Duty and Consequences

by Snap Shot

Masquerade

Four hooves clacked on the floor behind me.

“Snap, we have an emergency,” Show said hurriedly.

I released Butterbeam, her tears had once again subsided.

“Wait here,” I told her. “If we aren’t back in ten minutes, get to a window and fly as fast as you can away from here. Okay?”

She nodded.

I didn’t want to leave her there, but in the state that she was in, she was likely to get killed if we ran into trouble. The safest thing for her would be to stay hidden while we dealt with any hostiles. Though I still didn’t know what the emergency was.

“What’s going on, Show?”

He gestured for silence and only indicated that we needed to hurry. I quickened my pace at my wingman’s order; whatever the situation was time was of the essence. As we approached an offshoot he waved his hoof for us to land. I floated to the ground and hugged up against the close wall. We crept slowly toward the junction, and I could hear scraping and growling from around the corner.

“How shall we kill these ponies?” A raspy voice asked. “Skewer them? Beat them? Skin them?”

I chanced a brief look down the hallway. There were three guards, still in full armor, bound, beaten and bleeding, but they were alive. Five dogs surrounded them, each taking turns stabbing at the defenseless ponies with their weapons. They were like foals probing insects just to see how they would react. I locked the small blade tied around my hoof into place; it was designed on a slide for ease of access in a combat situation. I hadn’t quite got hang of the mechanism, but I had seen earth ponies use them before on the battlefield fairly effectively. That being said, the small blade was definitely a weapon of desperation and last resort. As one particularly mangy dog lowered his crossbow level with one of the guard’s head, I knew that this was a desperate time.

I rushed out into the pack and plunged my knife into the back of one of the dogs. He screamed and reached back, clawing my side. Blood began to run down my flank, I twisted the knife and pushed him off me. One of the guards had gotten loose and bucked the crossbow dog into the far wall. The remaining enemies scattered like startled starlings; one ran directly into the point of Show’s spear, the other two ran back down the hall. We let them go, it wasn’t worth the fight but I knew it was a mistake to let them escape.

“Where are the princesses?” Show Off demanded as he cut the other two guards loose.

One of them, blood caked under her nose, spoke up.

“Celestia is in the safe room behind the throne, she was teleported there by her sister against protests. Princess Luna then ordered all of us to evacuate as many civilians as we could…but there were just so many dogs. We were overwhelmed, she tried to lead the attackers away…we covered her retreat the best we could.”

One of the unicorn guards finished tying a sash around his wounded left eye.

“We didn’t do a very good job, but we bought her a couple of minutes,” He commented.

“Which way?” My wingman asked, worry in his voice.

His eyes began to dart from hallway to hallway. He was slowly beginning to panic, and that wasn’t something we needed right now.

“Show calm down, you can’t help Luna if you run off and get yourself killed.”

He whirled on me, getting nose to nose.

“What do you want me to do, Snap? Just let her die.”

“Buck it all, Show! We need a plan!”

The three guards stared at us quietly, not wanting to interfere with two armed and angry ponies. Suddenly, one of the guards’ eyes went wide.

“Get down!” he shouted and shoved me to the ground.

A crossbow bolt appeared in the golden armor on his chest, and he fell backward with a grunt. I scrambled to my hooves to see two of the Arabian mercenaries standing down the hall. One had a wrist mounted crossbow that he was struggling to reload. Drawing the large blade awkwardly, I prepared to charge, the remaining guards picked up the fallen dogs’ weapons. The two larger equines scoffed at us briefly but they failed to notice the magical aura enveloping them. They were both bodily thrown against the wall, hard enough to make the paintings rattle. Two small blades shot out of another hall, each embedding themselves into each of the Arabians’ necks. A tall pristine white unicorn walked out from the direction the knives came from. Her elegant ball gown was in tatters and her face was stained with blood that seeped from a gash in her cheek. I couldn’t believe my eyes.

“Agent Snow?”

She magically removed her weapons from their victims; I noticed they were shaped like tiny fleur-de-lis. They wiped themselves on the dead mercenaries and they attached themselves to her dress; having the appearance of simple pieces of jewelry. The mare whipped her pink mane off of her face. Her eyes fell on me and her mouth fell open.

“Sergeant Snap Shot? What in Cerberus are you doing here?”

“Trying to rescue the princess, I assume you are doing the same.”

Show Off came walked up returning his spear to its holster. He looked Snow up and down with a critical eye.

“This is your infamous CIA ghost?” he asked me not believing.

“Yeah,” I replied turning back to the guard ponies.

The one that caught the crossbow bolt for me was sitting up. He cringed as he tried to get to his hooves.

“Phalanx, don’t try to move,” the mare guard said.

“I’m fine, Crest. My armor stopped it.”

