//------------------------------// // Red Flag // Story: Earning Freedom // by Daxisle //------------------------------// Red Flag A twig snapped. Sin's head jerked back to give a paranoid look at the greening brush of the Maple Wood forest behind him, he shivered from the uncomfortable feeling he was being watched. Even the fact he was hidden well within the treeline off the beaten path, just far enough that he could still see the road he followed, under the hidden overcast sky of a spring day, offered him no comfort from what lurked within the depths of the forest. He knew what it was, Soarin and Sombra were still hard on his tail, getting a little more careless with their sneaking. It was the third dead give away to being followed, but all things considered, it was a bitter sweet discomfort to know they were there. The two stallions had pulled his ass out of the fire before, and if things got too dicey with the Trotski now, they'd likely do so again. Though, it was a double edged sword and a risky gamble. The two would likely allow his attack on the Trotski to wear the Federalist down so they could strike the tired Sin themselves. They didn't know he was without the Nightmare now, which was also bitter sweet. If he didn't have the demon, they would have no reason to bring him to their master, but they probably wouldn't believe him unless he was brought before Luna for inspection as proof, and by that time, he'd already be in custody for his other crimes. What was worse was that, without Scootaloo or Krystal present, Sin had no guarantee that they wouldn't strike prior to his confrontation of the reactionaries. All he could do was act as paranoid and jumpy as possible to dissuade the two from attacking should they chose not to wait. Or even worse, wait until after, when he'd be drained of energy, resolve and likely injured. This was a delicate situation that Sin needed to exercise the utmost care with. After a few more minutes of walking, the stallion found the Lake that Smart Cookie spoke of and stopped in the brush for a moment to double check his Ragnerock. The primary shot was loaded with a steel tip bolt, while the quick load held a small, glowing red incendiary. It was a tough decision to make, one he still wasn't sure he'd regret or not, but if his shakey "plan" to slowly turn the Trotski against each other failed, the slaughter of all of them at once was preferred to the death of Macintosh and the countless others who'd likely fall to their interests. Taking another breath, Sin prepared himself for the moments to come, pulled down his hood, called upon the non-Nightmare enhanced aura and began his slow advance forwards. "Sorry!" Krystal whispered loudly after stepping on yet another twig. Scootaloo knew Islander's ears were good, but she didn't think they were that good. Though, she could see the stallion's cloak off in the distance of the forest stop at the sudden sound. His head shot about and both of them ducked low to stay out of sight. Had it not been for sending Angel ahead to keep tabs on the pony, Scootaloo was sure they would have lost him a while ago. his cloak and pelt blended in perfectly with the surroundings, but despite Angel's reluctance, the rabbit had still agreed to venture ahead and lead the two, acting as eyes by proxy to two mare's who's white and orange appearances would have stood out in the woodwork like a black cloud on a nice sunny day. "Did he see us?" Krystal asked. "I don't think so." Scootaloo replied, lifting he head up to look for Angel. The rabbit stood frozen, looking ahead past a tree he hid behind. Despite the hour and a half of walking, Scootaloo still didn't know exactly what they were going to do once they confronted Islander, and the uncertainty of the whole thing chipped away at the filly's nerve. She was trembling from anticipation and fear, hoping beyond hope that something would come to her or Krystal soon. The current "plan" was to just play it by ear. Scootaloo may have been young, but she wasn't stupid. She figured that if she'd exposed herself and Krystal, the ponies Islander was chasing would likely attack them and use them against the stallion as leverage. They were bad ponies, after all, it wouldn't surprise her if they used such cowardly tactics to win. Still, that only made the filly feel more helpless. Maybe if they captured the Trotski first, before Islander did, maybe they could turn them over to the authorities and avoid the killing? "That was a joke, correct? Please tell me you aren't seriously considering such a foolish course of action." The voice said in severe astonishment. "You two? A filly with mild survival experience and a timid mare with motherly tendencies, neither having any combat nor infiltration training are going to lay waste to an organization that has no opposition to killing?" Scootaloo grimaced, okay, maybe that wasn't the best idea she'd ever had, but still. Something needed to happen. The two