Salvation Through Destruction

by RoflLuxRay

Final Chapter: Salvation Through Destruction

Salvation Through Destruction
Based on Concepts from: The Conversion Bureau by: Blaze

Final Chapter: Salvation Through Destruction

“I knew it would come down to this, I knew it all along, from the very moment I sat down in my studio for the first time to work on Project Human Conservation. I am not afraid of death; she eventually takes everyone she wants whenever she decides it is time. If the worse were to happen, do not mourn me, I died knowing what the stakes and my causes were, carrying them proudly until my final hour.

Leighton McRae”

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“Are you sure you want to do this?” Twilight asked concerned, she slipped out her duty assisting Princess Luna to help me prepare to my mission.

“I have never more sure of anything in my entire life. I know the odds are against me but I plan to live to tell the tale,” I stretched my body, preparing for the dimensional leap in the portal room, a similar one to the room in Russia, but with less cables and more space.

“You still have a few minutes before I open the portal. Tell me, what do you need and where do you want to appear,” a piece of paper and a pen floated in the air, preparing to write my indications.

“I need a black leather jacket and a white T-shirt; can you make the jacket bulletproof?”

“I can try; what else?”

“Black jeans, not too tight please. I’m going to need my faithful P229 and a backpack with the following equipment: Two claymore landmines. An M16 assault rifle with a M201 grenade launcher with twenty rounds, a couple of bandages and hemostats, an MP5k submachine gun, and of course, lots, lots of ammunition.”

“I’m not sure if I can fit all of that in a single backpack, but I will try. Where do you want to appear?”

“In a cliff next to the base, from there I’ll see what I can do.”

“Alright, I’ll make sure you have all you need for your trip-”

“Leighton,” Celestia broke into the room and glanced at her student, “Twilight. Is everything ready for the mission?”

“Yes, your highness,” I stomped the floor with anxiety.

“Very well, Leighton.”

“I was just heading back to assist Luna,” Twilight said as she headed to the entrance with the tail between her legs, fearing she may be scolded by the Queen.

“Stay with us a minute, I need your help in sending him to the earth,” Twilight stopped and happily trotted to the Queen’s side.

“I am ready, your highness,” I straightened my pose and stared at her.

“Your assignment’s success depends on the delay of the enemy forces into Equestria until nightfall, use all means you consider necessary in order to succeed. I cannot send somepony to retrieve you, so you must find a way back on your own. Make sure your watch is synchronized, because I will close the dimensional link at midnight.”

“Roger, is that all?” I asked and, all of a sudden everything began moving slower except me and Celestia, Twilight her surroundings were frozen.

“No, Leighton. I wanted to talk to you in private and this is the best way I could think of,” she walked around the room with sadness in her voice.

“Nice trick, I wish I could do it,” I said sarcastically.

“I’m sure that you feel that you’re leaving a lot of loose ends behind you. If you have any questions about anything, I shall answer them.”

“That’s very kind of you, your highness. I have no words to express my gratitude,” I said with a bow.

“Your manners are exceptional, humanity should be proud of having you among them. You changed the perception about humanity that I had and showed me they may be worthy of this chance I’m allowing you to grant them.”

“Your words mean a lot to me, your highness. I will begin my questioning by asking, did you knew that Applejack is a human?”

“She should be your wife, if I do recall. I knew it since Twilight defeated Nightmare Moon, I never expected a human could carry an element of harmony, such a pleasant surprise.”

“What was the voice that spoke to me in the ancient castle?”

“I see you met my mother. She’s an ancient spirit that created me and Luna long time ago; it was she who forged the spirits of harmony and spread them through Equestria. She must have granted you with the pen and the sword the moment you entered Equestria, as she granted Applejack with the honesty.”

“Did you tell me to choose an element of harmony bearer knowing I would choose Applejack?”

“Yes, but I feared you would incline for Rarity or Twilight Sparkle, humans are more unpredictable.”

“Will the humans be safe here on Equestria?”

“They will; I shall look after it personally. Your endeavor will not be forgotten if the worse were to happen, but I trust you will succeed.”

“Can you grant me one last wish?”

“Sure, as long as you don’t ask too much,” she replied with a frown, my last question caught her off guard.

“Would you let my wife and child know who they are if I don’t return? I do not fear death, but I fear being forgotten by the two persons I love the most.”

“Very well, it shall be done if you were to not return. I will see that their lives are not destroyed by this knowledge, don’t fear for it.”

“Thank you,” I said with a nod.

“Yes, that’s all, Leighton,” Celestia ended the time slowing spell and Twilight approached a console next to her.

“I guess this is it,” I gulped and prepared for one last dimensional shift, nervousness took over me as Twilight pressed a button and the wormhole began opening in front of me.