He reached down and pulled the arrow out with his teeth, the tip was coated in blood. He spat in on the ground in disgust.

“Mostly…” he added.

Show Off once again asked the guards about the princess.

“Where did Luna go?” he asked urgently.

The guard with the wounded eye, stepped forward, he seemed to be the highest ranking amongst them.

“The princess flew down towards the basement,” he said hurriedly. “Silver Wind was still with her so they should be okay.”

“Who’s Silver Wind?” My wingman inquired urgently.

“She’s one of the pegasus guard, probably the best of the pegasus guards.”

Show wasn’t reassured by the statement and he was itching to go after the princess, whether an ace flyer was protecting her or not.

“I’m still going to back her up,” he stated bluntly.

“You don’t expect us to just sit around and do nothing do you. We’re going too,” Phalanx said, sheathing a sword.

I stepped up and modified the plan.

“You four head to the basement and protect Luna, Agent Snow and I will get to the throne room and find Celestia. She might be in a safe room, but those aren’t impenetrable. Crest, there’s a pegasus mare behind the statue of General Hurricane. Get her to a place where she can fly to safety, then rendezvous with the others.”

Show briefly smiled at me.

“You sound like Quill,” he teased.

I scowled at him.

“You take that back!” I joked.

He raised a wing and I presented my natural feathered one. After a quick exchange, I nodded at him.

“Break a leg, Lunatic,” I said, wishing him luck in an actor’s fashion.

He returned my nod.

“And try to keep yours intact this time, Shutterbug,” He replied. “See you at the end of this.”

“Yeah, alright everyone! Move out!”

We all went our separate ways, but I was worried. I wasn’t so sure we would actually be surviving this one. We had been through a lot of missions together, but throughout all of those we had a distinct advantage; we could fly. Now, we were in close quarter and our wings were useless. While we had basic training in armed combat, it wasn’t our forte, but flying or not, we had a duty to keep Equestria safe and our country was never in more danger than at this moment.

“Those bucking mercs you hired are behind this,” I told Snow.

The agent just scoffed at me, she obviously wasn’t amused. She checked around a corner before moving up and I followed.

“I didn’t hire them,” she informed me. “And they all didn’t turn on us; they’ve killed their own in this attack. There were three in the green room, one didn’t know about the plan…he was disposed of.”

That raised another question.

“How did you get out?” I asked her.

Her horn glowed and the two small blades detached themselves from her dress.

“I persuaded them to stop what they were doing, with these gifts from my colt friend. On a different matter, what did Show Off mean when he said keep your leg intact?” She asked as she returned her weapons to the sleeves of her gown.

“Last time we helped Quill evacuate a group of ponies, I ended up in the medical ward for four weeks with a broken leg, but you already knew that, didn’t you?”

The agent shot me a sideways glance as we approached a set of stairs leading upwards.

“The throne room is up three flights of stairs, and we need to get Celestia out of the castle grounds.”

“Why didn’t she simply teleport out of the palace once the attack started?”

The agent regarded me in the same manner my history teacher did when I failed to read the assigned pages in the textbook.

“The palace grounds are guarded by a magical barrier; it’s there to prevent teleportation into the palace by assassins to the crown. The drawback is it works both ways, nothing can get in and nothing can get out. The safe room has the same protection but it only activates once Celestia’s magical aura enters it. The CIA constructed it after the Nightmare Moon fiasco.”

“So basically, she’s a prisoner in a cage now; they can’t jump in but she can’t jump out. Was your magic box designed to withstand explosives?”

The agent worriedly brushed some of her pink mane out of her eyes.

“No,” she answered bluntly.

I looked up the elegant marble stairwell.

“Then there’s no time to lose,” I stated and flew a little ways up the stairs.

Snow grabbed my tail with her magic, stopping me dead in the air.

“Sergeant, we don’t know what we are getting into,” she cautioned.

I looked back at her.

“More reason for me to go first.”

She considered for a moment, whether she was weighing my expendability or considering that I had the tactical advantage because I was smaller and quieter than she was, I didn’t know. However, she released my tail, letting me fly upwards.

I peeked around the corner and not seeing any threats motioned for her to follow. After three flights we reached the landing to the throne room. It was completely deserted aside from the bodies of two guards, but what I saw turned my blood to ice. The doors to the royal court had been blown completely off their hinges; the walls bore long black scorch marks that were not made by magic. The Royal Equestrian Crest lay shattered on the ground, its pieces scattered by the explosion. I was afraid that we had responded too late, until I heard the voices.

“General, what do I pay you for? You promised me that your stallions could handle this! That the palace would be under my complete control and that Celestia would be in my hooves!”

A deep voice with an Arabian accent responded.

“My stallions based their attack on your intel! You didn’t tell us that there would be a large military presence here today, we only planned on the royal guard but you will have your victory.”