waited a little longer for Angel's signal, but something held the rabbit up. "What's he waiting for?" Krystal asked in a shaky voice. Angel turned around, lifted his right arm and drew a large "D" on it, taking two fingers and pulling from the back of his hand to his elbow. Scootaloo flinched as Krystal turned to her, her eyes questioning what the rabbit meant by his actions. Islander wasn't waiting, he was preparing. They'd arrived to where the Totski were hiding. The hour of thinking was over and a decision needed to be made. They were out of time. His gaze going between Islander and the two fillies behind him, Soarin grunted from his place high above. He and Sombra sitting perched in a tree a good ten feet above the ground. They'd flown above to avoid leaving tracks, Sombra using his magic to make the pegasus' flapping wings silent, and to rebound the air flow to avoid any rustling of the trees around. Why did they have to follow him? Why? Soarin bemoaned his misfortune, this was the perfect opportunity to strike, to take down Islander and bring him into Luna. This was the perfect opportunity for him to regain his legal freedom, but no. No, no, no, those two just had to tag along, didn't they? They just couldn't stay behind and let their prey be handled. Sombra had suggest on multiple occasions that he teleport the two away before they became hostages, and then come back and help Soarin take their charge into custody; but the problem there was that Soarin didn't know if the same magical immunity Islander had was also affecting his companions or not. If it was, and they were to reveal themselves, Islander could easily take them hostage and force Soarin and Sombra out in the open at threat of their lives. Though, as time had gone on and observations taken, Soarin wasn't sure if that's what would happen or not. Islander had behaved in no way that indicated such a worst case scenario. When Sombra had sent his summon to attack the trio, the stallion didn't use either of them as a shield to hide behind, he'd actually done the opposite and told them to flee while he could fight the summon alone. Maybe he needed to reconsider the Federalist's willingness to use the other two to preserve himself. "What do you think?" Sombra whispered to him. "Not sure, maintain position." Soarin replied sternly. He... he wasn't sure what to make of the pony now. All of the files indicated the stallion to be a resourceful and pragmatic type, ruthlessly so, with his freedom superseding all things in interest. Yet he had, on multiple occasions no less, shown little to no regard for his own life in protecting his companions. It was a confounding contradiction, one could not have freedom if they didn't have life. Right? So why was he so willing to embrace death when it meant losing that which he cherished most? The buffalo, the summon, the Trotski, all were in ample position to kill him, and the target did nothing with his companions that would have assisted his self preservation when he was fully capable of it. If anything, he'd taken steps to ensure they were the ones protected over himself. Maybe... maybe the friendship between them was more than just a facade, more than just a couple of shields for him to protect himself with against them. The thoughts were conflicted with another pair of memories. One with Islander glaring down at the orange filly while Soarin kept watch from the Canyon wall, and another with him glaring at Soarin himself. Both times holding the wicked eyes of the Nightmare, used only for the purposes of intimidation and fear induction. The autopsies of the green pony killed in Canterlot castle showed that the asphyxiation that hanging would have caused was not the the reason of the pony's death. The doctors and thanatologists who's studied the corpse were perplexed by the findings. What they'd found wasn't asphyxiation or anything physically external that killed him at all. What they did find was a massive amount of internalized bleeding that filled up his abdominal cavity. When traced, the doctors were stunned to find that it wasn't an aortic aneurysm or a conglomerate of veins that had popped by some unmarked trama, but the heart itself. The stallions own heart had ruptured at the lower left quadrant, allowing blood to escape in mass and kill him almost instantaneously. What was even more remarkable was that the tearing of the organ didn't come from the outside in, but the inside out. Something terrible had happened to him, something so terrifying happened to the green pony that it made his heart beat escalate and become so powerful that it tore at the cardiac walls and ruptured in his chest. Hospital staff who'd been on the job for years, decades even, didn't know what to make of the phenomena. He wasn't an old pony, and was in great shape, to great for such an unprecedented cardiac anomaly. Never had any one of them seen a case like it before, nor offer an explanation for it's occurrence... but