//------------------------------// // Chapter IV: Operation Sneaky Sneaks // Story: To End A Life // by Diceman //------------------------------// Chapter IV: Operation Sneaky Sneaks Iron Eagle slowly opened the door, creeping into a well lit room with a hardwood floor. To the right of him was a rather less than extravagant double bed with unmade lavender blankets and a nightstand with a couple books stacked on it. To his left was what looked like a mini-fridge and to the right of it a large, round vanity mirror. Not too far away from the bed near the door was a small three drawer tall dresser. On top of said dresser was a few random gems, bits, Staliongrad currency as well as a hairbrush. There was also a picture frame. Iron Eagle walked over to the dresser and picked up the picture frame. It was a set of two pictures, one was of her and some of the greatest ponies in history, the bearers of harmony, the other was of Twilight's own family. A Stallion earth pony with a deep blue coat and muted green mane, Twilight herself and another that he had never seen before. A filly no more than the age of five or six, but she wasn't a unicorn, Earth pony or pegasus, but an Alicorn. "Is that her daughter?" Iron Eagle asked himself. "Our family history doesn't mention another one. I thought Grandma Cadence bared the only Alicorn child." Iron eagle stared at the picture, trying to make sense why he had never heard of Twilight having a daughter. "She looks kinda like my sister, now that I think about it." Iron eagle set the picture down and looked to his left; a door was ajar that led to a very spartan restroom. A single low set toilet, a sink with a medicine cabinet and a relatively small shower stall. "If I didn't know any better I would say this was some low ranking officers personal quarters. Also, why would an immortal need a medicine cabinet?" Iron Eagle scratched his head and remembered that at one point in time Spike was small enough to move freely around the building, though he couldn't figure why she would need a medicine cabinet now, as a single pill for Spike would weigh several hundred pounds. He really didn't know what to make of Twilight's quarters. He half expected to see a bedroom as extravagant as Luna's in Canterlot or as mesmerizing as the rooms in the crystal palace. After the inspiring library he expected at least a bed worthy of a queen, instead he found one that was much more down to earth; something he might own himself. Iron Eagle quickly moved across the room and opened the door on the far side. It led to a relatively simple bare wood hallway with a set of stairs in one direction and what looked like a cleaning closet in the other. He quietly stepped into the hallway, closing the bedroom door behind him. Before he can make way down to the stairs he heard a robotic voice say the words "Scanning" not too far from his position. the sound appeared to come from the bottom of the stairway. Gotta hide! Iron Eagle spun around in place and moved as quickly as his legs would carry him without making a sound. He opened up the door on the end of the hall to find it was indeed a cleaning closet. Iron Eagle stuffed himself inside the closet, doing his best to narrowly squeeze behind a wooden crate of floor cleaner. Just as he managed to squeeze every bit of him behind the crate, the lid on top popped open above him, hitting him on the head. "Son of a" Iron Eagle cursed under his breath, but quickly covered his mouth. Just outside the door he could hear the hum of the security robot he encountered earlier getting closer. The hum got louder and louder and then stopped. He then heard the sound of Twilight's door opening and closing. A short time later he then heard the door open and close again. The hum then moved ever so close, so much that he could hear it just outside the closet door. "Search procedure protocol activated" Sam said in a robotic voice. Iron Eagle heard the door open and watched as the light from Sam shined into the closet, only his position behind the box and under the box lid kept him from being detected. He could hear Sam right near him, it's light saying back and forth as it searched the closet. After a minute or so of heart pounding fear, Sam turned around and closed the door behind it. Iron Eagle waited for the hum in the distance to be entirely inaudible before exhaling and wiping the sweat from his brow. "I swear I better get hazard pay for this." Iron Eagle stood up, pushing the box lid back onto the box with an audible clank. Iron Eagle cringed at the sound it made and waiting a few moments to make sure that the robot outside didn't hear him. After a few tense moments he slowly opened the door and stepped into the hallway. "Well, better get downstairs before it comes back." Iron Eagle trotted down the hallway and peered down the stairs. At the bottom of the flight was a clearing followed by rows upon rows of large metal machines, most of which he knew were very outdated computers; the kind Canterlot's science divisions used to use. For an Alicorn that has a treasure stash that would make the Canterlot vault look like a burger flippers savings account, she has weird antiquated tastes. Iron Eagle thought to himself. He moved down the stairs, quiet as a mouse and leaned up against one of the machines. He then peeked to the left of one and tried to listen for the tell tale signs of the security robot approaching. However he soon realized that trying to listen for the robot was pointless. All the sounds of chemicals bubbling, gears