“My victory? Celestia is locked in a safe room, there are parts of the castle that aren’t secure, you have lost the armory and Princess Luna is still fighting us! This was supposed to be over quickly.”

The Arabian didn’t sound very concerned.

“We will snuff out what little resistance remains, as for Princess Luna I sent Cyrus after her.”

“Don’t underestimate how strong the princesses’ magic is.”

The general raised his voice to defend his honor.

“And do not underestimate my soldiers. I trained Cyrus personally, he is a match for any pony and that Diamond Dog Grand Shaman is with him. If those damn dogs are as powerful magically as you claim, then we shouldn’t have a problem with Princess Luna. As for this one, I say we blow it like we did the doors.”

“No! I told you we need her alive, we can’t risk killing her before she signs the transference.”

Snow joined me at the entrance and levitated a small compact make up mirror allowing us to view the speakers undetected. I couldn’t believe my eyes; a well dressed unicorn was addressing a large intimidating Arabian.

“Well,” the Arabian was getting perturbed. “How do you propose we get her out of there to sign your paper?”

“Celestia’s weakness is her sister,” the unicorn explained. “However, in lieu of that, get one of the hostages and bring them up here. That may get her to listen to reason.”

Snow and I were so careful not to be seen by the two traitors we failed to hear the sound of hooves on the stairs.

“Stay where you are!” a voice shouted behind us.

We both turned and I felt my heart sink, an Arabian with a large spear was standing at the top of the stairs. I groaned inwardly as he approached, he never took his weapon off us as he advanced.

“Put your weapon on the ground!” He ordered as he jabbed at me with the spear.

I took the blade off my back and gently set it on the floor.

“Kick it over!” He shouted.

I did what I was told, and the sword skidded across the marble landing. The mercenary picked it up and tucked it in his own weapon belt. He looked over at Snow, taking a particular interest in her hind end. The Arabian was so intrigued in Snow he didn’t see the tip of the small blade poking out of the sleeve of my uniform.
Eventually, he decided that she didn’t have a spear hidden in the tatters of her dress and once again became belligerent.

“Alright, move!” He shouted at us.

We complied, being marched into the throne room as captured trophies. The intricately designed stained glass panels lining the chamber depicted the various triumphs of equestrian ponies. The two leaders of the insurrection stood in front of Celestia’s throne, both with grim expressions on their muzzles.

“I found some eavesdroppers, General,” our captor gloated.

The large stallion gave us a menacing smile; I felt the mane on the back of my neck raise. The eyes behind that evil grin were hard and deadly, we were neck deep in the cow chips. If Snow was as intimidated as I was, she didn’t show it.

“Senator Signet, what an unexpected surprise,” Snow said darkly.

The unicorn stepped forward; he seemed amused at her presence.

“Well, well…if it isn’t the CIA’s Winter Crown Jewel, and you brought a little toy soldier with you. That’s cute.”

Snow must have figured the best tactic was to keep him talking because she seemed to be compelled to aggravate him.

“You’ve always been a pain in the ass Signet, but I never figured you’d sell out your country!”

The smile disappeared and was replaced with nothing but cold rage. He paced back and forth, his voice echoing around the throne room.

“Not selling Agent, saving it. Don’t you understand? This war will last forever unless we do something to stop it! The lives lost hasn’t mattered, the destruction of land hasn’t mattered. The royals will keep this conflict going until there is nothing left of this country but a smoldering husk.”

Snow wasn’t convinced.

“But the ceasefire…”

“Was engineered by me, I convinced both sides to agree to stop killing each other long enough for me to suggest celebrating our victory. Then all I had to do was force Celestia to sign over control of Equestria to the senate, but that seems to be problematic.”

“And what if the senate doesn’t agree with this plan?” Snow asked playing the skeptic.

I felt her tail flick up against my flank. The agent had never been much of an affectionate pony towards me, so I interpreted that as a signal to get ready to act.

“The senate is disposable,” Signet continued. “I can rule Equestria if necessary and end this war myself. Do you know what this war is about Agent? Food and Mining. All the bears want is some of our farming land, our southern gem mines and a pony work force to mine it. We give them that and the fighting stops.”

For the first time, Agent Snow showed some emotion.

“So you would have us be slaves?”

“A necessary sacrifice of a few to save the lives of many, and it’s a sacrifice Celestia and Luna are unwilling to make. Do you know how many ponies have died from the fighting Agent? Too many.”

Snow raised herself up, taking an aggressive stance. The Arabian behind us moved around and pressed his spear point to her throat; she ignored the trickle of blood that stemmed from the cut.

“Better to die free than live as a slave,” she shouted at the other unicorn. “And do you really believe the bears will stop there? A couple of mines and farms? The bears have no sense of honor, only power and subjugation.”

There was no reasoning with the deranged Senator.