“Good luck, Leighton. Everypony is counting on you.”

I jumped into the wormhole after I waving goodbye to the Queen and a good friend. As a personal challenge, I tried to stay conscious as long as I could, feeling how my body changed and re-adjusted in the nothingness. I fainted before reaching the earth. Everything in me changed, except for a particular part of my body.

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I woke up to the sound of a passing helicopter, feeling the rough, hot surface I was lying on. My eyes slowly adjusted to the brightness of the sun, before I could realize I was on top of a cliff in the middle of a desert, with a huge military facility in front of me.

“I should have asked for the weather forecast before wearing black to this place,” I wiped off any dirt off my jacket and saw a small backpack lying next to me.

“Let’s see is Twilight sent everything…” I opened the black pack and saw everything I asked, all neatly sorted inside it. The backpack was a too small to fit in a large armed rifle, but somehow, it was in there, “thanks, Twi.”

I placed the pack on my bag and took a closer look at the base ahead of me. Military movement was intense, trucks going in and out, helicopters flying all around and lots of mounted tents around a dried lake were clearly seen from where I stood.

“Well, I better get moving,” the backpack moved a bit and I felt an unusual lump in my back. I took the backpack off and moved my shoulders, trying to feel these lumps.

“I don’t think she re-spawned more bags on my back,” I took my jacked off and the lumps were still there, they were something on my body. I lifted my shirt and the lumps sprung straight out, revealing two red feathered wings on my back that spread widely.

“Awesome,” I moved the wings around to make sure they were functional; it felt like shaking them would lift me off the floor easily. I tore two holes on my shirt and jacked using a knife I had in the backpack so my wings would come out without problems.

“Looks like I have a way in,” I prepared myself to take off, just when a Mi-17 transport helicopter flew above me, labeled with the emblem of the Russian armada. Moving my wings, I flew to catch up to it, pulling my P229 from my jacket.

I inspected the insides from a circular window near to its tail and saw a few troops inside talking closely; they would never expect me to attack them. I went to the cargo door and slid it open, shooting the passengers quickly with my pistol. Before the pilot could turn to see me, I shot him and the co-pilot in the head and took control over the aircraft by kicking the pilot off the cockpit. I had never flew a helicopter before, so the vehicle moved to the sides without control, detouring from my destination and heading straight on to a cliff next to it.

“C’mon you bloody bird!” I moved the control stick to a side and avoided the cliff just in time, from there on flying the helicopter became a little easier, but it still moved from side to side occasionally.

“Russian vessel sixty four, you are clear to land on heliport number six. Have a nice day!” was heard on the radio. I approached the base at full speed, without any intention of landing on heliport number six. I could see out the windows how thousands of soldiers were gathered around the tents in the lake, they were preparing the invasion.

“Russian vessel sixty four, correct your course, we’ve got armed missiles pointing at you. Proceed to heliport number six or we will open fire,” the voice on the radio threatened with a hint of fear in his voice.

“I wonder where I can crash you…” I swept the facility with my eyes and noticed a communication tower with a spinning dish on top nearby, one hell of a way to interrupt their communications. I turned the helicopter in direction of the tower and the missile alarm went off. Just before the helicopter crashed against the tower, I jumped off the aircraft and flew to a three story building nearby, propelled by the explosion behind me.

The explosion, aided by two missiles just afterwards, caused the tower to fall apart covered in flames. I gazed down at the valley and saw how the troops began to break lines and run all around fearing for their lives.

“It’s a good start,” I ran back to a door in the opposite side from where I landed, shooting the lock open. Inside, a metallic spiral staircase led me to gray hallway a door secured by a keycard lock and simple one on the opposite side.

“Bollocks, I don’t think I’m shooting my way through this one,” I turned to the other door, conveniently labeled with ‘armory’ in the middle. I forced the look with a few shots from my P229 and entered the room, where lots of weapons from all sorts were neatly sorted around in metallic shelves labeled with the weapon’s name. On the far side, I saw a shelf with ‘Caution: Explosives’ on it, I opened it and grabbed a few blocks of C4, which I planted on the locked door outside. I retreated back to the staircase and detonated the charges, the building shook with the explosion.

“I’m going to use a little more firepower now…” I took pulled my rifle from my backpack and loaded it, rushing through the dust haze from the explosion. After the dust vanished off my sight, I saw a large room with computers and a large map of the earth on the wall, displaying all sorts of lines and dots. I walked to the center of the steel platform and sparks flew from the metal, soldiers below have opened fire on my position. I ran to through the platform to a hallway, sparks and the sound of firing filled the room as I did.