and tape decks turning and electrical coil whine was making it nearly impossible to listen for the low hum the security robot made. "Any signs of intruders Sam?" Iron Eagles ears perked up, he knew that voice. It was the same voice as in the library and earlier over the loud speaker. It was just barely audible over the hum of the machines near him. He stuck his head around the corner of one of the machines and listened as hard as he could. "None reported, though I have to say I think we have a family of mice living in the elevator system again" Sam reported. "Jeez, again? You would think they would understand that it's incredibly dangerous to raise a family by heavy metal gears and high voltage circuitry" Twilight replied in a frustrated tone. "Twilight, I need to recharge soon. Shall I turn on auxiliary security while I do so?" Sam asked. "No, as amusing as it would be to see any intruders try and get around the laser system, we need any extra power we can spare to keep the shield up as long as possible. You go ahead and recharge in your bay, I'll deal with any uninvited guests." Iron Eagle had to suppress saying out yes out-loud so he didn't blow his cover. He could hardly believe his luck, the only security he had seen would be out of the way soon and Twilight refused to turn any other security on. However, something in the back of his mind kept telling him to be cautious. There was no use getting excited and celebrating early when a job still needed to be done. Suddenly Iron Eagle heard the hum of the security bot above him. It seemed that her recharging bay was literally spike on top one of the machines. Thankfully he was close enough to where it couldn't see him with it's field of view, but it also meant that he have to be excessively careful trying to get away from it. Just stay low to the floor and don't panic Iron Iron Eagle thought to himself. Suddenly, the robot seemed to shut down and sat in place, balanced precariously on he spike. Either I'm the luckiest pony on the planet or I'm walking right into a trap. Not wanting to get too cocky, Iron Eagle stayed low to the floor as she sneaked past the rows of machinery in the room, occasionally stopping to look behind him. However, he couldn't help himself as he occasionally went down one of the rows, examining various experiments in progress. one row has a massive chemistry set running along the ceiling, the contents dripping into a beaker that said read "prototype liver cancer cure". Another row had screens that seemed to be flashing shapes at other screens and the opposite one had to guess the shape name with text. There was even a row populated with tanks that had little self replicating robot crabs, much like the one he had seen on the beach; though these were much closer to the real thing. Finally he came to the last row and heard the sound of wood grinding up against metal and the smell of slightly toasted anesthetic; a smell that reminded him of his potions class in basic training. He peered around the corner where the smell was coming from. Jackpot Iron Eagle thought. Dead in front of him, no more than a dozen yards was the back of Twilight Sparkle, busily stirring a old black cauldron full of potion; the potion she planned on using to kill herself with. A few feet from her to the left were two separate control panels, one with a large red button in the middle and another with a large blue button. Iron eagle squinted, trying to reach what looked like text under each button. The Blue one seemed to read "Shield System" while the red one had "environmental control shutoff" labeled underneath it. I can just sneak up behind her and press the button Iron Eagle thought to himself. However, this just didn't sit right with him; he getting lucky once or twice is a stroke of luck he could accept, but there were far too many situations where could have been caught, but evaded detection instead. Iron eagle sulked back behind the corner out of view to think. I need to come up with a backup plan. Iron Eagle thought. He looked around him for anything he could possibly use as an emergency diversion or fail-safe if this was an elaborate trap. Wait, I still have that invisibility gem Spike gave me The gem was tucked just under his breastplate, easily accessible if he needed to make a quick escape. That's it for the emergency cloak, but about that distraction... Iron looked around him, noticing a machine with an open circuitry box on top and a few electrodes sparking, but failing to exchange electricity. that gives me an idea Iron Eagle sat on his haunches and stared at his armor. Ahh there we are, glad equestrian armor is made by the lowest bidder. Iron Eagle poked at a loose thread coming from the soft under layer of his armor. He kept prodding at it with his hoof until it was far enough out of bite on. He then bit down on the loose thread and pulled. copious amounts of thread unraveled from under his chest-plate, easily enough to make a small rope with. Iron Eagle then started to cross knot the string all on one side, making a fairly heavy hoop while keeping the weight baring part very thin, nearly invisible. Iron Eagle quickly judged the length of the string and compared it to the distance between the chemistry pipes above and the open top of the machine, making adjustments to the length just a few inches. He then tossed the rope above the rafters and let it hang above the open circuits below. Good, now for the hard part Iron Eagle flapped his wings a couple times to get on top of the machine, making