“That’s a risk I’m willing to take. Everyday more ponies die while the Princesses rest their hooves back here in Canterlot. I can end this war right now! If you are so willing to die, I can arrange that.”

“Not likely,” Snow said darkly.

Her horn glowed brightly and the small blades rocketed away from her sleeves. The first firing straight up, passing through the skull of the mercenary with the spear; the second shot off at Signet. For a brief moment I thought she had him, but the other unicorn deftly caught it with his magic.

“An interesting trick,” he said calmly, before tossing the blade away. “But mine is better.”

His horn glowed red and then his aura turned black. A river of pitch black crystals grew out rapidly from in front of him and we were both forced to dive out of the way as he attacked. I looked up to see the body of the dead mercenary impaled on the hard obsidian stones. My sword still tucked in his weapon belt. I flew up and took the blade in my teeth gaining altitude as I did. I turned and dove at him, hoping to slice him in half. I was almost on top of him when I was knocked out of the air by a huge hulking mass. The sword was ripped from my jaws by the impact and went skidding out of reach. Another trail of crystals rushed at me but was halted by a magical blast from Snow. I tried to get to my hooves but the Arabian general leaped over the dark crystals and landed with his full weight on my shoulder. There was a sickening pop, and I cried out as pain shot through my arm and down my back.

“Snap Shot!” Agent Snow cried out but she had to block another attack that Signet shot at her. She was in no position to help me as she was barely surviving herself.

The general kicked me hard in the chest and I hit the far wall under a window. I rolled over, coughing blood that splattered on the pristine marble floor staining it a deep red. A shadow loomed over me like the harbinger of death. A massive hoof grabbed me by the throat and slammed my back against the window. The glass cracked and the metal creaked under the impact, I could feel cuts open on my back and begin to bleed.

The hoof applied pressure cutting off my supply of oxygen, I tried to fight him but to no avail; there was no escaping his grasp.

“You’re weak,” the general said cruelly. “This is my favorite way to kill your kind, to just watch you struggle pathetically as your life fades away.”

My limbs began to grow heavy, and my vision swam in front of me. I focused on the pain in my shoulder to try and stay conscious.

More cracks echoed behind me but they sounded like I was hearing them from a far distance.

“Tell me little one, what strengths do you even have?”

I slid small blade out from my sleeve and thrust it into his foreleg with as much force as I could muster. I drove it deep, only encountering resistance when I hit bone. He screamed in pain and pressed harder against me. I pushed back on the window as hard as I could and the glass finally gave way under the added weight. There was a brief moment of shock on his face as we both tumbled through the mosaic of stained glass. A large shard of the tinted glass bit into my back and broke off as I fell, but I held fast to the general’s foreleg making sure he came with me.

“I can fly!” I spat, as we both plummeted in a death embrace.

I spread my wings and kicked my hind legs into his chest, pushing off him and taking to the sky. His scream of rage faded into the distance before being abruptly silenced by the courtyard bricks. I looked down at the general’s broken body lying next to a fountain down below.

“Good riddance,” I said to no one. “Bucking Mercs.”

I saw small red droplets falling like rain into the fountain, it slowly registered in my head that it was my own blood running down my leg and dripping off my hoof. That wasn’t a very good sign; the damage from flying through the window was taking its toll. A loud bang echoed from above me, and I flew back to the broken window as fast as my injuries would allow. Snow and Signet were still fighting and I had to help her.

The throne room was slowly becoming a forest of dark crystals, the original marble floor was barely visible and black tendrils lapped as the walls and climbed the pillars. Snow was doing her best to defend against his attacks, but fatigue was setting in; her magic was getting weaker. With every attack she blocked from Signet, her aura flickered, threatening to fail. I had to do something before she was left defenseless.

Signet was so focused on Snow that he didn’t see me re-enter the room, this gave me a tactical advantage but I didn’t have any plan. I looked up as though asking the heavens to guide me, and my eyes fell on the grand chandelier hanging above Signet.
I flew to it and tried to sever the cord with my blade, the chandelier swayed as I sawed through the rope. The shadows on the room shifted as the light fixture rocked, Signet noticed the movement. He looked up just as I severed the last strand and the chandelier fell to the floor. It plummeted down, until it suddenly stopped, suspend in the air with magic. I could see Signet through the rings, smiling at me. The expression on his face changed to one of shock, he looked down to the spear shaft that was sticking through his middle. The magic surrounding the chandelier flickered and then faded, causing it to crash to the floor. Snow stood by the dead Arabian, still breathing hard from the battle.

“Thanks for the opening,” she said as I floated down to the floor.

I landed awkwardly on three legs, my knees felt wobbly.

“Are you alright?” Snow asked concerned.

I looked up at her and sighed.

“No,” I replied, as I crumbled into a heap on the floor.