Inside this hallway, there was another metal staircase leading into the lower floor. Soldiers rushed in to look for me, but perished as soon as I saw them run inside. I dashed down the stairs and took cover in a desk on the lower level, everyone that was not a soldier began to run for his or her life, abandoning their posts.

I occasionally popped from my cover to shoot a distracted soldier across the room, but when I killed one, two walked into the run expecting to kill me. It had to end, so I changed to the grenade launcher and aimed to the metallic platform above them, the explosion killed those who were on top of it and crashed down on the ones below, blocking the door from where I saw they were coming in. After I finished a few survivors, the shootout stopped, for the moment.

“Let’s see what the hell are you up to,” I approached one of the many computers around and began poking it to see what data I could find.

“Command, come in, this is the secretary of defense,” a old man dressed in navy blue with various decorations on its chest said on the screen next to the map, his face displayed terror as he realized what had happened to its command center.

“This is command, sir,” I said hiding my accent.

“Who the hell are you son and why aren’t you wearing your uniform?” he asked with a frown.

“I’m Lieutenant Charles Olivera, I was just got here from my house in West Virginia; I didn’t have time to change to my uniform upon my arrival.”

“Can you explain to me what the fuck is going on there?!”

“The Russians have gone rogue, they crashed one of their helicopters into the control tower and tried to take over this command post. I’m the last man standing here, sir.”

“Dammit… I thought Chambers convinced everyone to fight for this. Son, you just got promoted, and what I’m about to tell you is classified information. We can’t establish communication with the silos, so you’ll have to go and tell General Hackett to execute order sixty six. It is of vital importance that you contact him in order to contain the Russian rebellion, America is counting on you. Out,” the screen changed to display the emblem of the US army after his speech.

“Poor son of a bitch,” I said with a devilish grin, “My American accent must be getting better, now that I think of it,” I flew up and broke through the glass ceiling, trying to locate those silos the foolish secretary of defense mentioned. Outside chaos had taken over the base, with shootouts and explosions everywhere.

“As long as they don’t shoot me…” I flew at full speed through the battle field, the air in my face barely allowed me to breathe. On the west side of the base, at least ten massive sewer-like structures began to open slowly, losing some steam from the sides, I flew to them without hesitation.

Everyone below was too caught up shooting among themselves; they didn’t pay any attention to the skies, allowing me to enter one of the silos without someone noticing it. Inside, a huge missile was being prepared for launch.

I landed on a yellow steel platform and looked down, trying to locate the control room.

“Freeze!” I felt cold metal on my neck; a chill ran through my spine at the same time, “you are not allowed to be here-” I swiftly took this soldier’s arm and twisted it, the pistol fell off the platform as he moaned in pain.

“So convenient I find someone to talk to,” I dropped my rifle for a second and pulled the P229 from my jacket to sunk the barrel it in his head with fury, “would you mind answering a few question if you plan to breathe for another minute?”

“Okay, just don’t shoot me!” he squeaked with his eyes shut, I always wanted to run into one of those hardened soldiers the Americans always brag about, but I only found soft, weak cowards.

“Where is General Hackett?”

“He’s in the launch control room.”

“How do I get there,” I sunk the barrel down his head furthermore and twisted his arm a little more.

“The fastest way is through the underground tunnels, at the bottom of the silo. He should be north down the tunnels in the large steel gates,” he moaned in pain.

“You’ve been helpful, so much I’m considering letting you walk away. No one will believe you if you speak what you’re about to say,” I tossed him against a pipes behind him as I jumped off the railing, spreading my wings wide to avoid crashing in the ground. Lots of skeptic engineers saw me past fly them, not a single one of them dare to shoot at me.

“Let’s see if this guy was not lying,” I said before reaching the bottom of the silo, where two large tunnels were seen in opposite directions. I took the one on the left, trying to remember if that was leaded north.

The walls suddenly began shaking, as a light began burning in the distance, followed by a sonic boom that threw me to the floor. That light began growing closer and the temperature began rising, a missile had been launched.

“That can’t be good,” I stood up and began running to the opposite side, I could feel the explosion getting closer and closer with each passing second. The heat began to burn the rock walls around me, I spread my wings and flew as fast as my body could, the ball of fire kept getting closer, now just a few dozen meters away from me. Before I could reach the other silo, the light revealed a hidden tunnel on the left, previously covered by darkness.

“I have to try this,” the flames were too close to attempt a sharp turn, but they were certainly going to catch up to me before I reached the next silo. I spun my body and turned sharply into the other tunnel, the air pushed by the flames tossed me deeper into the tunnel and I crashed and rolled on the floor without control. But I was safe. I saw how the fire passed through the tunnel as I sighed in relief.