Soarin could. He felt the stallion's gaze on him not once, but twice. He knew the fear inducing property that the target could give, the unbridled horror and adrenaline. When Islander had stopped outside his own cell that day, Soarin was afraid his heart would beat out hard enough to break a rib. The green eyed pegasus wasn't really afraid of him, but something... happened, something he couldn't explain, all he knew was that it was related to Sin's eyes upon him. It made his entire body quake with unbridled terror and excruciating dread. And Soarin saw Sin use it upon the filly down there, the orange one. He'd used it upon her back in the canyon for some reason. Soarin would never forgive him for that. That he'd use such a horrific technique upon such a young pony. There was no justification for it, none what so ever as far as he was concerned. That power, it had the potential to kill or to permanently do psychological, emotional and mental damage, and to use it on one so young? No, no the stallion wasn't a good sort. He was evil, an evil pony pretending to be a lover of freedom and protector of the weak. No good pony in their right mind would ever commit such an atrocity onto another, even somepony whom deserved it. It took a special kind of sick and twisted to wield that kind of power. If what he'd been told by Luna was correct, the Nightmare should have possessed him immediately, yet she hadn't. Islander seemed fully within his own mind, able to control the Nightmare's powers as he pleased. The Nightmare had to respect him in order to allow such a thing, and if that wasn't a testimine to the pony's evil nature, Soarin didn't know what was. Maybe the two down there did care about him, maybe not. But they were in danger of the target, and their safety couldn't be guaranteed so long as he was around. Soarin's eyes narrowed as Sin stopped before reaching a near by lake and took stock of his weapon. He looked back to find the other two staying still as well, a good hundred and fifty feet or so away, before returning his glare. The target was preparing for something, something likely having to do with that organization he was following. "Sombra." Soarin whispered looking at his associate. "He is getting ready." Sombra acknowledged before the pegasus could finish. "Which means he'll be distracted." Soarin nodded. "Once he's either engaged in combat or entered an area where he'll be unable to see them, teleport us down. We'll grab those two, and put them somewhere safe." He growled, eyes trailing back to Sin. "Once they're out of the way, we'll take him on his own. This is an opportunity we cannot afford to miss." Sombra smiled at him. "And should they be as immune to magic as he is?" The pegasus stallion glared at him with emerald eyes. "Two fillies against two experienced and tested military ponies, I doubt they'll put up that much resistance, so long as you cover the older ones mouth and prevent her from singing again." Sombra nodded in agreement, it was good to know the capabilities of potential hostiles, even if they weren't enemies and collateral damages. Fact was: both were loyal to the target, and both needed to be out of the way. Today would be the day, the day that Soarin not only took back his freedom, but the day he'd removed one of the most foul creatures he'd ever seen. A creature worse than himself. Sin walked through the treeline, keeping an eye out for any sentries or patrols that might be on the lookout for him. Yet there was nothing to see, nothing but the golden grass, trees and dirt littered about. He fought to maintain his breathing and his resolve. If he found a guard who'd seen him, he'd have only a moment to react in silencing the guard. Killing was his only recourse in that regard, as much as he may not want to, he couldn't risk even a scream reaching the others to warn them and ruin the element of surprise. He saw something off in the distance and slowed down a little, veering right into the density of the forest a little more for cover. As he grew closer, he came to find that the thing was actually a small wooden building. Nothing special, just a small shack no bigger than a small house. Sin gulped and crouched low before slowing to a creep, keeping an eye on the structure while also maintaining his sweeps around. That's where they were... He moved a little closer and eyed the cottage with a smirk. All wood. He could shoot the incendiary through the window and burn it down from the tree line, forcing the Trotski out, snipe his targets during the confusion, and escape with virtually no risk to his person. No heroics, no unnecessary recklessness, no mistakes. It was fucking foolproof! 'Simple, yet deadly. So, I guess we're not going to go with the whole "don't kill unnecessarily" thing, then?' Sin internally humphed. I said I would consider it. Besides, there's no guarantee I'll kill anyone. The plan is to lure them out with the fire, unless they're retarded and stay in there while the building burns, no one will die. 