sure to make as little sound as possible. He then pulled off a bit of damaged metal from his armor and tied a knot around it. He then grabbed the rope in his teeth and glided back down to the floor. Alright, looks good. Iron Eagle pulled on the string, until the bit of metal was halfway up to the ceiling. He then tied it to a hoop in his armor by the collar and poked his head around. Distance looks spot on, I guess being a pegasus does have some advantages. Iron Eagle watched Twilight closely, making sure she was still busy with stirring her potion. He lowered his body as close to the floor as he could without letting his armor scrape it and moved slowly forward. Inching ever so close to the control panel that had the off button for the shield system. He then stopped, looked around one more time for any obvious traps, the thought crossed his mind that he could just tackle Twilight, knocking her over and the potion as well, but he knew that would be stupid in the extreme. He had no idea if the potion can be absorbed through skin contact or if Twilight were to be suddenly startled and accidentally swallow some in the struggle. Also there was always the chance that she might straight out kill him, she was an Alicorn after all. No time for heroics here, just push the button and let the royalty handle it. Iron Eagle stood up, reached out and pressed the button, for a second he saw a monitor out of the corner of his eye, but he kept his focus on the button. As soon as the button was pressed down came a small dome barrier surrounding him, blocking off any escape. "Well...balls" Iron Eagle cursed aloud. "Well, I have to say this little game was amusing, watching you slink around upstairs after you came in through the basement. Watching you pass out of the library, into that closet and then eventually down here." Twilight Sparkle turned around, a smile on her face. "If it wasn't for the magic of closed channel cameras, I would have never seen you coming." Twilight moved to the side to allow Iron Eagle to see what she was talking about and sure enough, there was a monitor with multiple different view angles in every room of the facility except the library. "Oh...well then. Wait, if you knew I have been here all along then why allow me to get this far?" Iron Eagle stared at Twilight, his confusion very obvious to her. "At first I wanted to just tell Sam to bring you in. She spotted you on top of the elevator on the way up, but I told her to wait and see since your intrusion seemed more about stealth than brute force;entirely unlike your peers." Twilight stirred the pot with one hoof while keeping her eyes on Iron Eagle. "I can't put my hoof on it, but I have seen you somewhere before." Twilight put her hoof to her chin while examining Iron Eagle. Maybe if I try and appeal to her emotional side, I can stop her here and now. It's worth a try anyways. Iron Eagle thought to himself. "Well, I'm not surprised since you have secluded yourself for so long.I'm your great nephew on your brothers side of the family; Iron Eagle. You may know of my great ,great Grandma, Princess Cadence." Iron Eagle watched as Twilight Sparkles eyes widened, her face somewhat alight with curiosity; not much unlike his own when the topic was right. "Y-you're lying right? I thought Flutter Heart decided it was best for her never to have children of her own. I was there at her coronation when she decided not to" Twilight said, a hint of disbelief and excitement in her voice. "Well, you know. Meet the right stallion, first few dates go well and eventually hormones get in the way. You're forgetting who her mother is, I wouldn't even be surprised if grandma pushed them somehow. I mean, she is the princess of love right?" Iron eagle put his right leg forward and tried to push on the barrier. He noticed that the front moved a bit, but the backside of the barrier thined out to compensate for the extra pressure. "I wouldn't bother with that. I made improvements on my brothers defensive spells over the years. This one can detect where a threat is coming from and re-balance itself accordingly. Not only is it just as strong, but uses around seventy percent less power than the original." Twilight explained, a smug grin of triumph on her face. "I guess asking nicely is out of the question?" Iron Eagle asked. Twilight's horn lit up and Iron Eagle felt a tug on his armor. The thin band of string holding up his distraction broke loose and he watched as Twilight's aura enveloped the entire setup, pulling it down from the ceiling. She then levitated the small bit of metal that he broke off his armor in front of him. "Ingenious really, setting up a distraction ahead of time in hopes that I wouldn't notice. I mean, using an invisibility stone in conjunction with an electrical explosion to make me drop that barrier was rather clever. Big brother was no slouch when it came to tactical cleverness either, I see you inherited that much. As for your request, no. I'm afraid I cannot risk you being free for another hour or so at the least. Once I am dead I'll have Sam disable the shield and you can go about with your life." Twilight dropped the bit of metal on the floor and turned back to her work. "Why, why are you doing this?" Iron Eagle asked. Twilight's horn lit up and her aura surrounded the large spoon she was stirring with. It began to stir the potion slowly as she turned away. She started at Iron Eagle with a harsh glare, as if she was staring right into his very soul. "Do you have any idea how horrible being