Ghosts

by Booni

Chapter 4: Deployment

"Let's go over the plan before we get back to this base," Quickdraw said to Speed and Prisma as they flew over the forest in search of the building they raided a few days ago to save Switch.

"By now ponies will have noticed their dead colleagues in the garage, and considering they had their plans strewn about there, they're most likely going to have reinforcements guarding the area. That means we can gather more intel from one of them."

"Prisma, you're going to set up in the same tree and provide overwatch for us again. Make sure nopony sees us. Speed, you will infiltrate the building and see if theres any solid intel you can gather. I'm going to eavesdrop on the ponies, see what they are saying. Hopefully we can find out a little more about this group, locations of bases, the group's hierarchy, anything."

"Yes sir," Speed and Prisma replied in unison.

A few moments later, the target building came into view. Prisma broke formation and nestled into the same tree as last time, grabbing her crossbow that was slung over her shoulder and aiming at the compound, making a quick mental note of where guards and snipers were positioned, what areas they would have sights on, and where her two squadmates were also positioned. She watched as Speed snapped a lone soldier's neck and hid the body under a tree before entering the building, dagger held in his right wing. She then switched her focus to Quickdraw, who landed in a large bush near two other guards stationed at the outskirts of the area and stayed put for a while.

---

Quickdraw eavesdropped on the two ponies ahead of him.

"I wonder who the ponies were that broke that stallion out. Who do you think they could be?"

"Not a clue. The stallion didn't say anything about who he was, and if he did, the Blood twins were killed before they could tell anypony else what he said, so we're in the dark."

"Think they were Wonderbolts? General's after them after all."

"Nah, Strider said the stallion they grabbed was wearing a black and green armoured suit, definitely not Wonderbolts."

"Huh."

The conversation ended there.

Quickdraw sighed inwardly. He was hoping they would reveal more, but it was a start. Though, he wondered who this 'Strider' was.

The two ponies then separated, and the one who mentioned this 'Strider' was left on his own, his back turned to Quickdraw. A perfect opportunity presented itself. There was nopony else around that Quickdraw could see, but he had to be sure.

"Prisma, is there anypony near me and the tango ahead of me that could hear us?" He asked.

"Negative, you're all good. I'll warn you if anypony comes near." Prisma confirmed. Now all that was left was to interrogate the stallion.

Silently and swiftly, Quickdraw hovered up behind the stallion and covered his mouth. He dragged him back to the bush he was hiding in and held him in place, whispering into his ear, "Alright punk, this is what's gonna happen. You're gonna cooperate with me and answer any questions that I ask you, and I'm not gonna waste my energy killing you. Got it?"

"MMRPH! MM MLL KLL MM!" came the stallion's muffled reply. Quickdraw answered by punching the back of his head.

"That doesn't sound like cooperation. Now lets try this again. Got it?" he repeated. He got no answer. Sighing, Quickdraw stomped on the stallion's left foreleg, smashing the bone in half and causing the stallion to let out a muffled shriek of pain.

"You gonna cooperate or am I gonna have to persuade you a little more?" he asked once again. This time, the stallion nodded his head vigorously. That's better, Quickdraw thought to himself.

"Now, when I let go of your mouth, you will not make a sound until I ask you to, and when you do, you whisper loud enough only for me to hear, okay? I don't want to have to tell you what I'll do if you do."

The stallion nodded again.

This was more like it. Quickdraw let go of his mouth and demanded, "Now, first of all, who is this 'Strider' you mentioned? Is he a powerful figure in your little organisation here?"

"Strider? N-no, he's just another grunt like me, nopony special," the stallion responded.

"Okay then. Who is special then?"

"P-pardon?"

Quickdraw covered the stallion's mouth and punched the back of his head again.

"Mmrph!"

"Who's the general? Does he have any captains? Who would they be?"

"I don't know who they are-"

CRACK

"AUGH!"

"Wrong answer, pal."

The stallion panicked. He didn't know what else to say to make Quickdraw believe him.

"I swear, I swear, I don't know who any of the leaders are! Please, you've gotta believe me!"

Quickdraw did not respond. For a few moments, the stallion felt as though Quickdraw would spare him and-

"I don't."

With a loud snap, the stallion fell to the ground and lay there, lifeless.