'Yea, okay. So, before you go destroying private property by arson here, let's take a second to look at the obvious for a moment.' Sin sighed, his seemingly foolproof plan being put to question already. He'd regret hearing it, but Critic usually did have a point when stopping him. 'How many of the Trotski were there left? A good two dozen or so last time you counted, correct?' Yea? 'That's twenty four fully grown pony bodies, right?' One would assume two dozen ponies would equal... Sin's thought's trailed off, already knowing where the conversation was going. 'And how big is that building? Hmm? Not big enough to hold twenty-four ponies, well not comfortably, anyway.' Sin's anticipation and hope took his stomach and slammed it through his small intestines and down into the ground. No sentries, no warning system, not perimeter patrols... nothing at all. He should have known the second he laid eyes on the house that there wasn't anyone there, but some small bastion of hope in him pushed him to believe they were. He wanted so badly to believe they were there, a little too badly. Though, much to his dismay, they wasn't. Even now as he took a closer look at the building, he could see through the freshly cleaned windows that there wasn't a soul to be found. No movement inside what so ever, nothing but the white painted walls and shadows beyond. Had Smart Cookie given him false information? Had the Federalist fallen for, what should have been, an obvious trap in a desperate attempt to think he was out thinking his enemies? Had he really come all this way for nothing? A flash of hot anger shot over Sin. Again, he'd been foolish. It was such an obvious trap. How stupid was he? Believing that one of the Trotski's own would betray them and give him the rundown of their next safe house? How fucking dense did he have to be to believe that? A moron, a fucking failure that couldn't see past a lie that should have been clear as- "Well, well." Said a familiar voice from ahead. "Look who finally decided to show up." Sin's breath caught and in a flash, he raised his crossbow with a excitement and hope. There, standing a few feet infront of him, was Smart Cookie, accompanied by the sack covered unicorn from Appleloosa, Seedy. The earth pony leaned against the tree trunk, sighed and motioned with a hoof. "You know, when I said that you didn't need to be in a hurry, I didn't mean to take two bucking weeks to get here!" "Where are they?" Sin barked, having no patience for the older pony's snark. "Gone." Cookie replied flatly. "They left yesterday." Sin gritted his teeth. No, not again. Not again! "Now, would you mind not pointing that-" "ISLANDER, NO!" Suddenly, and almost to their detriment, both Scootaloo and Krystal ran forward. The former standing between the three stallions while the latter gingerly moved to his right and gently tried to push his crossbow down. What? WHAT? What the fuck?! How... when... what?! How did they- NIGHTMARE! 'Oh boy.' "You can't k- kill him!" Scootaloo stuttered, her fierce attempt at bravado utterly annihilated by the obvious terror in her eyes. Krystal murmured her agreement, timidly requesting that he put down the bow and let the authorities handle the situation. Sin growled and retraced his crossbow to the ground, but kept it ready. He had no intention on killing Smart Cookie, not yet anyways, but he was going to get some more answers. "Thank you." Smart Cookie said pleasantly. "Now where are they?" Sin asked. "Not here, obviously." The earth pony answered. "They went to Manehatten." Another shot of anger. "You said that was to throw me off!" Sin shot. Cookie nodded his head sagely. "Yes I did, it's about two hundred miles north of here, passed Fillydelphia. So, it's really no time lost on your part, now why do you suspect they told you to that while they were actually in Baltimare?" Sin's eyes narrowed and he didn't answer, though the answer felt like it was staring him right in the face. The answer was simple, he wouldn't be looking for them in the closer city, but they would be looking for him, giving to them, completely, the element of surprise. Cookie continued on that the Trotski predicted he'd stick to the woodlands along the coast line, and had set up their numbers to keep an eye out for him. Using the shack as a base of operations to mobilize the real attack force once one of the scouts reported back Sin's location in the forest. However, two weeks had passed since Appleloosa, when the projected time of his arrival would only be a week and a four days at max. Once almost two weeks was up, Puddinghead figured that, instead of shooting east for the coast line and moving north from Horse Shoe bay, their pursuer had taken a straight shot from Appleloosa to Manehatten over the Foal Mountains. With this assumption being the case, Puddinghead recalled all the Trotski followers and made way north to scour