“That was too close,” I wiped off any dirt in my jacket, ignoring all there was in my pants. I checked my backpack and pulled out the MP5k, a weapon like that works a lot better on close quarters. My body was exhausted from the tremendous effort I realized, but I had to keep walking through the tunnel lit with maintenance lights on the sides.

The shootout outside were barely heard over the sound of every step I took, expecting the launch control room was somewhere around here. I wandered the tunnels for around ten minutes, until the sound of a moving truck met my ears.

“We have to contain the Russian rebellion, sir, the invasion must not be delayed,” echoed against the walls, I instantly flew to the ceiling, I could see the truck’s silhouette in the distance.

“I know, but some soldiers inform that the Russians alleged that they didn’t have any intentions to rebel, we must not discard foreign intervention,” the military jeep passed right under me with two men dressed in their military uniforms plus the diver on it.

“We already launched an H-0 bomb as a warning, what else can we do?” I followed them cautiously through the tunnel.

“We must execute order sixty six, we have no choice.”

“Are you insane, Anderson? You don’t have the authority, only the secretary of defense can order that.”

“We can’t establish direct communication from our bunker down here, and the command center does not respond. The Russians could be preparing something if they took over it; you have to execute the order.”

“Enough,” the one in the left hissed, he seemed slightly older than the other one, “you do not have the authority, I will let the president take the decision.”

“Very well,” Anderson said with resignation as the jeep stopped in front of two massive steel gates that slowly began opening after the driver pressed a button on its car.

“It’s your lucky day, admiral. You’re going to meet the president.”

“I never thought I would, I thought he was going to die yesterday, he was lucky the bullet went straight through him.”

“Dammit,” I thought to myself as the jeep went inside the underground bunker, a small construction embedded in the rock with the symbol of the US department of defense above the small entrance.

Both men descended the jeep and entered the building; one of them had a suitcase handcuffed to its hand. If I read the news well, a man with a suitcase handcuffed to its hand wore the golden codes.

The driver remained alone outside the facility and pulled out a cigarette as the steel gates began closing.

“Do you know how I can get inside that building?” I sneaked my way to his back, placed my weapon on its neck and asked calmly, the cigarette fell of his mouth with astonishment.

“How… how did you get here?” he inquired raising his hands.

“It doesn’t matter, you wouldn’t believe me and I’m the one asking the questions,” I struck him in the back with the grip of my machine gun, “so tell me how to get inside that building.”

“The door doesn’t have any locks; anyone can walk in because no one can break into this bunker.”

“I guess I just proved your statement wrong, mate,” I finished him with two shots from my weapon; the shots went straight through him and stained the floor in red.

“I can’t just walk in there, guns blazing. I need see what they are up to before I can kill all of them,” I thought as I walked to the regular wooden door with a golden knob. At this moment, I was well past nervousness; my body and mind were focused on a single goal.

I opened the door and entered a classy decorated lobby; it looked like any government building outside, with a huge rug with the symbol of the department of defense in the centre.

“I can’t believe they are sending us out there,” a voice whined in the distance, I shot up to hide in the ceiling instantly. The habit of flying was really useful when sneaking.

“We can’t help it; they don’t want any regular soldier eavesdropping on their war discussions. At least Morton is back, I could really use a smoke,” two regular soldiers walk under me and headed through the door. I went back on the floor and quickly planted my claymore on the door, the explosion was not big enough to shake the walls but it was thunderous, echoing in the whole lobby. I flew back to the ceiling and awaited enemy response, preparing myself for an ambush.

“Wait for it…” my fists tightened its grip on the machine gun, and after a few minutes it was obvious there was not going to be any response. I descended the ceiling and headed through a hallway in the centre of the lobby, where large wooden double doors were seen at the end of it.

“Again, I can’t break in and shoot everyone, I’ll probably die trying. There has to be something around here…” I scanned the surroundings and saw another door right next to me, labeled with: ‘Authorized personnel only’. This door was heavily reinforced, explaining why they did not hear the exploding claymores.

I kicked the door open and saw a small darkened surveillance room, with a couple soldiers watching cameras from all around the base, except on this bunker. They turned to me with his guns, but my trigger was faster. I killed them just before they could shoot.

“That was close,” I whistled in relief and placed my weapon on my back, inspecting the computers they were on. On the left part of the room, a huge glass window led to the conference room. They remained oblivious to the shootout, so the window must have been completely isolated from it.

“Let’s see if I can listen what they are saying,” I poked around the computer’s menus and found out a lockdown mode, ready to be activated.

