black armor suddenly appeared in the air above the group.
“What is going on in here?” it asked in a harsh female voice. “Have you guys extracted any info from her yet?”
Rarity sighed. “No, Tex. She’s not exactly being forthcoming.”
“Well, I didn’t expect her to suddenly have a change of heart,” the ethereal figure called Tex said. “That’s why you have to beat it out of her!”
The others all looked at her uncomfortably.
“Well, I can’t hit a girl,” the man in red drawled. “It’s part of my Code of Honor. Right up there with ‘look in yer foe’s eyes when you strangle him,’ and ‘don’t eat red meat before battle.’ Though, that last one’s more a case of practicality than anything.”
“Yeah, beating on chicks kinda makes me uncomfortable, too,” the aqua one said, before amending. “I mean, unless she’s into that sort of thing.”
“I think I can speak for the girls when I say we have a moral objection to torture,” Rarity said.
As the group continued to bicker, Osgoode saw an opportunity and slowly reached for her sidearm. If she could just do that, she might be able to turn the tables by taking one of them hostage. Osgoode froze when she looked over at the bedside to find her magnum and found a book instead. Earth: A History of Man Before FTL Travel stared back at her from the nightstand; the princess having let her keep it when Osgoode finished her shift.
All at once, her conversation with Princess Celestia came rushing back. The picture she’d shown her became clear in her mind’s eye. Those people who’d been responsible for so many deaths. So blissfully careless of their actions’ consequences. Osgoode tried remembering their faces, but all she saw were reflections of herself.
“Um….”
Osgoode whipped back around and saw the yellow pony standing at the end of her cot, looking right at her. She didn’t look stern or angry like the stylish white one had. There was a sad urgency in her eyes.
“You don’t look like a bad person to me,” she said in a voice that was as soft as it was sweet. “If we don’t find that transmitter, a lot of innocent ponies will die. I know you have your orders, but… isn’t doing the right thing more important?”
Looking at the pony’s moderately cyan eyes, Osgoode wondered for the first time what the true purpose of her mission here actually was. The people in the room with her now were supposed to be her enemies, but none of them seemed to be bad people. They weren’t even willing to beat her for information. The butter yellow pony looking at her now held an appearance of innocence and kindness, but had a strong sense of fear purveying over her features.
No, that’s how they trick you. Remember what the Counselor said. Remember Reach. But when Osgoode tried remembering her homeworld, all she saw were burning buildings and death. Those burning buildings then became a burning castle town lying at the foot of a mountain.
“I don’t know...” Osgoode finally said with a sigh.
The bickering group suddenly stopped and turned to look at her. “Pardon?” Rarity asked, looking at the Recovery Agent curiously.
“I don’t know where the transmitter is. Our inside pony planted it herself. Right now, Agent Wyoming is the only person in the city who knows its exact location.”
“Hmm. And we can’t exactly interrogate him, he’s the one with his hand on the proverbial kill switch,” the black armored construct mused.
That was when Osgoode remembered another crucial detail. “Though, Wyoming seems to think that Princess Celestia somehow figured out where it is, but she’s under heavy guard. I’ve been ordered to find out whether she does indeed know its location, but she doesn’t answer my questions. Just keeps saying the same cryptic nonsense over and over again.”
“Well, that’s a start. Getting to Celestia isn’t going to be easy, but we may not have a choice.”
“What did she say?” the yellow pony asked. “When you asked her about the transmitter, what did the princess say?”
Osgoode eyed the little yellow pony critically. There was no way they could make sense of the princess’s ramblings, so she decided there wasn’t any harm in saying, “Like I said, she just replies the same way each time I ask: ‘Twists and turns indeed’.”
Rarity put a hoof on her chin. “Twists and turns… why does that phrase seem so familiar?”
“Aren’t there a couple of foals named Twist and Turn in Ponyville?” Pinkie asked.
It was some time before the yellow pony whispered quietly, “‘Twists and turns are my master plan…’” she suddenly gasped. “The Castle Labyrinth! Where we faced Discord for the first time… that’s where the transmitter is!”