Manehatten, looking for Sin and dealing with him there. Leaving Smart Cookie and his assistant behind to warn them if he'd just taken longer than expected. The icy eyed stallion gritted his teeth and cursed himself. He missed them, he missed them by a single day. A single day because he wanted to go in and look at the pretty underwater city... "Sinbad. They know you have companions." Cookie stated, gesturing to the two girls. "My grandson knows how dangerous and capable you are, and not only that, but is convinced you're traveling with two other stallions, one of them being King Sombra and another pegasus. Their plan isn't to take you on directly, they know they can't now, but by taking them hostage and using them to lure all three of you out." Scootaloo and Krystal's mouths dropped in horror at the claim. "Us? Wha- What?" Sin looked at the off white mare and tensed, not knowing what to say. "Two other stallions?" Scootaloo repeated, her nervous eyes narrowing as she looked at Islander. Figures, they can't beat him head on, so they go after the two closest to him. As far as Sombra and Soarin went, Sin didn't know how to account for them. It was an asset for the Trotski to fear him having back up, though, even if they had no idea that the two stallions were just as much a threat to Sin as they were. Though, all of this did bring up a rather blaring question. "Why are you telling me all of this?" Sin asked, quirking a skeptical brow. "I'm planning on killing your grandson, and friends of yours. Why help me do that?" "No you're not!" Scootaloo shouted, earning herself a silent look of disapproval. The elderly white earth pony looked at him with scrupulous eyes for a long drawn out moment and shrugged. "Am I helping you? Or am I using you?" There was a thought, but using him for what? "Not that hard to figure out." The older pony said before turning away from them. "If you'll excuse me, I have a train up to Manehatten to catch and a grandson to inform." In a shot of nervousness, Sin raised his crossbow and ordered the stallion to stay his place, though both Krystal and Scootaloo were quick to impede any shot he had. "If I don't tell them I saw you, they may move on from Manehatten before you get there." Cookie called over his shoulder. "Base is located in the south western pier, Dock 21, Warehouse six. Try not to take so long this time." The two ponies took a few more steps before Seedy whispered something to the Trotski leader and both stopped. "Oh, and be weary wondering north between here and Fillydelphia. Stray Changelings from the failed assault on Canterlot have been spotted around and about, and you don't wanna get caught in one of their traps." He paused for a moment. "Well, those two don't, they'd probably starve to death on you, Sin." The Federalist stepped forward in pursuit, but found his way barred by Scootaloo, glaring up at him with firey determination. "You're not going anywhere until you explain yourself! What did he mean that two other ponies were with us?!" "Y-yea!" Krystal chimed in, following her youngers example. "A-and we're not going to Manehatten, and that's final." Sin closed his eyes as a strike of lighting shot from overhead, soon warning of the rain to come. Anger, rage, disappointment, frustration, self loathing and despair all cascaded through Sin's being as the two fillies made demands and scolded him. The emotional rush tested his patience almost beyond his rational mind, and the stallion had to force himself to calm by ignoring them both, focusing on his breathing, tensing his muscles and relaxing, forcing his mind blank, every single trick in the book to keep himself from smacking his head into a tree or worse. Part of him was relieved he hadn't found the Trotski, his estimation as to the Nightmare's effectiveness in keeping these two occupied overshooting the reality. They'd done it, even following him covertly, they'd really jumped out to stop him like they said they would. Scootaloo had even placed herself directly infront of his bolt. The Federalist wouldn't have expected that from her. Had he pulled the trigger, had the release hold lost it's power, had he even flinched the wrong way, the small filly would have gasped her final breaths only moments ago. Sin found that idea much less horrifying than he'd originally thought he would, shamefully so. To kill her, a filly who only stopped him because she didn't want him to put himself in danger or harm others, it made him disgusted with himself to think how little it bothered him. The same with Krystal, had she been the one to take the bolt instead. But that was something he had to consider now. If they were going to fulfill their threat to stop him and prolong the threat against Macintosh, a firm decision needed to be made. It was quiet now, neither of the girls spoke. Sin opened his eyes, his thoughts in order, relatively speaking. Calmly, with a freezing cold indifference, Sin looked down his muzzle at Scootaloo contemptuously, meeting her angry glare with his own. He didn't speak, there was no point in it now. Though, a sickening feeling in his mind told him that the Kid had other ideas. "We're being followed." Sin said, his mouth going against his conscious mind. WHAT THE FUCK!? 