immortal is?" Twilight growled. Iron Eagle just shook his head no in response. He figured he touched a nerve and it was best just to let her elaborate than continue to ask questions. "Imagine for a moment waking up everyday and not feeling any different from the last thousand. You barely ever feel hungry and if you so wanted being tired would never be an issue either. Every day is the same and just blends together as your perception of time becomes more and more skewed. Soon you realize that the very ponies you loved are aging around you while you stay in pristine condition. Then suddenly one day you wake up and one of them dies from age, then another, then another. You mourn your losses, but continue to carry on." Twilight looked behind her to check to see if the pot was still be stirred, then turned back to Iron Eagle, her face far more relaxed than it was before. "At first you try to cope, trying to make your friends wants and needs fit to their offspring or relatives. Trying to make yourself happy by living out the happier days of your live vicariously through their relatives and children. Only to find that they too are aging and then dying off, creating even more sadness. You try to fit in with the next generation and find you are moor and moor aloof, unable to comprehend who they are because you are subconsciously trying to impose how your loved ones were over them." "It sounds like you neglected any mental counseling" Iron Eagle said, though he immediately regretted it as he saw some bits of Twilight's mane set on fire in anger. "I'm going to act as if I didn't hear that" Twilight said, trying to lower her voice slowly from a growl. "No, I did try counseling. I had a dozen of the best ones in Equestria help me work through my problems. The problem is they don't have my perspective, you can only guess what it's like waking up and feeling heartbroken, knowing you will continue to live on as little more than a shell of what you used to be. Being little more than a pillar for other foolish ponies to aspire to. How I wish I was them, how I wish that I could live again. The excitement of the unknown, the danger of my next step being my very last. Finally finding out what it's like to be old. And lastly..." Twilight lowered her head, tears were obviously flowing from her eyes as the floor below her was forming a small puddle. ""*Sniff* getting to see your daughter grow up into a mare and knowing that as you leave this world, something of you still remained." Iron Eagle stepped back as Twilight collapsed on the floor in an uncontrollable bit of sobbing. "That little filly, in the picture upstairs. The one with the emerald mane was... " Twilight sat up, drying her eyes with her right leg. "Her name was Gaia." "I've never heard of her. She isn't listed in any of our history books, family pictures, no one in Equestria has ever heard of her." Iron Eagle sat down on his haunches, racking his brain for any hint of Twilight's phantom daughter. "I'm sorry, I've never heard of her." "No one has. It's one of the reasons I despise that rainbow maned bitch." Twilight's face had turned from one of somber, back to that of rage. Her eyes were narrow and her lips barley hid her obviously gritting front teeth. "She removed her entire existence from everyponies mind, forcibly. Had every single history book mentioning her burned or edited and even mind-wiped and entire town, just to make sure her existence was purged. "But, why? That doesn't sound like the Celestia I know." Iron Eagle couldn't believe it, Celestia had been nothing but kind from as far as he knew. "Without...making me relive the details. Let's just say that it was a political power play. Her reasons were partially justified, but it didn't make me HATE her any less." Twilight turned around just as a humming sound started to approach her. "Ah, Sam is back online. She can keep you company while I finish up this potion." Sam soon arrived and her and Twilight talked to one another in what Iron Eagle could only decipher as a kind of sign language. Though there seemed to be hints of old Draconic language interspersed in between to make words that the sign language they were using didn't have. "Could we at least talk this out? Celestia told us that the potion you are going to use doesn't kill you. it just makes you relive the past over and over again. With how your biology works you will just stand still for all time!" Iron Eagle shouted. Twilight turned to him, a look of disbelief on her face. "I have been doing chemistry of all kinds for the better part of a century. Celestia is lying just to get me to stop so she can make sure no one ever learns that Alicorns can die." Twilight walked over to the magical dome, her horn lit up with a spell ready to be cast. "As for you, enough questions or trying to talk me out of this." Twilight fired a bolt from her horn, it struck the barrier and nothing seemed to happen. "No listen!" Iron Eagle yelled, but then quickly stopped.Iron Eagle couldn't hear anything, there were words coming from his mouth but no sound was being made. "Mute zone spell. Really good to have around when the machinery gets to noisy and you need to focus." Twilight turned her back to Iron Eagle and began to stir her potion again. "It's not that i don't mind company, It's just the last thing I want to hear in the last hour of my life is someone trying to talk me out of it." Iron Eagle stomped his hoof and yelled as loud as he could. But no sound came out, even stomping his hoof didn't make a single