Quickdraw moved on, shifting behind a wall next to the bushes and sneaking around the corner. He saw another group of ponies, this time three of them. Quickdraw looked around for somewhere closer to hide since he couldn't hear what they were saying from this far back, but there was nothing around that he could use for cover, so he ruled the group out, instead fixating on a pair of unicorns that were talking near a sniper tower. Could listen to them from the tower, he thought, but there was a problem - there was a sniper in the tower that he would have to kill, and if he did kill her, he would run the risk of being loud enough for the two below to hear him.

Screw it. If they hear me, I'll kill them too and find somepony else, he decided.

Sneaking behind the two ponies on the ground, Quickdraw climbed up the ladder of the tower and drew his dagger. As he got to the top, he slowly crept up behind the sniper, covering her mouth as he stabbed the back of her neck through to the front, before laying her down to the side. Luckily, he made little to no noise, so nopony around heard. With that out of the way, Quickdraw listened to the two.

"Riot's gonna go ham on the ponies that killed the Blood twins."

"Yeah, I heard he's got a squad on patrol looking for them."

Got to look out for a squad that's after us, he thought to himself.

"What about Spectre and Tempo? They won't like the fact that two of their fellow commanders were killed."

"I'd rather not think about it. Who do you think the General's gonna promote? To take the Blood twins' place I mean."

"He won't promote anypony. He only trusts Riot, Tempo, Spectre and the Blood Twins. That's why they are, or were, the only commanders."

"Fair enough."

Quickdraw knew he was right to not believe what the stallion from earlier had said - if the General didn't trust anypony enough to even reveal the captain's identities, then why would these three ponies know? Then again, one of them did also say the same thing about trust. Maybe he wasn't fully lying. Still, Quickdraw thought, he deserved to die.

---

"Hey, your mom's visiting."

"Wha-"

SHLICK

THUD

Speed hid now the fourth pony he killed under an opaque wooden table. He didn't find anything on the first and second floor, and was now on the third. However, after looking in one of the offices, Speed stumbled on a goldmine of information. There were files strewn about all over the room. If he had time, Speed would have spent some time going through them, but unfortunately he didn't have all day. Then something else caught his eye - a large board on the wall that looked the same as the one in the garage, however this one not only had the same Wonderbolt plan, but also had what looked like a presentation of who this group was for some reason.

"Wraith Weapons and Security," Speed read the organisation's name out loud from the board, before reading the rest of what was on it. They were a private military organisation that worked for the highest payer, but there was no information as to who the payer for this Wonderbolt contract. Fortunately, there was information about the actual contract. Speed's eyes widened as he read it. Perhaps it wasn't so fortunate of him to find out. The Wonderbolts were Wraith's primary target, but not their only one. Below the names of all the Wonderbolt leaders' names, was a statement written and underlined in red:

KILL PRINCESSES
TAKE OVER EQUESTRIA

This was worse than anypony could have imagined! Why would the contractor want to invade Equestria? They would be going against the Princesses and Discord, all literal gods - surely they wouldn't have a chance, with or without Wraith!

They must have some sort of secret weapon capable of defeating the gods, Speed concluded. He took a camera out of his breast pocket and took a picture. Upon putting the camera back into his pocket, he turned his headset on, whispering to Quickdraw, "Boss, I have their pla- AH!"

Speed was suddenly grabbed from behind, and his mouth was covered by somepony's hoof. Before he could rip free, the guard tossed him at a wall and grabbed him by the throat, pinning him in place.

"ACK!" Speed sputtered. Panicking, he tried to punch the guard and break free, but he only managed to skim past the attacker's face. This only caused him to start choking Speed instead of just holding him there. Speed was trapped. He couldn't muster enough strength to throw him off due to lack of oxygen, and couldn't call for help.

"All units! We have an intruder on floor three!" the guard shouted down his mic.

Speed started to lose his consciousness.

---

"Boss, I have their pla-"

"Speed? Speed, come in!" Quickdraw whispered back into the mic. He got no reply. Frantically looking in each window he could see, Quickdraw tried to find Speed, but from his position in the sniper tower, he couldn't see a thing. Gritting his teeth, he called for Prisma.

"Prisma! Speed's not responding, I think he's been nabbed. Find him, now!"

The sound of a shattering window was the only reply to Quickdraw's order. He looked questioningly in the general direction of the shooter's location, "Prisma?"