'Sorry.' You said this only happened as an emotional response! I'M FUCKING CALM! 'Clearly.' Sin pushed everything in his mind out, trying to regain his typical stoicism before the Kid used too much of the emotional response time to... He didn't know, but he knew he had to stop him. "Followed?" Scootaloo asked, tilting her head and looking around. "By who?" "Two stallions." Sin replied, somehow even more calmly than usual. "One unicorn named Sombra, the other a pegasus named Soarin, both working for Luna." TAPIO DAMMIT! CRITIC! DO SOMETHING! 'No. It's about time this all came to light.' NIGHTMARE! "Soarin?" Scootaloo gasped, recognizing the name. "The Wonderbolt Soarin? Wait, isn't he supposed to be in prison for what he did to Applejack?" The Federalist gave a curt nod. "He's out, now. Luna's likely using his fugitive status to ensure he tells nobody else I'm alive." Sin screamed inside of his own head at the sensitive information the Kid was leaking. He'd worked so hard to keep all of this under wraps. All of that work, all of the precautionary measures, everything: fucking wasted before his eyes. "Is that why you wanted a night watch?" Krystal asked, her question and tone much more friendly than Scootaloo's. "Because you knew this "Soarin" and Sombra were following us?" "Correct." Sin's mouth stated. "To ensure they didn't sneak up on us and overpower me while I slept." Scootaloo asked how he knew it was those two, making Sin recall the trap he'd fallen into back in Dodge City while he'd left her in the inn. He described the attack in no real detail, but did explain how Sombra and Soarin had interfered before the cave collapsed in on itself. "That would explain why Luna's been in my dreams so much lately, but why did she send only those two after you?" Krystal asked. Sin felt a spike of fear run up his spine and fought with everything he had, he couldn't let the Kid answer that question. He couldn't let them know that truth. "I will not answer that." The stallion's voice replied with just a twinge of regret before casting his eyes downwards. "I wish I could tell you the full story, but it's not something I'm comfortable sharing with you, not yet. What I can tell you is that Luna doesn't want the Trotski harmed for her own reasons, but she'd sent Soarin and Sombra after me for another reason entirely." With a sigh of relief, Sin's conscious mind relaxed a little. At least the Kid had sense enough to know what information not to give. At that point, Krystal demanded to be brought up to speed, since she didn't share Scootaloo's explanation back at the rock farm. It took several minutes to explain, and many a faces of horror and bewilderment on both Krystal and Scootaloo's parts for the instinaces the filly wasn't present, but soon enough they knew everything there was to know, discounting the Nightmare. Both Krystal and Scootaloo were quiet for a time, taking in everything they were hearing. Meanwhile, Sin's consciousness had finally calmed itself to the point he could end the emotional reaction and once again control himself. It was a good few minutes too late, though. The Kid had told them almost everything, which was probably for the best now. Not like he had a good lie to give anyways. 'Kid says be honest, Sin.' Again, not like he had much of a choice. "Why didn't you tell us?" Krystal asked, looking hurt and betrayed. Sin sighed. "Besides stressing you out, what would have been the point?" "Well, so that would could have known. So that we could help, of course." The off white mare answered compassionately. "Help?" The stallion laughed. "Help what? You've already said you'd stand against my end goal. Why should I think you'd help me in getting to it?" Krystal visibly flinched from the first word and retreated away at the explanation, obviously having no answer to give. Everyone was silent now, Krystal sat looking dejected, while Scootaloo looked thoughtful. Sin took a few more calming breath, waiting until he felt as calm and devoid of emotion as he could. No snark, no anger, no guilt, no pain. He knew what he needed to do, but he needed to be as sure as possible that the Kid wouldn't interfere again. If his inner child wanted to set things into motion that Sin couldn't undo, then fine, two could play it that game. "Nothing's changed." Sin stated flatly, his mind resolving itself to do something he knew would cause them both emotional pain if they followed. "I still plan to kill them. You were lucky he wasn't the Trotski I was looking for." He pushed passed Scootaloo, but the filly reached out and grabbed his leg in an attempt to stop him. Seeing his trap set into motion, Sin whirled free of the foal's