“Nah, that’s too easy and will alert them that I’m here,” I stopped myself from clicking on that option, turning to another computer that controlled the cameras. I browsed through them and saw how chaos and war ravaged through the whole base, with shootouts visible on most of them. I stopped when I found the camera with the room next to mine; a large dark wood table was seen with men sitting all around it. I recognized Chambers at the bottom with Hackett and Anderson on the chairs next to him. I turned the volume up so I could listen to their conversation; all of them stared at each other with serious looks on their faces.

“The Russian rebellion is a lie, tell all our soldiers to stand down,” Chambers said with confidence.

“We are not sure of that, sir. They crashed one of their helicopters in the main communication tower, that doesn’t leave much room for interpretation, sir,” a young man dressed in a black suit replied on the other side of the room.

“All warfare is based on deception, General Griggs. We all know the Russians are not the enemy, stop this nonsense and commence the invasion,” Chambers seemed calm, arrogant son of a bitch.

“We can’t just tell them to stand down, be friends and enter the portal marching all together. We must contain the situation before the invasion,” Anderson said.

“If I can’t start the invasion I want at least a piece of these ponies, are the nuclear bombs ready for launch?”

“Yes sir, the gate generator passed its tests the last few days and should hold the launch,” said Hackett .

“You are being too rash, mister president. If the gate generator fails then we would be releasing a nuke straight on our boys,” Anderson quickly added.

“Then that’s a risk we must take, I want to blast those ponies with a nuke if I can’t invade them now, what other options do we have gentlemen?”

“No more options sir, we must decide something now,” another man in the room broke his silence and stood up seemingly desperate.

“Alright then, I want to launch the nuclear attack on them and contain the ‘Russian rebellion’. Tell our troops to cease fire and reason with them, I want the more troops as possible if we’re invading later. Has the portal been damaged in the battle?”

“Our reports indicate damage is substantial and shouldn’t affect the performance, we should-”

“Hold it right there fellows,” I said through a microphone, “Let’s not do something stupid alright?”

“See, I told you the Russian rebellion was a lie,” Chambers said calmly, I could see in the cameras how the secret service quickly tried to open the door I had blocked by shooting the electric opening mechanism.

“Indeed, mister president. You are the first person to survive an encounter with me, you should be proud.”

“So it is you, Leighton was it?”

“Since not a soul is leaving that room alive I suppose I can tell you my name, I am Leighton McRae, an agent to the service of Queen Celestia.”

“A filthy pony dares to break into our base? I’m impressed, mister McRae, you knew how to convince my whole staff that the Russians were the real threat. But I felt it was you the whole time.”

“Your feeling will not stop me, desist on the invasion to Equestria and your lives will be spared.”

“Such foolish demands you have. Do you think I will allow you to stop me from saving humanity?”

“You? Saving humanity?” I burst into laughter, “Is that what you think you’re doing?” I continued my laugh.

“I see you have no respect for our kind, mister McRae. I am invading Equestria to grant humanity a second chance to thrive, to start all over and no one will impede me from becoming the leader of humanity in forging this brand new world.”

“I have no doubts that for crazy bastards like you humanity is where it is, slowly drowning on its own crap,” I stopped my laughter and said with serious tone.

“I have said enough, Hackett hand over the package,” Anderson pulled his black briefcase and opened it.

“Oh no, you’re not,” I shot to the windows that lead into the room, but the plating was too strong for my 9mm submachine gun. I pulled the M16 and shot the windows, making small cracks where the impacts landed, it still endured the shooting. I turned to the camera and saw him pull out a yellow phone from the briefcase.

“In absence of the secretary of defense, General Hackett is the ‘designated survivor’ so you must approve the codes I give.”

“Dammit I did not thought this through,” I punched the window furiously, as the grenade launcher in my rifle poked my belly.

“You idiot, use the grenade launcher!” I stepped back and prepared the secondary weapon, firing it against the window from a safe distance. The window blasted open and pieces of glass flew inside their conference room, I ran to cover under the frame and popped up to shoot a couple of secret service men, everyone in the room clustered around the president instantly.

“Protect the president!” A man from the secret service shouted.

“No need,” I scoped down the remaining two secret service men, they fell dead as they fired their pistols against me. I grinned to the sight of it and stepped into the room with confidence.

“Back down!” Anderson pulled out a pistol from its vest and opened fire against me, making me take cover under the conference table.

“The code is: 204B762K1L2, General Hackett, confirm the codes,”

I closed my eyes and abandoned my cover to stop Hackett from delivering the codes, spreading my wings wide to intimidate. Once I opened my eyes, time began flowing slower; the adrenaline was helping me once again. I fired my weapon against Hackett, delivering a clean headshot. Anderson, however fired his against me, I could feel the two rounds he fired impact my abdomen and one of my wings before I turned to kill him as well.