"The guard holding him is down, but Speed isn't moving. That and everypony else would have heard the window shattering, so get Speed and get out of there!" Prisma shouted.

WAAAAAAAAAAAH!

WAAAAAAAAAAAH!

WAAAAAAAAAAAH!

An alarm blared throughout the compound just as Prisma finished speaking. Quickdraw looked out and saw multiple ponies rushing into the building. They would surely find and kill Speed if Quickdraw didn't move it!

"PRISMA, OPEN FIRE! GIVE SPEED SOME COVER!" he shouted, flying up to the shattered window. Before he could reach it, he was tackled from the side, both him and his attacker roughly hitting the ground. Quickdraw recovered and at breakneck speed, grabbed the attacker by the neck and snapped it, before dodging three more punches from his right side. He readied up as the second guard charged at him, aiming a punch right for his face. However, at the last second, she switched up her attack, kicking Quickdraw in the side. Quickdraw didn't budge, but narrowed his eyes into a terrifying glare as he grabbed the mare's leg and held it in place, staring into her eyes.

"Hmph."

SNAP!

"AUGH!" the mare screeched as her leg was snapped and bent at an almost 90° angle. Quickdraw followed up with a devastating blow square into the mare's face, and she careened back the way she came from and tumbled to a stop, not moving.

"Boss, get Speed out of there, now! I can't hold them off for much longer, they have snipers shooting at me!" Prisma's voice sounded through the headset.

Quickdraw was faced with a dilemma. He had to save Speed now, but he was swarmed.

"Damn it," he cursed to himself.

Time almost came to a full stop for Quickdraw as he analysed the situation.

***

He would have approximately twenty seconds to save Speed if Prisma was covering him, but she had her own problems to deal with. That left him with about five seconds, if that. There were nine pegasus guards charging at him from the sky at his ten and two o'clock. That left a small opening between them. If he flew through the gap, he could incapacitate the two in the middle just before he passed, leaving a bigger, safer gap for him to pass through. Then it would be a matter of outpacing the guards. That, however, would undoubtedly cause him to be surrounded when he got to Speed if he considered the others rushing up to the third floor. One of the windows on the third floor was shattered - a result of Prisma shooting through to kill the guard that knocked Speed out in the first place. Instead of entering through that window, he could use it as an escape route. That meant that he would have to smash another window to get in. Good, the guard in the middle left was carrying a knife. At the right angle, Quickdraw could easily break it with said knife.

"Fuck it."

***

"Prisma, get out of there and meet me at HQ."

Prisma was shocked at what Quickdraw just ordered her to do.

"Boss, are you serious? You're severely outnumbered!" She questioned, worry and panic overtaking her.

"Yes."

She didn't know what to do. Prisma wanted to help Quickdraw - surely he had no chance, he was one to at least twenty down there!

Then again, he was the commander of a military squad so deadly, that they could take down an entire country in one night. Something in Prisma's gut told her that he would be fine. And she was taught by that same commander to always trust her gut. Sighing, she jumped out of the tree and left them behind, dodging each arrow as they flew past her.

---

As the guards rushed, a black and fern blur met them head on in the blink of an eye. The two guards in the middle suddenly dropped like rocks, freezing the others in their spots. Before they could even look back in the general direction they saw the intruder from, a window shattered again behind them, followed by lots of shouting coming from inside the building.

"WHERE'D HE GO?!"

"HE WAS RIGHT THERE!"

"THERE! HE'S GETTING AWAY! GET AFTER THEM!"

The remaining seven pegasi looked into the distance, and saw the same colours, but this time they saw a pony carrying a body in their arms. They gave chase, but could not catch up to them. Soon, the ponies were reduced to small dots in the distance and disappeared. They turned and flew back towards the compound, entering the building through one of the shattered windows. There, they were met with quite a sight. Many were dispersing under the command of a red pegasus with a yellow spikey, blown back mane, there was a flipped table, files and glass shards were all over the place, and a dead body in the corner. As soon as they landed, the red pegasus turned to them.

"Well?!"

The soldiers questioned all hesitated, looking to one another as if expecting the other to reply. This only irritated the pony questioning them, and he pulled out a dagger, stabbing one of them in the shoulder.