grip... and aimed his crossbow in the dead center of her forehead. His steely blue eyes promising his threat. Scootaloo froze, her magenta retinas constricting as soon as she realized what was happening. "Islander!" Krystal gasped. Sin bore down with the aura into Scootaloo. He forced himself to be calm, to rip all most all emotion from himself and actions save the bare minimum for the aura. This was the one course of action he didn't want to take. He couldn't allow this kind of thing to happen again, what if it was Puddinghead he'd come across instead of Smart Cookie? Had these two pulled the same stunt, both would have become hostages and likely died right along side him. He tried to be peaceful about this, he tried hoping they weren't as brave as they let on to be, giving them the benefit of that doubt. He'd tried to appeal to their sense of logic and understanding, to Scootaloo's sympathy and guilt in protecting Macintosh. All to find them both willing to protect the Trotski, those willing to kill others, for their fool hearty notions of life worship. No more, this was going to settle the issue. 'SIN! What the fu- Sin tuned out the Critic, as well as the growing headache that was coming on from the returned Nightmare. The Kid, Critic, and Alicorn could suck a dick, he tried things their way, now he was going to solve the problem once and for all before it got them all killed. "You. Will. Not stop me." Sin glowered, his voice tinged with the Nightmare's. "I don't know what your fascination is with trying to protect them, what part of me you're trying to 'save' or whatever, or maybe you really don't give a flying fuck about if Macintosh lives or dies. But I do, and I'll see you dead before I allow them to bring harm to him. Is that understood?" Scootaloo's chest expanded greatly as her breathing became deeper and more quick, she gulped but made no answer one way or the other. Krystal made no movement what so ever now, completely frozen in shock over what was happening. They'd probably think him a monster, evil even, but they'd left him with no better alternatives. He wasn't going to shoot, of course. Sin's hoof wasn't even on the trigger for the crossbow, and his leg was very much ready to dart right in case either of them made a move, to discharge the projectile safely away. This was nothing but a ruse, a last resort bluff to get them to end their interference, and he hoped it would work. Though, it served another purpose. It served to erase all doubt as to a decision that needed to be made on what Sin found more value in. Scootaloo's life or Macintosh's life, on which would need to be potentially sacrificed in order to save the other. He needed to make sure he would shoot Scootaloo if he had to. Either they would obey, or they would abandon him. Despite his word to the Kid and to Krystal's parents that he'd look after both of the fillies, Sin was very much okay with either at this point. The stallion couldn't rely on the off chance that the Trotski wouldn't return to Ponyville and find him again. Luna said so herself that there were thousands of Trotski members all over the country, and how long would it be until one of them had found him? He may have been protected by Luna's agents, but Sin had the chance to ensure, once and for all, they would never threaten him again. It was a hard and gut wrenching choice to make, but Macintosh mattered to him more than the filly did, and the Federalist wished Scootaloo hadn't forced him to make that decision. Swallowing, Scootaloo slowly raised her head up and down in a sign of understanding, keeping her eyes firmly planted on the weapon trained at her head. Sin nodded in return and slowly lowered the crossbow before turning his back to them and following after the trail Smart Cookie and his associate had gone down. He heard the small sobs escape Scootaloo as she broke down from the ordeal, as well as Krystal's attempt to offer her comfort. Small ebbs of guilt gnawed at Sin's mind with each whimper the filly failed to stifle. Though, he knew he'd made the best decision for his ultimate goal. 'Best decision, huh?' Critic asked dryly. 'Threatening a small filly's life and cruelly guilt trip by asking if she cared about someone she clearly does care about. That was the best decision?' Had I not, potential is we all end up dead once I do find the Trotski because they couldn't back off and let me do what needed to be done. You know that as well as I do, Critic. "He's right, dear Critic." The Alicorn of Insanity cooed. "They said they'd do it, and neither of you took them seriously. You still do not." Critic was about to reply but a sudden flash and pop of magic from behind drew Sin's attention back to the girls and found the worst possible thing he could think of. "Get them outta here, Sombra." With a nod, the red eyed stallion cast a hateful glare to Sin and popped out of existence with Krystal and Scootaloo before Sin even had a chance to speak.