“Dammit!” Chamber shouted with fury, snatching a pistol from one of the dead bodies around him. He was the last man standing.

“Drop it!” I pointed my rifle straight at him steadily, ignoring the throbbing pain in me.

“No!” he shouted desperately, the black handgun shuddered along with his body, “you will not stop the launch!”

“I killed your second man, you can’t launch the missiles, you lost!”

“No, there’s still the H-0 bombs in this facility, there’s enough of them to blew up your whole pretty Equestria!” he stepped back as I walked towards him steadily; my face reflected the pain in my body.

“Even so, you can’t launch them. You cannot fulfill the two-man rule, face it Chambers you lost!”

“No, those bombs are launched directly from this facility and you are the only one standing between me and my glory!” He shot his pistol as I moved left to avoid the shot, but the bullet hit my left shoulder, making me lose grip of the M16 with that arm. There was no way I could shot the heavy rifle using a single hand, but I had no option if I wanted to kill him before he moved his pistol to finish me. Using all the energy I had left, I aimed the rifle to him and fired, the recoil was hard enough to dislocate my right shoulder, but it was worth it.

Chambers flew back with the shots, staining the small US flag behind him with blood. It was after I sighed in relief when the pain kicked in entirely; I fell to my knees staggered.

“It’s done,” I groaned in pain, standing up with the help of the table next to me and walking to the dead body of the president of the United States with the intention to steal the so called ‘biscuit’, which is the card with the authentication codes to launch any nuclear missiles. I relocated my shoulder using the little force I had on my left arm, the crack made a chill ran through my spine.

“So this is the biscuit eh?” I took the small yellow card labeled with the emblem of the US department of defense and stared at it for a second, “That bastard can’t use you right now.”

I scanned the room to see where this card was used, noticing a small keycard slot on the far side of the room near the broken window.

“I have to figure out what’s going to be my next move,” I thought walking towards the slot in the wall, flashing the card in it. The wall moved and showed a small computer console that displayed the current location of all twenty H-0 missiles in Area 51, apparently this was what they had been working all these years.

“I see one missile’s been launched to Moscow, due to… midnight.” I let out a big sigh, “so much for nuclear wars, I don’t think they know it.”

In that moment, I realized the power I had in my hands, a power no one ever dreamed of having: The power to truly decide the fate of millions of people and my own through one single action, one decision. I had always dreamed of destroying humanity to free us from our own selfishness and suffering, but I hesitated every time I thought of pressing the button.

“What is it? Isn’t this what you wanted?!” I scolded at myself for being such a coward, a part of me wanted to press the button and type the indications for the missiles, but the other preferred to leave the button alone. I couldn’t decide which part to listen.

“If I’m going to do this, I must give it a really good though,” I took a deep breath to analyze the situation, “If I fire those nukes, it is very likely that I’m not walking out of here alive. But if I don’t, there’s no guarantee someone else will not come here and try to use them once I leave. I guess I have no choice,” I took another deep breath before speaking the decision in my mind.

“Do not fear sacrifice for you know what it feels,” I typed the code in the biscuit and the computer shifted to target selection. I selected the larger cities of the world, from Tokyo to Buenos Aires; each one will have a nuke on their way. As my final selection, I chose the coordinates known for Area 51.

With a final gulp, I pressed the confirmation button and typed a final launch code, the alarm instantly went off as the walls around me shook violently. The rockets were being launched, due to impact their targets in midnight.

“It’s done, now I have to get the hell out of here,” I ran back to the entrance as fast as my wounded body could; taking a jeep and driving it at full speed through the tunnels. All the rockets had been launched, so there was no risk of fireballs on the underground.

“Maybe I should stop and ask for directions,” I said sarcastically to myself to try to cheer the spirits up, driving through the tunnels flashing in red lights.

My head worked at its full trying to figure a way into Equestria, my eyes opened wide when I thought of something, “That’s right! They were going to send the nukes through a special gate, I can use that!” A dim light appeared in the distance.

With new found hopes, I drove at the light in the distance and saw sunlight once again. Outside, the battle was over; everyone who had not died probably fled fearing for its life once the missiles were launched, its trails were clearly visible in the sky. Lots of dead bodies lied all around, some were covered in blood and some were completely torn apart, it was a horrible scene.

“Looks like I caused one hell of a mess,” I gazed at the aftermath while looking for that gate. It was supposed to be a large structure, if it was meant to send a missile straight to another dimension.

I drove through the deserted facility, trying to locate the portal. After a few minutes, I saw a massive dish embedded on the floor of the lake.

“That’s it!” I accelerated to take a closer look at it, noticing a large steel platform on a side. Feeling relieved, I looked at the watch in my hand that marked sixteen past noon.