"AAAAAAAH! RGHHHHH!"

The others flinched as he looked around at them once more.

"WELL?!"

One of them gulped and spoke up.

"T-they, umm, they g-got away, Commander Riot."

Riot sighed and closed his eyes. To the others, it looked as though he had calmed down. Until he opened them again, revealing a look of absolute fury as he slit the same pony's throat and kicked him through the shattered window, that was.

"Get out of my sight. Now," he ordered them. To his surprise, they all stood still, unsure of whether or not they should actually listen to him. He looked at all of them questioningly, "I just killed one of your squadmates because I was angry, and you all stand there? Do you want me to kill you too? Because I will! Now GET OUT OF HERE!" he bellowed. This time, they all complied instantly, some whimpering like foals.

"That's more like it," he muttered to himself as he surveyed the mess left behind by the two infiltrators.

---

Prisma stopped flying and landed in an open field, pacing about. She was far away from the combat now, but still nowhere near Canterlot castle. It didn't matter - she would see Quickdraw flying in her direction with Speed in tow soon enough. And if she didn't...

She shook the thought out of her head. She was going to see them. They did escape. And they were going to see her when they flew by.

After what felt like hours, she spotted Quickdraw flying towards her with Speed at his side. They came to a stop in front of her, Quickdraw putting his flight goggles on his head and giving her a stern glare.

"I said go back to HQ. This isn't HQ," he inquired.

"No, but I didn't want to leave you behind," Prisma answered.

"You did. You just didn't do it properly," Quickdraw berated her.

"Guys, what are you talking abou-"

"What's that supposed to mean? I'm not allowed to worry about my commander?" Prisma cut Speed off, firing back at Quickdraw angrily.

"What about Speed?" Quickdraw asked. Prisma pointed at his face, seething.

"Don’t give me that shit! When you're surrounded by ponies trying to kill you and tell me to leave, how am I supposed to feel? You could've been killed or captured! I would lose two of my best friends! My family, for that matter!" She belted.

Quickdraw remained silent, letting Prisma calm down for a minute as she sat down, staring at the ground, gritting her teeth and shaking. Quickdraw joined her and sat down aswell.

“Prisma, what have I taught you about trusting your gut?” He asked calmly.

“To always trust it.”

"Did your gut tell you to leave me behind?”

“Yes.”

“Did I make it out with Speed okay?”

“Yes.”

“Then don’t worry. That there is proof that you should always trust your gut. If your gut told you to stay behind and help me, then by all means, stay behind and help. But your gut told you that Speed and I would be okay, and we are. Don’t worry about what could be, but focus on what is. Okay?”

Prisma looked up at Quickdraw once again. He was right, as usual. She nodded her head slowly, sniffling once. Quickdraw gave her a curious look, one that changed to surprise when she hugged him, sobbing into his chest. He patted her head, not really knowing what caused her emotional outburst.

"SNRK."

Quickdraw turned to Speed, giving him the harshest glare he had ever seen in his life.

“UHH, Ahem, umm,” Speed panicked a little, realising he was being inappropriate, and stayed silent instead.

After a few moments, Prisma let go of Quickdraw and wiped the tears out of her eyes, sniffling once.

“Sorry about that. It's just hard. You know, after losing my parents to the same sort of thing,” she spoke quietly. Quickdraw didn't know what to say to comfort her. Fortunately for him, he didn’t have to.

"Hey, it's okay. We get it. It must have been hard to go through something like that. And for it to possibly repeat, well, we don't blame you for worrying about us so much, even if hardass over here gets angry at you for it," Speed comforted Prisma. She smiled sweetly in response.

“Yeah, thanks,” she then turned to Quickdraw. “No thanks to you, hardass,” she joked.

“Was I not offering my shoulder to lean on just then?” He asked defensively.

“Okay, okay, calm down. You’re right about the whole ‘don’t worry about what could be’ stuff. Let’s just get to Luna and tell her whatever it is you two found out.” Prisma said, the three taking off in the direction of Canterlot. “You never told me what that is, actually.”

Speed gritted his teeth. Just thinking about what he found out really pissed him off. “Yeah, about that. Oh boy, I sure hope Switch makes a speedy recovery.”

Author's Note:

Chapter 4, everyone! Pretty meh with this one, let me know what you think.
Hope you enjoyed!