sound. Wait, no sound at all? Iron Eagle thought. Iron Eagle stared at the floor for a moment, noting that it was just a bunch of wood planks nailed down. He watched as Sam stared at him, then went back on patrol, leaving him nearly unsupervised, except for one minor detail; the screen with the camera watching him was right in front of Twilight and she looked up at it every twenty or so seconds. "What to do what to do..." Iron eagle looked for anything he could use to get out. "Let's see the barrier moves its energy around to counter force." He remembered how the barrier behind him was weaker when he pushed forward earlier, but he was nowhere near physically strong enough to break it. Maybe if he were a ground marine perhaps, a pony that could put out a lot of kick, but that option was out of the question. "Wait..." Iron eagle stared at he floor. Most of the planks seemed to be uniform with the barrier, except one. The plank in the middle was nailed down toward the middle of the dome where he was standing and the nails on its other side were just at the edge of the dome, the rest of the plank being slightly overshot. He remembered that barriers, like all magic have to follow laws. Shining Armors were no exception, they either had to repel, move or break. This shield was anchored to the wood, but didn't go under the floor to make a bubble, which meant that it can repel, but a large enough force could flip it over like a salad bowl. Iron Eagle waited for Twilight to glance up the the screen and then back again. The second her attention was back on the potion he snapped a bit off of his armor and pried two of the nails out. He then pulled out his invisibility gem and touched the center, turning him cleanly invisible.Taking note of how much time he had at most he quickly turned in place and pried the other two nails out; keeping mental note of how much time had gone by, and just as he got the last nail out, Twilight stared up at the screen, quickly turning her head toward the barrier. "I know you're still in there. That gem doesn't allow the wearer to pass though a solid object. I know you want to stop me, but really; you are far too young and inexperienced to be messing with-" Iron Eagle bent down and said into the floor crack, making sure that twilight could hear him. "Oh, I know, however; the third law of magical barriers has something to say to you." Iron Eagle jumped up as high as the barrier would let him and held his front and back legs as close together as possible, making a kind of pony shaped railroad spike midair. He then Landed on the plank without and nails holding it down. Like a colt jumping on one side of a seesaw that sent his sister flying face first into the sand, the other side of the plank did the same for the barrier. At first it didn't want to move, but as one point in the cohesion to the floor failed, the rest did in turn. The barrier jumped off the floor and rolled forward, not only blocking any initial magic from Twilight, but allowing to slip out unnoticed. However, Twilight was having none of it and quickly shattered the barrier with ease. Letting loose a barrage of energy bolts from her horn in an attempt to hit a target she could not see. Iron eagle could feel the hum of his jewel begin to fade, the barrier may have given him a small boost to it's power reserves , but it was only another few seconds at the most. All the commotion had attracted Sam whom flew right past his head. It was then at that moment that he realized that Sam was little more than a floating ball and with no friction with the ground...and she was directly lined up with the other button he didn't get to press. Objects in motion stay in motion unless acted upon by an outside force! Iron Eagle jumped in the air and slapped the back of the orb shaped Sam as hard as he could. She flew forward, bounced off the floor and then right into the console, breaking the off button on impact. "Hows it feel to be outsmarted by your own nephew, Twilight?" Iron Eagle yelled triumphantly. "I can still hear you, idiot." Twilight fired a bolt from her horn, hitting the still invisible Iron eagle square in the chest armor. the impact sending him into the machine behind him. As Iron Eagle stood up, he noticed there was a really sharp pain in his chest and back and a strange wetness under his armor. He reached under his armor and touched it and wished he hadn't, it hurt a whole lot. He pulled out his hoof and stared at it; blood. Burned and cauterized blood, but blood all the same. He looked up at Twilight, whose face went from angry to concerned in a flash before him. She moved toward him, tears running down her face. "I'm sorry, sorry. I didn't mean to use that much power!" Before she could reach him though, and explosion rocked the entire facility followed by the wall where the monitor used to be collapsing. Dust and debris filled the room in clouds. Iron Eagle knew who it was though, without a doubt it was the royalty. The dust began to settle and three separate Alicorns appeared out of the dust. To the left was Cadence, the right was obviously Luna and in the middle was Celestia herself. Twilight stared at Celestia and then back at Iron Eagle. "Well, mission complete for you I guess, nephew." Twilight cracked a smile. "Well played, but now the real event begins." Twilight turned on the spot, staring down the three Alicorns in front of her. "I should thank you, Iron Eagle." "Why?" Iron said, wheezing a bit from his wound. "Because, now I get a shot at vengeance before death."