The jeep wheel’s rubber burnt as I tapped the brakes, I moaned in pain when the car stopped brutally.

“I should have remembered I got shot,” I said with a smirk, my journey was soon to be over. I climbed the platform covering my wounds, with a huge sense of relief. On top of the platform, the whole base and a large part of the Nevada desert were seen.

I poked around the console in the platform, trying to find a way to open the portal. The screen in front of me displayed a loading screen and offered the option to open the portal. Another loading screen appeared and the dish began to shoot rays from its sides, focusing on the centre. The wormhole slowly began to grow, sucking air from all around.

“Looks like this is all folks!” I happily yelled at the distance, a second before the computer monitor turned red and emitted an annoying beeping noise.

“Warning, critical damage on primary structures, system overload. Dimensional connection process interrupted, initiating cool down mode,” a deep synthesized voice said, shutting the portal off. I felt a void in me that instantly filled with fear, and a single phrase came to mind in that same moment.

“I’m going to die.”

“You have got to be fucking kidding me!” I shouted in furiously in disbelief, kicking the computer in front of me, “Now how the hell am I supposed to escape the judgment day!”

I was wounded and tired, with little energy left. But I was too stubborn to just sit down and wait for death to come and get me; I still had one last chance to survive.

“The Russian ponification facility!” I snapped and straightened up my pose, running down to the jeep and turning the engine on. I drove at crazy speed through the base, looking for any aircraft remaining on the base.

“Come on… There’s got to be at least one,” I looked around frenetically for a hangar, eventually one popped in my line of sight in the distance, making me accelerate to it.

I descended my car after braking in a similar fashion to the last time, opening the hangar door using by pressing a small button next to it to see a huge Boeing C-17A completely unharmed. Without hesitation, I climbed into the aircraft and headed for the cockpit.

“Okay, you were able to fly a helicopter, you can fly this thing,” I browsed the enormous flight console, poking all the buttons. The engine turned on after I moved a red small switch above me, I sat on the driver’s seat and deducted how to drive the aircraft from what I had seen on some movies.

“Please confirm destination,” a synthesized feminine voice asked.

“Eh… Moscow, take me to Moscow.”

“Setting course to Sheremetyevo International Airport in Moscow Russia,” replied the automated voice.

“I suppose I have to lift this thing off the ground,” I fastened the seatbelt and the plane accelerated on its own, preparing for the take off. Fortunately, there was a small light that marked whenever I had to pull the steering wheel towards me. The speedometer marked a hundred miles per hour, and the light wasn’t on yet.

“Come on stupid thing,” I nervously said as I ran out of track to take off, the fence and a hill began growing bigger with each passing second. I glanced at the flashlight and at the road, trying to hold cool and steady as long as I could, and just when the track was about to end, the light turned on at the hundred fifty miles per hour.

“Lift that big ass for Leighton!” I pulled the steering wheel to me using all the force I had in my arms, fighting the staggering pain I felt. The aircraft slowly took off and avoided the cliff in front of me for a few meters but destroying the landing gear at the base of the plane.

“Ha! I made it!” I shouted with excitement as the plane continued to ascend into the clear sky above me, I leaned against the seat trying to ease the pain.

“Engaging automatic-pilot, ETA thirteen hours,”

“Say what?” I said with surprise, “Can’t you fly a little faster?”

“Negative, unknown operator, decreasing flight time would consume considerably more fuel. Please confirm with command to authorize this order.”

“Fuck!” I punched the fuselage next to me, “Are you trying to kill me too?”

“Negative sir,” the computer replied automatically.

“Yeah, right,” I stood up and headed into the spacious back of the plane to rest, pulling out the bandages Twilight sent me and using them to heal up my wounds. They were not that bad, but I had already lost quite some blood, but not enough to feel all dizzy. I groaned in pain when I used a hemostat on one of my wounds and covered the wounds in my abdomen, arm and wing with bandages.

The fuselage of the plane was cold and hard, but I felt tired enough to don’t care about it. My body tried to lure me into falling asleep, but there was no certainty that I would ever wake up of I did, so I fought my own impulses fearing for my life.

My mind began drifting off in the memories, truly knowing what was like to dream completely awake. It was like my memories flashed in front of me, a picture of all the time I lived on earth.

“I… c’mon Leighton you can’t fall asleep now,” I thought in an attempt to keep my tired body awake. I had ran, killed, flew and been shot in the course of the day, resting was even something a sane person would do.

“No, don’t. Don’t fall asleep, think of what’s at stake, your life is at stake!”

I fought the urge for a few more minutes, but the exhaustion was getting into me and there was nothing I could do about it.

“I knew it would come down to this, I knew it all along, from the very moment I sat down in my studio for the first time to work on Project Human Conservation. I must not fear death; for she takes everyone whenever she thinks the time is right. Besides, I accepted this mission knowing what the risks and the stakes were, and succeeded. Who knows, it may even come as a relief to me.”

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“Warning, fuel tanks at ten percent, ETA one hour and ten minutes,” the annoying tone of the automated pilot woke me up from my sleep; the first thing I did was see the watch in my wrist.

“Ten minutes to midnight?!” I shouted in disbelief as I shot straight up from where I laid, running into the cockpit.

“Tell me where we are, machine!” I yelled at the computer as I stared at the night sky outside.

“We are currently flying above the Koryak Mountains, sir.”

“This is where… You keep flying, I will see you later,” I left the cockpit and headed to the back of the plane again, forcing the sliding door open. I barely saw the silhouette of the mountains passing by through the darkness.

“Warning, cargo door is open,” cried the computer.

“I don’t give rat’s arse,” I ran to pick up the backpack lying right where I was sleeping a minute ago, “but I have to get off this god damned plane,” I jumped off the plane into the cold night, spreading my wings wide to stabilize my flight.

“Bloody bandage really works!” I began moving my wings vigorously without feeling any pain, whatever those bandages had, it cured me completely. The darkness of the night covered the mountains; I only saw silhouettes as I flew straight down at blinding speed.

“It’s got to be around here…” I scanned the darkness restlessly without results. Until a small beacon light flashed for an instant, it had to be it. I turned in direction of the light and accelerated even more, breathing was almost impossible at that speed.

“Okay… now!” I turned my body trying to slow me down and avoid crashing head on the floor when I reached a considerable distance; I waved my wings as fast as I could.

“Yes, that’s the facility!” I confirmed just before the wound in my wing reopened, making me lose control a dozen of meters off the floor. I impacted the ground fiercely, but survived the impact on the parking lot of the Russian facility.

“Don’t tell me I just…” I felt a staggering pain coming from one of my legs and turned to see my lower body. My left leg was completely broken on the tibia, I screamed in pain upon seeing it.

“No, I’m not dying like this,” I tried to stand up using the force I had on my arms, wings and leg, completely ignoring the backpack next to me.

“I’m too close to give up like this,” I hopped on a leg towards the entrance, leaning against it to catch my breath for a second. Everyone in the facility were gone, it was just as deserted like the first time I broke into it. I looked up the sky and saw a small flashing yellow star; the missile was just about to fall.

I stared at it for a minute, preparing myself of one last attempt to stay alive. The missile slowly began to take its shape in the distance, as the alarm in the facility went off.

I hopped inside the building as fast as I could, flying for some moments to give my right leg a break. Emergency lights on the floor marked the way to the elevator, my body reacted with the desperation and the adrenaline on me, the heart racing at its top, my body feeling numb from the tremendous effort, I was exhausting myself more and more the closer I grew to the elevator.

“Come on, come on,” I desperately punched the down button in the service elevator that slowly descended into the facility.

“It may not catch up to me if I’m this underground, you still have a chance, fight for it!” I cheered myself up as the watch on my wrist marked two minutes before midnight. Suddenly, the walls began shaking with an earthquake; the nuclear bomb had just impacted Moscow.

“Won’t this thing go faster!” the earthquake began growing more intense, along with the sound of an explosion in the distance. It had to be one hell of a bang to sound so clearly underground.

Thirty more seconds passed before the elevator reached its destination, I hopped desperately to where I remembered the portal room was, the lights of the facility flashed on and off as everything around moved violently.

“There it is,” I slammed the metallic door open and approached the console to turn the portal on, the servers around me filled the entire room with sparks.

“Faster… faster…” the quake began growing stronger as time passed on, I glanced at the watch that marked fifty seconds before midnight. The portal turned on suddenly, sucking all the energy remaining in the facility, the only light on the room came from the portal. I hopped to the portal as quickly as I could, but the earthquake made me lose balance.

I fell to the ground completely exhausted just a few feet away from the portal; I spun my head wryly and saw a wall of flames raging through the hallway, coming straight at me.

“Whatever happens to me, I have no regrets. My mission is done; some say there is no more honorable death than dying for a greater good. But I would not die fighting for the cause of a leader of for a flag; I would die for my own ideals, because following my heart led me straight into the depths of hell itself. My conscience will rest in peace, cherishing all those moments I spent with the people I loved and the friends I found along the way.

The voice in the castle is right, I must not fear sacrifice, for I know what it feels. And I do not fear giving my life for a greater good; because I gave away the thing I loved the most for it.

I, Leighton Donovan McRae, am at peace.”